TaylorMade has unveiled a new putter, the Spider X, which uses a specific color scheme to improve a golfer’s ability to accurately align their swing. The face of the club also has a redesigned insert for better rolling properties, and the center of the putter head has a new carbon core for improved stability.
The key feature of the Spider X putter is True Path. TaylorMade studied 10,000 putts taken 12 feet from the pin to identify problems with golfers’ swings. The research found that they were striking the ball toward the toe of the putter (i.e. the tip of the head furthest from the shaft) 66 percent of the time.
TaylorMade attributed this to a parallax effect, or visual displacement based on a change in viewpoint. Because a golfer’s eyes are inside the putter’s center line, he or she can be tricked into thinking the club head is centered, too. The top of the club was redesigned with a wider white crown that’s roughly 50 percent the diameter of a golf ball to help golfers better visualize the target line on the putter head.
“First of all, I think the True Path alignment in this is going to be a huge help,” former No. 1 world golfer Rory McIlroy, who is sponsored by TaylorMade, said in a statement. “Stability wise, you aren’t always going to have a perfect stroke, so if you can get something that gives more forgiveness and gets it rolling closer to the right starting line, it will make putting so much easier.”
The putter’s club face has a thicker Pure Roll Insert with 45-degree grooves to increase topspin and help the ball stay on line. The head also has a steel frame that is 30 percent heavier to minimize a golfer’s tendency to twist the club during the stroke.
SportTechie Takeaway
Golf equipment manufacturers continue to redesign their clubs in the quest for performance. Last year, TaylorMade introduced the Twist Face technology to minimize the variability of a shot by reducing hooks and slices. Earlier this month, Callaway Golf released a new driver designed using artificial intelligence to boost speed and distance on tee shots.