What color is your putter?

[Widdershins]

Your PRIMARY PUTTER is your most "personal" disc. It may be that the choices we make about our putters reveals something about us, our needs, our desires, our superstitions, our psyche, maybe even our souls.

So tell us about your putter. Some questions which occurred to me (perhaps others are coming):

What color is it? Is the color important to you? Was your last putter the same color? Do you switch putters? When and why? If you switch putters in a round will you pull out another of the same color? Would it matter if the current putter was replaced because it was lost or broken or just didn't go in enough? Do you get putters in pairs or sets?

What factors are most important in choosing a putter? Does it need to be hard or soft or medium? Does it need to be domey or flat or concave? Is there one mold you are loyal to? Does it need to be a certain weight? Does it need to prove itself before it becomes your primary putter? Does it have a special place in your bag?

Are you gentle with your putter? How long has it been in your bag? Do you name it? Do you speak to it? Do you love it or hate it? Could you replace it with a new one every round? What do you write on it? Do you clean it? Or sleep with it? Or eat off it? Or use it as a tool? Are there rituals you subject it to before important rounds or shots? Do you feel religious connections to it?

Does your putter have a special story about how you got it or something that happened to it? Can you reveal to us, your brothers and sisters of the Frizzzbee family, your deepest superstitions regarding it? Does simply reading this question bother you or invade your privacy?

Who do you know who has the weirdest relationship with their putter? And, of course, why?

What most reveals what your putter means to you? Which factors are mandatory with your putter?

 

[cfair]

I recently become very very very picky about my putting putter. Driving putters I'm less discriminatory with but for my putting putter I have to have

-a bright warm color such as orange, pink, blood red. Orange being the primary pref
-I do not switch putters, one putt, one putter
-so far must be 168g-172g
-Hard/firm putters are best, some give is good. Must have good grip though. Not supper grip but traction for my thumb.
-Broken in are best, I've found most putters flight plates sink/clover and I like those that have beaten in as such.
-I buy putters depending on the situation, no groups, no pairs, no sets.
-Beaded putters, nothing smaller than a medium bead. Micro beads don't fly for me
-Putters are always at the front of the line of my discs. Putters are the most used, most trusted, and most loved.
-It must have a designated spot for my thumb be it a feature on the disc (discoloration, dent, blemish, fade)
-I have to love the putter, it must be trusted, and I must be able to hold it above any other disc in my bag. Thus I have to come to love it more than my roc comet combo. And my comets are LE's, TP, and hopefully a signed RR special so thats a lot of love.

I don't write on them yet, but I kind of talk to them.

 

[Frank Delicious]

I really thought this was gonna be a dumb no discussion style thread but am pleasantly surprised. Right now I am using a white KC Aviar b/c that is the only color they had in my weight and I will be testing the Yeti aviars soon and they should be in white or red (the colors I asked for). For a long time I putted with only black wizards which was not out of some weird superstition but because black wizards were always the chalkiest and grippiest of the bunch. Then I found a hot little red wizard and started using that as my main putter.

Color doesn't matter to me as much as feel does. Some putters just feel good enough to be my main putter and some don't. I don't really have any criteria for this, I don't like soft putters or firm putters as I have used both in the past, it's really more of a "hey this feels great and could be my main putter" thing when I fondle that sweet plastic.

I noticed I was being very gentle with my main putting wizards but I realized it was because it was because I was afraid to beat it up or chunk it because of how hard new good wizards are to find. I lose and abuse putters more than any disc so I couldn't continue babying them. Anyway I'm rambling b/c I am tired.

I have drawn on putters before. When I was shown how to grip a putter properly way back in the day, I traced my hand on the disc in the correct position so I would know if I was holding it right. I have also written such things as "Nose down fucker!" and "Fuck this putter"*.

I don't know any crazy putter stories really. I know Terry Gallops was storing his main putter in a baggie full of sawdust for a while to help keep it dry, don't know if he still does it or not.


*I left the putter with this written on it on the course.

 

[Itchy1]

Frankie D, very first time I played disc golf was at Waller Park in Santa Maria with a buddy and we found a disc (don't remember what it was) left in one of the baskets with "Fuck this disc" written on it... one of yours?

http://discgolfreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19626&p=299553&hilit=found#p299553

 

[Jeronimo]

Mines black, LIKE MY SOUL.

 

[money 21]

i currently putt with a 171 yellow polecat. it is yellow because they had 3 that felt the same in the same weight. i will not switch putter durng a round unless it is because of wind. I will not use my main putter on shot longer then 100'. I place my thumb on the same spott on the putter every time.

I have a friends who dyed a rooster on his putter and refers to it as his cock.

