To Ban or Not To Ban Long Putter

After the US PGA, Keegan Bradley became the first player to win a major using a belly putter at the 93rd PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club last week. Will the long putter become hot?

The United States Golf Association and R&A - gatekeepers of how the grand old game is played - missed the boat when they had the chance to ban the use of belly putters and long putters years ago.

Unfortunately, now with the winners of two big tournaments over the last two weeks on the PGA Tour using them, any attempt to ban those putters from competition might be a case of trying to shut the barn door after the horses have bolted.

According to a recent article by Randy Phillips of the Postmedia News, these long putters are an "aberration" and should be removed from the game as soon as possible. For the record, I also have never heard of Randy Phillips.

In this article, I would like to tell you why they said too late to ban long putters! If you are looking for good and Discount Golf Equipment, I would like to recommend the good Callaway X22 Irons to you!

The biggest issue that naysayers to the long putter have regarding their use is the anchoring technique that players will use while putting. In the case of a belly putter, a player can anchor the putt-end of the club into his stomach (hence the name, of course) and make a pendulum-like swing without the worry of a player breaking his wrists. For a longer putter, a player holds the club with a split-handed grip to create the same pendulum motion. In both examples, the player's wrists remain steady and a smooth putting stroke is the result.

This lack of "wrist breaking" seems to be the major issue that has everyone up in a tizzy. According to an interview for the Toronto Star, putting-guru Dave Pelz suggests that "the feel and the ability to determine the stroke needed to putt the ball the right distance are helped." Furthermore, Pelz argues that the longer putters prevent the player's forearms from rolling-over, thus eliminating the possibility that a putt can be pushed or pulled off-line during impact.

Should the USGA and R&A ban the use of longer putters during competition? Personally, I don't see the purpose of doing so. As far as what the aforementioned definitions suggest, a "stroke" is still being made on the golf ball. More importantly, a player still has to read the green, account for the surrounding elements such as wind and grass type, determine the appropriate speed of the putt, and make a confident stroke while in the midst of thousands of spectators at a professional tour event with millions of dollars on the line.

Those latter details, in my opinion, separate the professionals from the amateurs.

This article is from Pickgolfclubs.com. Also, we recommend R9 Fairway Wood and R11 Driver to you.

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