IB Sweet Spot Putter Review

IB Sweet Spot Putter Key Features:

• Dual face design: allows the putter to be used by both left and right-handed players
• Crafted from 303 stainless steel and 6061 aluminium: provides a premium feel and weight
• Sweet Spot design: designed to improve focus on every putt

The IB Sweet Spot putter is one of the most unique golf products we have tested this year, and while small-headed putters are not new, this one caught our attention not only due to its shape but also the name behind it. 

Created by Ivan Ballesteros, nephew of the late great Seve Ballesteros, the IB Sweet Spot is designed to focus the mind on every putt, with the face itself not providing a millimetre of forgiveness. 

While the idea is somewhat of a bizarre one, Ballesteros' belief in the putter and the effect it can have on performance was undeniably infectious. 

So, to test if a putter with virtually zero forgiveness could cure all of our putting woes, we took it out on the course for a test drive.

Let's get into it

Player Level

IB Sweet Spot Putter Looks and Feel

Straight off the bat, this is one of the most unusual putters you will ever see. 

The tiny head, which, down at address, is smaller than the width of a golf ball, looks more like a hammer than a putter. 

Featuring three alignment aids and small wings that extend from the toe and heel, the design is a unique one, but it serves a very specific purpose. 

If you only have a sweet spot, you have to hit it. It's this method of thinking that is built into the design of the putter to ensure that you only have one thought in your mind: to strike the ball from the centre of the face. 

We will come onto the mental side of what this design does later, but in terms of pure aesthetics, we like the overall look. There isn't a huge amount you can do in terms of design with a putter of this size, but the black finish looks very smart, and the signature logo on the sole adds a touch of class. 

In terms of feel, thanks to the heavy head,  it feels very solid on impact and also produces a satisfying yet muted noise. 

IB Sweet Spot Putter Performance and Forgiveness:

We typically focus on performance first when discussing equipment and move on to forgiveness, but in this case, we are going to flip the script.

Let's make one thing very clear: this putter offers next to no forgiveness at all. Due to the small head size, if you miss the sweet spot even by a few centimetres, you risk missing the putter face entirely. 

While on short putts, this is quite tricky to do, it becomes increasingly easier when you are taking a longer stroke. 

So, with that being said, if you are someone who doesn't back themselves to strike the sweet spot consistently, this putter might not be best suited to you. 

Now, this putter is peculiar because perhaps its biggest weakness, its lack of forgiveness, also doubles up as its biggest strength. 

While that sounds like a ludicrous statement, you will have to stay with us. 

Due to the small head, you have to really focus on making good contact, and what that does is remove any other distractions from your mind. 

I found that when using this putter, we were concentrating so much on just hitting the ball we couldn't even stop to think about anything else. 

The knock-on effect of this is that you have a very clear target in your mind, and all the other noise that can sometimes get in the way suddenly begins to quieten. 

I found the putter was particularly effective on shorter putts; with a shorter backswing, it was very easy to make clean contact with the face, and as long as we were lined up properly, our conversion rate from within 10 feet was excellent. 

Thanks to the level of focus this putter promotes, when it came to important putts during our round, we found it much easier to compose our stroke, , making those tricky little four-footers suddenly much easier. 

Other than the level of forgiveness on offer, this putter did come up short for us in one other area. 

When putting from long range, with a longer backswing, we found it much harder to control distance and clean contact. 

This issue persisted throughout our round, and despite the added level of focus we had on our putts, due to the smaller size and longer swing, our putting was quite erratic in terms of both line and length. 

This was in part down to some shoddy strikes, but we can't help but also feel that if there had been a larger surface to strike from, ball speed from across the face would have been better retained, with a number of our worst putts coming up a long way short. 

All in all, this is a fascinating putter. While we did find it tricky to use at times, from within a certain range, it was excellent. 

If we could carry two putters in our bag, one for close range and one for distance, then the IB would be straight in the lineup; however, due to our lag putt struggles, we will be looking elsewhere for our gamer in 2024. 

Should you buy the IB Sweet Spot putter?

This putter is somewhat of a Marmite club. You will either love it or hate it. 

While we had our issues with areas of its performance, it did make us rethink how we putt and allowed us to effectively clear our head before some of the more nerve-wracking putts we faced during our round. 

From close range, it's an absolute beauty, and if you are interested in trying it out for yourself, we would highly recommend heading down to your local American Golf to test it out. 

The idea is excellent, and while we didn't necessarily get the most out of it, we are sure there are players up and down the country who could really benefit from what it offers. 

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