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The Golf Lab Members-Only Newsletter
February 2006
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in this issue
-- Improved Fitting Tools
-- Now is the time to work on your equipment
-- New Balance-Certified UST Putter Shaft
-- The Thousand Dollar Shaft -- Nicklaus Golf Equipment -- Eric Jones founds Seaver Golf Academy at Poppy Ridge
The PGA Show and New Directions for 2006 The drumbeat for new products is going strong. The PGA Merchandise Show took place last week in Orlando. It’s THE major golf industry event of the year. Leith was there for the week, searching out the new and innovative products from the back alleys. He’s putting together his show report for Golf Today Magazine. Members Only readers will get an advance copy as soon as it’s done.
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Improved Fitting Tools ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Golf Lab was founded on the principle that
advanced technology is the best way to find the
right club specifications to deliver the best
performance. We installed an Achiever launch
monitor over three years ago, before they became
common tools for clubfitters. It’s a great fitting tool,
but doesn’t give us all of the information we need to
make a perfect fit. In 2005 we hooked up with the
Max Out Golf Group to gain access to their
know-how and proprietary technology. The Shaft
Max and Launch Max are proving their
worth every day at the Golf Lab.
The Shaft Max measures shaft deflection in both vertical and horizontal planes and plots shaft deflection against a timeline. The result is a “fingerprint” for your swing. The efficiency of your swing is revealed. If you’re losing power, we can tell where. Coupled with video analysis (state-of-the-art Dartfish) we have been able to help players make subtle changes in their swings that delivered immediate performance improvement. The Shaft Max is an enhancement to fitting shaft flex by swingspeed alone. We have fitted several seniors with “extra stiff” shafts with great results. The Shaft Max gives us the knowledge and the confidence to make radical fitting recommendations. If you want more information on the Shaft Max, Leith’s Golf Today Magazine article from January has the details. CLICK HERE FOR THE GOLF TODAY MAGAZINE JANUARY ARTICLE The Launch Max is the proprietary Max Out launch monitor. It is based on high speed color photography. The color feature permits capturing sidespin. The Launch Max is programmed with an “optimization” feature that compares your driver results with theoretical perfection. We can pinpoint exact spin rate and launch angle that will give you the best results with your swing. In some cases, a higher loft driver delivers better results. In other cases a driver head that spins the ball less is the answer. We might even suggest a change in the ball you use with surprising improvement. There is no longer any reason to wonder if your driver is right for you. You can know for sure. For more information on Max Out, go to www.maxoutgolf. com.
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Now is the time to work on your equipment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a constant search for ways to build better golf
clubs that are precisely fitted for our customers, we
test all of the new clubmaking techniques. A recent
innovation is using air pressure to “blow on” grips.
One thing we have learned in five years of fitting all
levels of players is that you will never know if a club
is right unless you try it. The same goes for grips.
Blowing grips on also permits us to “blow them off”.
We can add wraps or partial wraps of tape under the
grip to give you exactly the size and shape you’re
looking for. Since the grip goes on dry, you can test
the club immediately and no grips are wasted. It
sounds simple, but it is a breakthrough technique
that lets us do a better fitting job.
There’s another benefit. Because you can play the club immediately, we can test different shaft lengths. We use that feature to great advantage at the Golf Lab. When players come in with 45” drivers, we have them hit a series of drives and record the launch monitor data. Then, we trim the shaft ½” and hit another set. The results are normally better tempo, balance and timing. More center hits and higher average distances. When it comes to drivers, one size definitely does not fit all. Most players have drivers that are too long in their bags.
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New Balance-Certified UST Putter Shaft ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We’ve been testing the new B-C putter shaft from
UST. This is definitely worth trying out. The idea
behind the design is that the shaft filters out certain
kinds of vibrations. The goal is to give a player
better feedback about where he’s striking the ball on
the face of the putter. It works. If you hit the
center of the face, you get a sweet little “click”. If
you hit off center, you feel a “klunk”. We now have
a complete selection of the shafts to fit most any
putter. If you’re looking for a little help on the
greens, try a new shaft in your putter. Installed:
$95 More info: www.balance-certified.com.
