Why TORQUE BALANCE putters?
Why TORQUE BALANCE putters?
Concepts about toe hang and face balance are terms most golfers are familiar with but David Edel is not quite a believer.
In this episode, he goes into depth about what he calls torque balance. “Something I came up with eight or nine years ago,” toque balance has become “part of the huge process at Edel Golf.”
Even though most putters are torqued balanced at 90 degrees (with the shaft perpendicular to the ground), they lose that balance when they’re put on an inclined plane (lie angle). As a result, most putters have a tendency to open during the stroke. This is why most good players aim left; to compensate for an open putter face.
While the concept of eliminating torque during the putting stroke certainly makes sense, David acknowledges that the first torque balance putters he made and sold, were returned because people didn’t like them.
That’s when he realized there was another part of the equation needed if his putters were truly going to help people play better golf. It all came down to aim. Because most golfers tend to aim left to compensate for open face bias, he had to find a way to help them aim correctly. It didn’t take long for ensuring proper alignment to become part of Edel’s extensive fitting process.
When asked about the future of the torque balance concept as it relates to putting, David maintains that it’s “in a good spot.” He doesn’t see any immediate need for radical change or adaptation. Basically, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
At the end of the conversation, David makes it clear that while he’d love to sell as many putters as the “big OEM’s,” his values at Edel golf remain rooted in proven scientific methods that work. It’s evident that even after 24 years, David remains passionate about helping people become better putters. For Edel Golf, that doesn’t mean relying on fancy marketing campaigns or “trying to please stockholders.”
To hear insight about the inner workings of putter fitting and design, and David’s thoughts about torque balance, tune into the latest edition of the Edel Golf podcast above.