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Are Zero-Torque Putters Worth It?Where the CG sits relative to the shaft tells you who needs one and who doesn't

Updated: Nov 3, 2026Contains affiliate links

Is a zero-torque putter actually better? It depends on how you miss. If I had to recommend one, it's the TaylorMade Spider ZT MAX (JPY 69,300, 379 g head). MyGolfSpy in the US ranked 79 putters in its 2026 test and reported that the top 15 were all zero torque.
Another article on the same site says zero torque won't fix distance control, green reading or how you aim. It sounds contradictory, but both are true, because zero torque only removes the force that twists the head on its own during the stroke.
I average 72 with a best of 68, and I've spent years studying how clubs are built. With a gear nerd's eye, I break this "twist" down with physics. When you're done, you can decide whether you need one by hitting 20 balls on the practice green.

Bottom line

Zero torque means the CG sits on the shaft's extended axis

When you grip a putter and pull it back, your hands move the grip while the head tries to stay put. If the CG is off the shaft line, this “stay put” force acts as a lever and rotates the head around the shaft. The twisting force equals head weight × acceleration × offset distance. It's multiplication: if the offset is 0, the result is 0 no matter what the other two are.

Zero torque is a design that brings this offset close to 0. That's all it is. For the Spider ZT, TaylorMade says the shaft is inserted at a 1° lean so it lines up with the CG, and set 25mm behind the leading edge (the bottom edge of the face).

Zero-torque descriptions are from TaylorMade's official Spider ZT / ZT MAX spec sheets (checked Sep 29, 2026). Suitable strokes are general guidelines, and manufacturers and testing media disagree (see “The Gear Nerd's Take” below).

The surprise is the second row. Face-balanced is often assumed to be the non-twisting design. But whether the face points straight up is a balance checked with the shaft horizontal, and at address the shaft isn't horizontal. The Spider ZT has a 70° lie, the Ai-DUAL Square 2 Square 72°. As the shaft stands up, the CG that sat directly below the line when horizontal moves off it, and the twisting force comes back. In other words, it isn't zero.

That's why L.A.B. Golf calls its technology “lie angle balance.” The name means balancing at the address angle (the lie angle). The company says the head, insert, shaft, grip and lie angle all affect the balance.

Which type is your putter? You can tell in a minute. Rest the middle of the shaft on your index finger, find the balance point, and see which way the head settles. The more the toe hangs down, the bigger the offset.

Hit 20 putts from 1.5m and count how you miss to find out if you need one

On a flat part of the practice green, hit 20 putts from 1.5 m. For each miss, add a tally mark under "right," "left," "short" or "long." No need to count the makes. Pen and paper are all you need.

1. Leaning right or left. If more than half of the misses are on the same side, your launch direction is off. This is the only pattern where a zero-torque putter may help.
2. Lots of shorts and longs. Your aim is fine; your speed isn't. Zero torque won't change this.
3. All over the place. If your misses scatter left, right, short and long, it's your setup or stroke. Having someone look at it is faster than switching gear.

Why does start direction matter? MyGolfSpy writes that 83–95% of a putt's starting direction is set by the face angle at impact. The range reportedly comes from different studies giving different numbers. The average amateur's face-angle error is 3–5°, about 2° for skilled players, and close to 1° for tour pros.

Let's turn that into distance. Start a 1.5 m putt 3° off line and it's about 8cm wide at the hole (my calculation: 1.5 m × tan 3°, ignoring break). The hole is 108mm across, so anything more than 5.4cm from center doesn't even catch the edge. My 7-iron goes 160 yards (my own measurement), and the same 3° miss there leaves me about 8 yards from the flag (an estimate calculated from my measurement). Still on the green. On a putt, the same 3° is a miss all by itself. At 1.5 m, there's no room for a start-line error.

Five main zero-torque putters sold in Japan, compared on official numbers

Here are the criteria up front. Anyone can check each of them on the makers' official pages.

1. Head weight or total weight is officially published (so you can check the weight before buying)
2. The maker explains in words where and how the shaft is inserted
3. Protection against twisting on off-center hits (head size, weight placement) is officially described
4. Standard 33 and 34 inch lengths are available
5. Price (MSRP)

When new models come out, I'll apply these same criteria unchanged and add them here.

Sources: Odyssey official store, TaylorMade official site and news releases, L.A.B. Golf Japan distributor product pages (checked Sep 29, 2026). The ¥60,500 for the Ai-DUAL Square 2 Square is the MSRP at its Jan 2026 launch (this site's /guide/new-putters-2026, checked Sep 15). TaylorMade notes that its specs are "calculated/provisional values."

