FIRST LOOK – The Odyssey eyeFIT Putter Fitting Mirror

“Ain’t nobody got time for that.”

(by Golfspy Dave)  Putter fitting, who needs it?  We all know that many average golfers get “fit” for a putter by grabbing one that they like the looks of in the shop, rolling a few balls on the carpet, checking the price, and then taking it to the course.  Don’t start in on your SAM lab fitting specs and the hours that you spent choosing your putter’s features with your pro.

If you visit this site, you probably are not the average golf consumer.  Think about Joe and Jane golfer though.  Do they use the SAM lab?  Did they buy the cradle to use the iPING app on their phone?  Average golfer says “Ain’t nobody got time for that.”  Seriously, isn’t picking a putter all about choosing one that you like the looks of, those looks inspiring confidence, and that confidence will naturally translating into made putts?  Isn’t that how we also shop for clothes?  “I like the look of them trousers.  Try them on, you ask?  Not necessary.  They look so good I know that they will fit and make me look great.”

A Putter Fitting = A Putter That Fits

Get fit, get fit, get fit.  That has been a common theme on MyGolfSpy for a long time (forever?).  We all know that we play better with custom fitted gear, just like we look better in a tailored suit (or dress).

We know this, and yet many golfers will only bag 13 custom-fitted clubs, with the putter being selected for more emotional/less-scientific reasons.  Why is this the case?

Maybe it’s a perception that putter fitting is not really necessary, that fittings are too expensive, or that the resulting data (SAM) is just too complicated.  I think that PING introducing the iPING putting app and cradle represented a major step in educating the golfing masses about putter fitting.  Buy the cradle, download the app, and learn something new about swing path and how it relates to your suggested style of putter.  Again, I think that this was a huge advance in putter fitting, but it was still something that was too complicated for average golfer.  Cheap average golfer was not going to buy the cradle anyway.  iPING made putter fitting more accessible, but still not quite to the level needed for Joe and Jane.  Then came Odyssey’s eyeFIT.

K.I.S.S.

That is one of my favorite abbreviations and credos in life.  Keep it simple, stupid.  As soon as something becomes too complicated, like many putter fitting tools, then it probably causes the average golfer to tune out.  Not you, because again your reading articles on this site screams not average.  However, Mr. Dropping-By-Dick’s-Real-Quick-To-Buy-A-Putter wants things to be really simple, and fast. There in lies the beauty of the Odyssey eyeFIT system, it couldn’t be faster or more simple.  Seriously simple.  Here are the steps for finding the putter that fits you:

Ask Yourself These Questions:

There is no cradle to attach, app to download, sensor to calibrate, moving parts, need for someone in the shop to help, or any other complexity.  Ask yourself these questions:

:: Can you hold a putter?
:: Can you address a ball with that putter?
:: Can you look down?
:: Do you know which parts of your face are the eyes?
:: Can you count to four?

If you answered no to any of these questions, then I hope that you didn’t drive a car to the course.  Your car is a million times more complicated (and dangerous) than Odyssey’s eyeFIT system.  You walk up to the mirror, take a comfortable address stance, then look down to see where your eyes line up on the mirrored sections.  It’s so easy, you can almost do it through the computer monitor.  Here’s the whole chart, try it…

The chart was developed by Odyssey putter gurus, like Austie Rollinson, by looking at the correlation between tour players’ eye positions over the ball and the positions of the hosels on their putters.  Eye position and hosel position should be in sync if one is to have the best chance of making putts.  Each dash on the chart represents the movement of the hosel toward the rear of the putter.

What also happens, of course, is that when the hosel moves further toward the rear, the toe hang of the putter increases.  Intuitively, you can also look at the eye lines and know that someone putting from line four will likely require more of an arcing stroke than someone at line one.  The eyeFIT sets up a simple visual correlation between swing arc and toe hang, without the consumer ever having to know what those are, let alone what a hosel is and how moving a hosel changes the putter.

Instead, they go.  “I see my eyes.  I need a two dash putter.”  Both the Versa line and the White Hot Pro putter lines have the dashes on the bottom.  The consumer then just chooses the model with the correct number of dashes that they like the best.  It’s a simple way to find the right putter and a great way for Odyssey to sell even more putters.

But What About…?

I know, I know, there are other putter features that should be addressed if one is to have a truly comprehensive putter fitting.  The eyeFIT does not provide all of the data that you would get from a complete fitting, and that is its simple genius.

A golfer who wants all of the intricacies and nuances of his putting stroke to go into his putter might want to consider making an appointment with a master fitter and puttersmith, maybe like a David Edel.  I think that there are over a million possible putter configurations on his fitting cart.  The resulting putter will be truly custom fit.

However, I don’t think that Odyssey envisions the eyeFIT carving out a piece of that full-custom market.  Instead,  Odyssey’s eyeFIT enables the unwashed masses of previously un-putter-fitted golfers to make a simple step toward playing the correct club on the green.  Joe and Jane’s games just got a little bit better simply by standing over a mirror and looking down. That’s the eyeFIT genius.