Putting Arc Aid Review: The Putting Arc MS-3D & Our Favourite Putters…
The Putting Arc Aid (MS-3D) is one of those putting training aids that is so simple in concept that you wish you had thought of it first. It’s essentially made of solid plastic, squared off on 3 sides, arced on the 4th. Simply stand over the Putting Arc, place the heel of your putter against the arced side, and take the putter back and through.
Repeat over and over again, and you will develop muscle memory for a “swinging gate” putting stroke (see “Teaching Value” below). The Putting Arc can be used on either a practice putting mat or an actual green. It’s a useful putting practice aid for developing a consistent putting stroke, although, like most things that are good for us, it can start to feel like drudgery after awhile.
Putting Arc Aid Overall Score
- SCORE 92/100
- GRADE A–
- Setup 100/100
- Teaching Value 94/100
- Fun 84/100
- Construction/Durability 100/100
- Cost/Value 91/100
Putting Arc Aid Pros:
- Simple concept to perfect your putting stroke
- Easy set-up, transport and storage
- Tough and durable to last generations
- High on the fun factor with a golf buddy
Putting Arc Aid Cons:
- It won’t help you if you have a dimple “square to square” putting stroke.
Retail price: ON SALE €98,00€ €69,00 (Putting Indoor/Outdoor Combo)
SETUP SCORE: 100 / A+
The Putting Arc MS-3D is easy to set up – you simply place it on the ground, parallel to the desired putting line. So simple, even a caveman can do it.
TEACHING VALUE: 94 / A
The Putting Arc MS-3D is designed as a tool to promote a “swinging gate” putting stroke, where the path of the putter head is an arc. With a “swinging gate” stroke, the putter rotates slightly around the player’s body in a manner analogous to the way other clubs do during a full swing.
The other school of thought on putting is a “straight back/straight through” (or “square to square”) stroke, where the putter face is always squared (looking down at the putter, the putter head moves in a straight line). “Straight back / straight through” is generally easier for beginners to execute, as they can look down and see when the putter is veering off of the line.
But most advanced golfers use the “swinging gate” since it’s much harder to consistently hit long putts without some rotation (think about the difficulty of repeating a straight back / straight through stroke when a long backswing is involved). The trick with the “swinging gate” style is to create the muscle memory to execute a stroke with the appropriate arc on the backswing and follow-through and a squared putter face at impact.
Does the Putting Arc MS-3D help you do this?
Yes it does – as stated above, you just put the heel of the putter against the arced side and putt, all the while keeping the heel against the arc. But those expecting some kind of instant magic won’t find it here. What the device does is provide a framework to develop the muscle memory.
You still need to groove the stroke by repeating it over and over again. We tested this putting aid with many top brands including, Odyssey putters, TaylorMade putters and Cleveland Huntington putters with a square or rounded heel.
FUN: 84 / B
Guaranteed fun by yourself or with a golf buddy placing bets who can get the most one putts. Also a lot of fun when you play to see how many consecutive holes in one from 3, 4 or 5 metre distances.
It basically becomes set the ball down, make the putting stroke, fish the ball out of the hole and repeat. The length of the Putting Arc MS-3D enables you to vary the length of your backstroke, so you can mix it up a bit by putting from a variety of distances.
CONSTRUCTION / DURABILITY: 100 / A+
The Putting Arc MS-3D is 33 inches long and only weighs about 2.2 lbs., so it’s portable enough if you want to bring it to the local putting green, but heavy enough to stay in place when you’re practicing. It’s a sturdy and thick piece of solid plastic, and it will last as long as you want to use it. This putting arc aid will probably survive far longer than any of us.
COST / VALUE: 91 / A-
We had a fair amount of debate about the “value” rating for the Putting Arc MS-3D – on the one hand, the MSRP of €59 seems a bit exorbitant for what is essentially a big shaped block of plastic. On the other hand, it does a nice job of teaching the proper stroke.
We decided that the equivalent price of about 2 dozen high end golf balls isn’t too much to pay to help shave many strokes off of your game. We note that there is a lightweight version (the Putting Arc T3) that retails for €39 and is ideal to fit in your golf bag to use on the practice putting green.
