We golfers have always had our own lingo with an ever-growing lexicon full of colorful, explanatory, humorous and downright confusing words and terms to describe the game we love. Looper. Fringe. Cut. Up and down. Ferrule. Snowman. Wrench. The list goes on...
How about blade? Mallet? Mid-mallet? These are words that can be used to describe utensils relegated to the culinary arts, home improvement or zombie films. But in golf they are descriptors for the very implements we spend countless hours mulling over, standing above and using to put that dimpled sphere into the hole.
So, let's talk putters. Specifically, blades, mid-mallets and mallets.
For our purposes here, a blade is a traditional putter with a straight club head and a narrow, or non-existent, flange (back cavity/area of the putter) and can also have heel and toe weighting. Blade putters can be designed with various neck setups such as plumbing, flare, round, mid-slant or mini-slant necks. Blades are usually favored by the player with a bit of an arced putting stroke, as they promote a swinging gate, more flowing stroke.
Scotty Cameron blade model examples:
Mid-mallet is another way to describe a putter that's not a blade, but is approaching the characteristics of a mallet. Our mid-mallets appeal to players looking for a bit more forgiveness with a more traditional head shape. These putters have larger overall head shape profiles, usually offer a bit more stability and forgiveness, but still maintain some of the visual aesthetics of a blade. Scotty likes to say a mid-mallet has the stability of a mallet with the feel of a blade.
Scotty Cameron mid-mallet model examples:
The putter making world of mallets is where designers can be the most creative with materials, shapes, sizing and setups. A mallet putter favors the player who is striving to make a straight-back-straight-through stroke. Usually heavier weighting is moved to the perimeter and toward the back of the mallet to increase MOI (Moment of Inertia), stability and forgiveness.
Scotty Cameron mallet model examples:
So, which type of putter appeals to your putting style? The choice is yours.
Check out the Putter Selection Guide for more information.
Take a look at the complete lineup of current Scotty Cameron putters.