 

[zj10021]

175g red Yeti Pro Aviar. just an awesome blend of plastic that innova came out with. I was a wizard guy for a while and always preferred ones that developed a sunken dome, the only problem was by the time you worked in a disc that well it had no stability. The Yeti gives me grip, concave dome, and stability. In terms of feel for mental confidence this is my idea of perfect.

 

[Carter]

I feel like I should be laying on a couch to answer these questions....

I like orange. Color is not nearly as important as feel. I got a 164g x-link ridge that has more grip than any putter I have used to date. It oozes confidence and the firmness is perfect where my fingers sink into the rubber a bit giving me a little more control, but not so much that it causes inconsistent releases. I should be able to use this one for a looooong time if I use it for chains business only. And it's a good thing too because I can't find another just like it for the life of me. X-link rigidity is pretty uniform, but the surface textures are all over the map, for me.

A putter MUST be flat as a board. I can't use anything with even the slightest of domes. Ridges have the flat plate as well as the lower profile that fits my hand just right. If I don't get "the feeling" holding a putter in my hands, I won't waste my time with it. That being said, I've tried eleven different molds and only two have given me this feeling. Ridges and pures. Pures just can't cut it for me so the ridge is my putter of choice. It has the longest stint as my putter of any mold.

I bath my putter every few rounds just to keep it looking nice. X-link doesn't love dirt, but it does love oil, so I am careful not to scrub the oily, grippy surface too hard.

 

[Stover]

The putter that has stayed my main putter the longest is a 174 Pro D Challenger. It is a 2009 model (which i like the most), is black, and has a Dynamic Discs logo on it in red.

Black is my preference for putting putters. I will use other colors as practice putters or when I pick up something to try. For a main putter I do not like to throw one with the original stamp on it. I always do carry an extra putting putter. I use the same one for every distance, but if I am having a bad putting day I will switch it up to the extra putter.

I recently bought two new black challengers with just a small discraft logo on them. This is going to be my new main putter and plan on stocking up on atleast 6 for just main putter use. I will be using other colors for practice.

 

[RS39]

Currently black, only because I can get away with it in winter, and that's what I found for chalky proto Wizards.

I need the same mold and general plastic feel in all conditions. I have a stack (usually bought in pairs) that are close enough in actual weight/flight that I can change them for the seasons as temps and colors demand. Robins egg blue is THE fall color.

Good tactile feel is important since I throw putters gently more often than ripping a drive, and I fan grip up close. Plastic must also be fairly stiff so I'm not steering a mushy flight plate.

Rather flat tops are important, but a byproduct of the need for a totally natural fit to the hand around the rim without second guessing the angle of the hold being influenced by the dome.

Flight is Wasp Jr, my traditional approach disc. Stable enough to buck wind, neutral enough to not hook left early, reliable braking/ranging since many local holes have hazards 20ft past the basket (nasty hills, creeks/ponds, plus the usual dense forest).

I HATE chasing the tune of a fast wearing disc.

I have a small stack of not-in-the-bag putters just for reference. Why did I try them and why are they no longer my regulars again??? And sometimes you need a brief change just to re-focus on the throws and stop blaming a disc for degraded form.

I have putters from 5 different mfg on-hand. They are an important edge to have and seek out, while my primary mid/fairway/overstable 3 have not changed for several years.

 

[Smigles1]

I am using a white pure. I carry a backup white pure with me in case I lose the other one.

The one I use was the first putter I used when I started 1.5 years ago. I am still using it, and I will probably use it till it breaks. What made me choose this one was the feel, the grippy plastic, it was love on first touch. It's rather soft and grippy like hell.

Apart from that, I think the putter does not matter. It's the thrower which makes all the difference. I could putt with a putter made from wood. I just use the pure because it feels so nice in my hand. I dont talk to it, I am not gentle or ungentle to it. It's just a disc. When it missed, it was me who missed. When it goes in, it was me who threw it in. No voodoo, no psycho babble, just me. Golf is cruel that way, you can try to blame anything else for your mistakes, but these are just excuses

 

[SpikeHyzer]

For me, it is all about feel. The color doesn't really matter to me. My stack of practice putters looks like a roll of life-savers. If the putter feels good in the hand, then more than likely it will putt good for me. And it is a trial and error approach because no manufacturer really produces a consistent putter. So it is all about feeling up a stack of putters to find the right one.

As for my primary inside the circle putter, it is a black OG Warlock and my primary jump putter is a grass green OG Warlock. I like a firmer but tacky putter for inside the circle putting duties and a slightly bit softer putter for jumping. I find that I have less roll-aways on a jump putt with a softer disc.

