The effect of skid distance on distance control in golf putting

In putting, a common assumption is made that a performance improvement will be made when the ball begins to roll more quickly following the impact with the club. Previous research has reported that distance control accounts for 80% of putting performance. Other research has claimed that maximum percentage of roll in a putt will increase predictability and accuracy; however, this has never been directly studied. An experimental study was conducted to investigate the relationship between putter loft angles, roll ratio, and distance control on both an artificial putting turf surface and natural putting green. Four identical blade putters with different loft angles (-1, 1, 3, 5 degrees) were tested using a high speed camera and a mechanical putting machine to determine the skid length of a large number of putts. The final ball position was recorded to ascertain the distance variability of each club at each putt length and quantify each club's roll ratio. A ball ramp was used to quantify the variability attributed to the putting surface. The roll ratios of each club were found to be significantly different from each other (p<0.05) with the exception of the three and five degree putters. The negatively lofted putter in this study showed the greatest roll ratio and most consistent final distance. Recommendation of negative delivered loft could lead to changes in putter fitting philosophy. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Centre for Sports Engineering Research, Sheffield Hallam University