The belly putter gets credit it doesn't deserve

Popular Mechanics identifies what it calls in its headline "7 Equipment Breakthroughs That Shook Up Sport," one of them the belly putter. Say what?

The belly putter has been used successfully by a few players, but it hardly has launched a revolution. Indeed, it's a stretch even to say it has shaken up its sport at all, and certainly has not done so to the extent the aluminum bat did in baseball (the amateur level, at least).

Metal woods, on the other hand, particularly those made from titanium, indeed shook the sport, to its core. In fact, golf's ruling bodies still wrestle with the issue.

The aluminum bat was one of the seven identified by Popular Mechanics. The others: oversize tennis rackets, winged race cars, aero time-trial bikes, shaped skis and "next-gen" swim suits.

-- John Strege