Hi Geoff,

I read your article about fitting and noticed that my putter is too flat. Therefore, I went to the store to ask whether they could make my putter more upright, but they refused. Too much risk.

My pro also told me that he had bad experiences with bending a putter.

I currently have a Bettinardi bb8.

What do you think? Should I buy a new one? If so, where can I order one that comes from the factory with the right amount of lie angle ?

Greetings

Bastiaan van Slobbe

Dear Bastiaan,

I would suggest that you contact the company that sold you the putter and ask if they will allow you to trade it in for one with your lie. If they will not, then you might try contacting the manufacturer directly and ask them the same. In this case, the Bettinardi company has been absorbed by the Ben Hogan company, and no longer makes or sells the Bettinardi BB8 putter. However, Todd Schumaker has purchsed the Bettinardi inventory and offers these models remaining thru his TKS Putters. The bettinardi website also has a Forum and it may be useful to ask members of the Bettinardi Forum how you should proceed.

If that doesn't help, then you could perhaps sell the putter and buy another one with the proper lie for you. If that also does not help, you can try to find someone willing to bend your putter.

The trick to bending a putter is to apply heat to the mettal correctly so that the metal is malleable and bendable and then as it cools its structural integrity returns without stress or strain fractures or kinks in the metal. This is usually just a hollow steel shaft. It may be that the Bettinardi design presents a special problem because the putter head and hosel are all milled from a single block of metal.

I would also want to make sure your putter fitting was done correctly before going to all this trouble. Stroke and setup first, then putter fitting to your body and stroke.

Cheers!

Geoff Mangum
Putting Theorist and Instructor
Geoff Mangum's PuttingZone
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Hi Geoff,

Thanks for the great and fast responses!

I don't think Bettinardi will trade my old, used putter in for a new one. So I'll probably have to search for a company that sell's putter with the correct lie.
Do you know whether you can order a Titleist or Callaway putter with the correct lie angle?

Further, maybe you can give your opinion about the necessity of my intended change.

I read one of your articles which states that your arms should be hanging relaxedly. I checked mine, and they are about 4 inches too much towards my body. I feel like on the takeaway the putter wants to move away from me. I also feel like this is creating extra unnecessary tension. Do you agree that this are logical symptons? Is it worth buying a new putter?

Thanks again,

Bastiaan van Slobbe