I just returned from the\u00a0Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association\u00a0State Championships at Penn State, where 216 of the best boy and girl golfers in Pennsylvania \u2014\u00a0two of whom I happen to coach \u2014 competed for state titles.<\/p>\n
I saw a lot of good golf and something else: low-torque putters<\/a>. Lots of them! This has been the case at every junior tournament I\u2019ve attended this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Why is that surprising? Low-torque\/zero-torque\/lie-angle balance\/onset (call them what you will) putters are the hottest club category in the sport<\/a>, but not to the point where at your local muni you\u2019re likely to see multiple players in your group using them.<\/p>\n In junior golf, though, that might actually be the case.<\/p>\n There are no official usage numbers that we can reference, but standing on the putting green where about 60 players were practicing, I counted 10 low-torque putters. (Mostly they were L.A.B. Golf<\/a> or Odyssey Square 2 Square<\/a> models.) Also, at least two players who finished in the top 10 of the AAA boys\u2019 division used a low-torque putter.\u00a0<\/p>\n So, why are so many elite juniors using these putter types?\u00a0<\/p>\n The answer likely lies in something GOLF\u2019s Jake Morrow said on a recent episode of the Fully Equipped podcast. Morrow noted the ideal candidate for a L.A.B. Golf putter (or any onset-type putter) is someone who has never putted before, because established players have years of muscle memory and natural arc in their strokes. Junior golfers, on the other hand, don\u2019t have to work as hard to reprogram their muscles.<\/p>\n In other words, there aren\u2019t many junior golfers who grew up \u201chooking\u201d their putts with Bullseyes and Wilson 8802-style putters and so they\u2019d find it easier to adapt to low-torque putters. There\u2019s no retraining needed.<\/p>\n Low-torque putters have already taken off in pro golf, but is the real explosion still to come when today\u2019s top juniors start hitting the PGA Tour? Only time will tell.<\/p>\n 3 Things\u00a0I\u2019m Thinking<\/p>\n New stuff is coming: Now that the Tour is back from Japan, 2026 gear is going to start popping up. We\u2019ve already seen glimpses of PXG\u2019s new Lightning metalwoods lineup and Odyssey\u2019s Tri-Hot Square 2 Square putters. Keep an eye on the USGA Conforming list in the coming weeks for more newcomers.<\/p>\n