I picked up side saddle putting 9 months or so ago and will never go back
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I assume the answer is yes, but is Side Saddle putting legal?
Are you using a special putter like that Smart Putter or Positive Putter? I always found that method interesting since it allows you to look at your target like you do in other sports.
I’ve been kicking around the idea of side saddle for months now - mainly because it is just so intuitive. Right now I’m still conventional (reverse overlap grip - with left palm squarely facing target…I’m a lefty)…but have been putting so well with “Instinct Putting” ie…looking at the hole while putting, that I can’t leave it (yet). 
I am fascinated by side saddle though and may invest in a face-on putter just to play around…but please keep us posted on your endeavors. It just seems to make sense to me…like “instinct putting”…but as a lefty, I can’t just find any face-on putters around to try it out without investing $200-400.
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Yes, see 10.1c. You have to have both feet on the same side of the line of play, which disallows croquet-style putting, but not side-saddle.
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Wasn’t croquet style banned because someone thought Snead looked like an idiot while doing it?
I rolled a couple of putts with a side saddle putter at my local golf store (shout out, as always, to Golf Headquarters) and it’s fairly intuitive… but I felt like I’d have to put in a ton of work to get used to it… so instead I’m putting in a ton of work building up a better regular putting stroke!
I’m still working on my grip… one of my biggest changes was simply grabbing the putter with my right hand first… I’m trying various grips just to see what’s comfortable, but have mostly ended up with all 10 fingers on the club… I’ve tried reverse overlap and like it, but didn’t feel as connected to the putter.
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I’ve resisted buying a $450 putter until i was sure this was a long term thing. If you look hard enough on other forums, bobby grace putters are the most talked about and land in that price category. Honestly, any belly/long putter would work and you can either do the ebay thing and find a cheap one or just find a lower cost newer one to start. I haven’t tried the holloway putters but they get mentioned and are relatively cheap (https://holloways.homestead.com/long.html).
Having gone down this rabbit hole, the equipment rule that is most relevant is that putter shafts need to be 10 degrees or more off vertical. Some SS / face on people want to hold the shaft completely vertical so you have to get more specialized in the putter that tries to skirt the rules but still putt-able being held vertically (see the GP putter for instance). I started playing around with a pure vertical stroke but found holding the putter at “normal” 10 degree angle works just as well for me, so hence any belly putter could work.
The second criteria is loft – you tend to hit up on the ball more so many people recommend a 0 or close to 0 loft. That’s especially true if you try to hold the putter vertically so the loft gets putt at an angle you will naturally push your putt offline.
The third is the longer length – I don’t think you would find much long term luck putting SS with a 34" putter. Standing more upright and having your top hand act as a pendulum is pretty important. The rules state you need both feet on one side and you can’t anchor the putter to your body or anchor your forearm, but it’s perfectly legal to hold your top hand still during the stroke and use your other hand to direct the club.
The fourth criteria is weight – i think it’s easier to putt with a heavier putter. If I were hunting for my first SS putter, I’d make sure it was a 400g head or heavier. Maybe it’s a just personal preference of mine but it seems to be true of others who putt SS.
TL;DR - i’d recommend buying something cheap to start to try it out.
For me, it’s improved my putting significantly but it does take a bit of time to get distance control right. At this point, I’d never go back unless there is a new rule change to forbid it but I don’t think that it is likely to happen. I definitely make more short putts and my lag putting is better than ever (but I’ve been really focused on lag putting per the DECADE app so a lot of it just plain practicing it more). I’m pretty picky about changes like this so I spent the first 2 weeks doing circle drills from 5’ both traditional and SS and found my make rate went up quite a bit which gave me confidence that a longer trial period was warranted. I found for myself that I putted more “on line” but that my notion of how much break was required changed because I wasn’t compensating subconsciously anymore.
Some of it is personal to me – i’m naturally left handed and play golf right handed so being left eye dominant i think makes traditional putting harder. I putt SS left-handed which makes me even more of an outlier. I also get handsy with my putting and SS makes pushes/pulls less of a problem.
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It seems to me that this is the problem that Bryson had a few years back, he developed a putter and putting method where the shaft was nearly vertical. The USGA eventually disallowed the putter.
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That’s primarily why I dismissed the “putt it vertical” route – it sure seems that putters like the GP putter may end up getting on the non-conforming list and the part of SS that I find so appealing is having your straight down the target line and that you are essentially moving the club like an underhand throw. Both those attributes you can do with the shaft set at 80 degrees.
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Rumor is that Bobby Jones to the PGA commissioner and rules committee that he didn’t like the way Sam Snead looked…or maybe he didn’t like that he sunk everything in sight…hmm…
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Great insight. I’ve also looked at a few options - holloway being the cheapest. You just can’t really find any lefty long putters out there (in Utah at least) to experiment. So I’d likely start with the holloway (I think around $100-130).
I also looked at bomar, juanputt, bobby grace, thomas golf, etc.
Totally agree on weight, loft, and lie angle.
Ah that makes sense, that situation with Bryson is what came to mind for me as well. It wasn’t the stance but the equipment that drew the wrath of the USGA then?
I don’t remember that they said that specifically, at the time they cited a policy not to reveal details or reasoning of the decisions. But looking at that putter, and his use of it, he was using it pretty much vertically.
They deemed his putter was non-conforming.
If you get hollaway, let me know how you like it. I originally discounted the hollaway when i found it through googling because the website is pretty janky but it has come up more recently on other forums as a pretty high quality product from a small family business.
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Went from cross handed 10 finger to 10 finger “regular” and now overlap (right pinky in the crease between my left index and middle finger).
What really helped my putting was the sensation of keeping my upper arms glued to the side of my chest and rotating around my spine.
Good luck!
Will keep you posted. I contacted them as well with the same concerns and the person/owner was very responsive via email.
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The equipment ruling leaves open the question that if Bryson had taken a conforming putter and manipulated it grip it vertically, would that have been illegal? Unless one or many pros start having success with it forcing the rules bodies to answer the question, it’ll stay a gray area.
Even with the more traditional stance, Bryson’s putter is still at the maximum 80 degree lie angle and just visually I THINK he holds it even more upright, but not to such an extent that anyone has tried to call him on it that I know of.
This rule doesn’t tell you how to swing the club, only defines specific requirements of the club. He’s perfectly within the rules to stand the putter on its toe, other’s have done the same, although not with a putter as upright as the one Bryson uses. A club may have only one face intended to strike the ball (other than some dual-faced putters), but you are free to use the back side of the club to hit the ball if you choose. The only restrictions that I know of are on anchoring a club to the body, and on standing astride the intended line of play.
Yep, you need to have both feet on one side of the target line and for anchoring, you can’t anchor the club to your body or anchor your forearm to your body.
I find it highly unlikely they will make side saddle putting illegal-- at its core it’s just striking the ball with a very wide open stance and pros do it all the time for tap ins.
I do however think some putters designed for side saddle putting are very close to being non conforming especially if you start futzing around with lead tape to shift the sweet spot to hold it directly upright.
Off topic a little but I also found out you can’t have split grip on a putter that has a flat side; it must be round. Who knew?
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