2017-01-17 Putting Putters The main putter is likely the most important disc in most bags. Putting is the most important part of the game. And some websites do mainly review putters, but why? I understand that one should have a putter that feels right in one's hand. How do you get there? By reading putter reviews? -- No. There's few useful information, especially distinguishing in- formation among different putters, that I can take from there. Or by watching putter reviews? -- No. There aren't many putter re- view which show the flights of them anyway and I don't think it would help me much. Hence, I should hold them in the hand and give them a try, to find out which one fits well in my hand and goes well with my putting style. The problem is, the only disc golf shop in accept- able distance for me is the club shop of WSCA, which is open for one hour each week during summer time, and still it is 40 km away. Okay, that's not too bad (and I'm rather lucky with that situation, compared to most other regions in Germany). But would taking the Putter in my hand and doing some putts really help? -- I'm not sure. I assume that for beginners it doesn't really matter which one of the popular putters one has. Is there really so much difference between an Aviar and a Judge, for instance, or between a Chal- lenger and a Pure? And if there is some difference, will one be necessarily better with one than with the other? I'm wondering, if there wouldn't be a getting-used-to process necessary for each of these putters, and afterwards the success would be quite simi- lar. What I cannot see sense in is switching putters frequently. How would you build up confidence and reproducibility if the flight is a different one each time? Thus, why have more than a single mold of putters, as a beginner? The only reason would be to try them out, but would I buy multiple putters just to try them out, when getting more of the same or getting some more midranges is much more helpful for my practicing and playing? And if I wouldn't put different putters in my bag anyway, the others would end up stacked at home without being used, because why would one want to practice with putters that you don't throw on the course? What I think makes sense is this: As a newbie, go to a shop once, take a bunch of putters in your hand and find out which one feels good to you. In advance, search the web for which ones are the most used putters (Aviar, Challenger, Judge, Pure, P2, ...); get one of them; don't try something completely different, although it might feel nice in your hand, because there's a reason why these are the most used -- you might not see it yet. Get at least two pieces of this putter. And then stop thinking about other putting putters for a long time. Most of the time, it will be more successful sticking to your well-known putter than switching to a possibly better one. Only in longer intervals you should give other putters a try, but that's nothing that should matter to new players. (Note that putters for upshots are a different topic. They act as shorter midranges not as putters in that case. All of the above is about putting putters.) Or course, what I wrote here is no more than thoughts that I come up with after reading a lot of oppinions and sitting in my quiet room for some time. There's no guarantee that any of this is good advice. Anyway, my goal is not to give good advice, but to share some of my thoughts. Check for yourself if all this makes sense to you. http://marmaro.de/discgolf/ markus schnalke