Testing

Testing is important for evaluation of new instruments in surgery to assess their safety and effectiveness. Similarly, testing is important in assessing new golf clubs and methods. Ultimately, the information is important to the potential surgical patient or in this case, the golfer.

FIRST PROTOTYPE HORIZONTAL BLADE PUTTER

Prescription Putting's various designs were tested on the putting green for all types of putts; short, long, up hill, down hill, side hill, off the green, etc. The clubs were tested with forward press, backward shaft position, and neutral address. They were tested with the conventional stroke; pendulum with acceleration through impact. They were tested hitting high, low and in the middle of the face and ball. Every angle of approach was tested; the pendulum arc from above and the horizontal linear plane. They were tested for the undesirable approach of cutting across the ball. All these tests were repeated with conventional putters for comparison. We also used spray paint on the club face to visualize the club/ball contact areas. (see Impact Geometry)

Preliminary Test Results: With a flat face putter it was observed that the most consistent putts were the result of even tempo stroke with low horizontal approach to the ball with slight upward arc at or after impact. This approach was not needed or desired with our rolled face putters. The geometry of the rolled face performs best with a linear horizontal approach and without elevation of the putter at impact. The geometry of our rolled face creates the optimal roll without elevation of the putter at impact. See further discussion in Alternative Medicine for Putting.

It was observed that on long putts of 80 feet or more that all putters elevate the ball similar to a chip shot. The elevation was more obvious with a rolled face putter. Still, the ball tracked straight and had consistent distance. On the long putts with a rolled face, the bounce after impact could be reduced by greater attention to the horizontal linear approach. As might be expected, exact contact with the thin rolled face putter required more precision. This requirement was a disadvantage for long putts on very slow greens or for use off the green. The bouncing occurred less with the higher vertical rolled face Pro Forma-R™ model. This is easy to understand in that a flat face putter makes vertical contact from top to bottom. A rolled face putter will elevate or depress the ball to some extent if not hit in the center with a horizontal impact plane.

IMPACT AREA AT CENTER OF WIDER FACE OF PRO FORMA-R™ PUTTER

This is easy to understand in that a flat face putter vertical contact area is more forgiving on missed hits.

FLAT FACE PUTTER HAS WIDER MARGIN OF ERROR FOR IMPACT ON THE FACE

Independent Laboratory Testing: Independent testing is necessary to remove the bias of the inventor or company whether it is medicine or golf. Therefore, independent testing was performed at Swing Dynamics in Carlsbad, CA. This form of testing is primarily for establishing the design efficiency of the putter head. The instrument identifies the optimum roll produced by a putter and enables players of all skill levels to choose a putter head that rolls the ball with the best physics.

Method: Testing was performed indoors with a controlled physical environment. The carpet had a uniform speed of 10.5 on the Stemp meter. The surface was flat. The length of the putt was to be 10 feet. There was no cup, only a circle on the carpet as distance of roll past the cup is important for assessment.

A robot was used to control the club speed. The putter shaft is secured in a metal swing device.

ROBOT SET UP FOR GRAVITY BALL STRIKE

The putter blade is set with slight and uniform elevation off the floor with a metal spacer. The putter blade is positioned with levels to be horizontal and properly vertical for the exact subsequent impact. The site of impact is determined visually to be at the center of the ball. The arc of the swing is positioned visually so there is neutral arc at impact.

CAREFUL POSITIONING OF BALL AND CLUB FACE FOR SUBSEQUENT IMPACT

The ball was marked with a vertical circumferential line for documenting roll characteristics. The ball was placed in a slight depression in the carpet to replicate the conditions as sitting in grass.

The position of the anticipated club face impact and track is confirmed as aligned by photographic and computer computation. Test swings are performed to determine the set back distance of the club shaft in the mechanical device to create a roll of at least 10 feet.

The ball is placed in position. The shaft is set at the proper distance back of the ball. The arc is perfect pendulum with one fulcrum. The shaft is released mechanically from the still position. The impact is documented on the computer.

