Putter balance technology

Equipment
#1

In my quest to become a great putter, I’m currently headed down the rabbit hole of putter technology. Jon’s rave review of SeeMore putters sent me there and I’m currently devouring their Putting Couch podcast. They have great insight on that show.

Which leads me to this topic: SeeMore has a technology called “Face Balanced at Impact”. Edel has its torque balanced putters. Some putters have varying degrees of toe hang. Others are face balanced.

I grew up playing Anser style blades, and believe in a slight arc, rather than straight back straight through (not natural) or strong arc (too inconsistent). I’ve tried the big MOI face balanced putters but I just seem to fight them the whole time: I want to go one way, they want to go another.

I’m intrigued by SeeMore’s Face Balanced at Impact technology. It seems to be claiming similar benefits to Edel’s torque balance technology, but the Edel putters hang toe up, which doesn’t seem to be the case for SeeMore’s FBAI. Can anyone explain the difference?

So: what have you experimented with? What do you prefer? What are the pros and cons of each style?

#2

I went through the Edel fitting and played an Edel putter for four years. The first thing for me is to just get the ball started on the intended line and I’ve never had a putter that made it easier than my Edel Torque Balanced E-1.

I switched because my stroke got funky, but I’m probably going back to it for the end of my tournament season this year. I love it.

The fitting process alone was incredibly informative and when you finally get the final product in your hands it truly feels like an extension of you.

Count me as a recommendation to give them a try.

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#3

Devon that’s a great question. I’m going to try and get someone from SeeMore on here to help explain.

From my own experience, I will say that a lot of their claims on how they design their putters to have a gentle arc are accurate. When you’re practicing with a SeeMore you can see if the putter shaft remains in the bullseye, which will mean you’re producing the stroke that’s intended. Also, their putting mirror is one of the most underrated training aids in the industry. I’ve joked with their CEO several times that I think it’s the best one out there, but no one really knows about it!

I haven’t used an Edel yet, but I also hear tremendously great feedback about their equipment in general.

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#4

A bit of advice from someone who’s failed on this journey a few times. First, there is no magical “technology” in a putter. Every putter is designed with a feature or two to help mitigate your miss or flaw. Directional, velocity, mechanical or (D) all of the above. First take some time understand your miss or flaw. Left miss, right miss, leave it short or long. Active right hand, flipping, cutting across. Find a green with a 10 ft straight putt and do it over a couple of days and move around the hole. Take notes and understand your dispersion. Add a bit of footspray to the face. Where are you making contact. Also take some video (front for alignment, ball position, mechanical and rear for arc, path). These data sets will help you better understand what you need from a putter and what you need to work on. Having this will help you if you go into a fitting and walk away with a putter that will improve your chances to score.

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#5

I never have tried an Edel putter but have been a SeeMore user for about 7 years.

Does FBAI work as they say it does? I personally could not tell you definitively but it certainly gives me a piece of mind that, without user manipulation, the putter face is square at impact. The interesting thing is that their FBAI putters have varing toe hangs from traditionally face balanced (ONEss) to full toe hang (mFGP SS). I have had probably 7 or 8 different SeeMore models over the years and, to me, the FBAI feature seems to work best with the FGP head shape.

I recently went through a putter fitting at Club Champion and the recommendation was that I use a face balanced blade putter to deter the high level of face rotation in my stroke. The 2 putters the fitter showed me that would be good for me were the SeeMore ONEss and SeeMore m7x. After he showed me those, he said that because of SeeMore’s unique FBAI head balancing, that really any of the FBAI models would work well for me. Pretty big relief for me and my wallet since I already has 4 SeeMore FBAI putters at home.

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#6

These are worth a look, the technology appears to be unique to them and ive seen some people who love them…

If you can find a demo near you, it’s worth a shot. I was unwilling to take a $500 flyer on a putter.

#7

Another way to balance the putter! :exploding_head: Now Lie Angle Balance definitely seems tone the same thing as Face Balanced at Impact, yet both are proprietary. Anyone know the difference??

Good points above about there being no magical solution. Loved hearing Henny’s experience with FBAI. I’m definitely intrigued!

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#8

Lab will claim they are the only truly “balanced” putter on the market… basically their design wants to stay square at all times. They claim they have the only 0 torque putter in market.

They have something called the revealer that shows what different putters do during a swing… it’s actually pretty interesting.

