[Rob Marshall]

Anyone using a Lab Golf putter. My buddy is using one and putting pretty good with it. The science behind it looks interesting.

[Craig Sweet]

For $550 bucks it should pour your drinks too.

[Cal Seifert]

$550 is nothing in the boutique putter world nowadays.

[David_Tepper]

Anyone ever done an Edel putter fitting?

https://mygolfspy.com/we-tried-it-edel-eas-putter-fitting/

[Erik J. Barzeski]

Anyone using a Lab Golf putter. My buddy is using one and putting pretty good with it. The science behind it looks interesting.

You're talking about the Directed Force putters? Bogus, for a number of reasons.

Find a putter you can aim (amazing how few people can do this, and how changing something as simple as a line can affect where they see a putter as square). Find a putter with the weight distribution that suits you and your feel for distance.

Then buy it and don't switch.

P.S. Edel's Classic system of putters was great. Their current line is not as flexible.

[Rob Marshall]

Anyone using a Lab Golf putter. My buddy is using one and putting pretty good with it. The science behind it looks interesting.

You're talking about the Directed Force putters? Bogus, for a number of reasons.

Find a putter you can aim (amazing how few people can do this, and how changing something as simple as a line can affect where they see a putter as square). Find a putter with the weight distribution that suits you and your feel for distance.

Then buy it and don't switch.

P.S. Edel's Classic system of putters was great. Their current line is not as flexible.

Bogus?

[A.G._Crockett]

Rob,

I used one for quite awhile, and liked it quite well.  I putt side saddle, though, and the head was a little bit lighter on a 44" putter than I prefer, and at that time, they wouldn't customize the weight, though I think that has changed.  Then Bobby Grace came out with a new side saddle putter that was PERFECT, and I've used it ever since. So the Directed Force/Lab putter is in the hall closet.

Their calling card of lie angle balancing is interesting, and it made it a good feel for side saddle, which is about as "straight back, straight thru" as anything could be.  I won't attempt to compare it putters like Edel, since I haven't used those at all.  But the real question, I suppose, is whether or not lie angle balancing has an advantage over simply face balanced; I won't try to evaluate that.

[Kalen Braley]

Interesting, I hadn't heard of these.

This short video gives the gist:  https://youtu.be/q0jg5ICB4jU

While there is certainly a lot of torque in a full golf swing, in a very short putter swing, it would seem almost negligible. 

Directed Force Page:  https://labgolf.com/directedforce-21/

[Anthony Fowler]

I started using one this season, and I'm a big fan. As someone who previously used an Anser-style putter with a thin, traditional grip, it was a big change. When one of my friends on this site first saw it, he said something like, "I'd quit the game before I putt with that thing!"

Using the LAB putter did cause me to change my technique somewhat. Instead of fighting the torque like you do with a traditional putter, your goal with the LAB putter is to take out as much torque as possible. The new technique and the heavier weight meant that it took me a while to get my feel back to where it was with my old putter, but I think I'm a better putter with the LAB putter than I ever was before.

In case it's relevant, I'm a scratch golfer, and putting has always been one of the stronger parts of my game. In my view, the biggest advantage with the LAB putter is that my variance is lower. The good putting days are no better than before, but the bad putting days are fewer and less bad.

If anyone is considering buying one, I'd be happy to talk further. I get no commission, but I'm happy to offer any insights that I have. Also, just to clarify, the putters start at $400, and I suspect the add-ons like the fancy shafts aren't worthwhile. $400 is certainly a lot to pay for a putter, but that's the starting price for a Scotty Cameron, so it's not outrageous for a premium putter. When you understand the technology and the fact that these have to be hand-balanced to fit your lie angle, it makes sense that they are as expensive as they are.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

While there is certainly a lot of torque in a full golf swing, in a very short putter swing, it would seem almost negligible. 

You almost had it. It's negligible. 

The force required to hold the club off the putting green (in making a stroke) MORE than overcomes the tiny amount of torque from a face-balanced putter, a toe-hang putter, whatever.

[jeffwarne]

All the newest techy/pricey putter sellers should thank Scotty Cameron for normalizing the sale of putters at 3-4x the cost of the models they were copies of(PING).
The same as Leadbetter did for those of us in the teaching world 30 years ago;)



I'm with Erik-find a putter you can aim and feels good- and go put in mileage in on the green.

[Ronald Montesano]

If your friend will part with the putter for a weekend, borrow it and play 54 holes. Make sure at least 18 of them are in competition, with something on the line. Ideally, play at least two different courses, with dissimilar greens. Have putter, will travel is our motto. If you can trust the club after the initial foray, do it again a month later. There should be no hurry in this process.


I don't understand the "putter you can aim" angle of this. No putter has a scope. I'll accept enlightenment.


I have an Anser-style and a mallet 'twixt which I alternate. I don't practice my putting relentlessly. If you do, and you compete at a high level, this is NOT the place to come for advice. We are architecture aficionados, not gear heads and trained putting fitters/instructors.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

I don't understand the "putter you can aim" angle of this. No putter has a scope. I'll accept enlightenment.

It's easy.

I can build a putter for someone that, when he or she sets it down and thinks it's square, it points left or right. For most people, I can then build them a putter that they aim the other way. And then, by changing the head shape, the hosel shape, the amount of offset, the lines or dots or "decorations," etc. they aim square when they think it's square.

A putter that looks open when it's square, they will aim left. A putter that looks closed when it's square, they'll aim right.

I fit a guy who had an Anser-style Odyssey that he aimed about 8" right from 12' or so every time. Change that line to a dot and the aiming point moved to about 2" right of the cup. Remove it entirely, and he was pretty much dead center every time.

Everyone's eyes see and process "straight" or "square" a bit differently. Those things (and others) affect what part of the putter draws your attention. Some people can aim a wider variety than others, but in fitting many, many people, nobody can aim everything square, and some people can't aim some putters within a foot of the hole from 12'. Yet they'll say "it's square" at the time.

Ronald, I could probably build a putter for you that you aim right, and one that you aim left, and one that you aim square. No trickery, just how your eyes and mind "see" it. What part of the putter draws your eye. Etc.

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