*Shameless plug for Gateway...the recent runs of OG Warlocks and Voodoos are some of the best feeling plastic they have produced for putters in a long time. They have black and grass green in this run as far as I know. If you are a voodoo or warlock fan, you should definitely look at picking up a couple of these.*

 

[muchachogrande]

I want one the same color as my skin. I want to stop thinking that I'm throwing a disc into the basket and start thinking that I'm throwing my hand into the basket.
Until that happens, I like red Wizards. They contrast well when flashing by the yellow band on the top of the basket.
Carolina blue Magics are nice as well. But not when they're dirty.
I have four pink Super Banger GTs that feel and look like whale condoms (don't ask, I needed rent money). I don't putt with those anymore because they bounce off things like lacrosse balls. Wait, I just talked myself into putting exclusively with them again.

I do write on them. It's a verse from the book of 2nd Kings:
Again the sentinel reported, 'He reached them, but he is not coming back. It looks like the driving of Jehu son of Nimshi; for he drives like a maniac.'

Seriously, I like the Gateway stuff. Magics and Wizards. Frank gave me an aqua medium wizard that is probably the closest thing to perfect in my hand. It has a chunk bitten out of it at the bead (Frank was shot with an arrow and had to bite down on it while I pulled it out). I use it for upshots because the damage turned it sick overstable.
I also have a HPP Wizard for driving. It feels like a car tire and is all swirly and blue. It looks like a clown crying about clouds. It's my favorite disc.

Wow. I have a problem.

 

[Mr. Wick]

Color is important to me with my putters, it's a mental thing. Other discs I could care less. My putters (a pair of 5 year old challengers which are really firm and just feel "right") are safety orange....my favorite color for a disc. I won't putt with anything that is a "cold" color, no blues or light pastel colors...... not even practice. My putters need to be "hot".

 

[Timko]

Mine is white. However, the color choice wasn't that big of a deal, I throw 168g medium Wizards. At the time I ordered the 5 I've been rotating (2008), gateway only had mediums in that weight. I've tried some other more colorful putters (teal and orange specifically), but they don't have the same stiff, chalky feel.

That being said, if I could get some blood red light, medium wizards, I'd be happy. Or sky blue. I have a ratter and an old, beat up wizard for upshots that I really like in that blue.

 

[Guurn]

Mine is q light pink SS Wizard. I have a backup that is light blue. Both are 172. I pick it out based on feel like many people in this thread. Basically I head to GGT and feel all of them in the hand and look at the profile before I buy. Color doesn't matter at all to me for any disc other than drivers.

 

[Vegan Ray]

Hand comfort (what some might call "feel") of a putter is of utmost importance to me. The profile height, bead size, dominess, shoulder shape, and, particularly, the flexibility of the rim & flightplate make all the difference whether or not a putter feels "at home" in my hand. That "at home" feeling leads to greater confidence leads to more made putts, particularly of the über-important in-the-circle variety. Color matters to me not a whit per se, but the putter that I have found that best satisfies all of my hand comfort criteria is the proto rubber vomit VP, all of which are a very attractive translucent brown with wee shreds of black, brown, yellow, & green distributed throughout. So my putter is translucent brown with wee shreds of black, brown, yellow, & green distributed throughout.

 

[emiller3]

I putt with 165-168 soft-but-almost-medium Wizards, always have. I like buying them in pairs if I can, and like having multiple colors.

Putters are the only disc I feel the need to horde, and I LOVE buying new ones. Whenever I find a good one, I buy it. Like BLURR said, you can feel it when you pick it up, you know that it suits you.

I used a circle tooling small Wizard stamp for a couple years, then a circle tooling G-stamp, now I'm using a yellow early run of the new tooling. I carry two other putters for driving, a beat green 170-172 and a fairly fresh blue 170-172. I know this isn't the putter porn thread, but I just can't help myself.
-> ->

 

[jaboc83]

My Aviar's must be Orange, and the weight must be 175. I have four of these that I alternate. I carry two in my bag during any given round and will switch which one I use between holes. I don't like using the same one for every hole. (Side note: I don't like throwing any driver twice in a row so I tend to keep a matched pair of those as well).

For some reason this week, I decided to pick up a pair of SS Wizards in Pink. I'm sure the routine will be the same if they end up performing as well as the aviars...

It's amazing how much these stupid little mental things affect a person's game.

 

[VictorB]

With the combination of wanting to add a little bright color to my world instead of throwing dull black challengers, and loving Yeti Aviar plastic, my putters are both 171 Orange Yetis.

Feel is most important to me. The Yeti aviar has the grippy flight plate with the firm rim I've been trying to find since I've started playing. The little bit of concavity is nice, makes the flight plate feel like my most beat challengers, but still grippier. I used to HAVE to use a black putter, but I think I'm over that stage.