Results first. Only the two TaylorMade putters meet all five criteria. Odyssey and L.A.B. Golf don't publish head weight, so they only partly meet the first one. This isn't about performance. It's about whether you can check the numbers before you buy.

The ZT and ZT MAX differ by just 9g. What changes is where the weight sits: face length grows from 105mm to 120mm, and CG depth from 25mm to 34mm. Both are zero torque, but they're built to differ in how well they hold up on off-center hits.

On Oct 16, Kasco also releases a 36-inch torqueless design. Its length differs from the five in the table by 2 inches or more, so I compared the Kasco 9/9 STRAP PUTTER Torqueless (¥57,200) with the original types in a separate article.

On Oct 8, PXG also listed a zero-torque mallet on its official Japan site. It's ¥81,400 with a 370g head, and what sets it apart is a small forward press of just 1°. What I found reading it under the same conditions as the five above is in the PXG Torpedo ZT article.

The Gear Nerd's Take: zero torque removes only one of the two twisting forces

The forces that twist the face split into two types by where they come from. This is the key point.

The first is the force created during the stroke: the weight × acceleration × offset distance described above. That's what zero torque removes.

The second is the push-back from the ball when you strike it off center. This has nothing to do with the CG and shaft position; the only defense is the head's resistance to twisting (moment of inertia, or MOI, which grows the farther out the weight sits). Zero-torque putters are paired with high MOI, which gives a second layer of stability on off-center hits. MyGolfSpy explains it the same way. It also writes that this can't eliminate the weaker roll you get on off-center hits.

Reading the spec sheets side by side, you can see each design's personality in how much the company does about that second force. TaylorMade says the ZT MAX uses a bigger head with weights in four corners to resist twisting. Odyssey talks less about weight and more about roll, explaining that its face insert keeps forward roll even on mishits.

There's one more difference: how they handle the grip. Because a zero-torque putter points the shaft at the CG, the shaft leans toward the target, which tends to put your hands ahead of the ball at address. Odyssey runs the shaft diagonally inside the grip so the part you hold isn't tilted, while TaylorMade fits grips offset by 1° or 2°. Either way, the grip cancels out the odd look at address. A small detail, but an important one.

That points to a trap. Since the balance is built including the lie angle and the grip, changing the length or lie later, or switching to a grip of a different weight, breaks the zero assumption. Putter grips range from 52g to 90g depending on the product (I lined up the official numbers in my article on short putts and putter grips). If you want to change anything, talk to the shop you bought it from or the maker first.

Even the testing sites disagree on which stroke it suits. MyGolfSpy's July article says it suits players with a small arc best; its September article says the head can still move on an arc with zero torque, and the point is to reduce how much you manipulate the face. I think a more reliable test than arc size is whether you are actively squaring the face yourself.

Who each of the five suits

The Odyssey Ai-DUAL Square 2 Square is the cheapest way to try zero torque. Loft 5.0°, lie 72.0°, in two shapes: the fang-style #7 and the JAILBIRD with black-and-white stripes. The weak point is that head weight isn't published. If you want to compare on numbers, it falls short.

Great for you if you

• Want to try zero torque at a reasonable price first
• Dislike the look of a leaning shaft
• Are used to Odyssey's fang shapes

The TaylorMade Spider ZT is for players who prefer a smaller head than the ZT MAX. 370g and 2.5° loft. The shaft tilt is kept to 1°, so it looks less odd at address than the ZT MAX. The weak points: the weights aren't removable, and there's no left-handed model.

Great for you if you

• Like the Spider shape but want to avoid an oversized head
• Want to choose by head-weight numbers

The TaylorMade Spider ZT MAX makes the biggest difference for players who often miss the center. The numbers are in the table. Besides 33 and 34 inches, there's a counterbalanced version with extra weight at the grip end (36 and 38 in) and a 46-inch long putter. The weak points are the non-removable weights and the 379g heft. Coming from a light putter, you may hit it too hard at first. It takes some getting used to.

Great for you if you

• Your misses lean to one side, and you often feel off-center contact
• Want the reassurance of a big mallet
• Play left-handed at 34 inches (left-handed versions come only in STANDARD 34 in and counterbalanced 36 in)

L.A.B. Golf's LINK.2.1 and DF3i come from the originator of lie angle balance. MyGolfSpy reports that L.A.B. is the only company that uses weights to achieve the balance. The LINK.2.1 is a heel-shafted blade that looks close to a traditional putter. The DF3i is a big shape and heavy at 540g total. The weak point is price: the DF3i is ¥129,800, nearly double the other zero-torque putters. Head weight isn't published either.

