Hey Putter Nerds!
Here we explore putter neck length on blade style heads and how this relates to toe hang.
If you have more design questions shoot them to us via email!
For my Putter Nerds!
I am starting a new video series around technical aspects of putter design. These will mostly be CAD based visuals.
Lie angle could be the reason you are missing puts. I demonstrate in this video how much a lofted putter can change the face angle and we can see the calculation over some various length putts.
The Renaissance Putter is a zero degree lofted putter that weighs .9 lbs (408g). This is a very heavy putter fit into a familiar shape. This putter looks very much like our Touch putter but weighs up to 68g more! The putter was originally designed for a shorter golfers who desire a shorter length putter shaft yet still wanted the feeling of a very heavy head, but we found that average height golfers also enjoyed the more forgiving design.
This putter debuted in Japan in 2018 and has undergone a few modifications and now is ready for the global market.
Kronos Golf created a video in collaboration with Eminent Golf on how posture impacts putter path.
The putter path or swing path of the putter head is often thought to be either varying degrees of an arc or straight back straight through stroke. This video helps us to understand how a traditional arcing stroke works.
Yikes it has been a while since our last update!
We are happy to announce we are ready to launch our completely unique putter fitting system. The system is optimized for fitting length and lie angle. We believe that length and lie angle are the two most important factors in putter fitting and should be addressed at the beginning of a fitting. Of course the other factors such as toe hang, head weight, head shape and so on are very important but all these factors really do depend on the length and lie.
As part of the 100 designs for 2018, I have reached out to a few different folks in the golf industry to get their input on putter designs.
This first one that I tried really took elements from various putters out there but added a cool twist of adding elements inspired by life outside of golf.
Ryan Ballengee asked me to design a blade style putter that uses a large arrow as a sight line. I took the liberty to split the arrow so that your head has to be above the ball during the address to complete the arrow. You can see what I mean in this video.
What I found exciting and cool was Ryan's request to try to add in the rocks from Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. I tried to weave in this theme in the pocket of the putter and allow that to be the showpiece of the putter.
Check out the video below where I first introduce the putter design to Ryan.
Why Use a Putter With Zero Degrees of Loft?
There are two main benefits to use a putter with zero degrees of loft. In the 2 minute video below I demonstrate these benefits.
The first benefit of zero degrees of loft is the ball gets rolling more quickly and tracking on the target line. I posted another slow-motion video below that shows the difference in zero degrees of loft launching the ball a shorter distance and rolling with topspin sooner. To help understand this concept a bit more let's look at a more extreme version of getting the ball to roll quickly with topspin. Visualize in your mind’s eye someone topping off an iron shot. The ball barely comes off the ground for the first few feet before it starts to run on a straight path. Any bump the ball encounters hardly affecting the straight path and the ball continues to roll straight. This happens to a putter with zero degrees of loft but on a much smaller scale. The ball launches for a few inches before the ball starts to roll on the target line.
The second benefit of zero degrees of loft is the changes in lie angle of the putter do not affect the direction. Again, to better understand this concept lets look at a more extreme version with an iron. What happens when the ball is stuck with an iron that toes up for a right-handed player? The answer is the ball will go left of the target line. The converse is true if the toe is down; the ball will go right to the target line. This same effect happens during putting but on a much smaller scale. The fact becomes more evident on longer putts as the small degree in which the ball moves offline becomes more apparent.
Zero degrees of loft will work for most players. However, if you are a player that plays a forward press and can maintain the hands in front of the be putter head at impact, then you should not play a putter with zero degrees of loft. Furthermore, zero degrees of loft will not work for players that place the ball back of the middle of their stance.
Hello Design Fans!
Alright this is our final update from Japan on our 3D printed putter project. Again our goal is to make it to 100 putter designs in 2018. I think we are around 30 designs already.
Hey Putter Design fans!
Sorry for the delay in the updates. Here is another update from when we were in Japan for the Japan Golf Fair we finally had some time to edit the video.
Please stay tuned as we will post more videos on designs we are working on. We are thinking of posting a video on the actual CAD process. If you are interested in this please let us know via email at customerservice@kronosgolf.com
Japan has been an incredible inspiration for Kronos Golf design. The video takes you through Kansai to Kanto areas from Kyoto to Hyogo to Tokyo.
We find the juxtaposition of heritage and technology bring out the beauty in both elements that make up portions of Japan. Likewise we try to achieve the same balance in our classic designs filled with modern manufacturing methods.
This video shows a quick walk through of the Japan Golf Fair 2018. The show is pretty small and intimate.
We wanted to thank those who came out to support us and we hope to see you guys out there next time if you missed this show.
Here is a quick video review of a handful of putters that we showed at the Japan Golf Fair.
You might recognize some of these putters from the CAD drawings listed in our previous updates on our 100 putter designs for 2018.
I designed another classic model putter that we are all familiar with the shape, but added some holes to the heal and the toe to put tungsten weights to create a higher MOI putter with a slightly heavier feel.
You can probably see a theme in most of my designs is to maintain the classic shape or profile of a putter, but change the underside or small areas that are not visible at address to improve or change the feel of the putter. My goal as a designer for most of my designs is to make changes that are not visible to the player but can be felt by the player.
One of my first 3D printed putter was a version of this putter with a pocket on the sole. In this version I made the putter a bit heavier and got a little funky on the sole of the putter. Check the CAD screenshots below.
I love these classic lines. I made the curve on the toe a little tighter with a smaller radius to make it look stronger where the heal curve is a bit longer which turned out to be a nice contrast to the toe.
This putter is another version of the putter that had the short neck in our first video in early February explaining the goal of 100 3D printed putters for 2018.
This putter doesn't have a neck and really on a bend in the shaft to create the offset and lie angle. Additionally, we altered the picket and the geometric figures in the pocket for sound.
Yes we have all seen this design... Fun thing is this one is actually balanced!! In the photos below there is a little blue and white dot that kind of looks like the BMW symbol. That is the center of mass or center of gravity.
I did two designs here one that is a very traditional look and the second more of a cosmetic funkiness to the Kronos on the back-face.
I played around with different sight lines/ sight dots because the rising toe angle makes the center of mass symbol look like it is off-center when looking at the putter from different angles.
Stay tuned for more updates on this one in a video review when the putter is finished 3D printing.
For the past two years Kronos has sponsored a senior project at Mechanical Engineering Department at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo University. One of my students came up with the general shape of this putter and I changed it a bit to have different lines and a different set up.
Part of this goal of modeling 100 different designs for 2018 is to think outside of the box. This putter definitely does exactly that. I am looking forward to testing this putter out on the course and giving you my feedback in a video review.
Got some input from a Linksouldier aka an employee over at Linksoul in this case. Did a more squared off version from what I have seen for this style design.
I had a little more fun with the second design here. I added a little cut out in the flange to create more of that B shaped look. These putters will be nice for those guys that want a nice in between a traditional blade and mid-mallet style putter.
Does this shape look familiar?? Can you tell the difference between these two heads?
These two models are designed using the same framework as our Anchor model putter. We shifted the shaft entry more towards the heal as we showed on our Anchor 2 model that was 3D printed and we explained a short video.
Take a look at the screen shots of the CAD drawings closely. I highlighted some of the small changes to create a different look and feel.
I plan to 3D print these out of metal so stay tuned on the video update on these two guys.
I am excited to introduce two more 3D printed putters that are fully functional and ready for play on the golf course. Here is a short video covering the two designs.
