In Review: P3 Putter

A common putting misconception among recreational golfers is that “touch” and “feel” must be the direct outgrowths of nuanced movements.

But the opposite is, in fact, true. The more you take your wrists and small muscles out of the equation, the better you can develop the touch and feel required for a consistent, repeatable putting stroke. Great putting, it turns out, is more of a craft than an art.

Enter the P3 Putter ($89), a training aid designed to teach and reinforce the sensation of engaging your larger muscles and shoulders during the putting stroke. Following is PutterZone.com’s review of the P3 Putter.

The Storyline
Developed by a pair of golf enthusiasts on California’s Central Coast, the P3 Putter stands for “perfect putting pendulum.” According to the company: “The concept behind the P3 is to help train you to use a proper pendulum putting stroke….The P3 will train you to putt using the major muscles in your shoulders and upper arms and eliminate the unnecessary movement in your wrist and hands.”

The P3 Putter consists of a frame and two grip handles. The frame attaches to your own putter, and the provided handles attach to the frame. The provided handles can be attached at a wide position toward the edges of the frame as well as two narrower positions closer to the center.

To use the P3, you place a ball on the green or your living room carpet, and you stroke the ball using the provided handles. You begin in the wide position before advancing to the narrower positions. In each position, according to the company: “By having you hands apart hanging from your shoulders you…will learn to use your shoulders moving back and forth.”

The View from PutterZone.com
I’m not a big fan of bulky, complicated training contraptions—and based on the product photos, I feared that the P3 might fall into that category. I was pleasantly surprised, therefore, when it arrived in a drawstring bag measuring just 18 inches long and four inches wide. The P3 looks bigger in photos than it does in person.

The provided handles attach to the frame via simple magnetic attachment, both vertically for training use and horizontally for compact storage in the bag. To assemble the P3, you attach the frame to the shaft of your own putter via a simple screw clip. You then magnetically snap the provided handles into place and you’re ready to go. The P3 earns points for turning a potentially complicated assembly into a breeze.

The P3 Putter works as promised, as it immediately communicates what it means to truly engage the large muscles and shoulders when putting. I found it to be a bit of a revelation, despite my own prior awareness of the need to quiet my wrists and engage my larger muscles.

Best of all, I find myself referencing the sensation on the putting green, even when I’ve left the P3 at home—the unmistakable hallmark of an effective training aid.

The Bottom Line
The P3 Putter is a remarkable putting aid that can quickly raise your game. It is an absolute no-brainer for anyone involved in putting instruction, as it will benefit countless students. As for the individual golfer, the P3 Putter is a smart—if not inexpensive—purchase for those who are committed to achieving and repeating a winning putting stroke. In fact, if you consider the P3 Putter as a putting lesson that will last a lifetime, then it just might be a bargain.