Great for you if you

• Felt the effect with another zero-torque putter and want to pay for more precise balance
• Want a zero-torque blade (LINK.2.1)

Misses zero torque won't fix

MyGolfSpy lists five things it doesn't fix: aim at address, green reading, distance control, weaker roll on off-center hits, and nerves and practice time. Even with no twisting during the stroke, if the face isn't aimed at the target at address, you'll just start the ball straight in the wrong direction. The putter doesn't set your aim for you.

Distance control especially. The same article says distance comes from stroke length and tempo and has nothing to do with head twisting. The writer of the September article also says that if you're leaving 30-foot (about 9 m) putts 6 feet (about 1.8 m) short, he wouldn't buy a zero-torque putter. If most of your 20 misses were short or long, stop thinking about equipment here.

You can't see for yourself whether your aim at address is right. If you're going to fix your stroke, I think having someone look at it once is the fastest way.

How do the Spider ZT and ZT MAX differ? JPY 3,300 and 9 g

TaylorMade has two zero-torque putters. They differ in price, weight and where the shaft joins the head.

Source: TaylorMade Japan official product pages (same as the five-putter table above).

The gap is JPY 3,300, 9 g and 1 degree of loft (my calculation). The MAX has a stated center-of-gravity depth of 34 mm and a head that is 9 g heavier. A heavy head with a deep center of gravity generally holds its face direction better on off-center hits. If I had to pick one, it would be the MAX. Zero torque fixes misses in launch direction, so I go with the one that supports direction more strongly.

What are the downsides of zero-torque putters? Price, weight and looks

Reason 1 is price. The 5 putters above run from JPY 60,500 to JPY 129,800. Even the cheapest, the Odyssey, is more than JPY 60,000.

Reason 2 is weight. The Spider ZT MAX head is 379 g. The L.A.B. Golf DF3i is 540 g for the whole club (34 inches). If you switch from a light putter, your sense of stroke length changes.

Reason 3 is how it looks at address. The shaft enters at an angle and comes out nearer the middle of the head. The view differs from your usual putter, so some people worry about whether they are aimed right until they get used to it. If you still want one after those three, you are the person in the "20 putts from 1.5 m" test above who was missing because of launch direction.

Look at your stroke type: shoulder strokers fit, chest strokers tend to feel awkward

Whether you need one depends on your stroke type as well as how you miss. Club designer Yuji Miyagi tried the LAB Golf putter and sorted it as follows (Minna no Golf Digest, Apr 9, 2025).

Source: Minna no Golf Digest, "What's good about 'zero-torque' putters? A club designer weighs in" (Apr 9, 2025). The wording in the table is my own rewording. Re-read on Oct 31, 2026.

Your setup changes too. The shaft goes in toward the center of gravity, so the head doesn't twist and it sits as you set it. Miyagi also names the benefits of a hands-forward setup and a longer impact zone. On the other hand, he says it may feel very strange to people whose stroke and distance control are already established. His view is that it is ideal if you think of the putter alone, but there are pros and cons once you consider the human body's pivot points.

What I used was not a zero-torque putter but a center-shafted putter. I used it for about 12 rounds. The putter I use day to day is this center-shafted one (34 inches). That my distance control went off beyond 3 m with the ZT is one reason I am not switching. My distance control was right on downhill 3 m putts, but on uphill 6 m putts I kept leaving them short. I wrote about it in more detail in the center-shafted putter article. Zero-torque and center-shafted putters are not the same design, but I think they share one point: a tool that pulls you toward a "straight back, straight through" path is hard to match for someone whose stroke travels on an arc.

Try it after the 20-ball check above. Count separately whether your short putts stay within shoulder width and whether your distance holds on long putts, and you'll see where a zero-torque putter works and where it doesn't.

Who does a zero-torque putter suit?

Zero torque is worth trying if you

• Hit 20 putts from 1.5 m and more than half your misses go to the same side
• Balance your current putter on a finger and the toe hangs down a lot
• Know that you actively square the face at impact
• Get wristy on short putts and pull or push them

When your current putter is enough

• Miss mostly short or long (zero torque doesn't change distance control)
• Like feeling the face open and close, and your misses show no bias
• Plan to have a club fitter change the length or lie after buying (it breaks the balance)
• Only pick up a putter once a month (you can't tell the effect of switching apart from that day's form)

MyGolfSpy's September article showed examples of both good and struggling putters improving their numbers with zero torque. But those are results for the people in the test; whether they apply to you is another matter. The 20-putt tally is what closes that gap. Try counting this weekend. Did you miss more to the right or to the left?

