I stumbled across this paragraph in Harry Vardon's 1905 book The Complete Golfer. Vardon here talks about carrying two putters, but what he says applies equally well to the modern search for the perfect putter. Vardon was positively anal about details, about getting things right, so this is an interesting take on "finding the perfect putter."
I actually have said that the golfer may also deliver putters in his bag; but I imply that he should accomplish that best while he has a specific and wonderful motive for each of them, and I really do now not advocate his going from one kind to the alternative for the identical type of putt. There is super danger in this kind of exercise. If he's doing very poor placing with one membership, he's going to obviously fly for assist to the other one, and the chance is that he will do just as badly with that. Then he returns to the first one, and once more unearths that his putts do no longer come off, and by way of this time he's in a hopeless catch 22 situation. If he has only one putter he will usually make some kind of a success of it if he can putt in any respect, and my personal perception is that the putter itself has little or no to do with the manner in which a golfer putts. It is the person that counts and now not the tool. I actually have tried all varieties of putters in my time, and have typically long gone back to the plainest and most effective of all. I actually have on occasion used the aluminium putter. It has an awful lot to propose it to individuals who like this style of put into effect, and Braid constantly does very well with it. The Travis or Schenectady putter, which was so famous for a quick time after the Amateur Championship last year, due to the American player having performed such superb things with it, I do now not prevail with. When I try to putt with it I can't keep my eye away from its heel. But the reality is, as I even have already indicated, that you may putt with something in case you hit the ball properly. Everything depends on that?Hitting the ball nicely?And no putter that changed into ever made will help you to hole out if you do not strike the ball exactly because it ought to be struck, whilst in case you do so strike it, any putter will hollow out for you. The philosophy of putting is easy, however is hardly ever preferred. The search for the magic putter with a purpose to usually pop the ball into the hollow and leave the participant not anything to do will move on for ever.I'm not going to dissect what he says here; it's really pretty clear, isn't it? But I'll pull out a handful of quotes that sum up his opinion.
My non-public belief is that the putter itself has little or no to do with the way in which a golfer putts. It is the man that counts and no longer the device.That's pretty straightforward.
But the fact is, as I have already indicated, that you may putt with some thing if you hit the ball properly.Given that he just finished saying that he struggles with a particular type of putter, this strikes me as a very interesting statement. It appears that, while he says you can putt with anything if you hit the ball properly, He also admits that your capability to putt can be suffering from things other than your ballstriking. That particular putter that gave him problems? He said he couldn't keep his eyes off the heel of the club. So we have to assume that if the club doesn't look good to you, you won't hit the ball well.
Finally, he says:
The look for the magic putter on the way to always pop the ball into the hollow and leave the participant nothing to do will pass on for ever.In other words, there is no such thing as the perfect putter, folks. If you want to putt well, find something that looks good to you and then learn how to hit the ball properly. That appears to be the Vardon approach, and he was known as a deadly putter back in the day.
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