Is This the End of an Era for Putter Design?

Are we on the verge of a revolution in putter design?

At some point most things become obsolete. It’s just the way the world works. Evolution. Back in the mid 80’s the cassette tape replaced the 8-track, and if you said you saw that coming you would most likely be lying. Only a decade later (1991) CD sales surpassed cassettes. Now, we carry 1,000’s of songs in our pocket.

In the putter world we had the bullseye (released in 1940’s), that got replaced by the PING Anser in 1966. The Anser became the gold standard and it has held that crown ever since.

But, that reign might be over.

Most golfers know what a traditional putter looks like. Its got a neck and a putter head that looks something like what Tiger used. And while all golfers know what they look like, the majority don’t know why they are designed that way. Those designs are based on something called stroke type. You might have heard the term straight-back-straight-through or slight or strong arc. That’s stroke type. Putters have been made that way for decades and the industry has fit golfers based on individual stroke types for as long as you can probably remember.

But, just because that’s the way things have been done, doesn’t mean it will always be the best solution to the problem. And if it’s no longer the right answer, do all those designs and all those Anser copy cats simply go “poof” just like the 8-track did? And if so, what replaces them?

Zero torque putters

Ever heard of L.A.B. Golf? You know those crazy looking putters you see guys winning or in contention to win almost every week. They think stroke type is dead, and they might just be on to something. If you don’t want to take my word for it, just look around next year when almost every major manufacturer will have a copy of the L.A.B design. Sound familiar (Anser copy cats)?

The age of zero-torque putters is upon us folks. But, are they the future? Do they truly perform better than all putters that came before them?

Today, we seek to find that answer.

Zero Torque vs Traditional Putters

Are you actually a better putter than you thought? Do “traditional putters” make putting harder than it needs to be?

There are 3 main variables in putting: direction, speed and green reading. Zero Torque putters think they eliminate one of those variables (direction) and make putting 33% easier. They think “traditional putters” make it harder to control the putter head. And I 100% agree. One of the ways the golf industry tries to solve this is by fitting golfers for the proper stroke type that matches their arc.

Getting your club to start and finish square to your target is more difficult than one might think. If your putter face is only 2 degrees off target you will miss a 5-foot putt. At 20-feet, the miss gets even bigger.

Let’s face it, “traditional putters” haven’t really evolved much over the past 60 years. Think about this…would you still want to play a persimmon (wooden) driver if you wanted to shoot your lowest score? Absolutely not. So, why are we still playing with 60-year old technology in our putter if they account for the most shots on our scorecard? At the end of the day a putter has one job: get the ball in the hole in the least amount of shots possible. So, if there is a new and more effective way of doing that for the vast majority of golfers why would we ever look back?

What we have seen with L.A.B. putters and some other zero torque type putters over the past couple years inside our test facility, on tour and diving through data from other sources has been eye opening to say the least. But, are they the next PING Anser, and could L.A.B. and other zero torque putters like them become the new gold standard in putting? Is it time for you to throw out all those old putters you have been collecting? That is what we want to find out.

In order to do that we wanted to test two of the most popular zero torque putters, the L.A.B DF3 and PXG Allan against two of the most popular and winning “traditional putters” on tour, the Scotty Cameron Newport 2 (100’s of professional tour wins) and the Taylormade Spider Tour X (played by world #1 Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy).

How We Test

For this lab, we wanted to find out two things:

1. Are zero torque putters better than traditional putters?
2. Which zero torque putter performs better, the L.A.B. or the PXG Allan?

In order to find out we included 4 putters in our test:

1. L.A.B DF3
2. PXG Allan
3. Scotty Cameron Newport 2
4. Taylormade Spider X

Our test protocols:

• Data by: PuttView
• 10 testers
• 20 putts per putter
• Randomized locations and distances
• 800 total putts

RESULTS: Zero Torque vs Traditional Putters

KEY FINDINGS

• Both zero torque putters outperformed traditional putters
• 80% of golfers performed better with zero torque putters
• 60% of golfers performed best with a L.A.B putter
• L.A.B. was most accurate putter tested
• L.A.B. produced highest make %
• PXG putter ranked 2nd in every category
• Scotty Cameron ranked last in every category
• L.A.B. putter was 1.5 strokes better vs Scotty Cameron
• Biggest improvement for single tester was 6.5 strokes with L.A.B. vs Scotty Cameron

Is Stroke Type Dead?

Might be hard to believe, but one of these days even your beloved Apple Music will be replaced. Just like the CD and the 8-track, that day is coming. Even the most advanced technology can be replaced overnight by new a innovation (R.I.P Blockbuster).

With the emergence of zero torque putters, and specifically the L.A.B. Golf’s designs, we might indeed be witnessing the dawn of a new era in putter technology and design. The evidence from this test not only challenges the long-standing reign of traditional stroke type putter designs but also hints at a paradigm shift in how golfers and the industry might approach putting in the future.

Golfers have spent their whole lives being told that if they just buy the next new driver or training aid it will fix their game. But for decades we have all been left disappointed by nothing more than a gimmick or gadget. This time looks to be different. Name another golf product that can lower 80% of golfers scores by 1.5 strokes by doing nothing more than changing from one product to another? I’ll wait.

As the data indicates, the performance improvements could and probably should render conventional stroke-type putters obsolete in the near future. But, the question remains: Are you ready to embrace this change, or will tradition hold us back from the next leap in golfing technology?

So, is stroke type officially dead? Well not yet, but it is on life support. People still collect cassette tapes and CD’s but when is the last time you actually saw somebody use one? So, keep collecting them if you want, but just know they will most likely be collecting dust just like your favorite Nirvana Teen Spirit CD.