I will take Geoffs word for it that the Symple putter is a good one,, But the demonstration on the site was a joke.. First he putts with his own putter , then lays a shaft down lined up correctly and then makes putts.. If anybody has done this, they know how much better they putt stroking it next to a lined up shaft.
Yes, you are absolutely right about the video clip. I wish they had done a little more filming and included what happens when the person aims without any help. I will say that the underlying idea of a putter that is SUPPOSED to send the ball wherever it aims is quite important and a good step forward, and that this happens best with a minimal technique for movement that is a) consistent and repeating, and b) designed to send the ball wherever the putter has been aimed. Only when the golfer tries to putt where the putter aims and gets some success with that will he a) settle down to a simple repeating technique and movement, and b) start to receive true feedback for the first time ever about the accuracy of his aiming. because the Symple stroke technique is so simple to learn for mid- to high-handicap golfers, this putter and technique will really help them learn the consistency of a stroke motion and a lot about accurate aiming. That covers well over 80-90% of ALL golfers.
Even though the clip does not give the info we would really want to see, I'm quite sure that the initial misses by Jack Youngblood were caused to a significant extent by poor stroke technique. Even if there was a shaft for aiming with his usual putter and conventional stroke, it is not likely he would have sunk more than 2-3 out of ten at most, based on what I saw (1 out of 10, with 5 misses left, 4 misses right, 8 misses way long, and 1 miss just short). That pattern at the farthest past the hole appeared to have a left-right scatter of about 1.5 feet or 18 inches at 5' past or 17' from the initial ball position. That is 9 inches left or right of a center line for the putt at a distance of 204 inches or so. The error in the line of the putts is therefore arctan(9/204) = 2.5 degrees left or 2.5 degrees right. I don't really think Youngblood's aim was swinging from side to side over a 5-degree range from 12 feet away from the hole. Most people mis-aim to one side or the other predominately. if you compare Youngblood's body action in the conventional stroke versus the Symple technique, you will see that he has a much calmer and more still body with the Symple technique. With the conventional putter, he was moving his lower body and head all over in a bad way, but with the Symple technique he was paying attention to the soling of the putter and then making the wrist hinge. He was watching his hands and was not concerned to watch the hole or peek after the putt. So his stroke was indeed better with the Symple putter, and it does not really appear his aim was the problem in the conventional style.
In my personal case, I allow many many putters (some old, some new, some banged up and some bruised) to compete for my liking. And the Symple Putter jumped right in and climbed on up. I'd love to see what I could do with this putter with a conventional lie angle. So, my judgment: "one of the few very nice putters marketed today." Easily top 10, along with Rife, Yes, TaylorMade Rossa, Edel, Positive Putter, Bob Koch's new Medicus Revolver Putter, and a few others.
Geoff ... I have viewed their videos and I come to the conclusion that this wrist action putting is a torqued putting stroke .. no or negligible gravity assistance.
I would question the use of this putting method in these situations:
1. An obese golfer with a protruding belly and spindly legs. Symple putting might present an anatomical challenge to these (60% of the population) golf attempters. (I am not obese .. more like slender you.)
2. I have a low shaft lie putter and I tried the Symple putting stroke. It works reasonably well on short putts but on longer putts it deteriorates. By stabilizing the lead upper hand on the lead leg thigh, the putting stroke geometry is not of a pendulum, but of a sweeping arcing stroke. The farther back you arc stroke the greater is your inaccuracy to strike the ball on the correct tangent. This is why Symple putting may be effective for shorter putts but not for longer putts which require more torque to move the putter head on an arc stroking path.
For longer putts, additional wrist torque is required if the stroking length is to be kept under control, and this requires exquisite wrist control.
Another way to compensate for extreme arcing and excessive torquing, is to add shoulder rotation in an unnatural sequence of (a)rotate shoulders, (b)start stroking action back, (c)rotate shoulders to ball, and then (d)initiate the downstroke with the wrists ... and all the while keeping your lead hand planted on your thigh. This requires delaying the wrist action and unduly complicating the putting stroke.
Perhaps you or the proponents of Symple putting can respond to my quick conclusions.
"Geoff ... I have viewed their videos and I come to the conclusion that this wrist action putting is a torqued putting stroke .. no or negligible gravity assistance."
True, I agree.
"I would question the use of this putting method in these situations:
1. An obese golfer with a protruding belly and spindly legs. Symple putting might present an anatomical challenge to these (60% of the population) golf attempters. (I am not obese .. more like slender you.)"
Agreed, it MAY pose a challenge in that one body type with the large gut.
"2. I have a low shaft lie putter and I tried the Symple putting stroke. It works reasonably well on short putts but on longer putts it deteriorates. By stabilizing the lead upper hand on the lead leg thigh, the putting stroke geometry is not of a pendulum, but of a sweeping arcing stroke. The farther back you arc stroke the greater is your inaccuracy to strike the ball on the correct tangent. This is why Symple putting may be effective for shorter putts but not for longer putts which require more torque to move the putter head on an arc stroking path.
For longer putts, additional wrist torque is required if the stroking length is to be kept under control, and this requires exquisite wrist control."
The Symple Putter folks agree with you also, I think. As with any fixed pivot point style, limiting the total action of the body is pretty much guaranteed to hamper "touch" for longer putts -- sort of like throwing the "bomb" for a Hail-Mary spiral pass with a bathrobe sash tying the elbows together. This is a problem with the belly putter and the long putter as well. Billy Casper wrote that his "wrist-only" style grew to incorporate arms action as the putts grew longer.
A more important point to note is the sure-to-come day when golfers routinely or at least in large numbers carry more than one putter in the bag. It makes no sense at all to carry three wedges and four metal woods (driver, 3, 5, rescue/hybrid) and not at least two putters, if two putters help one golfer more effectively than one putter. So golfers with thigh putting, belly putting, or broomstick putting styles and putters probably should carry a conventional putter also, using the conventional putter whenever the occasion suits, as it may well suit on long lag putts or putts on steep slope.
"Another way to compensate for extreme arcing and excessive torquing, is to add shoulder rotation in an unnatural sequence of (a)rotate shoulders, (b)start stroking action back, (c)rotate shoulders to ball, and then (d)initiate the downstroke with the wrists ... and all the while keeping your lead hand planted on your thigh. This requires delaying the wrist action and unduly complicating the putting stroke."
You can also just make a normal inside-arcing backstroke and then fix the arms and wrists in relation to the chest and rotate the whole upper body with a hip rotation that re-squares the putter face and sends the ball off straight on line. I quite enjoy doing this sort of putting occasionally, just to see how well I can re-square the putter face and shift-slide the torso sending the putter face down the target line.
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
PuttingZone Coach and Theorist
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