[Photo: Andy Buchanan]
Q: Do I really need to be thinking about getting a specific flex in the shaft of a putter?
A: Does the flex of a driver shaft matter? Irons? Wedges? We get it – most golfers think they are stuck with whatever shaft comes with the putter. Fair enough. However, all putter shafts are not created equal. Some are board-stiff, and others have some “play” to them.
The shaft of a putter can play a significant role in how well a player performs on the greens. In his prime, Tiger Woods never changed the shaft of his Scotty Cameron by Titleist putter as he was leery of altering the feel. More recently, Bryson DeChambeau has talked about the stiff feel of the shaft he uses in his putter. Let’s also not forget Kevin Na, who switched to LA Golf’s Stability shaft – an extremely stiff graphite model – and set a PGA Tour record with 558 feet and 11 inches of putts made in winning the 2019 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. At the time, Na said, “It’s a very stiff shaft. It’s stiffer than steel, and it’s given me the consistency of good speed.”
These elite players are looking at the whole club and how all the components affect performance. Most golfers are drawn to certain putterheads, but they also are drawn to certain shafts depending on their feel – whether they know it or not. Corey Pavin, for example, used a Bulls Eye putter with a very soft shaft for more than 30 years. “I’ve been putting with it for so long, I don’t know what I’d do if I had to re-shaft it. It just wouldn’t be the same. Not even close,” Pavin said. What he knew by instinct most golfers need to build into the putter-fitting process.
The takeaway here is that just like shaft flexes in drivers and irons and wedges, there is a shaft flex in the putter that works best for each golfer. That’s why a putter fitting can be every bit as valuable as a driver fitting, especially since you use a putter a lot more often than you hit a driver. If you must self-fit, try a wide variety of putter-shaft models. Feel is the tangible intangible in golf: only you know the right feel for you on the greens. Take the time to find it.
