Geoff,

I thought I would forward this site to you and I was wondering if you have seen anything on this grip and putting system. I also would be interested in your thoughts on the product. The web site is www.Purependulum.com

As the name indicates they are trying to help a player develop a pendullum swing. They suggest using it on a face balanced putter and the lie should be more upright 78 degrees versus the standard 72. They also suggest a shorter putter.

Dear David,

I am familiar with the founder of the company, Janis Zichmanis, from his recent profile in this July article:

Ted Johnson, Betting the House [Garage Geniuses who design putters and mortgage the house], Golf Digest (Jul 2004), no. 55(7): 122-24, 125, 128, 131 -- profiles of putter designers Janis Zichmanis (Pure Pendulum Putter), Walt Boettger (Straight 8 Golf's SteadiStroke Putter), Jim Weeks (SeeMore Putter), Alex Gammill (Railgun Putter), David Matthews (Arjun Putter), John Klyve (Clyve Putter), Phil Albenze (String Putter), Scotty Cameron, Bobby Grace, Karsten Solheim.

I agree about the shoulders starting level, and that's the idea behind evening up the two thumbs side-by-side on a wider grip. Also, a bigger grip tends to prevent the fingers from jumping into the stroke. I also like the squared edges for the lifelines of each palm. I'm not sure I'd interlock the second fingers the way suggested, but it's probably okay too.

The thing I'm not too sure about is having the putterhead in so close to the feet -- resulting from short length and upright lie. If you bend over enough, the shoulder sockets travel a little out over the balls of the feet, and this gets a short upright putter beneath the eyes looking straight out of the face. But if the bend in the torso is mild and the face of the golfer is tilted up off horizontal, as shown in the picture on the website, then the putter head tends to end up INSIDE the eyes (eyeslooking well down the nose and eyeballs positrioned out past the sweetspot), and that's not good.

It's just another case of folks not knowing about the straight gaze and how it has to fit into a setup, which dictates the putter specs.

The Pure Pendulum concept is pretty sound, and can be salvaged with a better notion of putter fitting.

I'd love to try the grip, and see how that works. Essentially, the grip form they suggest is the same as my "Two Pistoleros" grip but the interlocking allows the thumbs to sit more evenly on the top. You could have my thumb-ove-thumb grip form with a less-wide grip, using the same form they suggest. So the two grip forms are very close in concept and form.

Cheers!

Geoff Mangum
Putting Theorist and Instructor
Geoff Mangum's PuttingZone
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Hi Geoff. I registered with Pure Pendulum as a pro member and will be getting a sample grip to try this theory. With a little tweak in technique, certainly can adapt so the clubhead is inline with the eyes and not inside. I've got a Vons 801 370g center shafted mallet that will be perfect for this experiment. As a struggling putter, the concept seems pretty sound and felt good in rough trials....I'm curious to see how it actually pans out. The level shoulders feels so much more natural and comfortable adn the putter head does seem to really go online on the forestroke. Another bonus is the grip is 160 grams or so.....backweighting is standard equipment Hope to report back in a couple of weeks on initial impressions.

Thanks for all the resources on this site Geoff....almost gives me hope!

Hi Geoff. I registered with Pure Pendulum as a pro member and will be getting a sample grip to try this theory. With a little tweak in technique, certainly can adapt so the clubhead is inline with the eyes and not inside. I've got a Vons 801 370g center shafted mallet that will be perfect for this experiment. As a struggling putter, the concept seems pretty sound and felt good in rough trials....I'm curious to see how it actually pans out. The level shoulders feels so much more natural and comfortable adn the putter head does seem to really go online on the forestroke. Another bonus is the grip is 160 grams or so.....backweighting is standard equipment Hope to report back in a couple of weeks on initial impressions.

Thanks for all the resources on this site Geoff....almost gives me hope!