Is a putter fitting actually worth it? What does Trackman measure that would help me decide? How can Trackman improve me? These are the main questions I get asked daily when clients are looking at a new putter or want to improve their technique, so let’s answer them!
What does Trackman measure?
Trackman is a dual radar launch monitor, the reason it has two radars is so that it can collect accurate data from the ball and the club. Trackman putting has 30 different parameters which it measures, these now include club data as well as ball data and green data. Before the new update which trackman released a few weeks ago, club data such as club path, angle of attack, and face to path were not included.
Putter Fitting’s and Lessons
The data trackman gives us enables us to deliver in-depth putter fitting’s and putting lessons. Out of the 30 parameters, there are certain ones that we focus on.
They are :
Launch Direction- This is the start direction of which the ball is travelling once it has left the putter face, when we set trackman up prior to starting the session we will always aim it at our break line if we see it moving a certain way so that this number can be as accurate as possible. This number gives us a good indication though as to whether we are consistent with where we launch it or not.Â
Skid Distance- In simple terms, how far the ball bounces or slides before it starts its true roll. The shorter amount of skid we can achieve, the quicker it starts the true roll. This number can be affected by angle of attack being negative.Â
Roll Percentage-Â As mentioned previously, this is the percentage of true roll after it has skidded. Ideally, we are looking for this number to be 90% or above. Again, like skid, this can be affected by other parameters.Â
Tempo-Â This is the backswing time divided by the forward swing time. This is a number that should be pretty consistent throughout. If it varies quite a lot then we could be accelerating or deaccelerating throughout the putt and is something that needs looking at.Â
Angle of Attack-Â This is one of the newly updated numbers and is the same as a full shot. The putter is very similar to a driver in the terms of that it doesn’t have a great deal of loft and needs a positive angle of attack to roll well. This is usually something that is down to a good technique.Â
Club Path-Â Again, like in the full swing a putter club path can be in-out, out-in or square. Depending on what this is can also affect things such as face angle, angle of attack and skid. This is again something that needs to be consistent.Â
Face to Path-Â This is your face angle relative to your club path and will affect launch direction.
How can we use these to help you?
By using these parameters and testing your own putter compared to other style heads, necks, shafts and lengths we can see what suits you the best and can make your putting more consistent.
If you already have a putter that performs well but are struggling with pace or direction then we can have a look at what you are doing well with the club and what we are doing not so well such as club path.Â
Hopefully, this gives you more of an insight into what Trackman can do and how we can use it to benefit you.
If you would like more information or would like to get booked in then speak to one of our PAR Coaching team and we will get you holing more putts!!
Jasmine Campbell
