1. EASY AND EFFECTIVE AIMING.

Putting experts* have discovered that face misalignment at setup, and open or closed face angle when striking the ball, are the biggest causes of missed putts.
*D.Pelz, Golf, Sept. 1998, pp 96-97; S. Elkington, Golf Tips, August 1998, p 49.

The Straight-Aim™ aiming system was designed by a Ph.D. expert in human factors to be the simplest and most effective in the industry. A single, wide, high-contrast aim line on a nonglare background makes accurate face alignment easy. Better than 2-ball.*

*explanation available upon request.

2. NONGLARE FINISHES for easier visual face alignment.

Traditional mallets come in a brushed aluminum or a non-reflective matte black finish that is used to absorb light inside film cameras. Traditional blades are bronze- coated stainless steel. Progressive mallets have the light-absorbing matte black finish. Progressive blades are hard bronze alloy and have an amber finish that naturally darkens a bit each year. You can brush it bright or let it continue to darken.

3. FACE BALANCE for head stability and twist resistance.

The virtual center-shafting used by Straight-Aim™ has become a popular putter shafting method. It provides much more twist resistance than physical center-shafting. It puts the center of rotation and the center of gravity in the middle of the face, and the visual aiming line located at the middle of the sweet spot is unobscured by the hosel. Putters shafted in this way provide more consistent distance control than heel-shafted putters. (Research report, Golf Digest, January 1999, p. 19.)

Face balance is standard on all models.

4. EXTREME HEEL-TOE WEIGHTING.

Removal of excess metal from behind the impact area provides heel-toe weighting of 88% for the mallet and 94% for the blade.
Heel-toe weighting is important: Published reports indicate that even the best tour pros miss the sweet spot 6 out of 10 times. And independent studies show that heel-toe weighting of only 70% provides significant improvement in accuracy and distance control.
(See Golf Tips, August 1998, p.64)

Heel-toe weighting expands the sweet spot by creating a high moment of inertia (resistance to twisting from off-center hits). Thus, the energy from the off-center hit is transferred to the ball rather than dissipated in twisting the head. In this way, heel-toe weighting improves distance control as well as direction.

5. SWEET SPOT EXPANDED into a wide sweet impact area located exactly in the middle of the face.

With Straight-Aim™ putters you can set the middle of the face behind the ball, point the aim line at the target, and you will hit on the sweet spot.

6. PUTTER FACE INSERT OPTIONS.

Progressive mallets allow choice of a standard firm polymer insert or impact-force-reducing (IR) polymer inserts that make fast greens more manageable for those who have trouble with fast greens. IR inserts for fast greens (10% IR) or very fast greens (18% IR) are available for Progressive mallets. You have to putt harder with these, but our research with a putting machine has documented increased accuracy with IR inserts. IR inserts feel soft, but meet USGA standards for hardness.

Progressive blades all come with the 18% IR insert. Traditional mallets have the firm face insert, either polymer or hardened aluminum. (The aluminum has a bit softer feel.) Traditional blades have a metal face.

Straight Aim standard putter head weight (315-350 gm) can be specified. Standard Straight Aim swing weight is D6-7 at 35 inches. This can be customized. Long and very short putters require more head weight.
Weight ports in the heel and toe of Straight Aim putters allow us to set the head weight of your putter at a value of your choice.

Most putters have thin heads with the top of the head so low that it often strikes below the ball mid-line, causing it to hop off the face. Insert putters have the insert so low (for example, Odyssey insert at .81 in. high on left in the photograph) that sometimes the ball is struck with the metal above the insert. Straight-Aim™ putters use a face height of 1.25 in. to reduce hopping and to assure contact with the insert on every putt.

10. FACE LOFT.

The standard loft for Progressive Straight-Aim™ putters is 3°; loft for Traditional models is 4°. (See discussion of loft in Golf Illustrated, Sept./Oct. 1997, p.48).

11. BALL PICK-UP.

Removing most of the metal behind the impact area left a space that is used as a ball pick-up. If you have a sore back or want to avoid getting one, you will enjoy this feature, which is included free on all blade and mallet models. Picks up standard and large-sized balls off the green or out of the hole.

The size and face length of Straight-Aim™ putters is similar to models offered by Callaway, Zebra, Taylor, Ray Cook, Odyssey, and others. MANUFACTURED IN THE USA using USA materials. A lot of skilled handcrafting goes into each of these beauties.

12. BALL-MARKER PICK-UP OPTION

Customers have requested a feature that enables picking up a ball-marker without bending over. We can imbed a small, unobtrusive magnet toward the toe of your putter. The magnet picks up a common ferrous ball-marker. Some customers use an old dog license or washer as a ball-marker. It works just fine.

13. PISTOL GRIP OPTIONS.

An oversize grip (Karma) or midsize (Royal or Winn) at $10 extra, are available.  Other possibilities (inquire).

14. SENSORY FEEDBACK FROM BALL-STRIKE provides information about putting stroke.

Current Straight-Aim blades are designed with hard bronze and thickness that provides enough sound and feeling response to indicate when the putt is hit with an up-stroke (wrist-flip), side-swipe (heel or toe hit), or the ideal center hit on a square face following down the line.*

Thus, unlike the dead, no-feedback putters on the market now, this one can improve your putting by training your putting stroke.

*Like Johnny Miller putting dimes down the hall of his college dorm.

15. PENDULUM STROKE TRAINING PUTTER SHAFT OPTION.

Standard putter shafts are stiff. A more flexible shaft, steel or graphite, can be installed in any Straight Aim putter or in any other putter for $10-20. A slightly more flexible shaft will provide feedback during the stroke that will help locate the release point (apex) of a pendulum stroke and detect any perturbations in stroke smoothness. Using a flexible shaft can help train a more consistent, effective pendulum stroke.

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