The 2012 PGA Show and YOU!
It was a pleasure to get to attend the PGA Show Demo Day and the PGA Equipment Show in late January in Orlando, Florida. The event is held for 4 days, from Wednesday through Saturday. Wednesday is Demo Day, held outdoors, where equipment vendors have their clubs, teaching aids, etc. available to test. It is more than a MILE walk around the entire loop of the Demo Day! Thursday through Saturday is the actual Equipment Show, held indoors. You better have your walking shoes on if you want to see everything from clubs, test equipment, teaching aids, clothing, and everything else golf.
Here are some of the highlights I found from the PGA Show that may be of helpful to you and your game:
PUTTER FITTING SEMINAR - STAN UTLEY. Mitchell Golf sponsored this seminar, and it was exciting to be invited to it and hear Stan Utley talk (author of well-known putting and short game books). The nuggets from this talk were enough to fill this newsletter, here are some of them...
- "Never introduce doubt at a young age."
- He said that many people play with putters that have the toe up, and this influences their ability to putt well.
- "Players self fit to clubs made by someone who has never met them."
- Stan said that even Tour Players will alter their putting strokes and setup to make the putter "look good to them." So getting the right length and lie angle for the putter is critical.
- When working to do a putter fitting, he said he often has the player fit themselves by having them putt with a 4 iron - they will usually find the right length putter for them when they do this.
- He was asked about Belly Putters and said this gem - "If you anchor a Belly Putter, do not rock your shoulders."
THE GOLF INSTRUCTION - CLUB - FITNESS IMPROVEMENT TRIANGLE. I was fortunate to get to listen to a presentation made by Eric Hogge, Head Golf Professional and Director of Club Fitting at the PGA Village in St. Lucie, Florida. Eric has been an AGCP member and active participant in the AGCP for the past few years.
Eric noted that less than 40% of all golfers have been fit for their golf clubs, and less than 25% of all golfers have been fit for their putters. He talked about how attention to this gap in helping players play better has made big improvements to the "bottom line" at the PGA Golf Village. He also emphasized the importance of attention to Fitness Improvement for golfers wanting to play better.
I was also able to visit the Titleist Performance Institute booth at the Show, and they gave me a copy of the videos of "Season Seven" of the Golf Fitness Academy shown on the Golf Channel. There is a half-hour segment in this video on simple exercises to help some of the major swing flaws that golfers have - including "Over The Top." The TPI has an excellent web site that also has videos, links to books, etc. - everything related to golf fitness. My TPI Web Site
FLIGHTSCOPE SEMINAR. I have heard David Nel, a Flightscope Launch Monitor Application Specialist, speak a number of times - but there is always more to learn from him. He noted that many players tend to hit their drivers on the bottom heel of the golf club; he noted that if these players were able to hit the top of the face instead of hte bottom they might gain as much as 30 yards of distance. He talked about what I now view as the Big Three in terms of optimizing driver performance:
- Hit the golf ball in the center or near to the center of the clubface.
- Get your swing path and face angle at impact close to each other.
- Optimize your launch conditions in terms of ball spin and launch angle for your swing speed.
"DEVOTED GOLFER TV" COMING! Russ Ryden from Fit 2 Score near Dallas, Texas has started an ambitious project to produce videos related to valuable club fitting and club performance topics for golfers. He now has a "Devoted Golfer TV" YouTube channel that you can access by this link....
Devoted Golfer TV Link
Russ and his team created a lot of videos at the PGA Show, and these will be on the Devoted Golfer link in the near future.
One of the links already there, for the new Edel Wedge System, is worth watching. Edel Golf presently has an extensive fitting system for putters - I believe the most comprehensive system available - and they have started to produce their own line of wedges. These putters and wedges are well worth a look from you!
All In All - I Can't Wait To Go Back To The Show Again Next Year!
