Dear Spencer,
The general rule is that for every inch you cut off a putter, the swingweight becomes lighter by 7 points (thereabouts). So if you depend upon the feeling in your fingers to sense the location of the putterhead during the stroke, the putter will "seem" lighter. In fact, the ball will still get hit by the same amount of mass in the putterhead, so that really won't matter unless it messes your timing up. The shorter putter will usually require a longer stroke if you want to keep your same tempo, because a shorter putter compared to a longer putter with the same tempo doesn't generate the same putterhead speed at impact. So in order to get the shorter putter to send the ball the same old distance for the same length stroke, you will be subtly encouraged to quicken your tempo. It's really just like moving the bob shorter on a metronome, which speeds up the pace.
To keep things the old way, the choice will be to add weight to the putter overall (sand in the shaft or weight in the handle or tape on the putterhead); lengthen the stroke or quicken the pace; rely less on feel in the hands and more on consistency of tempo and shoulder-style stroke pattern.
Thanks for asking, and let me hear back from you. Cheers!
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Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Theorist and Instructor
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