Best Way to Bend Putter Shaft

Well, I would take it to a club fitter and have them do it with their special tools. The shaft on your putter is not solid (as are all the other club shafts), but is metal tubing. Chances are that without the bending tool, you will crimp the shaft where it bends only at one point, rendering it either broken or useless.

GA

The other point (that your post covered as well I feel) is that surely it must be "bent" to suit the person using it, therefore he may need to be there as the work is carried out!! Or be prepared to visit quite often I feel!

Golfers (in my experience) are "fussy" about such things being exactly right!! (So am I, but please don't tell anyone as I am not a golfer!!)

If it was a cheap putter that I was not too worried about ruining, I would have filled it with DRY sand, well tamped down, tapping the shaft constantly to get as much sand in as possible. Plugging with maybe a piece of wood or similar. Then I would gently use a gas torch to heat the area where I wanted to bend it (all around), holding it in a vice, testing as I went for "softness". It will come quite suddenly in my (limited) experience.

I would use this method anywhere where I did not have the right diameter/correct tube bender, heat helps usually in my opinion.

Often it probably does not need to "glow", as many metals bend easier just being heated to a significantly lower temperature.....I would apply some pressure in the right direction and some heat, making sure that the heat was as even as possible around the area. A wider heated area will make for a "slower" bend, nothing too sudden! If the tube is thin, this may be to the OP's advantage....

Maybe two people working carefully together? Even two torches may be better to even the heat out.....set low, working slowly.

It would be fun to do and to get just perfect with no signs of burning!!

If you heat the putter shaft the process will most likely alter the temper of the steel which will weaken or ruin the shaft and it will probably loosen the putter head from the shaft.

I would suggest using an arrow straightener, a small metal lathe with a steady-rest straightening tool, or take it to a golf shop that provides the service.

I am curious as to why you are straightening the putter shaft because the bend is there to ensure straight, level ball contact when in a normal putting body position.

This type of putter has a shorter shaft and they do not perform well if used in a 90 degree perpendicular position.

Wouldn't it be best to purchase a straight putter rather than alter the one you have?

Thank you James and SHOCKHISCAN for your replies and good advice. I'm thinking based on your responses and advice that it would be best to bring it to a professional.

I've altered my putting stroke to be more upright and as a result the heel of the putter is up in the air at address. It's been working pretty well, but I was thinking that it might be even better if the putter head was more flat to the ground.

I've been thinking about trying a new putter, but I've been using the current one for 8+ years.

I suppose you could just hit a tree with it.

I was thinking the windmill, clown's nose, dinosaur's leg...

LOL! Ausgezeichnet! That would surely bend it alright!

Bad idea for a number of reasons..

Call a shop that specializes in golf clubs and see what they recommend.

If you want to gamble, take the grip off and fill the shaft with water.

Freeze the water/club overnight, and then GENTLY straighten it.

My advice is to take it to a golf shop and have it re-shafted. It's not that expensive.

I've had several clubs re-shafted.

Thanks Solar Eagle! I'm thinking that makes sense to get fitted.

Asking for golf advice is like asking how to repair a Cavalier that won't start.

Without knowing anything about your skill level (or handicap) no one should try to tell you how to do anything in golf. You don't know what our skill level is either, and we're all expert golfers in our own minds.

So, having said that, here's my advice.

Go see a pro. Pay him/her to watch you putt with different styles of putters and then let them recommend one for you.

Clubs do not make good golfers. A good golfer can play with any club you hand them after playing with it for 10 minutes.

Sure, you can pay $500.00 for a putter and still not putt well.

Finally, if you have a torch and a vice, reshaft the putter yourself. Start with a longer shaft and play with it until you find the length you like. Then trim the big end to length with a tubing cutter and install a new grip yourself too.

It's easy. I've done it many times.

"and we're all expert golfers ......" Yup, I always play at 2 holes ahead of everyone else in my party! My swing is so great that when I "Tee" off at the first hole, my ball winds up 3 strokes down the second or third fairway

Thanks Lyn! I'm going to check with the local PGA pro.

Hey Lyn,

My neighbor has an Oldsmobile Firenza that will only start when it's raining out and the temperature is below 33 degrees F, but if it snows, it won't start.

I offered to loan him my Wilton 30lb Sledge Hammer, but then I thought about the damage to the hammer, so I told him he should use something less expensive. He used his uncle's old bowling ball and he no longer has car problems.

I was going to end the story with my neighbor using a putter, but it would've been hard to destroy a Firenza with it.

"Start with a longer shaft and play with it until you find the length you like."

Alas this may be ill advice as it may make his putter flutter.

And whose were they?

Just don't ask this guy to 'help you take two strokes off your short game'...

Things can get really ugly, really fast...

Kind of like asking non-golfers how to modify a specialty golf club.

(By the way, have you thought of simply 'retiring' your belly putter to 'casual play only' and buying a comparable standard putter to use when playing a USGA tournament?)

I just checked the PDF on the rules change, and I have two comments:

1) Your simple solution is to buy a shorter handled putter so it won't 'anchor' in your belly.

2) once again, they make the rules of golf change to remove any ability to compensate for the fact that the human body is just not designed to accurately and consistently hit a golf ball with a golf club. Way too many joints and levers in conflicting motions at once, and if a knee dips too soon, or two late, or the pinky was gripping too tight or too loose, then the ball goes off in some wild, random direction. That's why they say "Golf is a beautiful walk, spoiled by a little white ball."

Golfing blue meanies? Seriously? Where does one find such characters?

The blue guys are all Mr. Meeseks, and the screenshots are from the show "Rick & Morty."

Rick is a mad scientist, and one of his inventions is a box with a button on it. When you press the button, Mr. Meeseeks appears out of thin air, "Hi! I'm Mister Meeseeks, look at me!" Mr. Meeseks will then help you with one task or problem and then vanish back into nothingness. Ricks daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter all use the box to help them, the daughter and granddaughter's requests seem rather hard at first, (the granddaughter wanted to be more popular at school, for example) but those problems were apearantly able to be solved with a little life-coaching and self-esteem boosting. The son-in-law's request sounded simple at first: "Take two strokes off my golf game," but since he's an average golfer already, none of the 'general advice' of 'keep your arm straight, lead with your hip, keep your head down,' work, and Mr. Meeseeks gets desperate, (we learn later that existing is painful for a Mr. Meeseeks, so they want to complete their tasks quickly and 'die' as soon as possible) and Mr. Meeseeks uses the box to make another Mr. Meeseeks to help him, and after a while, he calls up another for backup, and then the cycle repeats and repeats. Soon the collection of Mr. Meeseeks are debating how to help Jerry (the son-in-law) drop two strokes from his golf game, and after an all-Meseeks brawl, they decide that the best way to 'improve' Jerry's game is to kill him, since that would 'take ALL the strokes off his golf game.'

Seems to me like an adjustable shaft for prototyping would be a useful tool.

As I said,I know nothing about golf,but that is just a logical solution to find a perfect fit.

I know a guy that was out looking in a pasture for a ball his wife sliced and spotting a white object in a cows rear, lifted the tail and pointing, said to his wife "Hey, this looks like yours!" He awoke in the hospital with a club bent around his neck.

I would rate this a 10 if it were possible