Path
How much arc
Measured in degrees of change across the stroke rather than described as straight or arced. Nearly everybody arcs; the question is how much, and whether the amount is stable from putt to putt or drifting with stroke length.
Putters · 75 minutes
No Plot, No Rungs, Just A Surface That Changes Speed
The ladder does not apply here. What replaces it is a rolling surface we can set to two distinctly different speeds, because the putter that suits a slow, grainy summer green in the valley is not always the one that suits a freshly cut winter surface.
First half hour
The Stroke Gets Described Before Anything Is Handed To You
We capture your stroke with your own putter first: how much the path arcs, how quickly the face rotates relative to that path, where the low point of the arc sits, and how consistently the ball starts on the line you aimed at.
Face
Rotation rate
How fast the face opens and closes relative to the path. This is what balance and hosel configuration are really matched against, and it is the number that decides whether a face balanced head helps you or fights you.
Strike
Where on the face
Sprayed face, ten putts. A pattern that sits consistently toward the heel is usually a length and lie problem, and correcting it does more for speed control than any head change.
Second half hour
Length And Lie Before Head Shape
The order here is deliberate and it is the opposite of how putters are usually sold. Head shape is the last thing we change, because it is the variable that most affects how a putter looks and least affects whether the ball starts on line.
Length gets set from your eye position over the ball with your natural posture, not from a chart based on your height. Lie follows from length. Between the two, a putter that was leaving the face open at impact routinely stops doing it without anybody touching the head.
| Step | Variable | What it is responding to |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Length | Eye position relative to the ball and target line |
| 2 | Lie | Sole contact through the stroke at the new length |
| 3 | Grip size and shape | How much the trail hand is contributing to face rotation |
| 4 | Head mass and counterweight | Tempo and distance control at the slower surface speed |
| 5 | Balance and hosel | Measured face rotation rate from the first half hour |
| 6 | Head shape and alignment aid | Aim error, and only aim error |
Two speeds
Why The Surface Gets Changed Halfway Through
Head mass and distance control are inseparable. A heavier head produces a shorter, smoother stroke and tends to help on slower greens; a lighter head gives more feedback and often suits quick surfaces better. Fitting on one speed only means fitting for half your year.
Around the forty minute mark the surface gets reset to the second speed and the two surviving candidates go through a distance control block on both. What we are looking for is which one keeps your dispersion of roll-out tightest across both settings, not which one felt nicer on the first.
Aim is measured, not discussed
We use a laser on the shaft to record where the face actually points when you have settled over the ball and believe you are aimed at the hole. Roughly two thirds of players aim measurably right with a putter they have used for years, and a good part of what an alignment aid does is correct that specific personal error. Which one works for you is a measurement, not a preference.