The Hexperimental #7 and #9 are the first heel-shafted putters built around Bettinardi’s Simply Balanced zero-torque technology.
Gear: Bettinardi Antidote Hexperimental #7, #9 putters
Price: $550 each
Specs: CNC milled 303 stainless steel with modified plumber’s neck hosel
Who it’s for: Golfers who prefer a heel-shafted putter but want the face-stability and consistency benefits of zero-torque technology.
What you should know: Bettinardi introduced Simply Balanced Zero-Torque Technology roughly 18 months ago, but these putters are the first heel-shafted offerings that have the brand’s zero-torque performance.
The Deep Dive: Most golfers, if asked what makes a putter miss, will point to their stroke. Alignment. Nerves. The yips. Rarely does anyone blame physics. But physics is always involved.
Every putter generates torque, a predisposition for the putter’s face to rotate based on its geometry and weight distribution. Some manage it well enough to be decent putters, while others don’t manage it at all.
Bettinardi’s Simply Balanced putters address the problem structurally. By aligning the shaft axis through the putter’s center of gravity (CG), the technology removes the rotational force before it starts, so the face stays square to the stroke’s path without the golfer doing anything extra to make that happen.
The engineering challenge is this alignment is relatively easy to achieve in a center-shafted mallet, but moving the shaft to the heel, to create the look of a traditional putter, makes complicated. The shaft axis shifts, and small changes in head shape or mass distribution can break the alignment entirely.
Bettinardi’s Hexperimental #7 and #9 putters feature a modified plumber’s neck with minimal onset that pulls the shaft axis back toward the head’s CG, threading the needle between traditional address appearance and zero-torque mechanics.
The two new models take that solution in different directions. The #7 is a compact mallet with a rectangular cutout in the body. Removing that material pushes mass to the perimeter, raising the moment of inertia (MOI) and making the head more resistant to twisting on off-center contact. It’s a forgiving design for players who want stability but don’t want to look down at an oversized mallet. Meanwhile, the #9 is a wide-body, high-toe blade. It’s taller than a standard blade but recognizable to anyone who has gamed a traditional heel-shafted putter in the last 30 years.
Both are milled from 303 stainless steel, a soft alloy that produces more feel at impact than the harder stainless used in many production putters. The F.I.T. Face milling removes 30 percent of the face material in a precise pattern, thinning the face to soften the sensation at impact.
It’s worth noting what these putters are not. They are not for golfers who are comfortable with a center-shafted design and already benefitting from Simply Balanced. And players with a straight-back, straight-through stroke may find a heel-shafted putter odd to see in the address position because heel-shafted designs are traditionally built for arcing strokes. Still, the zero-torque weighting works with, not against, any stroke type.
At $550, these are limited-edition pieces positioned above Bettinardi’s standard lineup. For players who have been waiting for Simply Balanced in a shape they recognize, they could be a compelling option.