#9

I’ve been so interested in the LAB putter for the exact reason you mention @Craigers, the demo. It looks like it makes sense the club does all of the rotating and stays square no matter what you do with your swing. However, like you, I want to be fitted or at least hold it before just throwing down the $500. @jon have you any experience with these?

#10

Yeah, I went on a freaking quest to find a demo and still failed… They had a country club near my work listed as a “demo” facility… called and they had no idea what I was talking about… went to the next name on the list, a guy 90 miles away from me… he had a putter fit for him, but not a demo and wasn’t sure why he was listed… Called Indianapolis, they didn’t know what I was talking about… happened to be near the PGA Superstore in Indy, walked in and they didn’t have any…

My current club pro is thinking about getting certified in them… so I’ll hopefully have access to one next year. A new putter is on my back burner for now, as my current putter just got adjusted to fit me better and I haven’t actually played a round with it to see if it improves my results.

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#11

I’ve never had a formal putter fitting and also haven’t used a SeeMore or Edel.

I had a no toe hang putter and have gone to one with just a little toe hang.

I think the only way I’d go get fit for a putter is if I’m dropping the $$$ on a scotty. What I have feels good and seem to roll true so I’m going to stick with it.

#12

Well keep me updated. Still don’t know a single person who has used them and most people haven’t even heard of them for that matter. I go back to the ball argument, if one is so superior than another everyone on tour would be using them. So I’m assuming the same for this putter. But…the technology is neat and I’m a technology wh0r3.

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#13

It’s hard to say one putter is unequivocally better than another. With modern tech all of them are great. Overall, I view any equipment as a refinement to your game. The true breakthroughs will come through your skill level on the greens.

I think you have to do your best to have your own putting system and believe in it. For me, it’s been combining AimPoint and SeeMore. That might not work for others, though.

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#14

I actually used one of the BLADs. My cousin bought one. Obviously not built to my specs, but I liked it… felt like you’d be automatic from 4 feet and in.

In terms of the pros, I feel like this sort of tech is more designed for those of us who don’t spend 10,000 hours honing our stroke… though I do wonder if Bryson tried one!

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#15

I had Dave Phillips fit me for a new Scotty Cameron putter and it felt like I was born with it in my hands.

#16

Got a putter fitting at Cog Hill (Kevin Weeks) about 10 years ago. Though it was worthwhile. He thought my Two Ball needed more loft, so I had Dennis Piant (now has Cool Clubs franchise in northern suburbs of Chicago) do the work. I have a Heavy Putter in my AZ set in Mom’s garage, so I had Dennis add a Tungsten rod to my Two Ball – get lots of funny looks from caddies when they grab my putter. Like the way the extra weight feels in my hands.

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#17

Thanks for note. Below is a how we talk about face balanced at impact. It has been a part of SeeMore’s technology since the inception of the company back in the 90’s. All of our center shaft/near center shaft blade and small mallet putters have face balanced at impact. Others refer to face balanced at impact as torque balanced, balance to plane, lie angle balance.

Click link to watch video.

Face Balanced At Impact
This putter incorporates the dynamic benefit of “Face Balanced at IMPACT” also called “square to plane” or “balanced to plane”. Putters in this category consist of blades and small mallets hosting a straight center shaft or near center shaft design. They help the golfer develop an improved putting stroke and have the ability to continually improve with guidance from a SPi instructor or SeeMore tech manual or video. SeeMore’s optimal designs are Face Balance at IMPACT putters.

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#18

thanks for jumping in guys!

#19

No worries. Appreciate the support!

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#20

Ok, ok, ok!!! I went to golf galaxy today and behold, they had a full display of @SeeMorePutters Now before this week I’ve only seen or heard of them a handful of times. I messed with the Si3 and Lordy did I fall in love. Now, let’s just remember, I was just fitted about three months ago for a putter, so I know now that I need at least 15-30° open because I have a tendency to shut the face at impact. So Si3 and FGP mallet meets the criterium of that. I am not one who cares what the putter looks like when I look down at it, I care more about the feel. The Si3 is a thing of beauty and it’s pretty easy to square. The little white lines with :red_circle: between them is brilliant. You know if your face is open or closed and you don’t need to do anything after you set up, except fire and forget. Now because I just spent the money on a new custom fitted putter I couldn’t get myself to pull the trigger, yet! I will add that to the bag though in a few months and have the fitted putter for a back up. Side note: it was a good thing I didn’t spend the $275 as I went to Costco and walked out spending an unexpected $312. Hahahaha. I know why the seemore’s are all the buzz now though.