The Zero Torque Debate

Another golf debate again taking center stage following a recent My Golf Spy post! It's about zero torque putters and the “death” of the traditional putter likely sitting in your bag now.

In this week’s post, we're covering what is a "zero torque putter," analyzing the My Golf Spy test, and what you should be aware of before deciding what putter is best for you.

What is Torque?

Before defining a zero torque putter, we need to define torque:

Torque, often referred to as the moment of force, is a measure of the rotational force applied to an object, causing it to spin or rotate around an axis. (Source: ChatGPT)

And if you’ve ever pushed or pulled a putt, you can probably agree that rotating your putter around the Z-axis (twisting the face) is just a horrible idea. And if that’s a horrible idea, well hell, let’s just get a putter that gets rid of that. Problem solved!

Or is it…

This leads us to the putter.

What is a Zero Torque Putter?

The Lie Angle Balanced Putter was developed by Bill Presse, former mini tour player, back in 2014. The company LAB Golf was founded in 2018 and continues to pursue a mission to offer players a zero torque putter that “give[s] all golfers the ability to repeat their stroke.” (Sam Hahn, CEO of LAB Golf)

On paper, this makes tons of sense. There’s even a tool that they have developed called The Revealer to demonstrate the difference between LAB and traditional designs. Watch the below video to see the difference between traditional and zero torque putters.

One concept that I really appreciate in this video that was posted 8 months ago at the time of this publishing is how the usage of The Revealer has changed. Some early videos used this tool to hammer home "our putter is better." Yet this one differs. Hahn uses it simply to demonstrate "here's why we're different." I really appreciate that unbiased sharing and great visuals for consumers using this tool.

After watching this, you might be on your way to buy a new putter. But not so fast… Notice how the putter is hooked into The Revealer? Notice how human hands are not moving the putter?

Last I checked, you can’t use this device on the golf course. Players actually have to hold their putter. And what happens when a human places hands on the putter?

You guessed it. Torque. Further, torque is unavoidable when a player holds a golf club.

However, that doesn’t mean the putter or the science behind a LAB putter is bad! Like most putters, it's probably good for someone out there. But who? Let’s keep digging…

The My Golf Spy Article

If you didn’t read the original article, and I encourage you to before critiquing this piece, you can HERE. And if you don’t, here are the Cliff Notes.

MyGolfSpy had 10 players hit 20 putts with 4 different putters, two zero torque putters (LAB Golf DF3 and PXG Allan) and two traditional putters (Scotty Cameron Newport 2 and Taylor Made Spider X). Putts were hit from randomized locations and data was collected using PuttView software. The results are below:

So, here’s where I come into the picture. It’s time to ask the hard questions.

The Hard Questions

What is the skill level of the testers?

This was not published. The quality of golfer may or may not influence the outcome of this test.

What were these randomized putts?

Was this a flat putt test? Were there breaking putts? These random distances certainly matters as well.

How are we measuring accuracy?

Is accuracy defined as launch direction relative to the target? This is easy to measure on flat putts, but what if there’s a breaking putt? Did the player select their own read, or are they given a read? Is the launch direction relative to their read or an “ideal” target? That may be subjective based on the desired capture speed.

Further, is anyone collecting putter data? Do we really know if the player is moving the putter differently than their gamer?

What does “Putts Made” tell us?

It tells us just that. Did the ball go in the hole? Yes or no. I don’t know about you, but even as a full time putting coach, I have gotten both the speed and direction slightly wrong and still ended up holing the putt. It may not have gone in the way I wanted, but it went in. How many of these “Putts Made” were holed with reasonable capture speed versus under-read and smashed in the back of the cup?

The order of the putts and putters

What putter was tested first? Was it the two traditional putters? Were they immediately followed by the zero torque putters on the same test putts? I’d hope by the time the player was hitting the same putt 4 times in a row, they were a bit more educated on approximate read (if they were breaking putts) and approximate speed for the best possible outcome.

My Solution

These are just questions that contribute to the validity of the test. Should any of these parameters be missed, I would implore My Golf Spy to conduct their test with these adjustments and publish the full testing protocols. I am curious to see if the results differ or change our opinion.

I’ll publish the low hanging fruit solution for everyone. If you’re going to test putters in this fashion, the slope and distance of each putt needs to be replicated to different hole locations to prevent familiarity. Seeing the putt several times would skew the data. Additionally, the order needs to be completely randomized.

Please keep in mind that none of this is to suggest one way or another that the putter is lacking. There are just a handful of egregious issues with how the data has been collected and presented that needs to be discussed, especially before posting "your putter could be... obsolete."

And that brings us to another topic…

What Do YOU Think, Preston?

I apologize in advance for not being able to tag everyone who has asked me about a LAB putter in the last 6 months. Hopefully you have found this post and read this far. Like every question I get about putters, you'll likely get a very standard, John-Graham-esque "it depends" reply. I usually say something to the effect of "it's good for someone." And that is so true for something so personal. We all have individual and unique body structures, segment lengths, movement patterns, and biases. The putter needs to compliment those and taking away torque can absolutely help someone who is fighting their current putter. However, you may want to ensure that your setup is properly built so that you're not compensating for the wrong length putter. And I don't care how good the club itself is, but if you're taking it back 6 inches and accelerating to hit a 20 footer, there's no magic putter helping you in that department.

Do some of my players use one? Yes, I have a small handful of players using a LAB putter. I also have others that have switched away from it. The reasoning behind each decision?

Well, it depends.

Should I Get One?

Is the LAB putter better than your gamer? Well, that depends. In my experience, some people have loved the change in feels and seen the improvement that the company suggests. As with all new equipment though, be sure to ask yourself one question: Is it better, or is it different?

The answer can be both. If the answer is just the latter, expect the honeymoon phase to come to an end.

Can this putter be terrible for you? Sure it can. If you notice that your start line and ability to manage the face both suffer after the switch, you have your answer. If this is you, my hunch would be that you are a player who relies on the feeling that torque to manage the face in transition and the forward stroke.

If you've ever gone for a driver fitting, changed the shaft weight, and said "I can't feel the head/face," this might be your putting equivalent. Take torque away from a very successful, high face rotation rate player and you might have gotten different results. Not necessarily worse performance, but just a different movement pattern that in the end may or may not have been worse.

The Wrap Up

If you’re prepared to make a decision about which putter is best for you, heed the notes in this post. Finding someone with technology to measure how much the putter face is rotating (relative to the target) during the stroke will undoubtedly help you decide if the overall movement is better than your current gamer too. And if you’d like that someone to be me, just click HERE to schedule your Putting Experience at The Garage in Orlando, FL.

Thanks for reading!

If you are part of My Golf Spy or LAB Golf and would like to have an open conversation about points in this article, please email my staff at prestonsputting@gmail.com. I'd be happy to set up a time to talk further about how we can advance education and improve the game for golfers worldwide.