Read a recent comment sent to John Means that someone questioned why just not use a yardstick that can be bought at a hardware store for $3:Â so, let me answer by pointing out how much thought went into the invention of the Putting Stick.
- I have never seen a yardstick with a built in/integrated level (have you?). And I am forever amazed watching people practicing on the practice putting greens – and just take stroke after stroke without putting a level down across (perpendicular) to their line to the hole.Â
It looks flat, so it must be flat- right? NO. And that is the most important thing to know (uphill/downhill makes no difference)- why? If there is a slight angle perpendicular to your line and the ball actually goes straight- it means that your putter face was NOT square to your actual line. If it had been square, the ball would have rolled with the angle on the green.
- We are trying to “groove” your putting stroke so that it is always square to your chosen line, and to minimize anything that would effect the “read/result” of your stroke: you need to know what you need to fix (if you have something to fix) so that your practice doesn’t make something “permanent (but not perfect)”.
That is why we make the Putting Stick from Cast Acrylic!
All materials have a coefficient of static friction, the higher the number, the more “grab” there is of whatever you are doing on that material. Below are the static friction numbers of the most basic materials used in most putting training aids that I have seen:
Coefficient of static friction
Acrylic – 0.4 – 0.5.
Aluminum – 1.05 – 1.35
Steel   –   0.6 – .07
Wood   0.7 – 0.9
The Putting Stick is made of Acrylic- which has the lowest coefficient and thus would least effect the stroke you just made!!