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What is a Putter?

This seems like a simple question, mayhap even obvious, merely when you're setting out to create something different, something unique, you need to start with the basics.  For David Edel, that meant figuring out what a putter is supposed to do.  His reply was twofold: one) a putter is an aiming system.  2) a putter is a motion system.  With these principles established, he ready out to develop to best putter fitting system in golf.

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Edel'south Triad of Putting

In Edel'due south view, putting consists of iii things: Aim, Speed, and Path.  In the middle of that triangle, your light-green reading decisions be.  Those decisions are impacted by the three outer points, and those 3 outer points all influence each other.

If one piece is off – bad aim, for example – your speed and path need to compensate.  That leads you down a route of guesswork that will likely end in frustration and maybe a putter in the lake.  And since Edel's research has shown that only 3% of golfers tin accurately aim their current doodle, aim is where the fitting starts.

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First Impressions

When it comes to Edel putter fitting, yous'd exist hard pressed to find a better fitter than Matt Jones.  Matt is Edel's Master Fitter, responsible for training all the new Edel fitters.  I met him at Balderdash Valley Golf Gild in Woodstock, Illinois on a cute sunny day to larn more most Edel and find a new putter.

Every bit we drove up to the practice green, I saw the Edel doodle fitting system.  This compact ready houses a mix of head shapes, necks, and weights that allows for 22 million combinations, so every player can discover their perfect flat stick.  As with every top tier plumbing fixtures system I've seen, I was diddled away by the countless options, but I trusted my fitter to guide me through them in the all-time mode possible.

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The Plumbing equipment Part 1: Aim

Fitting for aim is the first slice of an Edel putter fitting.  At that place are a few reasons for this, simply chief among them is that Edel has constitute that aim stays consequent over fourth dimension.  That means once yous discover the putter you can aim correctly, it's yours for life.  A player with a doodle that they can't aim, however, aims inconsistently forever.

The set upwards for testing aim is simple and elegant – a black screen approximately half dozen feet from the player, a "cup" confronting the screen, a laser, and a mirror.  The player sets upward behind a ball with the mirror attached to their putter face.  When they feel that they're aimed at the cup, the fitter removes the ball and reveals where the doodle is really aimed.  If you accept an ego almost your aim, prepare to have it deflated: I found myself aiming everywhere from half-dozen inches left to a foot right, depending on the doodle in my hands.

The phrase that Matt Jones kept using during the plumbing fixtures was "matching feel to real." When standing over every putter, I felt that I was aimed at the hole.  The reality was that I was aiming wildly.  The fitting exposed that, so worked to help me observe a putter where my feel of aiming at the hole was real.

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How does Edel alter your aim?  Past changing the head shape, hosel, and alignment aids.  There are 3 heads in the Edel fitting arrangement ranging from a thin, square blade to a large, round mallet.  To that, add three different hosels – showtime, directly, and onset.  Finally, with the employ of a stencil and a dry erase mark, your fitter can put whatsoever combination of lines and dots on the doodle.  While Edel has learned some rules of thumb virtually aim over the years, every player is unique in how they will react to these different elements.  Sometimes two elements cancel each other out, other times they will act in concert to cause a role player to aim off the planet.

My aim fitting moved quickly with Matt Jones deftly changing necks, lines, and heads, constantly handing over a new putter, checking my aim, and making adjustments.  While it was fast, the procedure was anything just linear.  There were times where I felt like I was getting better and and so the side by side putter would take me aiming into the copse.  At one point I got a bit frustrated and asked, "How skilful is expert enough?  That was pretty good, right?"  Merely Matt doesn't fit for pretty good.  Throughout the process he was learning about my personal aim tendencies and didn't stop until nosotros institute a combination that got me aiming dead centre.

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Torque Balanced Putters & Pixl Inserts

I'thousand going to have a cursory interlude from the fitting to explain the Torque Balanced backdrop that make Edel putters look unique and perform unlike anything else.

A number of years ago, David Edel was testing different putters with a training aid that he built.  The aid was essentially a shaft that would rotate freely in whichever direction the putter head pulled it.  He found that every putter, even face up balanced ones, wanted to flop open during the stroke.  The reason for this is that nosotros measure toe hang while holding the putter parallel to the basis, but we putt with it on an inclined plane.

