What Happens During A Putter Fitting?

What Happens During A Putter Fitting?

Watch Joel Tadman go through the putter fitting process with SIK Golf

Most golfers understand the need to get custom fitted for a driver but the putter is often the club that gets bought off the shelf paced predominantly on how it looks. But could a more technical approach unlock better performance? We went along to SIK Golf's new National Performance Studio at Silvermere Golf & Leisure to see what the experience was like and if it could make us more prolific on the greens.

I arrived with an idea as to the style of putter that was right for me - a blade putter with lots of toe hang to keep the face open and stop me pulling putts. This was flipped on its head after talking with fitter Collin about the intricacies of putter design. He was using Quintic, widely regarded as the best system in analysing putting, to quantify the performance of the putters I tried and while my own putter fared well, the amber readings showed there was room for improvement.

SIK do the excellent Pro C blade putter but I’ve recently acquired a soft spot for the wide blade, which SIK offer via the Double Wide 2.0 C model. But to determine which sightline to choose (full length on the flange or shorter on the front) we needed to do an eye dominance test - I was right eye dominant, which apparently meant the longer sightline should work best.

The adjustable shaft/hosel system SIK offer meant I was able to try different set ups and while the short slant hosel, which promotes strong toe hang, did ok, it was by switching to a face balanced double bend shaft that my putting became almost robotic - the blue and green readings on the screen proved this - reducing side spin and getting a more consistent launch angle.

This is something SIK believes is the holy grail. Having a full shaft offset versus a half shaft offset also allowed me to start the ball more online - another factor golfers often overlook when choosing the best golf putters for them.

The process involved me hitting six putts with each set up for the Quintic to create an average reading of ball speed, backspin, sidespin, skid (distance to true roll, the point and which the ball is rolling end over end) for each. I was then able to gauge trends with each putter design and also how consistent I was with each. Despite only doing it over a 12-foot putt, the results were truly mind blowing and I ended up with something different to what I was expecting, which goes to show you should always go into a fitting with an open mind.

I went away with a much greater understanding of how a putter's design can influence the way it moves during what is a relatively short action. For any golfer that wants to get into the nitty gritty of marginal gains on the greens a putter fitting, like the one I went through with SIK, is an experience I would thoroughly recommend.