Putter Fitting Chart: Putter Length By Height

Racking up the bulk of your score on the putting greens can be quite painful. The only thing more painful is blowing a lead because of a bad golf club. You can fix your putting score and ensure that a poor flat stick doesn’t flatten your lead by a putter fitting.

Putter fitting is a session where you’re sized for putting equipment that is ideal for your size, stroke style, and natural putting stance. When you get fitted for a putter, you get recommendations regarding the ideal putter weight, length, head, and brand for you.

Here’s the Honest Golfers putter fitting chart that summarizes the recommended putter lengths based on height ranges:

Height Range	Recommended Putter Length
4’8″ – 5’0″	31 inches to 32 inches
5’0″ – 5’4″	32.5 inches to 33 inches
5’4 – 5’8″	33.5 inches to 34 inches
5’8 – 6’0″	34 inches to 34.5 inches
6’0″ – 6’4″	35 inches to 35.5 inches

Please note that the recommendations are based on self-reports and may vary depending on individual preferences and circumstances.

Professional fitters observe the arc and consistency of your stroke, your natural putting stance, and the force you put behind your strokes to come to their conclusions. This is a non-mandatory expense that most beginners do not want to incur. And it is not essential for casual golfers, anyway.

However, if you’re an average golfer looking to improve your putting game, we’ll also provide recommendations for the best putters for average golfers, helping you find the right club to enhance your performance on the greens.

Do I Need To Get Fitted For A Putter?

You do not need to get fitted for a putter unless you feel fatigued while putting because of the club construction. You might also want to get fitted to improve your score on the putting greens.

Knowing what the fitter accounts for in a putter fitting session can help you assess whether you need one in the first place. As a rule of thumb, average putters work for average height, putting stroke, and budget. Only when you venture into the customization territory does fitting becomes relevant.

The putter fitter assesses a few factors that influence your putt or can be influenced by the putter’s length, weight, head style, and grip.

Here are some of the things that will be monitored in the fitting session:

How much you’re willing to spend: The putters recommended by fitters are not independent of your budget. Even though people who are willing to spend a little more on their clubs get fitted for them, fitters know that not everyone’s budget is the same.
Your putting stroke: From the latest AI tools to simply observing you try to putt, equipment fitters have different ways to figure out which putter will work for your stroke. Grip, stance, and stroke path are among the aspects that are analyzed during a fitting session.
Whether your putt is stroke controlled or la putt: A stroke-controlled putt is smooth like a pendulum while the path of a lag-putt is elongated and its stroke more arcing. A fitter can easily assess which type of putter’s best for you based on your putting style.
Your height: The final thing that’s decided in a putter fitting session is how tall you are. Putter length is decided almost entirely by height. But it isn’t as significant if you are below 6 feet and above 5 feet in height. Only if you aren’t in the average height range does your height takes precedence over other aspects.

The Role of Height in Putter Selection

While putter fitting sessions do not always revolve around height, your height is very important in club selection.

Some people go for putter fitting only to be judged by their height. That’s because your height can affect how comfortable your putt is. And your comfort can impact your precision.

The putter has to be the right length for a smooth and fluid stroke. You can’t put it smoothly if you’re reaching for the ball because you’re too short or too tall for your club. A putter that’s too short for you will require you to bend forward too much. This can lead to backache and poor precision.

If your putter’s too long, you’ll find yourself reaching for the ball, which can also lead to inconsistent results.

You have to stand over the ball without bending at the waist or stepping back. The putter length that makes that possible is ideal for you. If you find yourself tired after a few strokes with your current putter, then you probably have one that’s too long or too short for your height.

How To Find The Perfect Putter For Your Height?

Now that you know the importance of putter height, you can either get fitted for your club’s length or can measure the best putter length for your height at home.

You can find the perfect putter for your height by measuring the distance from the top of your hand to the ground when you let your arms hang naturally from your standard putting stance. This helps you find the ideal shaft length metric, which you can use to judge putter length.

Alternatively, you can try different putters until you find the one that seems to have the right height.

Method 1 – Ask The Store Clerk (Reliability: 3/5)

One way to get the right putter is to go to a golf supplies store and get the sales staff’s opinion. The only problem with asking the seller for his opinion is that he might be biased to sell you something suboptimal in the absence of an optimal club.