More putter “tweaks”. There’s a trend toward center shafted putters. The problem is that they’re all delivered “standard” which means a 71 or 72 degree lie angle. We think that’s pretty silly, just like 45” drivers. At the Golf Lab, we can fit you for the lie angle that suits your unique putting stroke. Then, we can order a custom putter head from Goolie. www.gooliegolf.com . If you have a conventional putter, we can always adjust the lie angle with a gentle bend.
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The Thousand Dollar Shaft ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It might be a way to get valuable publicity and it
might be worth the money. We still don’t know for
sure. We’ve got our $1000 OZIK shaft from Matrix
(formerly Apache) waiting for the right head. Bob will
certainly cut it this month – but he’ll practice cutting
a few diamonds first. There is a cheaper version that
we’ve tested, the $400 OZIK. We’re giving that one
a good recommendation for players with a little extra
money in the bank. It has a little softer feel than the
Diamana. It tests well on the launch monitor. It
seems to deliver extraordinary distance – although
it’s hard to know for sure in the winter. It matches
up well with the Nike Tour SQ head. If you want to
try before you buy, we’ll let you take one out after a
brief fitting to make sure you’ve got the right one,
SST PUREd and perfect, for a round at your course.
There is an appropriate rental fee (for a $650 driver)
that is deductible if you make a purchase.
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Nicklaus Golf Equipment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Nicklaus Golf Company is the latest name brand
manufacturer that has decided that the best way to
satisfy their customers is to let a custom golf shop
offer all of the options. The Golf Lab is one of only
two custom shops in the US that is authorized to
buy “heads only” from Nicklaus and fit their
customers with any custom shaft. We’ve tested the
Nicklaus driver heads and are confident that they
perform with the best. (They’re on the Golf
Digest “Hot List” and won a “Best of the
Best” designation from Rankmark.) Plus,
because of the custom fitting options, the Nicklaus
line is an economical choice. There are quite a few
driver models, including offset and high loft. At the
Golf Lab, we will always encourage you to develop a
consistent “inside out” swing path, but if you cut the
ball and can’t change, a little “slice medicine” isn’t so
bad.
We have the same options with the Nicklaus irons. You can choose the style you want, custom fitted with the premium shaft of your choice, SST PUREd for just a little more money than off-the-shelf irons. More on Nicklaus Golf at www.nicklausgolf .com.
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Eric Jones founds Seaver Golf Academy at Poppy Ridge ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eric Jones (eric@longdriv
echamp.com) was recently named the Director
of Instruction at Poppy Ridge where he has founded
the Seaver Golf Academy, named after his
grandfather, a distinguished California amateur
golfer. Many Golf Lab customers have worked with
Eric indoors, now you have a chance to work with
him outdoors at the best public practice facility in
Northern California.
The Golf Lab will be supporting the Seaver Golf Academy with our Golf Lab Tour Van. Twice a month, we’ll be spending the weekend at Poppy Ridge, delivering fitting, reshafting and repair services. If you’re in the East Bay and the trek to Palo Alto is too long, Poppy Ridge will be almost as good as making house calls. Call the Golf Lab for details. 650-493-1770. Remember when you’re driving down 101 in Palo Alto, we’re only one minute off the freeway. Just get off at Embarcadero, go west and duck in behind the Shell gas station. We look forward to seeing you in the shop – or at Poppy Ridge – or at the Northern California Golf Show the first week in March. We’ll have a complete report on the PGA Show next month. Best Regards, Leith Anderson and Bob Huff
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Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:
leith@calgolftech.com
phone:
(650) 493-1770
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One of the trends for 2006 will
be “pure
custom”. Golf Lab customers have been strong
supporters of high quality products such as Miura so
we’ll be going even farther in that direction with a
small American company that sells custom grind
wedges and irons forged in Japan. Look for more
news on Scratch. 