STOP ACTION PHOTO IMMEDIATELY AFTER IMPACT

The ball roll is photographed in sequences. Measurements are made on club angle, face angle, club head speed, impact speed, ball roll speed, skid, etc.

EXCEPTIONAL ROLL CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR PUTTERS

Swing Dynamic's Putting Track Monitor measured 10 critical components of the putt and then computes the Putt Efficiency Index (PEI):

The skid is defined as any ball forward movement in excess of 5.28 inches per revolution (circumference of a golf ball). The skid segment is a dominant factor in holding the putt's line. The shorter the skid distance the better.

True Roll is when the ball forward movement per revolution matches the circumference of the ball. The "true roll" segment is the dominant factor in the putt's distance control.

The True Roll Speed (TRS) is measured in miles per hour (MPH). The impact ball speed is held at 4.0 MPH on the machine. True Roll Speed is an important criteria in evaluating putter performance. A higher number is better.

The system calculates the Putt Efficiency Index (PEI). PEI is the % of retained kinetic energy when the ball assumes the "true roll" state. 1.0 is perfect. The higher the PEI number the better the performance.

The roll of the ball to termination was observed and optimal would be one without tumbling to the side. Off center hits up to 1/2 inch towards the heel and toe were measured to determine the size of the sweet spot.

Testing was performed on different dates. On some occasions, repeat testing was done with the same club to examine reliability.

Robot Testing Results: The results for each putter are listed on the web page detailing each putter design. The important factors are Skid distance in inches, True Roll Speed (TRS) in MPH and Putting Efficiency Index (PEI) with 1.0 as perfect. The objective is to find a head design that produces consistency in the performance in roll characteristics, direction and distance. The nature of the ball roll should be uniform throughout and without sideways tumbling during any stage.

Various existing putters from other companies were used for base line controls. The skid distances on other putters varied from 14 to 36 inches. The TRS varied from 2.9 to 3.4 mph. The PEI ranged from .46 to .88 for a variety of existing traditional putters.

We have all this data for many various putters including our own. This is a summary of the average results with emphasis on Skid, True Roll Speed and the Putt Efficiency Index. Results for the Scalpel^®, Physical Therapy^® and Tranquilizer^® are listed under the respective putter data. The Scalpel^®, Tranquilizer^® and Physical Therapy^® scores below are for heads tested without any weights in place. The various weighting test results for these designs are listed under the specifications for the Scalpel^®. Hits 1/2 inch away from the center towards the heel and toe did not vary on the Pro Forma-R™, the Scalpel^® or the Physical Therapy^®. Other putters lost efficiency when hit away from the center.

Another company's rolled face putter was tested for comparison to our face geometry. It tested with a skid of 18 inches, a TRS of 3.2 and a PEI of .76. Since the face geometry looked similar, we searched for an explanation. The explanation was that the impact geometry was very different. Ours was a horizontal line. The TD impact geometry was circular, similar to a flat face putter. The reason is due to an imprecise milling method that left a flat ridge in the central strike zone. Therefore, this putter with apparent rolled face and marketed as such had no different performance and in fact a worse performance than any putter we tested.

ROUND IMPACT GEOMETRY ON ANOTHER COMPANY'S ROLLED FACE PUTTER DUE TO IMPRECISE MILLING

Off center hits: Off center hits up to 1/2 inch give an indication of the size of the sweet spot. The control-TD with a rolled face had PEI of .77 at center and interestingly at .48 with toe hit and .66 with hit moved 1/2 inch towards the toe. Obviously this was not very good.

The Pro Forma-R™ had a PEI of .97 with center hits, and .81 PEI towards the toe, and .87 towards the heel. The Pro Forma-F™ had a PEI of .84 at center and importantly .90 when 1/2 inch towards the toe and .87 PEI when impact was 1/2 inch towards the heel.

The various results for Prescripition Putting's putters are listed for each putter head along with specifications. Our designs were tested with various face geometry, head geometry, head weight, placement of the weighting, and shaft placement. For instance, the prototype head weighed 250 grams and the Pro Forma-R™ weighed 350 grams. We tested the Pro Forma™ with flat and rolled face. The Pro Forma-R™ was tested with and without back weighed inserts. There was no reverse rotation skid on any of our putters.

