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Taylormade Daddy Long Legs - the "extreme" Spider putter
Taylormade's marketing blurb launched this putter as a revolutionary alternative to the belly putter, but it is not entirely new... clubfitters have added weights to the butt end of putters for some time.
What is new is the longer grip and markings to encourage you to grip lower down, which accentuates the effect, which in combination with the spider head gave this putter the highest MOI (moment of initia) of any putter manufactured.
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on a Taylormade Spider... |
Needless to say, the look of the Daddy Long Legs would probably offend you if you're a purist, but I'd stop short of calling it ugly ... how about "interesting"?
For my money, there's one distinct improvement over the Spider designs - the long white bar in the center of the putter head which serves as a background to the alignment line. This has the effect of allows the line to stand out dramatically, making aiming the putter much more straightforward.
One thing I didn't like is that the Taylormade Daddy Long Legs seemed to set up open to me when I put my hands ahead of the ball. Perhaps this won't affect you, but I found I had to put my hands what felt like "behind the ball" to get the face to align square, so I wouldn't advise this putter if you have a forward press or set up with your hands ahead of the ball.
How does it feel?
Compared with most putters, the Daddy Long Legs feels heavy, this is probably due to the large head and weighting under the grip.I have heard reports from players who use them that the putter can be a little clumsy at first, so you would probably want to think very carefully and try one out for a couple of rounds before buying it if you regularly putt on lightning fast greens.
The counterbalancing does appear to give the putter some momentum of its own, guiding the head on an arc. Because the head is face-balanced the path the counterbalance creates will be a slight arc. Therefore this putter is probably not for you if you are truly attempting to swing the putter on an absolutely straight-back-straight-through line with the face square to the hole throughout.
How does the Taylormade Daddy Long Legs roll the ball?
This is where this putter scores highly - the roll you get from the putter is true and consistent.
If you can handle the looks, then this is a good putter if you're coming away from a belly putter and want to keep the feeling of the putter swinging somewhat on its own.
My reservations are that on very fast downhill putts this putter could be a bit heavy-handed, so try it out for some time before deciding whether or not to buy.
Others to consider:
TaylorMade Spider
Lots of hype when this putter launched, and pros who rely on their putters took a while to get used to the Spider, but now seem convincedTaylorMade Ghost TM-110
Beautiful square-designed Anser with great aimlines - well worth a look!TaylorMade Rossa Kia Ma Daytona
Good looking Anser style putter - Part of TaylorMade's resurgence as a designer of high quality puttersTaylorMade Rossa Kia Ma Fortuna
A highly refined mallet from TaylorMade - recommended!TaylorMade Rossa Daytona
Well constructed Anser style putter - excellent if you're after a good putter at a lower cost - gunmetal color looks classy - feels good too!
TaylorMade Corza Excellent Mallet putter with unbelievably good roll and awesome alignment lines. A multiple winner on the PGA tour!
TaylorMade Monza If you're not afraid of unusual putter shapes, then give this one a try. We really liked the feel of the Monza.
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