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This Putter Has 60 Different Fitting Combinations
Have you ever been fitted for a putter?
Did you leave the putter fitting filled with excitement and optimism, knowing you had finally found your forever putter?
Once you took your new putter on the course, did it perform the same way as it did in the fitting or was something off?
If things didn’t work out on the course, did you decide the new putter wasn’t a good fit after all and added it to the ever-growing pile of cast-offs in your garage?
If any of this sounds familiar, know that you are not alone. Many of us have gone through putter fittings only to discover that the putter that was solid gold during the fitting became iron pyrite during play.
Somehow, the fitted putter just didn’t fit when you got it home and, at that point, there was nothing you could do about it.
Astral Putters is looking to change that story by allowing you to adjust the build of your putter as needed after the fitting. Now if what you were fitted for does not work on the course, you can change it.
What if your putter was as adjustable as your driver?
How many of you were fitted for your current driver?
Did you dial in the hosel settings to correct for your typical miss?
Did you ever change those settings once you put the driver in play? Maybe your hook bias was not as extreme on the course as it was in the fitting studio so you slid the weight a bit back from the toe.
I think everyone with an adjustable driver has tinkered with the hosel and weight settings.
Putter fitting rarely works the same way because putters are not as adjustable as drivers. Maybe you can get it bent for lie or loft angles but very few companies have driver-like adjustable hosels you can tinker with.
Some have modular neck builds but true adjustability at the hosel is not a thing.
At least it wasn’t before Astral Putters.
Astral Putters are Massively Adjustable
Astral Putters are the most adjustable putters that I have ever encountered.
Your Astral Putter build starts out simplistically with two body, two face and two finish options. First, you pick the blade or mid-mallet head shape. Then you select a soft copper or a firmer brass face component.
Finally, you choose between matte black and raw silver finish. Both right- and left-hand models are available.
Nothing too extreme or unusual happening here just yet.
From there, you select one of five lie angle adapters to fit your needed lie angle.
After that, things get exciting!
The unparalleled adjustability enters the conversation via the three rotating hosels. If you were to point to the Astral Putters “killer app”, it would be these hosels.
Each of the three included hosels can attach to the putter head at 20 different angles. This means you have a total of 60 offset and toe-hang options.
Why do you need all of those hosel options?
Actually, you only need one of them. The rotating hosel allows you to find that setting. Some of the configurations are a long way from what is found in your local putting corral.
Astral Putter’s hosel allows you to test the atypical configurations. For example, you can see if a blade with zero offset is the answer.
Your only job is to try the various positions to determine which hosel setting is the one that allows you to consistently put the ball on target.
Astral Putter Build Components
Putter body
One putter face insert
One lie adapter
Three rotating hosels
Matte black, stepless KBS CT Tour shaft cut to requested length
Winn grip (SuperStroke option available)
Travel/storage headcover
Accessory box
Finding your Astral Putter Fit
Before you order an Astral Putter, it is important to know your proper putter length and lie angle measurements.
Lie angle can be changed with a new adapter if needed but it simplifies the process if you have the correct lie from the beginning.
Once you have the correct lie angle and shaft length, it’s time to screw your putter together and start experimenting with the rotational positions of the hosel.
Every time you change the hosel position, you change the offset and the toe hang of the putter. You will find some of these positions are complementary to your stroke and some are adversarial.
The greatest thing about the Astral Putter is that you are not stuck with any one build. If a hosel position worked on the practice green, but not when under pressure out on the course, then change it after the round.
The Astral Putter is made to be adjusted for successful putting.
Dave’s Astral Putter Fitting Session
As I mentioned, the fitting process for an Astral Putter is almost the same as it is for a driver. You identify your usual miss tendency and then adjust the settings until that miss goes away.
Can adjusting the hosel position really influence putting performance that significantly?
To test this, I took the Astral Putters fitting kit to the local practice green.
It felt like old times as I set tees six, 12 and 18 feet away from a hole. My plan was to hit five balls at each distance and record the number of made putts and any miss tendencies.
If changing the hosel position does influence the roll of the ball, then results should change as the hosel position changes.
My initial build consisted of the mid-mallet head, copper face, and the 2.5 neck set at the 12:00 position. After each series of putts, I rotated the neck one position counterclockwise.
After one complete rotation, I swapped in the blade body, the brass face and the other two necks.
Hosel Adjustment Observations
Did changing the hosel position influence my putting? Absolutely. Here are a few of my observations.
