Mandarin: Comments please

[jpvegas1]

I watched the Irish Open saw Padraig had a new putter shaft with a brass weight that is supposed to increase the sweet spot. It was tested at Dr Paul Hurrion’s Quintic putting laboratory in England. Does this sound legit. A youtube video of the putter link is below.

http://www.halfvalue.com/playVideo.jsp?kw=padraig-harrington&id=QGltEqqy5-g

A link to the Quintoc laboratory: www.quintic.com/quintic_putting_laboratory.htm

 

[puttmad]

He gets upset when you call him Mand-A-rin....

From TV and teaching pro, Scot Cranfield:

"The brass torpedo is positioned so that it alters the putters centre of gravity to increase the sweet spot on the putter face, but it differs from conventional wisdom by leaving the face itself out of any adjustment process. Described by the inventor as a floating fulcrum, it virtually tricks the golfers muscular system into putting with improved controllability over swing path and - more importantly – distance control. This latter is especially important since most 3-putts are a result of poor distance-control not poor aim.

The feel of the weight encourages the hands to be much more passive during the stroke. Some professionals have described the sensation as only having to swing the grip, allowing the putter to “do the work” for them. The extra mass of the fixture also minimizes the likelihood of the hands becoming “active” or “manipulative” during the putting stroke, particularly likely while putting under pressure."

 

[golfbulldog]

Definitions...

Not Mandrin but i am annoyed by poor use of definitions by manufacturers and sales people when it come to golf equipment... my understanding ( limited admittedly) is...

The sweet spot is the representation of the centre of gravity ( COG) of the clubhead on the face of the clubhead - brass weight on the shaft will not effect this.

Moment of Inertia ( of the clubhead) is the physical determinant of sweetness IMO... It is the factor that gives forgiveness for offcentre hits...or gives an "enlarged sweetspot" or "sweet zone".... the centre of Gravity is a single point ... therefore the sweetspot is a single point on the face of the club.... MOI is what gives us the feel of sweet straight shot...

Swing weight - as measured on swing weight scales - would probably be effected by this shaft weight addition. The reason that Grip weights ( eg. Balance certified) do not effect swing weight is because the weight is applied very close to the fulcrum.

The brass weight will alter the balance point of the shaft.

It will make the weight feel nearer the hands.... and IMO this might enable the hands to educate themselves a little better... the brain will get more feedback of the hand location during the stroke so that the player can learn to swing the hands ... the clubhead will do what physics intends... but the player needs to learn what the hands need to do


In full swings, Balance certified wieghts in the butt of the grip often ( but not always) increase clubhead speed by 2-3 mph... nobody seems to know why...

Nicklaus used lead tape under his grips...

I think ( unproven theory) that the extra weight in the hands makes the player more aware of the hand location during the swing... the delivery path of the hands can be altered to more straight line and greater clubhead speed results... IMHO....

It gives the hands a voice to shout louder so that the brain can hear where they are...

Only then can you avoid downswing blackout....

MAybe!....