What I learned using a zero-torque and a center-shafted putter

For the zero-torque putter, I hit the Spider ZT 20 times from 1.5 m on a practice green. 11 went in (55%), and the 9 misses were 5 short, 3 right and 1 left. The gap between 3 right and 1 left is 2 balls, which falls inside the "range of chance" below (a gap of 3 balls or fewer). I cannot say it leans right.

What I liked was that at 1.5 m the face direction did not change easily. What was hard was that beyond 3 m my distance control was off; because I kept leaving them short, I hit harder than usual to match. I have not used it on a round.

I have been using the center-shafted putter since September 2026, for about 12 rounds. On the practice green, 9 of 10 went in from 1 m, 5 of 10 from 3 m, and 2 of 10 from 6 m. I left many short, and the misses went right.

On a sunny autumn day of 20°C at the 7th hole, I holed a downhill 3 m putt with the first one. When I kept leaving uphill 6 m putts short, I cut them down by trying to look a little past the sweet spot as I hit.

I hit the ZT because I wanted to check the feel of a zero-torque putter. What I hesitated over was distance control, and what decided it was how little it wobbles at short range. If I chose again, I would use the center-shafted putter again. I would hit the ZT.

The person I would recommend it to is someone whose face direction changes on short putts.

A gap in the 20-ball test may be just chance

In a test hitting 20 balls from 1.5 m, my usual putter gives a combined 6 to 8 misses right and left, and a zero-torque putter 5 to 7. That's the size of difference you see.

One thing to watch is the range of pure chance. If the miss rate is 30% (6 balls out of 20), the spread in misses over 20 balls is about 2.0 (√(20×0.3×0.7), calculation). For the difference between two putters, the spread is about 2.9. If the gap is 3 balls or fewer, you can't say either one is better.

To decide, hit 20 balls two or three times, on different days. To try one, 10 to 15 minutes on a shop's practice green is realistic.

From 3 m and 6 m, the miss tends to spread less left and right, but the distance feel can seem off (general rule).<br class="pb">The price is ¥66,000 to ¥129,800. Decide whether to keep using one by whether your misses actually got better.

About the writer and sources

Written by a golfer who averages a 72 and plays about 150 rounds a year, and who likes comparing gear numbers side by side.

What I used is written in the section "What I learned using a zero-torque and a center-shafted putter." The numbers come from the official materials, and the subtractions and re-sorting are mine. Last updated: November 3, 2026.

FAQ

Related reading

Latest Putters 2026: Compared by Head Weight and Construction
This year's new releases, as zero torque spread across brands, in order of release date.

【Nov 2026 Update】Missing Short Putts
Putter grips weigh from 52g to 90g, a number that also affects zero-torque balance.

How to Choose a Putter | The Problem of Unpublished Head Weights
Few brands publish weights. How to decide on length and shape is here too.

Sources for this article

• Odyssey official store: Ai-DUAL Square 2 Square #7 putter (loft 5.0, lie 72.0, 33/34 in, grip approx. 82g, how the grip is fitted)
• TaylorMade official: Spider ZT STANDARD (¥66,000, 370g, 1° tilt, 25mm from the leading edge, toe-up balance)
• TaylorMade news release: Spider ZT MAX (Jun 5, 2026, ¥69,300, 379g, CG depth 34mm, face length 120mm)
• L.A.B. Golf Japan distributor: DF3i (¥129,800, total weight 540g, lie 69°, lie angle balance explained)
• L.A.B. Golf Japan distributor: LINK.2.1 (¥99,000, lie 69°, loft 3.0°)
• MyGolfSpy: Who Would Benefit From a Zero Torque Putter? (Sep 11, 2026, test results for 79 putters)
• MyGolfSpy: The Biggest Myth About Zero-Torque Putters (Jul 7, 2026, face angle and start direction; what it doesn't fix)
• MyGolfSpy: Five Burning Questions About Zero-Torque Putters (Apr 9, 2025, L.A.B. is the only one using weights for balance)
• JGA (Japan Golf Association): Rules of Golf (definition of "hole": 108mm diameter)
• Minna no Golf Digest: What's good about "zero-torque" putters? A club designer weighs in (Apr 9, 2025)

Last updated: Nov 3, 2026

Specs and prices are the figures published on manufacturers' official websites and in press releases, and by media outlets (checked Sep 29, 2026). These are published figures; any numbers from my own hitting or use are given in the article body with their conditions.