The OZ.1i HS, Where Technology Meets The Right Mind For Putting
- Details
- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2025-09-29
By Dr. Barry Lotz, author of The Right Mind for Putting
A Revolutionary Step in Putter Design
Putting is where rounds are won or lost, and where psychology and precision intersect. As I explain in The Right Mind for Putting, golfers often sabotage themselves with unnecessary tension, overthinking, and mistrust in their equipment. The right mental framework requires trust in your stroke and in the putter in your hands.
That’s where L.A.B. Golf’s OZ.1i HS (HS stands for Heel Shafted) delivers something game-changing. This is not just another mallet design. This putter employs Lie Angle Balance (L.A.B.), a patented weighting system that eliminates torque and ensures the face naturally stays square throughout the stroke. Whether your putting arc is strong, slight, or nearly straight back and through, the OZ.1i HS helps return the face to square—removing one of the greatest sources of inconsistency on the greens.
When mind and equipment align, confidence becomes automatic.
Heel-Shafted Innovation: Tradition Meets Balance
Until now, golfers who preferred heel-shafted designs often had to choose between familiar looks and the advanced balance of L.A.B.’s technology. The OZ.1i HS bridges this gap. With its heel-shafted hosel (HS), players get the classic profile and unobstructed view they’re accustomed to, while maintaining the hallmark torque-free performance that defines every L.A.B. putter.
The engineering challenge was significant. With center-shafted putters, aligning the shaft axis with the center of gravity is relatively simple. In a heel-shafted model, lie angle changes shift the shaft axis off-center. L.A.B. engineers solved this with a proprietary aluminum riser hosel system. Depending on the lie angle, the riser changes height to keep the shaft axis perfectly aligned with the putter’s center of gravity. The result? No matter the lie angle (65° to 74°), balance is preserved.
This is more than clever engineering; it’s a triumph of design in service of consistency.
Materials, Feel, and Sound
The OZ.1i HS mirrors the OZ.1i with a precision-milled aluminum body and a fly-milled stainless-steel insert. This combination creates a crisp, satisfying sound at impact—firmer and more defined than all-aluminum models. That sound and feel matter: as I emphasize in The Right Mind for Putting, sensory feedback is one of the keys to building putting confidence. The putter should “speak back” to you, confirming a strike that matches your intended line.
Customization for the Individual Golfer
Every golfer has a unique stroke and a unique mind. L.A.B. acknowledges this with extensive customization options. Golfers can select:
Lie Angle (65° to 74°)
Head Weight & Colour
Alignment Systems
Shaft & Grip Options
Stock or Custom Build
Each OZ.1i HS is hand-balanced and assembled, passing through up to 10 stages of craftsmanship. In a game where the smallest details matter, this level of attention ensures not only technical precision but also psychological assurance—you know your putter is built for you.
Performance Meets Psychology
Technology alone won’t make you a great putter. As I emphasize in The Right Mind for Putting, the secret lies in merging mental clarity with reliable equipment. With the OZ.1i HS, golfers gain a tool that reduces doubt, reinforces consistency, and helps focus attention on the one thing that matters—rolling the ball on the intended line.
This heel-shafted breakthrough provides both tradition and innovation, and when combined with the right mindset—relax, focus, commit, execute—it becomes far more than a putter. It becomes a confidence engine.
Availability & Pricing
The OZ.1i HS is available now through www.labgolf.com and authorized retailers.
Stock version: $499
Custom version: Starting at $599
Custom Fitting
The most important aspect of every L.A.B. Golf putter is determining the optimal lie angle for a golfer.
LAB offers Remote Online Fitting, which is fast, easy, and accurate, and can be done from the comfort and privacy of your home or office. www.labgolf.com/remote-fitting
Once you submit your Remote Fitting video, LAB’s team of certified fitting professionals will use our video fitting software to analyze your stroke and calculate your ideal length and lie angle. Then they’ll send you an email confirming your specifications.
A Testing Panel Consensus
Among all the putters we’ve reviewed from LAB, the OZ.1HS might just be their most visually appealing model yet. Several testers remarked that the all-black version—with shaft, head, and grip perfectly matched—offered a sleek, stealth-like appearance. The design struck a balance between modern minimalism and functional precision, especially with the optional alignment lines. Our group strongly recommended these, noting how cleanly they set their eyes over the ball without feeling distracting.
From a performance standpoint, feedback was consistently positive. Off the face, the putter produces a distinctive high-pitched click, yet testers agreed the sound translated into a reassuring sense of solid contact. Both center strikes and slight mishits felt equally stable and consistent.
On short putts, the OZ.1 excelled. Using the Quintic putting system, our testers rolled controlled sets of 10-footers, and the data confirmed what they felt: reliable launch conditions, consistent roll, and noticeably improved accuracy. Confidence levels were uniformly high across the group when standing over short-range putts.
The consensus from our panel is clear: the OZ.1HS combines LAB’s patented Lie Angle Balance technology with a refined, player-friendly design that looks, feels, and performs at a level that validates LAB’s growing reputation in the putter space.
Final Thought
Golfers are addicts—we crave the feeling of a pure roll and the sound of a putt dropping. The OZ.1i HS, when paired with The Right Mind for Putting, doesn’t just deliver more made putts. It delivers peace of mind on the green, the ultimate edge in golf.
About the Writer
Barry Lotz, J.D., Ph.D., is the director of the Professional Golf Teachers Association of America. Visit www.facebook.com/PGTAA to see all the latest mental strategies, travel, and equipment reviews. Currently, he also works with between 10 and 12 PGA TOUR players on the mental side of golf.
He is a member of the Golf Writers Association of America and serves both as a consultant and mediator to the golf industry. He is also the author of numerous books, including “333 Best Web Sites for Golfers” and his previous book, “How to Build Business Relationships through Golf,” which is still on the Top Ten Golf Business Books’ bestseller list. His current book, “The Right Mind for Golf,” is now in its 13th reprint and is available on Amazon and at the Torrey Pines Golf Course. In 2024, he released “The Right Mind for Putting” and “The Right Approach to Golf.” His new book, “The Back Nine: Embracing Golf and Life as a Senior,” is available at www.pgtaa.com.