Fitting your putter may be more important than your driver

Drivers are big, sexy and expensive. We are lured to them like bats to darkness. Long lines of blinded souls abound at the PGA Merchandise Show as they eagerly wait for a tee, where they will be fitted with the driver that will give themselves a perfect flex, length, even kick-point with the help of the club rep.

As this blog board’s guardian angel, I am here to remind you the importance of putter-fitting, which was brought to my attention thanks to equipment guru Frank Thomas, USGA Technical Director for thirty years. Today, he offers honest advice to golfers on equipment and more, and designed the Frankly Frog putter. In the Q&A I had recently (which is posted on TravelGolf.com), he told me something simple yet profound:

“With the correct putter length you can putt like a pro.”

The reason I took this to heart is because unlike all the manufacturers explaining why their driver is your savior, this advice is void of favoritism. The way I see it, I could putt with a shovel so long as my arms are free and extended.

Truth is, most of us use putters that are too long. Only several inches from legally being a midget myself, I use a standard 34″ putter. When we use putters too long for us, we chicken wing our arms a bit and it allows more sources for error. The Frankly Frog team fitted me correctly and we determined 32″ is right for me.

Of course, the only 32″ they had available was their little Miss Frog pink putter, so I felt the need to blast my first few putts 20 feet by to display I in fact do have testosterone. After that I could see a very real difference in the comfort and consistency of my stroke. It’s good to know you can find relatively unbiased advice in the sea of sales and marketing that is the PGA Merchandise Show.

I’d rather putt with a 40″ putter than a pink one though.