The Putting Stick – 126 TOUR Players Are Raving About This Training Aid
By Tim Cotroneo
If a six time major winner raved about a training aid, would you try it? If the European Tour’s top putter said this device was the only training aid he’ll use, would this short grass success tweak your interest? If this training aid, called the Putting Stick, was made right in your backyard, would you buy one today?
Putting Stick entrepreneur Vlad Gribovsky always remembers the two things Hazeltine Golf Professional Mike Schultz considered before adding something new to his pro shop inventory. The product had to be something Schultz hadn’t seen before, and he believed it would be a seller. This two-step supply and demand mantra has stuck in Gribovsky’s head.
These value-laden words jumped out at Gribovsky when he tried a Putting Stick training device exhibited at the Minnesota Golf Show back in 2007. “I flashed back to the words from a Remington electric shaver commercial. I liked the Putting Stick so much I bought the company,” Gribovsky recalled.
Deadly On The Money Putts
In order to make sure his instincts were correct, Gribovsky showed the original version of the Putting Stick to PGA pro Tom Lehman. The 10-time PGA TOUR winner said that his only corrections would be to make sure the Putting Stick was easy to assemble, and that the mirror at the end of the 46-inch stick fit seamlessly.
Today’s Putting Stick assembles in a minute, and Gribovsky took great pains to make sure the eye line, the carpenter’s level, the mirror line bisecting the golf ball at address, and the follow through arrows all adjust to perfection. The result is a training device that has attracted a legion of both professionals and amateur golfers who’ve seen their putting success, as well as their short game confidence soar.
Professional Bo Van Pelt is one of the Putting Stick’s greatest success stories. While working with instructor Mitchell Crum, Van Pelt initially fought using the Putting Stick. After relenting to Crum’s devotion to the training aid, Van Pelt went from 144th to 9th in total TOUR putting. Where Van Pelt flourished was in the three-foot putts that are the Putting Stick’s calling card. In 2012, Van Pelt made 650 consecutive three footers. “The Putting Stick will make you deadly on the three to six foot money putts,” Gribovsky said.
Self Diagnose Your Putting
The beauty of the Putting Stick is that it allows you to diagnose what you’re doing right or wrong. If your putter face is even ½ degree off from being square at impact, the ball will not make it all the way to the end of the Putting Stick. If your putts slide left off the Putting Stick, your putter face is probably closed. If putts go right, the face is probably open. The Putting Stick also has an adjustable built in backswing bumper to encourage a shorter backswing. A minimized backswing encourages a golfer to accelerate through the ball- this holding the line of the putt. The bisecting line on the mirror at the end of the stick also reveals if you are standing over the ball. The bottom line is, the Putting Stick provides immediate feedback and ingrains muscle memory.
The Putting Stick is also all about compact convenience. Numerous Tour professionals keep one in their golf bag. If you live in a snowbound state like Minnesota, it’s a great device to use at home. With the Putting Stick, you can putt indoors year-round.
Gribovsky met one of the Putting Stick’s most ardent fans when he attended a green reading training session at Hazeltine, his home course of almost 40 years. After Craig “Dr. Putt” Farnsworth finished his AimPoint green reading event, Gribovsky introduced himself. Farnsworth shared that Nick Faldo was one of his pupils, and Sir Nick was in Orlando, FL, preparing for his final go at the British Open. Gribovsky hand delivered a Putting Stick to Faldo. The six time major winner putted “lights out” at the Open, and Faldo immediately became a disciple of the Putting Stick.
International Inquiries On Grooving Your Putting
The Putting Stick’s headquarters in Waconia, MN, receive daily product orders from all over the world. “I always ask how the new buyer heard about the Putting Stick. Inquiries from Thailand, Moscow, England, and Korea often occur because the buyer has seen the device in a professional’s bag while playing an international Tour event. During a television interview, Paul Dunne, the leading putter on the European Tour, mentioned that we are the only training device he uses,” Gribovsky said.
The Putting Stick provides immediate left or right feedback. Imagine fixing what went wrong with a previous putt. According to PGA Teacher of the Year Mike Bender, the Putting Stick is the best way to groove a fundamentally sound putting stroke.
Ultimately, when you consider how many strokes are devoted to putting, saving two to three strokes per round is a big deal. Vlad Gribovsky so believed in The Putting Stick’s ability to shave strokes, he bought the company.
