We’re a pretty forward-thinking group here at TaylorMade. With Spider FCG, we’re taking it to the next level.
“Forward” literally puts the “F” in FCG. This new putter concept is meant to combine the forgiveness of a Spider, the look of a mallet and the performance of a blade. What’s the key to merging these three design elements? Forward center of gravity – aka, FCG.
Before we dive into the tech and engineering feats that make this possible, let’s take a step back to review the origin of this idea. We’re fortunate to have access to golf’s greatest testing grounds with the most knowledgeable product testers: the PGA TOUR. Out there we encounter a number of golfers who’ve been lifetime blade guys, but that hasn’t stopped them from being intrigued by our high MOI mallet designs such as Spider X. As those type of player tested our mallets, on comment kept popping up time and time again: “Can you move the CG closer to the face?”
That recurring statement set off a flurry of ideas. Traditional mallet designs have most of the weight in the back of putter head to aid in forgiveness and stability. Generally speaking, this style of putter lends itself to less face rotation. But for the golfer who likes to feel the toe of the putter open and close, weight needs to be more forward and centralized – like a blade.
Hand position was yet another factor we considered. Many golfers who prefer a blade have a moderate or heavy forward press – meaning their hands are in front of the putter head at address and the shaft leans toward the target. With back CG putters, using a heavy forward press putting style often results in a miss to the right. Whereas with blades, or forward CG designs, the putter face tends to remain square through impact.
“The putter head wants to rotate around the center of gravity innately. So, when it’s a back CG with a moderate forward press putting style, the face tends to open to the right in reaction to the CG. You don’t see that with forward CG models. So that is another factor that makes Spider FCG appealing to blade users – they can still forward press with the expected performance.”Bill Price | Product Creation | Putter & Wedge
Spider FCG has a mammoth 70% of the total head weight in the forward 1/3 of the putter. That section measures 1.2 inches (31mm) – which is just slightly larger than a traditional blade (1.1 inches or 30mm). To achieve the CG placement, we inserted 101g of tungsten in the front portion. Balancing approximately 50g in the toe and another 50g in the heel. That perimeter weighting is what gives it the forgiveness of the Spider family.
Then we added an adjustable weight port on the sole of the club directly behind the face that allows us to tweak swingweight based on putter length, additional forward weighting.
The final component to all that front-loaded mass is a heavy 25g copper Pure Roll insert. It is the heaviest insert we’ve ever used in TaylorMade putter history. The copper insert serves another purpose beyond the forward CG properties. Most blade users prefer the feel of milled putter face vs. an insert. By using a firm copper material, we’re able to further enhance the blade-like performance and feel of this putter.
Just like our other Pure Roll designs, it features 45° grooves that are engineered to increase topspin and improve forward roll across varying surfaces.
The last piece of puzzle: Looks like a mallet. The contrasting black and white design on the crown of the putter provides an intuitive alignment aid. We’ve dubbed it the Truth Path T-Sightline, it lets you aim with the front edge and/or the vertical line. If you look under the hood, this canopy that houses the T-Sightline is virtually hollow and extremely lightweight.
“In developing Spider FCG, we sought insights from many of the top players on TOUR. We compiled that information to construct a clean and traditional mallet shape that performs in a non-traditional way. The result is an intelligently designed high-MOI mallet that’s built for golfers who have an arced putting stroke. Forward CG placement lets the toe release freely like a blade, while the mallet shape and perimeter weighting help maintain the signature Spider family forgiveness.”Bill Price | Product Creation | Putter & Wedge
Although mallets currently make up more than 60% of the putting market (based on PGA TOUR usage rates), there’s still a large number of golfers living that blade life who’ve shown interest in the alignment and forgiveness benefits of mallets. That’s precisely who we built this putter.
If that’s you, step forward and give it a try. You have to be looking forward to it. Forward and onward.
Spider FCG is available in three different hosel types, each meant for a different style of putting stroke.
Short Slant hosel offers 46° of toe hang to fit golfers with a significant amount of face rotation.
L-Neck has 25° of toe hang for golfers with moderate face rotation.
Single Bend is the most face balanced of the three – better aligning with golfers who have minimal rotation in the putting stroke.
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Spider FCG
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