Knowing this, David set up out to build the Torque Balanced putter.  This required that the axis of rotation go through the center of the doodle and that the mass of the putter be evenly distributed.  This is why yous see all of the weight milled out of the toe. The hallmark of the Torque Balanced doodle is that information technology sits "toe upward" when held parallel to the ground and when it'southward in a playing position.  By removing torque from the putter, Edel has removed "toe hang" from the fitting equation.

Torque Balancing isn't the only technology in an Edel putter.  The Pixl confront insert, comprised of 93 individual Pixls, is designed to reduce the effects of mishits.  Where traditional putters drop 8-10% ball speed on a mishit, Pixl cuts that to ane-two%.  Translation: knee knocking 2nd putts become gimmes.  It also has the effect of dampening impact and making the putter experience incredibly soft.

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The Plumbing equipment Part 2: Weight

Dorsum to the fitting.  With the caput shape, cervix, and alignment aids in identify, we moved to finding the correct weighting. While other manufacturers may allow you lot to arrange the caput weight, Edel goes 2 steps farther past varying the counterweighting in the grip and using Opti-Vibe inserts in the shaft.

The weight plumbing fixtures starts by checking your current fix up.  Matt Jones placed a string xv anxiety from me and asked me to ringlet v putts to the line.  You can see the initial results above – a huge dispersion.  This is a huge problem.  Hit an approach to 15 feet is a big accomplishment, and information technology ought to result in a real birdie chance with a tap-in par at worst.  What I saw was that I was non getting the brawl to the pigsty most of the time, and I was often leaving a lot of work for the 2d putt.

Again, Matt Jones went to work swapping in head weights, counter weights, and Opti-Vibes.  Some set ups were dismissed later on one putt, others were given the full five balls to show whether or not they worked.  I assumed that over fourth dimension I would get ameliorate at putting to the cord because I was continuing there doing it a lot.  Wrong.  The changes in weight and weight placement were so substantial that every series of putts felt like something totally new.

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While it might seem that all these options would cause a lot of confusion, when the correct combination clicked, nosotros both knew it immediately.  My stroke flowed better and the results improved markedly.  You tin meet the winning dispersion above: birdie putts that got to the hole and, if they didn't do in, would cause my playing partners to say my favorite words, "That's good."

During the weight plumbing fixtures, I also learned about my putting stroke.  This kind of learning is the hallmark of great fittings, in my experience.  Matt Jones explained that at that place are two types of putters: radial accelerators and linear accelerators.  While I don't experience qualified to explain the difference, I learned that for the concluding few years I'd been fighting what Matt saw every bit my natural mode.  I'm really excited to get on the greens with this new understanding and a apartment stick that's correctly weighted for my natural stroke.

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Conclusion

With all my specs determined, the only things left to decide were the cosmetics.Edel offers a few different finishes, custom stamping, and custom paintfill.  I fabricated my choices and prepared for nearly ii weeks of staring out the window waiting for the commitment.

Yous may be thinking, "All this sounds corking, Matt, simply I bet information technology costs a fortune."  If it did, information technology would be justified.Edel'southward putter fitting process is the all-time I've e'er experienced, and I've been through more than than a few.  The putters are unique technical marvels, and each one is made to lodge by master craftsmen in the U.s..  But the truth is, you can get a custom fit Edel doodle – head shape, alignment aids, stamping, pigment fill up, weighting, grip, etc all of your choosing – for $375 (fitting cost may vary; Matt Jones doesn't charge for fittings).  That's non cheap, but it'south the same cost yous'd pay for an off the rack Scotty Cameron.  To say there'southward no comparison betwixt a custom fit Edel and a Scotty Cameron is a wild understatement.

If you're ready to take a massive step frontward in both understanding your putting and existence a better putter, schedule a plumbing fixtures with your local Edel fitter today.  It will be the best 45 minutes you lot ever spend on your game.

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Matt is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Plugged In Golf. He's worked in nearly every task in the golf game industry from club fitting to pedagogy to writing and speaking. Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and ii daughters.