Method 2 – The Eye Level Test (Reliability: 4/5)

One way to be sure of the compatibility of a putter’s length with your height is to conduct the eye level test. However, doing this requires having a putter to begin with. So it is best tried at a golf store or the rental rack at your local golf course.

You have to assume your putting stance and see if the top of the putter is at your eye level. When the putter’s length is right, your eyes should be over the ball. You can try this with multiple putters until you find the one that meets this criterion. Then, you can measure its length and use it for a putter that’s the right weight and has the clubhead that works for you.

Here are the exact steps in the eye level test:

Step 1 – Step one stand with your feet at shoulder length – If you stand with your feet too narrow or wide apart, your putting height changes. For instance, your shoulders come closer to the ground as you widen your legs.
Step 2 – Assume your natural putting stance – It is very important that you don’t try to be too perfect in this stance. Hold the stance you normally have when putting and not the one you think you should have.
Step 3 – Hold the putter – You have to hold the putter in your hands with a grip just as strong as you usually have when putting. Don’t tighten or loosen your grip too much.
Step 4 – Observe where the top of the putter is in relation to your eyes – If the putter’s top is above or beneath your eye level, you’re probably bending too much because the putter is short or the putter is too long.
Step 5 – Adjust and repeat with different putters – You have to try putters of different sizes until you get one that you can comfortably align with your eye level.

The advantage of this method is that it confirms how the putter will feel when you hold it and put it with it. The drawback is that you cannot try it unless you have a putter, which brings us to the third way to find the right putter for your length.

Method 3 – The Ideal Shaft Measurement (Reliability: 4/5)

A great way to figure out the putter length that’s perfect for your height is to measure the distance from your wrists to the ground in your standard putting stance. This method is as reliable as the eye-level test but can be conducted without any putters. However, you need a friend to measure the distance.

Here are the steps in this method:

Step 1 – Assume your putting stance – Hold an imaginary club and get in the address position, mimicking your natural putting stance.
Step 2 – Let your arms hang – Next, you must hang your arms loose until they’re in their natural position for the stance.
Step 3 – Measure the distance from your wrist to the ground – You will need a friend and a measuring tape for this. If the distance isn’t between 32 and 36 inches, you’re probably doing it wrong.
Step 4 – Select a putter with a matching shaft length – The measurement you got in the previous stage is equal to the ideal putter shaft length for your height. You can use it as your guide when picking the right putter.

Putter Selection And Expert Opinion: Do You Really Need It?

If all you want is the right putter length for your height, then you do not necessarily need a fitter. Sure, the reliability of a fitting session is 5/5 compared to the 4/5 reliability of self-assessments. But you can compound the different tests in this post to find the perfect putter length for your height.

Your putting stance, stroke style, and putting force are unique to you. But your height isn’t unique. There are a lot of golfers within your height range, so you can just use the putter lengths that experts have recommended them.

Here are the putter length results of different fitting sessions aggregated from golf forums.

4’8″ – 5’0″ – 31 inches to 32 inches – Because this isn’t a very common height among golfers, this is a very circumstantially dependent recommendation.
5’0″ – 5’4″ – 32.5 inches to 33 inches – This recommendation is pretty consistent across hundreds of self-reports.
5’4 – 5’8″ – 33.5 inches to 34 inches – The 5’8 end of the spectrum is pretty comfortable with a 34-inch putter length.
5’8 – 6’0″ – 34 inches to 34.5 inches – While most golfers over 5’8″ are comfortable with a 34-inch flat stick, those close to 6 feet in height need half an inch more on their putter shafts.
6’0″ – 6’4″ – 35 inches to 35.5 inches – There are not as many accounts of 6’4″ golfers and the putter length that’s best for them. Out of less than 50 self-reports, one can reasonably conclude that a 35 to 35.5-inch range must be comfortable enough for golfers over 6 feet in height.

Final Thoughts on Putter Fitting

Putter fitting by height doesn’t require as much expertise as putter fitting by stroke style or force because enough equipment fitting data are available from multiple self-reports.

Average American golfers would need a 35-inch flat stick to put comfortably. But not all golfers have 5’9″-height.

In the article above, you can find the putter length by height guidelines as derived from self-reports and discussions of golfers ranging between 4’8″ and 6’4″ in height.