Ping 2022 DS72 Armlock Putter Review

The Ping 2022 DS72 Armlock putter takes this popular style of mallet putter head and puts it on a 41.5 inch steel shaft so that you can ‘lock’ it against your leading arm to create more stability during the stroke.

If I had the choice of all the Ping heads to put on an armlock putter I am not sure I would have opted for the DS72 head. It is a great head and one of the best Ping putters. Made from 304 stainless steel, the chromed top line provides an excellent contrast for alignment with the black trailing edge. There is heel and toe weighting and the long white alignment line is great for helping you point the DS72 in the right direction. Order it in the regular shaft and you can’t go wrong.

However for me the strong styling of the leading edge looks more like a blade at address and that doesn’t seem right for an armlock putter. The DS72 head is forgiving, but maybe not enough to be on the end of an armlock putter shaft. A larger mallet head like the Ping 2022 Tyne G or the Ping 2022 Tomcat 14 would offer more forgiveness and probably look better with their black only colour schemes.

The longer shaft feels quite heavy, which is maybe the point to create extra stability. However when combined with the 21 inch Ping AVS grip it makes the DS72 head seem further away, even though it’s not.

Ping has cranked up the face loft to 6° to allow for the forward lean generated by of the armlock stroke, but I found this hard to get comfortable with unless I did a Bernhard Langer and clasped my leading forearm to the shaft with my other arm. Either a longer shaft, a different lie or more loft might help and Ping’s excellent custom fitting service could oblige here.

What is probably clear is that this putting style is probably not for me and needs lessons and practice like any other stance for putting. However if I did use this style, then a Ping putter would definitely be on the menu. Ping has all the ingredients in their 2022 range to bake a one of the best armlock putters. Just maybe using a larger mallet head instead of the DS72 would make it taste sweeter.