You need a putter to match your stroke.

First, let me describe the different kinds of balance points a putter can have.

1. face balanced-if you balance the shaft on your finger, the face of the putter points to the sky. Most of your Odyssey Two-Ball putters fall into this category. For comparison sake of category #3, this is a zero degree putter because it points to the sky.

2. heel shafted-the shaft of the putter goes into the heel of the head and when you balance it on your finger, the toe points straight down. If you drew a line from the putter face, it would be perpendicular to the sky and ground. Old style 8802’s and 8813’s are examples and it’s the style of putter Ben Crenshaw has made famous. For comparison sake this is a 90 degree putter because the face is 90 degrees to the sky.

3. all points in between-depending on the shape of the hozel and where it goes into the head it can be anywhere in between 0 and 90 degrees. Typically the smaller the hozel, the closer it is to a heel shafted putter and the bigger the hozel, the closer it is to a face balanced. Ping Anser and the vast majority of Scotty Cameron putters fall into this category.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT YOU MATCH YOU PUTTER TO YOUR STROKE.

I don’t agree with square to square putting, but if you do, you need to use a face balanced putter or it will require even more forearm manipulation to keep the blade square. Putters that aren’t face balanced will want to open and close and you will have to hold that off if you are trying to keep the face on the line the whole time.

The same can be said for the classic “swinging gate” putting stroke where the putter opens and goes slightly inside going back and closes and comes back to the inside slightly coming through. In other words, a mini golf swing. If you use a face balanced putter with this stroke, you are going to be subject to the pulls.

Depending on how much you open and close the putter with your swinging gate stroke will dictate whether you need a toe down putter or any of the range in category #3. Feel and results will help you pick a putter out in this instance.

The sweet spot of putters in category #3 are usually the most forgiving and that is what I would recommend for mo.st golfers.