In
golf, play on the green has a large impact on the final score (Pelz
2000, Dave Pelz’s Putting Bible) and a great amount of time is spent on
practice greens to perfect the putting technique. There has been
significant research carried out on putting styles, equipment and
mechanics (Gwyn & Patch, 1993 Comparing two putting styles for
accuracy, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 79, 387-390) however with
technology constantly evolving there is a need for continued research.
The studies also refer to overall kinematics of the putt rather than the
outcome and there is little evidence to date of a comparison between
low handicap golfers (LHG - Category 1, Handicap <5) and high
handicap golfers (HHG - Categories 3 and 4, Handicaps 13-18 and >18
respectively). The aim of this study was to examine putting performance
and establish if there is an advantage to be gained by using an anchored
putter such as the belly or long putter. This study directly measured
the accuracy of different putters used by different categories of
golfers both male and female. 72 golfers were asked to execute 10 putts
using standard, belly and long putters from 1.83 m (6 ft) and 3.66 m (12
ft), a total of 60 putts. Putting mechanics in relation to Back Swing
Time (BSTIME), Forward swing time (TIMP), Face angle at impact
(FACEIMP), Face Rotation (ROTIMP) and Horizontal impact spot (SPOTIMP)
were assessed using SAM PuttLab™ software. All variables including
putting performance outcome measures were amalgamated in tabular form
using MS™ Excel v9.0 before being transferred into SPSS™. Results of
this study show that LHG were most successful in percentage of putts
holed with the standard putter from 1.83 m (6 ft) and 3.66 m (12 ft)
with 87.3% and 61.8% success rate respectively, in comparison to the
belly (83.6% and 60.9%) and long (72.7% and 51.8%) putters. HHG scored
77.7%, 76.2% and 75.2% from 1.83 m (6 ft) and 45.5%, 44.5% and 44.5%
from 3.66 m (12 ft) with the standard, belly and long putters
respectively. There was a significant difference in putting kinematics
in relation to BSTIME, TIMP, ROTIMP and SPOTIMP between the standard,
belly and long putter. These differences were most pronounced for the
longer distance. In conclusion it can be seen from the variables tested
in this study that using an anchored putter will not necessarily give
you an advantage over using a standard putter. The testing procedure
shows that LHG have a greater consistency in their putting action which
can be attributed to the large amount of practice they do in comparison
to HHG