Is This The Future Of Putter Shafts?

Just Another Putter Invention?

One of the things that always amazes me in the golf equipment industry is the overwhelming amount of putter and putting stroke inventions put out year after year.  There has never seemed to be a shortage of gimmicky inventions regarding this most changed club in the bag.  If you need proof…all you have to do is go to a practice round of a PGA event on any given week or just head down to Orlando in January for the annual PGA Show to see exactly what I mean. I would say the ratio is somewhere around 25 to 1 when comparing it to other club inventions.

Why is this?  Well simply put….because they sell.  I from time to time go back into a stack of old golf magazines that I have around the office just to read to get a sense of how the game has changed or for inspiration.  And one thing always seems to become quite apparent rather quickly…and that is that putter inventions have ALWAYS been big sellers.  Not just for amateurs but pro golfers as well are always looking for a way to get it in the hole a little quicker.

Gimmick (or) Sent From The Golf Gods?

Another surprising point about putter inventions is how quickly they can go from being a tour sensation and worldwide hit to never being heard of or seen again in a short period of time.  Some of these pros go from swearing a putter invention is the cure to all their putting woes and using them week in and week out on tour to giving them the cold shoulder and endorsing another gimmick only weeks later.

This is one of the reasons you don’t see many putter inventions being highlighted on MyGolfSpy.  We get sent ones all the time but rarely do we find one that we think might stick in the industry for more then a season. But from time to time one will come along that we see a bright future for and one of those came across my desk a couple weeks ago.  So I spent a couple weeks talking it over with some other designers and fellas in the industry to see what they thought before we decided to write a post on this particular putter invention.

GolfScienceTechnology.com – New Putter Shaft Tech!

This new putter technology was designed by the guys at GolfScienceTechnology.com.  And it is based around the theory of the adjustability of the putter shaft in relation to distance control with putts.  Distance control on putts is one of the two major issues golfers have with putting…the other being proper aim.  So what this technology will allow you to do is adjust the feel of your putter for different speed conditions on different courses.

For example you might be putting on a course where the greens are slow today (7 on Stimpmeter) and tomorrow you could be putting on a course with much faster greens (12 on Stimpmeter).  A major adjustment would need to be made when putting on those two course.  Which for many golfers can take almost a whole round to get adjusted to.  So…wouldn’t it be nice to never have to adjust your stroke for any type of green?  Well that is what GolfScienceTechnology.com is hoping to do for your game with this new invention.

The Adjustable Weight Golf Shaft

Now you might be saying. “Ahhh…enough with all this adjustable golf gear.”  And I understand what you mean sometimes…but get used to it because it is here to stay.  And the reason is because there are benefits for both the manufacturer and the golfer when it comes to adjustable golf equipment.   Now this is not the first adjustable shaft weight technology when it comes to putter shafts.  There is Balance-Certified and Tour Lock Pro although both these technologies focus on the counter-balancing of weight in a golf shaft.  Where the GolfScienceTechnology.com invention focuses on different slots along the putter shaft that weights can be placed to effect the moment of inertia or momentum of the putter head.  Which in theory when adjusted can be used to help you putt on greens that range from slow, medium or fast greens.

The Future For This Technology

So…will you see this on every green anytime soon?  Most likely not.  Well at least not from the company who invented it.  Why?  Well for one reason the price is much to high…the $175 price tag will more then likely price themselves right out of ever becoming a household item.  But at $19.99 I think it is something many golfers would give a shot.  Also I feel that they will need to make it as similar to the standard putter shaft as possible…similar in diameter, finish, look and feel.  This is what most golfers are used to seeing and will create less of a hurdle for golfers to try the product.  The feel from a shaft like this with a bigger diameter would be less then attractive and the obstruction of looking down at a larger diameter shaft would be a tough sell to the average golfer as well.

But just because it might not take off from the original inventor does not mean you won’t start seeing this elsewhere.  I do think you might see a big shaft manufacturer or possibly a putter company (take a guess) give this a shot.  In theory the concept is sound and when you think about all the other things that get endorsed by the pros we had to admit that this has just as much and in my opinion more merit then the majority of the other devices you see out there.

P.S.

So what do you think?  How would you improve the technology?  Would you give it a try at $19.99?

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