Pros And Cons Of A Mallet Putter – Are They More Forgiving?

A Mallet Putter has a large head shape where a Blade Putter is narrow.

The large head shape gives the Mallet Putter a few performance benefits, from forgiveness, alignment and feel.

A Blade Putter has a traditional look and feel, it has a much harder feel off the face with very little forgiveness.

Mallet Putter Vs Mid Mallet Putter

Both of these styles have large head shapes. The Mid Mallet is obviously slightly smaller. Mid Mallet Putters generally have a half moon shape look to them.

Someone that does not like the large shape of the Mallet Putter will go towards a Mid Mallet, this smaller shape option will still have the alignment, forgiveness attributes of the larger shape, but not as much. It will feel more towards a Blade Putter as the weight is closer to the face.

But obviously more forgiving than a Blade Putter.

Mallet Putter Vs Double Wide Putter

The Double Wide Putter is one of my favorite Putter shapes. The Mallet Putter is a large head with loads of technologies built in like alignment, feel and forgiveness.

See above for more info on that.

The Double Wide Putter takes a modern twist on the traditional Blade Putter. What manufacturers have done is, take a traditional Blade Putter and add a piece to the back of it.

What this does is keep the look of a Blade Putter, while giving it some more forgiveness and alignment aid like a Mallet Putter.

Don’t get me wrong, the Double Wide Putter has nowhere near the forgiveness as a Mallet Putter or even a Mid Mallet Putter, but it has a lot more compared to your traditional Blade Putter.

This is for someone that cannot stand a Mallet Putter, but still wants some more forgiveness.

What Is Best For High Handicappers?

I highly recommend any beginner or high handicapper to play with a Mallet Putter.

When you start the game of golf, it is going to be essential to have the most forgiveness in every aspect of your bag.

Must people overlook the Putter as they do not realise the benefits a Mallet Putter can give them. Your swing will be inconsistent in the beginning, including your putting stroke.

Having a Mallet Putter can easily help you shave 5 to 10 shots off your round. This will give you confidence, and keep you interested in the game for longer.

Do Pros Use Mallet Putters?

100% yes. They realise the benefit that Mallet Putters have, and they take full advantage of that, even professionals will take all the help they can.

So the question is why don’t all professionals use Mallet Putters? Well it comes down to look and feel. Professionals are very receptive to how the Putter looks and feels.

Blade Putters give a traditional look and feel, which some pros like, and can’t give that up for the benefits of a Mallet Putter.

Face Balanced vs Toe Hang

This is probably the most overlooked aspect of the Putter.

What Face Balanced and Toe Hang refer to is, if you balance the Putter on your finger on its balance point the Putter face will either be pointing straight up or the toe will be hanging down slightly.

Face Balanced Putters suit a straight back straight through putting arc, and a Toe Hang Putter suits an arcing stroke, the more the arc the more the Toe Hang.

Take a video of your stroke from behind and see if you have any arc in your stroke, from there you can determine what you will need.

Each Putter has a different hosel type. GooseNeck, Single Bend, Double Bend and Centre Shaft Putters are Face Balanced.

Plumber’s Neck, Short/Long Slant all have a Toe Hang to them.

Best 3 Mallet Putters

TaylorMade Spider X

Jason Day originally took the TaylorMade Spider to new heights, in his prime he had the Red Spider Tour Putter, with win after win the Spider Tour Putter reached unprecedented stature.

The new Spider X takes that same philosophy and makes it better.

This Putter is packed with technology. The Pure Roll insert has grooves at a 45 degree angle, this helps to get the ball rolling sooner. The True Path alignment helps you align the ball up to the centre of the Putter, and to the hole easier.

The Multi-Material Construction gives you extreme perimeter weighting. It has a steel frame with back tungsten weights and lightweight carbon composite centre.

Pros

  • True Path gives you incredible alignment
  • Pure Roll will provide you the best roll possible.
  • The multi material construction gives you maximum MOI
  • Soft feel (this can also be a Con to some people)

Cons

  • The large Mallet shape can be off putting to some golfers
  • Expensive

Overall Score: 95/100

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Odyssey Two Ball

Arguably the most popular Mallet Putter of all time, the Odyssey Two Ball stands well at the top. For the past 20 years it has done it over and over again.

The White Hot Insert has an incredible feel, sound and performance. It is made from a two-part urethane insert. Tour players and your everyday golfer absolutely love the feel of this insert.

It has a Milled Surface Finish, it’s a combination of a rich silver PVD finish with milling on the surface.

The unique two white balls on the top of the Putter provide an alignment system like no other. It allows you to set the ball up perfectly in the middle of the Putter, and align straight at your target.

Pros

  • White Hot insert for optimum feel
  • Milled finish
  • Two Ball alignment helps you set up perfectly

Cons

  • Can become expensive
  • Larger head may be off putting

Overall Score: 96/100

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Scotty Cameron Phantom X 11

The Scotty Cameron range is known for their unbelievable Blade Putters, but don’t count them out on their Mallets either.

It is a smaller Mallet Putter, which provides a compact look and feel.

Unlike most Mallet Putters, this has a solid face/body, which is milled from a 303 stainless steel. It has an aluminum sole plate, this optimizes weight distribution, balance and feel.

It has sleek profile and swept-back trimmed wings, it’s clean topline provides great visual alignment cues from address.

Pros

  • Compact Mallet style
  • Solid feel off the face with it’s 303 stainless steel body
  • Sleek profile provides a great look at address

Cons

  • No insert my be off putting to some
  • Expensive
  • Not as much technology as some of the other top offerings
  • Not as well proven on Tour

Overall Score: 97/100

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Conclusion

There are more Pros than Cons when it comes to a Mallet Putter. At the end of the day it comes down to feeling comfortable and confident with a Putter.

Choosing the right style of Putter is incredibly important.

The only way you will know if a putter is right, is to pick one up and have a few putts with it. Keep in mind the benefits the Mallet Putter can have.

At the end of the day we are trying to make the game as easy as possible for ourselves. Going with a Mallet Putter can certainly help.