[Yoda]

I noticed on another thread in this section that Yoda mentioned his putter was 32 inches long and I seem to remember him being over 6 feet tall. I know most of us buy the store-bought standard of 35 inches. I have seen some teachers imply that most of us are playing with putters that are too long for us. Any thoughts from VJ,Yoda,YodasLuke, or anyone else??

The big idea is that the Putt is a Golf Shot and it should be treated as such. Ideally, its Stroke Pattern is derived from your Basic Stroke Pattern, i.e., the Stroke is only miniaturized, not drastically altered. And that includes the normal condition of the Arms (6-A-4) -- the Left Arm is always straight and the Right Arm is always bent until the end of the Follow-Through (the Both Arms Straight position).

The Putter's upright Lie Angle and its popular 34"-35" Shaft length makes it difficult to fully-extend the Left Arm. Hence, my 32" Clubshaft. Another benefit of the shorter Shaft is a shortened Stroke Radius. Per 2-M-2-2, this automatically results in a reduced Effective Clubhead Mass (and less Clubhead Power). For any given distance, this means you can Stroke your Putts with greater authority. This is especially valuable on high-stimp championship greens.

It is not an accident that Andy North won two U.S. Opens with a putter less than 30" long.