TaylorMade Spider ZT putters: What you need to know

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The TaylorMade Spider putters are the top-selling individual model in the game and the preferred putter for the top two men's players in the world and the No. 1 woman. Given that résumé, it was only a matter of time before the hottest putter model in the game offered its take on the hottest putter trend in the game. We’re talking “zero torque” putters, the distinctively weighted putters with a unique shaft orientation designed to simplify the stroke for more consistency. Enter TaylorMade’s new Spider ZT, which matches elements of the highly popular mallet’s aim, alignment and forgiveness features with weighting designed to reduce the unreliable role of the hands in the stroke.

PRICE: $450 (standard models); $500 (overlength counterbalanced models); $550 (long). Lengths: 34, 35, 36 inches (standard); 36, 38 inches (counterbalanced); 46 inches (long). Available for preorder May 29 and at retail June 5.

3 Cool Things

1. Starting at zero. The phenomenon of “zero torque” putters, which has gathered steam with the distinctive example of L.A.B. Golf but includes examples over the recent and distant past from Edel, Evnroll, Odyssey, SeeMore, PXG and Bettinardi among others, is built on a simple idea. Design a putter where the center-of-gravity location and shaft orientation line up in a way that reduces how the hands have to manipulate the putter face back to square at impact. Its effects of bringing simplicity to the stroke spurred adopters at multiple levels over the last few years, including the highest places in the game. Brian Harman became the latest adopter and winner on the PGA Tour, using what was then a prototype of the Spider ZT to win the Valero Texas Open in April.

While TaylorMade’s overwhelmingly popular Spider mallets seem a natural fit for this idea, it’s not as simple as lining up a center shaft on the current Spider head and pressing “Go,” said Paul Demkowski, senior design engineer at TaylorMade.

“The CG on a Spider X is pretty far back,” he said. “It's about 36 millimeters, so firstly, you have a ton of onset [the amount the face is forward from the shaft]. Secondly, the sole geometry isn't really designed for that, so at address it kind of sits open. Your hands are sitting in a really unfamiliar position, pretty far back, and it just was awkward. So that led us from the very beginning to say, ‘We’ve really got to start from the ground up, almost start from scratch. Take everything that we know and love about Spider, but make it zero torque.’”

True to its lineage, the Spider ZT employs multiple materials like all past models, but in this case the effort is not to push mass away from the face in search of stability on off-center hits. Instead, the heavier steel front section is backed by an airy frame and lightweight aluminum construction. This makes for a more forward CG location so the subsequent positioning of the shaft angle puts the hands in a more familiar position. Demkowski said the reworking of materials moves the CG 11 millimeters closer to the face—more than any of the recent Spider Tour lineup.

Because the Spider mantra always has stressed forgiveness, the Spider ZT adds stability (moment of inertia) through heavy heel and toe weights in the front part of the sole. As well, the larger frame and wider blade length helps to decrease energy loss on mis-hits.

“That's the great dichotomy you're always up against when you move the CG forward is how you are sacrificing MOI, right?” Demkowski said, noting that the Spider ZT’s MOI is more than 5,000 grams centimeters squared, right in line with the standard Spider X. “So, we just try to balance it with having this slight wraparound of the steel. Plus, when you go with a longer blade length, every little bit that you can increase blade length helps. We also just felt like for this style of putter, it looked better with a longer blade length compared to that shorter one because maybe the center of the face is a little bit obstructed by the shaft.”

2. An underappreciated aspect. Part of the benefit of zero torque designs is the simplicity of the stroke, something largely controlled by the rocking of the shoulders. But that stroke doesn’t work if the putter doesn’t glide back and through. So while the inside and the topside had to be rethought, the Spider ZT's efficiency would be compromised if the sole wasn't reconsidered. Again, the changes are subtle but important. A flatter sole, compared to the standard model’s one-degree draft angle, allowed the putter to both set up square more naturally and make for a smoother delivery, Demkowski said.

“That was something we didn't really expect that was going to be a big part of it,” he said of the approach, which first started showing up on tour in March at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. “We did some simulations in terms of what that looks like, but ultimately it came down to us machining about four different sole geometries with just different, subtle changes with the draft angle, the length of that linear section. We brought them out to tour, we tested them internally and that's how we really converged on the one that we went with. So far the feedback has been really positive where they feel like they just put it down, and it stays square.”

3. Not for everyone, but still a Spider at its core. Despite the current frenzy over “zero torque” putters, Demkowski said TaylorMade’s research suggests these designs are merely an alternative, not the new way for everyone. “That was something we were trying to understand at the beginning, and what we found and what we believe is that it's just another kind of style of putter,” he said. “Just like you have a face-balanced putter or a toe-hang putter, a forward CG putter that feels like a blade or a deep CG putter like a Spider, it's just a different kind of putter that could work for certain players.”

The findings indicate that players who naturally use their hands to control the clubace will likely find that these kinds of putters aren’t ideal, Demkowski said, noting that there isn’t one player in the world’s top 25 currently using a model like this. “If you want to putt with just holding it loosely in your hands, and you don't want to have to apply any torque to it to keep the face square to your path, then this could certainly be a great option. It's just kind of more of the putter taking control, more of a straight-back, straight-through type stroke.”

Still, the Spider ZT incorporates a number of well-established Spider features. Most notable is the grooved face insert made of 80 percent Surlyn polymer and 20 percent aluminum flakes. The grooves angle at 45 degrees and the aluminum beams within the insert flex freely at impact to control spin and initial launch to get putts rolling quicker with less skid. The topline on the Spider ZT also features a textured pattern designed to evoke the more overt alignment feature on many Spider models known as True Path.

“We wanted to really maintain kind of the identity of Spider with the shaping, but kind of give it a different attitude from what our existing Spiders are,” Demkowski said. “We didn't want it to look like a line extension, but just a different hosel position. We wanted it to feel fresh and new and different.”