Counterbalanced putters are leading well-known pros to victory.
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Want to improve your putting? Look into trying the hottest type of putter on tour right now — a counterbalanced putter.
Counterbalance putters aren’t new to golf, but they’ve quickly overtaken headlines and gained popularity since the recent wins by Viktor Hovland, Wyndham Clark and Lucas Glover.
These putters are making waves on Tour, and now everyone wants one. But, what does it actually mean to ‘counterbalance’ a putter?
As in most aspects of golf, it seems complicated, but it’s just a bit of simple physics.
Essentially, it’s a method of further distributing the weight of the putter to the grip side to help put more mass in your hands by adding an additional 3-5″ of shaft length and an extra long 17″ grip.
Viktor Hovland uses the counterbalanced Ping PLD DS 72 mallet putter.John Adams/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Distributing the weight of the putter more evenly across the length of the shaft helps create more clubface awareness going into your putting which will (if executed properly) make the ball ultimately roll, well … better.
PING 2023 DS72 Putter
PING 2023 DS72 Custom Putter
Fit for straight and slight-arc stroke types, the DS72 has a shallow milled face to deliver a firmer feel and consistent ball speed with pleasing acoustics. A platinum topline contrasts against the black cavity where a white alignment line and ball-width cavity floor focus the eye. The more squared off will be aesthetically pleasing to the mid-mallet player.The new PING putters all have one thing in common – precision performance on putts of every distance. Everything else is different. From firmer milled faces to soft feeling inserts, simple alignment aids to eye-pleasing color blocking, high MOI blades to multi-material mallets, each model is individually designed to achieve the proper balance of feel and forgiveness in a confidence-inspiring look that leads to more consistency on the greens. With 10 models in all, they leverage the best of PING putters from the past and present with an eye on making more putts in the future.
A MODEL TO FIT EVERY GOLFER
Each model is individually designed to achieve the proper balance of feel and forgiveness in a confidence-inspiring look. Choose from high MOI blades and multi-material mallets.
TECHNOLOGY YOU CAN FEEL
From firm milled faces to soft feeling inserts, the line-up is engineered to match a variety of feel preferences and deliver the control and consistency on putts of every length.
ALIGNED FOR ACCURACY
Single alignment cues or multiple lines combine with eye-pleasing color blocking to match your eye for confidence where it matters most.
Counterbalanced putters, further explained by Ryan Barath
Here’s how Ryan Barath from the Fully Equipped podcast explains the science behind counterbalanced putters, which you can read more about here.
Quite simply, it’s a putter that has a longer overall length to help create extra stability compared to a standard-length putter. This extra length, which is usually paired with a larger and heavier oversized grip helps place more mass towards the golfer’s hands to counteract a heavier putter head and assist in building a smoother putting stroke.
The reason behind this is if a putter head is too heavy compared to the rest of the putter, most golfers will struggle with distance control, and having more mass near the hands (counterbalancing) allows the head to be heavier and increases head stability while also creating more control over the head.
Rickie Fowler and Wyndham Clark faced each other at the U.S. OpenGetty Images
To take this out of the golf space and conceptualize it in a different way — imagine a broom. If you hold it at the very end of the handle and point the bristle end up and move it side to side it feels relatively hard to control. Now if you hold the bristle end of the same broom that handle is a lot easier to move because you have moved the mass of the object closer to your hands. The mass of the broom hasn’t actually changed but how it feels because of where that mass is placed relative to you makes all the difference.
Customize a Counterbalanced Putter Fairway Jockey
Shop custom built counterbalanced putters from top brands like Odyssey, Ping, and TaylorMade.
This also improves tempo. And, considering tempo is one of the biggest issues golfers struggle with, especially on shorter putts, a counter-balanced putter can really help inside 6 feet — and who wouldn’t love to make a few more short ones?
Shop More Counter Balanced Putters
Viktor Hovland’s Winning Counterbalanced Putter
PING 2023 DS72 Custom Putter
Fit for straight and slight-arc stroke types, the DS72 has a shallow milled face to deliver a firmer feel and consistent ball speed with pleasing acoustics. A platinum topline contrasts against the black cavity where a white alignment line and ball-width cavity floor focus the eye. The more squared off will be aesthetically pleasing to the mid-mallet player.The new PING putters all have one thing in common – precision performance on putts of every distance. Everything else is different. From firmer milled faces to soft feeling inserts, simple alignment aids to eye-pleasing color blocking, high MOI blades to multi-material mallets, each model is individually designed to achieve the proper balance of feel and forgiveness in a confidence-inspiring look that leads to more consistency on the greens. With 10 models in all, they leverage the best of PING putters from the past and present with an eye on making more putts in the future.
A MODEL TO FIT EVERY GOLFER
Each model is individually designed to achieve the proper balance of feel and forgiveness in a confidence-inspiring look. Choose from high MOI blades and multi-material mallets.
TECHNOLOGY YOU CAN FEEL
From firm milled faces to soft feeling inserts, the line-up is engineered to match a variety of feel preferences and deliver the control and consistency on putts of every length.
ALIGNED FOR ACCURACY
Single alignment cues or multiple lines combine with eye-pleasing color blocking to match your eye for confidence where it matters most.
Robert Bettinardi is proud to introduce the all-new Studio Stock 35 to the 2023-2024 Studio Stock line! This compact mallet offers a fresh look with widened shoulders that distribute weight evenly toward the perimeter of the putter, increasing MOI (Moment of Inertia) and making the putter more forgiving for off-center strikes. The Slant neck provides a three-quarter shaft of offset for easy alignment and setup, while one-third toe hang supports players with a slight to moderate arc in their putting stroke. Milled at our Tinley Park, IL headquarters from 303 Stainless Steel and featuring our Roll Control Face milling, the new Studio Stock 35 offers the feeling of a blade putter with the look of a mallet.
303 STAINLESS STEEL
Each Studio Stock Series head is 100% precision milled from a single block of 303 Stainless Steel in our very own Tinley Park, IL manufacturing facility. This blend of metals offers a more durable, responsive, and solid-feeling putter for supreme performance.
ROLL CONTROL FACE MILLING
The entire 2023-2024 Studio Stock line features our signature Roll Control Face™ milling, which is engineered to propel the ball into a true roll faster, while giving golfers the softest feeling milled putter in golf. .
DIAMOND BLAST/POLISHED FINISH
The Studio Stock series is completed with our Diamond Blast finish on the topline and body to provide a glare-resistant view from address, while the face and sole are polished giving it a luxurious presence on the greens.
PREMIUM COMPONENTS
Each Studio Stock putter comes paired with a Tour Grade shaft, custom Castleton green Lamkin Sink Fit Grip, and dual-constructed Castleton green and black perforated Studio Stock Series headcover.
Jack Nicklaus, one of the best putters to have ever graced the game of golf, just dropped a new limited edition collection with Vice Golf. Check out the Vice Golden Bear collection, created in honor of the Golden Bear himself.
NEW – LIMITED EDITION
Vice x Nicklaus Collection
The Vice Pro Bear ccollection celebrates the incredible legacy of Jack Nicklaus in a special brand collaboration featuring golf balls, headwear by Ahead, a gift set, clothing and balls.
