Putter Head

Putter Head

What is the difference in golf putter designs?

I'm new to golf (so don't laugh please ), but when purchasing a putter I noticed that some were designed like a traditional putter (flat, rectangular) but some had differently designed and 'fancy' club heads... what is the difference? Is there an advantage based on the design?

As you have already noticed, there are basically 2 types of putters. The more rectangular traditional looking putters, which are commonly called "anser style" or blade putters. Anser is in reference to the Ping Anser, the putter that basically created the standard. The other type, which can take all sorts of variations, are all "face balanced mallets". A face balanced putter has the weight spread evenly across the face so that if you lay the shaft across your finger and hold it parallel to the ground the face points straight up. These are designed to putt with little or no face rotation, and match up well for very straight back straight through type strokes. The anser style has more weight out on the toe, so that when laid across your finger and held up the toe hangs down to the ground. These match up well for golfers with a more swinging gate type putting stroke, where the face rotates more in the backswing and through swing. Those are the fundamental differences. It is important to know what kind of stroke you have so that you can always select a putter from the correct category.

Hope this helps

Woody Austin Breaks Putter on his Head

Putter Head

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