Why your putter's headweight matters — Made for the Range Golf

WHY YOUR PUTTER’S HEADWEIGHT MATTERS

As the industry starts to see more technological advancement in the putter category more and more companies are starting to add replaceable weights to their putters. This used to be a feature reserved for only the most high-end, custom flatsticks, but today’s market sees a growing amount of high-end and more value-oriented putter lineups with the ability to adjust the weights in the sole. This adjustment might be made for several reasons, not limited to adjusting swingweight, adding forgiveness, or in some small cases actually working in conjunction with the toe hang of the putter. With some help from our friends at Edel Golf and their new Array Putter line we’re going to dive into how headweight can affect your putting stroke, and why you may or may not want to try adjusting yours.

ADDING WEIGHT

If you add weight to the putter head, you’re going to increase swingweight, or the how heavy the putter head feels during the putting stroke. This is necessary when building shorter putters to maintain a reasonable feel and balance point, but it’s also preferred by some players. Players who like to feel like the putter is in control of the stroke and has a more pendulum effect through impact are going to love adding weight to their putter head. By adding this weight you are also theoretically increasing the stability and the forgiveness of the putter, particularly if you are evenly spreading the weight out in the case of something like the Array B-1. Because the weights are spread towards the toe and heel, as you add heavier weights you’re stretching the mass out to the perimeter of the head, which increases MOI and adds stability to the head. A great option for players who feel they struggle to maintain a stable putter during the putting stroke.

REMOVING WEIGHT

When you remove weight from the putter head, you’re going to decrease the swingweight. This is great for players that play a longer putter with a conventional putting technique, and want to maintain the balance point and swingweight that the putter was designed for, or for players who really like to feel the weight of the putter in their hands. Lots of players will say that they like to feel more weight in their hands because it makes them feel like they are more in control of their putting stroke. As if they are responsible for doing all of the work, and the putter is just following along. The downside to taking weight out is that you’re going to lose some forgiveness and some stability assuming that you are taking weight out of a putter that has already been built to your proper length. There is also theoretically less mass behind impact with the golf ball, so there is a chance that you’ll lose a little bit of energy transfer, but that’s not as likely with a putter as it is with something like a driver.

THE COUNTER-BALANCE TREND

The 2023 season on the PGA Tour saw numerous winners have longer, counter-balanced flatsticks in their hands. These builds are designed not only to get more weight in the hands but in lots of cases actually to put weight above the hands, and change the relative fulcrum at which the putter is rotating from. The players who have switched to a strategy like this have said that it gives them the most sense of control over the putter head, and that they almost feel like the putter is attached to them. Without the ability to change weights, you’ll notice that players often have a crazy amount of lead tape on the sole of their putters. This is to make sure that they add enough weight back to the head of the putter so that the relative balance point and swingweight of that putter isn’t drastically changed. By making a putter in some cases 7” longer than their standard length, even with a longer slightly heavier grip, that putter head is going to feel almost as if it’s not even there. So in this case, adding head weight back to the putter is not only evening out the swingweight to a manageable number, but with how much weight they are adding back to the bottom of the head, it becomes incredibly stable.

Thanks to our friends at Edel Golf for sending us their new line of Array Putters and Breakthrough Golf Technology for providing the Stability putter shafts you see used to help demonstrate. Click either logo above for more information on the equipment used or to purchase your own!