PutterZone – Best Putter Reviews
There’s an old saying in the world of putting: it’s the archer, not the arrow.
In other words, if you are missing a lot of putts, don’t rush to blame your putter without first looking in the mirror. For example, it has been demonstrated that visual misalignment—ie: aiming left or right of the intended target line—is epidemic among recreational golfers.
Enter the Crossbow XB-10 by Roenick Golf—a new putter that literally employs an arrow to compensate for the archer.
According to the company, “The Crossbow Putter XB-10 is the world’s first adjustable alignment putter.” The putter features an “aligner arrow” that can be adjusted to point just left or right of square with the putter face.
The idea is that if your eyes play tricks on you, causing you to consistently aim left or right of the hole, you can adjust the position of the putter face accordingly by tweaking the angle of the alignment line. You will still point the alignment line toward your target as always, but the putter face will be slightly open or closed to compensate for your optical bias.
PutterZone.com has not yet seen or tested the XB-10, and the notion of an alignment line that is not square with the putter face seems rather alien.
But according Roenick Golf founder Eric Weitz, “Player feedback confirms that the open or closed face is not so dramatic that it distracts the golfer at address. By design, the golfer should focus on the aligner arrow, not the club face.”
He adds, “I see my intended target line 1.25 degrees right of the hole. As a result, I play my Crossbow putter set to 1.25 degrees right—the arrow points right so that club face is slightly closed at address. Putts that used to miss to the right now fall into the cup.”
The Crossbow XB-10 will no doubt generate debate about whether or not it’s a good idea to give up on improving your visual accuracy in favor of a compensating alignment technology.
Regardless, Roenick Golf earns kudos for taking innovative aim at a common putting problem.