Toe-Up Strike Position: The most severe test of a putter design is hitting the ball with the toe dramatically angled up.

TOE UP IMPACT POSITION

A conventional flat face putter will make an off line hit. The ball goes to the left for a right handed golfer and gives poor measurements.

The Pro Forma-R™ did not go off line and gave reasonable measurements with the toe up as seen below.

TOE UP IMPACT GEOMETRY IS STILL LINEAR

The single impact is from square hit. The multiple hits are with toe up. They were intentionally toward the heel for illustration purposes.

Summary of Various Tests: With these and other results, we observed that there is not one factor that makes the optimal putter head performance. Rather it is some combination of face geometry, club head geometry, club head weight, placement of the weighting, and shaft insertion site. The variable that the Pro Forma-R™ has is the linear impact geometry. This was clearly demonstrated on the toe up impact results.

Human Testing under Scrutiny: The ultimate test is the putter performance in the hands of the golfer so various tests were performed by the founder in the same laboratory environment and with the same photographic and computer documentation as with the robot.

Not surprisingly, this exercise confirmed that humans are not perfect. Robotic repetition is not possible. However, the human may make some putts that are almost perfect.

Human testing was performed by Lanny Johnson, M.D. under testing conditions on the monitor and with the following average results. The B-E is an old main line standard not used very often anymore.

On another day the golfer's performance was very good as recorded here.

How can it be that the putter can perform better in human hands than on a robot? The answer appears to be in the compensatory psychomotor skills of the golfer. In addition, the robot holds the fulcrum of the club handle in one position. The golfer's hands move and so does the fulcrum which allows for a more functional putter head movement. In the case of our back underside peripheral weighted clubs, the putter has the potential to approach the ball in a similar path as an airplane taking off. That is with the back weighting, the back of the putter drops ever so slightly at impact and thereby slightly elevates the ball causing forward rotation.

It also confirmed what golfers know. Some poor putts can go in the hole. Some good ones do not. For instance, with some practice the golfer can cut a putt or have a 30-45 degree approach to the ball compensated for with an open face that squares at impact and consistently make putts. The method is not recommended but confirms that sometimes a bad putt still goes in the hole.

Some new ground was broken with putting methods. Human testing on the robot showed the optimal approach to the ball to be less of a pendulum and in a horizontal plane during the approach. The rolled face compensates for need to elevate at and through ball impact. There appeared to be more consistency in distance control with a uniform stroke, absent acceleration at and through the ball. The disadvantage of the forward press was apparent when recorded on the monitor as it drives the ball into the ground and results in bouncing, prolonged skid, and lack of distance control.

The Ultimate Testing: As in surgery, the instrument and/or method must be successful in variety of person's hands in multiple locations. We are hopeful this will be so for our putters and golf.

After the laboratory testing, we took what we had learned to the putting green. We confirmed the laboratory observations on the golf course. A forward press at impact with a flat face club resulted in bouncing and inconsistency of distance. We validated the horizontal approach and the even tempo stroke to produce better results.

We have observed golfers of varying abilities. Most golfers have inconsistent putting strokes. They decelerate, cut across the ball, jerk on way back or through. They approach the ball from above downward. They have poor aim. They produce very inconsistent distances. Most improve after the tutorial and instruction. The Pro Forma™ quickly improved even the most inexperienced golfer's performance.

We have had a tour professional call after assessing the Pro Forma-R™ and ask "what is the magic?". We believe we have the optimal combination of face geometry, head geometry, weight, weighting placement and shaft head insertion. The linear impact geometry is probably the overriding important factor when other factors are included.

Good and poor golfers putt better with the Pro Forma-R™ or other Prescription Putting designs. Good and poor putters putt better after taking Alternative Medicine for Putting: Personal Tutorial or attending our There is More to Putting than Meets the Eye® workshop.