Golf & Putting Blog by Malcolm Illingworth

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We asked everyone who came on the stand if they had ever had a putting lesson. The frightening answer was no - not a single one had had a lesson and most had never conidered doing so. Many said "my putting is terrible" with a resigned attitude that nothing could be done about it. After trying a few simple drills using the Zen putter everyone could see the reason and the benefits that could follow.

Most golfers admitted taking more than 36 putts per round. Just getting this down to 32 knocks 4 shots of your handicap and is much easier to achieve than buying a new driver and bashing away at a driving range.

Give us a call or email if you want to comment or would like some advice.

A contributor to Golf the Scientific Way was Dr John Jepson, a former head of R&D at Titleist and now CEO of On-Mark USA. His article on Science v Marketing, discusses the interdependence and conflict between these disciplines. He dares to question the use of ‘poetic license’, where improbable or downright misleading ‘scientific fact’ is used to promote new products. Jepson wrote: “…. the impression is given that a company’s R&D contribution is not so much to make genuine improvements or innovations, as to provide just enough scientific support to advertising claims to keep the company out of the law courts.”

The latest fad in putters relates to grooves or ridges. Claims of "immediate pure roll" or immediate no skid forward roll are false. This is possible using a snooker cue, but impossible with a legal putting stroke.

A custom fitting session with Putting Solution's Malcolm Illingworth will cost £30.00 but will be credited against the purchase of a putter. The putter of your choice will be customised to length,lie and loft with grip options using the Dave Hicks Laser fitting tool

The service is open to members and non members. Call Malcolm on 0113 239 7236 or email info@puttingsolutions.co.uk for an appointment.

We will have a variety of lengths available including Juniors at great prices for a Christmas gift.

Dave Hicks and Snake Eyes Tour Platinum putters will also be on display for custom fitting to length,loft and lie angle with grip options using the Dave Hicks Laser Fitting tool.

These experts are in the process of providing the PGA with the information to at some time in the future train club pros a consistent message on the basics of putting.

Putting Solutions has made putters and been involved in the manufacturing process for 2 of these gurus. Our staff have also attended courses on how to putt.

Give us a call or email. We can help you improve your putting and lower your scores.

Top of the range drivers cost upwards of £200 and more than likely custom fit. Unfortunately golfers are possibly unaware of how they can easlily improve their scores by investing in a custom fit putter. There is a lot of hype and misleading information on the alleged benefits of many leading brands.

Putting Solutions only recommend Hicks, Snake Eyes and Zen. They do what is says on the tin!

Here's how you find the sweetspot.

Hold the putter in your weakest hand between thumb and fore or middle finger where your lowest hand holds the grip. You can hold it anywhere on a face balanced putter (Zen Oracle).

Now with a coin or hard object tap the face until the putter moves straight back with no twisting. If it is not where the manufacturer has placed a dot or line note the location.

It was a very damp day with poor visibility so you could not see where the balls were landing. However the Trackman machine showed average drive with Progen using Srixon range balls was 199yds and the Mizuno average came out at 227 yds. Additional alleged benefits were lower spin rate and a higher launch angle with the Mizuno. Despite my 35 years experience in the golf industry and having manufactured clubs (Progen) it might be possible that in the last 3 years the equipment would have improved and the test data would be accurate. Just shows how gullible golfers are and I should have known better.

After trying the Mizuno for a few days I gave it the benefit of the doubt and said I would keep it. After 2-3 weeks it was becoming obvious that there was no benefit so through the course of the year I used both drivers during practice on the course and there was no difference at all between the 2 drivers. When I mentioned this to Martin Heggie the Professional at Moortown the excuse was made that he only did these tests using top grade balls and offered to do a ball test. Cannot see the relevance to this as it was a like for like test whatever type of ball was used. This has not been done but I recently took the drivers to the new Golf Cafe Bar in Leeds that has 3 of the latest golf simulators by About Golf. This simulator manufacturer has been chosen by Henry Griffitts who is acknowledged as one of the pioneers and leading custom club manufacturers. They would not have chosen the About Golf simulator without doing a considerable amount of testing to ensure its accuracy.

Results were as follows after calculating the average of 5 shots per club at the Golf Café Bar. I have added in another driver from SMT that has proved superior in length and accuracy as far as I am concerned both in their test and also on course.

Mizuno MP600 9.5deg S flex Distance 228yds Spin 2545 V Launch 12.36
Progen FB380     9deg S flex Distance 227yds Spin 1933 V Launch 15
SMT 455 DB      10deg S flex Distance 236yds Spin 2487 V Launch 13.7

Results show only 1 yd gained and spin, launch angle the opposite of what Mizuno had claimed. So on all 3 points the data from Mizuno does not agree with the About Golf simulator or with on course results.

Many golfers will have bought equipment based on demo days. There is a variety of equipment that test shots for distance, backspin, launch angle etc and with such massive variances in the results begs the question of who is right and the possibility that the information could be enhanced in order to make a sale.