Todd Anderson Instructional: Picking the right putter

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Todd Anderson Instructional: Picking the right putter

Published: 10 Oct. 2024, 13:39 Updated: 10 Oct. 2024, 16:57

In this tutorial, Todd Anderson breaks down the various types of putters used by leading players on the PGA Tour and offers advice that could make a difference to your game.

Tiger Woods putts on the 18th green during the final round of the PNC Championship at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club on Dec. 17, 2023 in Orlando, Florida. [GETTY IMAGES]

Former Zozo Championship winner, Hideki Matsuyama, has been known for changing putters even during tournament rounds. He may change from one putter to another, but most his putters kind of have the same look. He uses a plumber's neck putter, where some might have the line on top of the putter, some might have a dot, or maybe a sight line in the back cavity of the putter. All these help with alignment. So the first thing you have to do to be a great putter line the putter face up correctly to your intended start line.

Hideki Matsuyama putts on the ninth green during the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind on Aug. 18, 2024 in Memphis, Tennessee. [GETTY IMAGES]

The second thing you want to look for is to find a putter that fits your putting stroke. If you're very straight back, straight through on the target line type putter, you will want to pick a putter that's more face balanced. A mallet-type putter tends to be more face balanced where the putter face ‘looks towards’ the sky. It’s designed to not have much toe/face rotation, and tends to go straight back, and straight through during the putting stroke.

Photos during an instruction shoot with PGA Tour Performance Center's Todd Anderson at Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on Aug. 23 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. [PGA Tour]

On the other side of the spectrum, if you're someone who likes to have more arc to your stroke and likes to have more toe/face rotation, then you probably need a putter with more toe hang, similar to a cavity back blade-type putter which promotes more arc to the stroke and toe release.

My putter is somewhere in between, it’s called a quarter-toe hang where it's not all the way face balanced or not all the way toe down. That kind of fits my putting stroke.

And finally, you want to have the right feel so listen to how it sounds when you hit the putt. The louder the sound, the more clicky it sounds, the harder it's going to feel. The more dull or soft it sounds, the more soft it's going to feel. Some players like to have that clicky sound to get the feel that they like, other may prefer a softer sound.

Photos during an instruction shoot with PGA Tour Performance Center's Todd Anderson at Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on Aug. 23 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. [PGA Tour]

Hence, find a putter that you like the look of and one that will help you line up properly, find one that matches the mechanics of your stroke, whether you have a arc/toe release or more of straight back through stroke/with less toe release and then identify the one that sounds the way you want it to feel to help with your distance control.

Finally, a great example of someone who uses a mallet putter is Scottie Scheffler, who obviously has found a lot of success by winning seven times including the FedExCup this season, whereas some like Steve Stricker is more of a blade putter. Tiger Woods and Hideki are kind of halfway in between with is kind of a quarter toe-hang, like the putter that I use.

Scottie Scheffler reacts to his putt on the 18th green during the final round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 23, 2024 in Cromwell, Connecticut. [GETTY IMAGES]

There's nothing wrong with changing putters and many PGA Tour players change putters often and it’s a matter of finding one that you like and hopefully help you make more putts.

Todd Anderson is the Director of Instruction at the PGA Tour Performance Center at TPC Sawgrass, home of The Players Championship. The 2010 National PGA Teacher of the Year has seen his students amass more than 50 victories across the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour, including two FedExCup titles. He is currently rated by Golf Digest as one of the top 20 golf instructors in the United States.

BY TODD ANDERSON [kjdsports@joongang.co.kr]