Changing the hosel influenced the miss direction. For example, as soon as the hosel position dipped below horizontal, all misses were to the right. Prior to that, putts were on line at the hole. Dispersal was minimal at most positions. Misses were consistent misses. According to my notes, only one of the settings produced “f*cking chaos” at 12 feet. Changing the hosel position influenced speed. This was unexpected. Some hosel positions produced very hot putts and other positions were consistently short. Most of the variation was apparent at 12 feet. The brass face definitely had more pop than the copper although the copper impact tone was more pleasing.For comparison, I also tested my PING PLD Custom Anser gamer and my gamer-adjacent L.A.B. DF3. One way I knew I had found my correct hosel settings with the Astral Putter was when I achieved similar, sometimes better, numbers than with the two control putters.
Taking the Astral Putter Out For a Round
My final build ended up being the mid-mallet head, brass face and hosel set one step clockwise. Yep, that’s a negative offset setting. It seemed odd at first but the numbers were best at that position.
I was 50/50 on both the blade versus mid-mallet shape and the copper versus brass face. I was slightly more accurate with the blade but liked the look of the mid-mallet better. Since my usual miss is short, I opted for the hotter brass face although the copper felt and sounded better to me.
So did the success at the fitting translate to the course?
Sort of.
During the testing, the hole looked like a dinner plate. On the course it was much smaller and sometimes in unexpected places. Yes, that means I was missing putts.
While the negative offset position looked great during testing, it was distracting on the course. So, too, were the tone and feel of the brass.
Had this been any other putter, it would likely have been destined for putter purgatory.
But Astral Putters are adjustable. So I adjusted it.
For the next round, I swapped out the brass face for the copper one and moved the hosel to 12:00, the other position that produced strong numbers.
This time around, the putter performed more as expected. I still feel there is a little more tweaking that could be done but this configuration is very playable on the course and the practice green.
The main point is that, by being adjustable, the Astral Putter was able to stay in the bag rather than being relegated.
Final Thoughts on Astral Putters
One thing I failed to mention is that Astral Putters are of the highest build quality. It gets overshadowed by the adjustability but these are precision-milled putters.
The components fit together without gaps and, once you have it all secured, the putter feels as solid as a one-piece milled putter. The copper face is a beauty.
Unlike some other adjustable putters, the Astral Putter packs its significant adjustability into an attractive package. A Happy Putter this is not.
Should you buy an Astral Putter? I suppose the answer to that question is another question: Are you willing to tinker with it to find your best build settings?
If trial and error is not your thing, you should probably just go and buy another off-the-rack putter and use it until it runs out of birdies like you did with previously purchased putters.
Check the 2024 Most Wanted Blade Buyer’s Guide for some solid options.
However, if an afternoon of rolling balls and exploring all of the fitting settings sounds like a good time, you are a candidate for an Astral Putter.
Who knows? Maybe this putter could finally be “the one.” With its adjustability, it could be “the one” today and then a different version of “the one” tomorrow with just a little rotation of the neck.
What I do know is that no other putter is more akin to the adjustable driver than the Astral Putter.
Maybe this is the start of a similar adjustable design revolution for putters.
Find out more about the Astral Putters at AstralPutters.com
FAQ: Astral Putters
All in all, I was on the practice green with the fitting kit for about two hours. I would expect your testing time to be less since I was also testing multiple faces, bodies and my gamers.
For sure. As I mentioned, every setting pointing down was terrible. The 3:00 setting delivered a four-way miss. The thing is, a setting that sucks for me may be amazing for you. I keep referencing driver adjustment for that reason. For some, a flat driver setting is ideal. For others, that setting is an abomination.
Valid question, especially when dealing with a company you’ve never heard of. You can follow this link to see Astral Putter’s 30-Day Return Policy. Based upon my conversations with them, I bet they would welcome the opportunity to help you figure out the settings on your putter rather than you needing to return it. They really want one of their putters to be the last putter you ever need to buy.
If Astral Putters take off, then I’d expect to see more models and components. We could see different head shapes including, perhaps, an adjustable mallet. Different face materials would be another natural progression. It’s easy to imagine the addition of carbon steel and stainless steel to the face option list. They could even offer faces at different lofts, helping you to dial in speed when you play on fast or slow courses.
This article was written in partnership with Astral Putters.
The post This Putter Has 60 Different Fitting Combinations appeared first on MyGolfSpy.
