TaylorMade Spider and TP Putters: Head Shapes and Your Stroke

Two names, two design philosophies

TaylorMade’s putters split into Spider, the high-MOI mallet line, and the TP Collection, which covers blades and more compact shapes. Unlike irons, putters aren’t tiered by skill — tour players and beginners genuinely use the same head shapes. What matters is matching the design to your stroke, not to your handicap.

Know your stroke first

Roll a few putts and have someone film you from behind, or simply notice what the putter wants to do.

Strong arc. The face opens going back and closes coming through, following a noticeable curve. Common in golfers who use more wrist and shoulder rotation.

Slight arc. A gentle curve. The most common stroke by far.

Straight back, straight through. Minimal face rotation, the putter moving close to a straight line.

Matching head shape to stroke

TP Collection blades — compact, traditional, usually with more toe hang. Toe hang means the face rotates more easily, which suits an arcing stroke. Blades give excellent feel and are easy to align on short putts, but they are less forgiving on mishits.

Spider mallets — large, stable, heavily perimeter-weighted. These protect distance on off-centre strikes better than anything else, which is why they help golfers who leave putts short from mishits. Depending on neck configuration, a Spider can suit either a straighter stroke or a mild arc.

Neck style, explained simply

TaylorMade offers the same head shapes across several neck configurations — small slant, double bend, single bend and flow neck — precisely so a Spider or TP head can be matched to different strokes.

Balance the putter shaft on your finger. If the toe hangs toward the ground, it will rotate more naturally through the stroke — suited to an arced player. If the face points more toward the sky, it resists rotation — suited to a straighter stroke. A double bend or flow neck typically produces less toe hang than a small slant; ask your fitter to show you the difference on the same head.

Fit the specs, not just the head

Three specs matter and are routinely wrong off the rack:

1. Length. Too long is extremely common and pushes your eyes inside the ball.
2. Lie angle. If the toe or heel sits off the ground, your start line suffers.
3. Head weight. Heavier heads suit slower, smoother strokes and faster greens.

Don’t shop by looks alone

A Spider mallet looks stable in the shop and a TP blade looks classic — but neither fact tells you which one will actually help your stroke. The forgiveness gap between a mallet and a blade on off-centre hits is real and larger than most golfers expect, so if your strike on the putter face is inconsistent, weight that fact more heavily than aesthetics.

Coach’s tip: Choose your putter on 6-foot putts and 30-foot putts. The short ones test alignment and start line; the long ones test distance control. Ignore how it looks in the rack.

Model names current as of September 2026.