Should You Use A Mallet Or Blade Putter?

Which type of putter should you put in the bag? We analyse both designs.

Should You Use A Mallet Or Blade Putter?

Putters these days come in all shapes, sizes, and designs. For whatever stroke you play with on the putting green, there will be a putter catered to help you maximise your golf game. Two of the most popular design are mallets and blade putters with both of them having specific advantages and disadvantages dependent on how you swing the club. So to help you understand which putter will be best for your game, we have dissected both styles below.

Should You Use A Mallet Or Blade Putter?

Putting is the most important part of the game and being able to putt well can save you countless shots. Therefore a lot of thought should go into what type of putter you use whether it be a mallet or a blade design.

Mallet Putters

Mallet putters tend to be much larger than blades and they usually come in various shapes and sizes. This helps in a number of ways. A lot of the time most of the weight in a mallet putter can be found in the club face however because of its design, weight can then be redistributed to other parts of the head which can help stabilise your stroke. The weight of the putter in the perimeter of the club-head offers better balance than what can be offered from a blade putter.

Mallet putters tend to also have a larger sweet spot which can be beneficial if you are a player who struggles to consistently strike your putts out of the middle of the face. The weight in the club-head also helps here because it diminishes the twisting of the putter throughout the stroke too.

Additionally if you struggle with alignment, a mallet putter could be the way to go. Alignment plays a crucial part in putting because it is all about accuracy and a mallet putter can be beneficial here by helping your eyes line up the putt.

Those that leave putts mostly short should possibly give a mallet putter a go because the heavier weight of the putter creates additional force and therefore makes it easier to get the ball to the hole.

Blade Putters

A blade putter is a lot simpler in terms of design and will suit the traditionalists amongst you a lot more than some of the mallet putters pictured above. Blade putters also tend to suit players with an arc in their putting stroke because of the toe-weighted nature of the club-head.

Which Putter Should You Use?

This question can be divided into three main steps but it should be acknowledged that before purchasing a putter or any club for that matter, you should do some thorough testing and a fitting.

You should start by selecting a putter that fits your stroke. If you have an arced stroke a blade putter could work better whereas a square stroke (putter face remains square throughout the stroke), then a mallet option may suit you better.

Once you know this then you should test different putters to see which you like the most in terms of feel. Feel plays a big part in putting so getting a putter that feels right in your hands and communicates with you when striking the ball is important too.

Finally get a putter than you like the look of. Aesthetics can play a role in inspiring or diminishing confidence on the greens.

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