Over the last couple of years I’ve discovered that reading the greens is just as important as the mechanics of your putting stroke. But one area that I’ve been looking to improve on is my alignment of the putter face. It’s really easy when your looking at the hole straight on, but the minute your setup over the ball to putt, everything looks completely different. You then start to question, if the putter is aligned at the hole and if you’ll hit the sweet spot of the putter, etc. Sweet Spot Golf has introduced a series of putters for men called the AX and Pink line for women, to help with aligning your putts and finding the sweet spot of the ball.
Look and Feel
The unique triangle shape of the mallet style Sweet Spot AX and Pink Putters, is designed to help you with aligning the putter and finding the sweet spot of the ball indicated by the diamond on the crown of the putter. Behind the sweet spot diamond you’ll find the Performance Positioning System(PPS) which are arrows that are designed to help with aiming and aligning your putts. Both the AX and the Sweet Spot Pink putter’s feature a 4 inch wide face (which is the exact width of the green’s cup) and heal and toe perimeter weighting promoting a high MOI by dispersing the weight from away fro the center of the putter.
The face on the AX is milled, while on the Sweet Spot Golf Pink putter features a polymer insert in pink. Both the AX and Pink putters are available in milled or polymer insert, if you prefer one over the stock setup. The black (body) and red (sweet spot diamond and PPS) color scheme of the Scratch Red AX give the putter a very stealthy appearance, that you don’t normally see in putters. If you don’t like this color scheme, the Ax is also available in Ript Blue, Krushd Grape, and Earl Gray.
The women’s Pink putter features a white body with pink sweet spot diamond, pink PPS, pink polymer face, and black and pink custom Winn grip . The reason for the white and pink color scheme isn’t because Sweet Spot Golf is trying to stereotype women’s golf equipment, it because Sweet Spot Golf is a proud sponsor of the National Breast Cancer Foundation. When you purchase this putter or any of their clubs in Pink line, Sweet Spot Golf will make a donation to help fight breast cancer.
Performance
Both the AX and Pink putters weigh 362 grams, which is designed to help you make that smooth pendulum stroke with your upper body and not your hands.The weight of the putter does contribute to its high MOI, because of the heel and toe perimeter weighting that help with preventing the face from twisting and keeping your putts on line. During my tests of the AX, I didn’t find the head weight to make a significant difference in my putting stroke or keep the face straight at impact, like the Heavy Putter I recently reviewed.
The 3-degree’s of loft of the AX and Pink putters is designed to roll the ball pure to the hole, with little skipping or jumping of the ball. Most of the putts I rolled with the AX seemed to roll very pure and straight on a consistent basis, with little or no wobbling. Part of the top spin imparted on the ball is contributed to the high center of gravity of both the AX and Pink putters.
Aligning the putter face and the sweet spot of the ball with the putter could not be any easier with the AX and Pink putters. The sweet spot diamond and alignment arrows of the PPS, made lining up my putts really easy at address. I was able to make adjustments with ease and stop second guessing if my putter was aligned at the hole. I found this extremely helpful in the 3-5 foot range of putts and also on the longer 10+ foot putts. This in my opinion is where the Sweet Spot AX and Pink putters excel.
The one area where I felt that the AX was lacking in, is feel and responsiveness. For me putting is all about feel, and without it’s hard to tell if you hit the putt well or missed the sweet spot of the ball. No matter what type of putt I made with the AX, I always got the same ping sound of the ball hitting the putter face. I think part of the problem is the steel material the AX is constructed out of that give it very little feel and responsiveness that I’ve come to expect in putters with or without an elastomer insert. This made it difficult at times to judge how well or poorly I struck the ball and distance control.
As mentioned before the women’s Pink putter does feature a polymer insert, that my wife did find to be very responsive. My wife did note that she had to get used to the ping sound the Pink putter would make. Overall, she did notice her putting improve by using the Sweet Spot Pink putter, compared to her blade putter.
The other drawback of the AX is its $149 price tag, which is pricey in my opinion for this type of putter. In this price range I would expect the putter to have some sort of insert for feel and responsiveness. The women’s Sweet Spot Pink putter also retails for $149, but Sweet Spot Golf will make a donation to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. So, the price for the women’s version is easier to accept, because you know that part of the proceeds is going to a good cause.
Overall, the Sweet Spot Golf AX is a great putter for helping you align your putts, but could use some improvements by milling the face of the putter out of a softer material or adding an insert to make it more responsive. If your looking for a putter to help you with aim and alignment, you might want to look into the Sweet Spot Golf AX or Pink putters.
Sweet Spot Golf AX and Pink Putter Retails for $149
