My First Step Into the Putter Length Rabbit Hole
Honestly, I grabbed my putter one day and just stood over it like I always do. Got this nagging thought – are the pros using something totally different? Hit up the good ol’ internet, fired away. Searched stuff like “what putter length do the best guys use?” and “pro golfer putter setups”. Boom, tons of stuff popped up. Charts, forum rants, gear reviews – total overload. At first glance, it seemed super simple: most top players use 34 or 35 inches. Easy peasy, right? Almost moved on.
Digging Deeper and Finding Zero Consistency
Figured I should dig a little more. Bad move. The deeper I went, the messier it got. Read countless forum threads where guys swore blind, “Saw Player X last week – definitely using 33 inches!” Then someone else screams, “No way! It’s 36!” Watched some slow-mo putting videos online too. Tried to eyeball where the putter butt ended up compared to their arms. I had zero clue. The putter looked normal one second, maybe a bit short the next? Absolutely pointless exercise. It was like trying to figure out if clouds are more rabbit or dragon-shaped. Just guesses.
I decided to forget the internet noise. Pulled out my trusty measuring tape and dragged every putter I own (found a few buried in the garage, actually) onto the living room carpet. Stood in my putting stance over each one.
- The 33-inch: Felt like I was bending down way too low. Back screamed almost instantly. “No way pros play like this all day,” I mumbled.
- The 34-inch: Felt… standard. But my eyes felt a tad too far over the ball? Couldn’t quite tell.
- The 35-inch: Standing taller was nice, comfortable even. But the putter head felt light? Weird. Had to choke down on it a bunch.
- The 36-inch monster: Seriously, who uses this? Standing practically upright like a statue. Felt awkward touching anything near the green. Just felt wrong, man.
Stood there like an idiot for like 20 minutes, swapping putters, hunching and standing, trying to feel “pro.” Total failure. Each length felt off in its own annoying way compared to what I thought pros should feel. So much for copying them.
Giving Up on Pro Specs & Finding My Own Thing
Finally threw my hands up. “Forget what anyone else is doing.” Grabbed my current gamer, the 34-incher. Just stood over it naturally, like I didn’t give a crap about some chart. Let my arms hang loose. Felt good? Okay, let’s try that. Focused purely on that – letting my arms relax straight down, not forcing anything, seeing where the putter butt ended up relative to my palms and forearms.
Found a spot – about an inch or so below the end of my grip. Just felt solid. Balanced. Didn’t have to crunch my back into a pretzel or stand on my tiptoes. Started rolling some balls across the carpet towards a cup. Much smoother motion. The putter head felt like it was swinging easier, not fighting me. That “heavy head” feeling with the longer putter was gone. So was the backache from the shorter one. Not magic, but definitely way more natural feeling. Finally stopped worrying if it matched some unseen tour standard. It matched me. That was the point, I guess.
The Big Takeaway
Spent hours looking for a “tour secret” and found absolutely nothing useful. Turns out, chasing their specs was just noise. My simple experiment with just standing naturally and letting my arms hang told me more than all those forum arguments and fuzzy slow-mo videos combined. Length isn’t about copying a pro; it’s about finding where the stick lets your arms chill out naturally. Who knew?
