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Greetings!
For almost twenty years, there has been steady
improvement in driver technology. It all started with
the "Pittsburg Persimmon" in the late 80's - and took
hold with the Callaway Steelhead and Big Bertha line
in the early 90's. In recent years, Taylor Made led the
pack with "moveable weight technology." Every year,
golfers were motivated to trade in their old "Big Dog"
for a new puppy with big feet.
The USGA limited driver performance along the way -
shaft length, head size, shape, "rebound effect" and
finally "moment of inertia" were all capped. Each year
golf equipment gurus predicted that limits had finally
been reached. But surprise, each year something
new came along to shake a little change out of our
jeans.
In 2007, radical driver head shapes introduced golfers
to the concept of "moment of inertia" or MOI. The
result was a driver that was just plain easy to hit
straight. In 2008 nearly every company has a "MOI
Story". Your new driver will not look like your old
driver. If you want to improve your performance, plan
on trying something new.
Last year the most controversial driver was the Nike
SUMO2. It was big, square and loud. It was also a
little short. It was effectively banned at some sedate
private clubs - just too out-of-the-ordinary to tolerate.
But the SUMO2 created a "new category".
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The New Nike SUMO for 2008.
Nike solved their problems with the new SUMO2 -
5900 - named for touching the MOI limit imposed by
the USGA. First and foremost, they built an all-
titanium driver with sound that is just like other
drivers - a solid "thwack". In my first round with the
new SUMO2 not one comment was made about
the "noise". I'm not even sure that my playing partners
knew that I was playing the new model. Now that's a
breakthrough.
The new SUMO2 is a more conventional shape, if you
can say that about a square driver. The crown is
smooth with a frosted black finish and grey "power
bow" accents. It looks classy
And then there's performance. Just like last year's
model, it wants to go straight and then drop left. You
get used to aiming down the right side of the fairway
and then seeing the ball hit the sprinkler line.
Distance is improved. I found myself in summer
positions in February. That is good. Alas, the square
drivers are not made for "workability". If you want that,
you have to go with the conventional SUMO.
How about user experience? On the very first day
SUMOs went on sale - "SUMO Saturday" - I had two
fittings. Both players took a few top performing drivers
to the range for a final tryout. Both came back and
said "I'm taking the SUMO home". Since then, we've
sold through most of our first shipment. The SUMO2 -
5900 is a driver that you should test for 2008. Then,
let the results speak for themselves.
The SUMO2 - 5900 has a PGA Tour pedigree. At the
end of the 2007 season, it came up with three wins
around the world. I think that the verdict is in. High
MOI drivers will give many players better accuracy and
lead to lower scores when keeping the tee ball in play
is imperative. Just one warning: the stock SUMO2 -
5900's that we have received are long and heavy.
They measure 45.75 inches at E-0 swingweight. If
you can play that configuration, great. If you're in the
majority, it's a simple matter to cut it down to PGA Tour
average of 44.5 and add a little weight to maintain
correct balance.
If you're thinking about upgrading, the SUMO2 - 5900
launches the ball lower than last year's model. If you
played a 9.5* a year ago, you will probably need to go
with a 10.5* with the new model.
If you want to know for sure if the SUMO2 - 5900 is
right for you, any Golf Lab fitting customer is welcome
to check a SUMO for a round on your own course.
That's the best way to know for sure if there's a new
SUMO in your future.
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Golf Lab Fitting Technology Just Gets Better
Golf Lab customers are familiar with the technology
we use to help find your "Magic Clubs". We starts with
the Achiever launch monitor to analyze a player's
swing. We move to the Shaft Max - an
electronically instrumented golf club that measures
tempo, shaft load and the way the shaft bends. We
combine that information with your swing speed to
make our shaft recommendations - length, weight,
flex, tip strength and bend profile. We can help you
choose the perfect shaft out of hundreds of available
options. We can tell you which moderately priced
shafts match specifications with exotic, expensive
models.
But we don't stop there. After we recommend a shaft
and head style, we build a demo club that you can test
yourself, outdoors, watching the ball fly. More
interesting, we provide test clubs with different shaft
materials at the recommended flex so you can
test "feel" for yourself. There is no better, or more
meticulous fitting system.
The final test is to "dial in" your driver with our
Launch Max - high speed photography-based
launch monitor. We don't think that there's a better or
more accurate launch monitor in the world. We can
compare your actual launch ballistics to "theoretically
perfect". We can then swap heads and shafts to get
the perfect combination of ball speed, launch angle
and spin rate.
Driver fittings are $125, and take about an hour and a
half. Same for irons. A "full fitting" - likely to stretch
into half a day is $245. You can take the best
performing drivers and irons to the range to verify our
fitting recommendations. If you are a Golf Lab
customer and just want to update your fitting, we can
do that in an hour for $95.
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The Next Frontier - Outdoor Club Fitting with Radar
If you've watched any golf tournaments recently, you
have seen the Trackman radar-based launch monitor
in use on the PGA Tour. Nick Faldo is infatuated with
the Trackman.
For two years, we have worked with the two leading
radar-based launch monitors - the ISG Trackman
and the EDH Flightscope. As usual with
new technology, the first two software releases didn't
work all that well. We were never satisfied that the
spin numbers were correct. We trusted the
Launch Max for precise fittings.
Outdoor fittings present unique opportunities. If you
want to know precisely how far you hit each club in
your bag, the way to do that is with radar. Radar is
accurate to two feet at 200 yards. For players who are
serious about their game, "gapping" the set to
calibrate distances is imperative. You are likely to find
some interesting things about your game. We have
helped players understand their distances with great
success. A likely outcome is to change the lofts on
your irons - probably eliminating at least one long
iron - to get correct separation at the long end of your
bag.
The software that drives the radars is more
sophisticated than the Launch Max software
with respect to comparing the performance of different
golf clubs. The radars allow you to hit several shots
with each club, just a couple at a time, switching back
and forth. When the session is done, you get an
elaborate comparison - supported with graphics -
that makes it very clear which club performed the
best. That analysis is possible with our other
systems, but tedious.
We are ready to visit your course with our
Flightscope or Cheetah and four
bags full of high performance demos. In addition to
drivers, we will bring fairway metals, utilities and
wedges. Call the Golf Lab for details. (650) 493-
1770. Ask for Leith or Clint.
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Shaft Fitting for Fairway Metals and Utilities
If you bought your fairway metals off the rack in the last
two years, it's 99% certain that they are too long.
The "standard" length for OEM three metals is 43".
Ask yourself why the average length of a three metal
on the PGA Tour is 42.5". In the last year, we've
almost made a living from modifying fairway metals by
shortening the shafts and adding weight to the heads
to improve balance. You give up no distance and your
consistency improves. If that sounds preposterous,
just stop by the Golf Lab and pick up a demo to hit
against your current fairway metal. Then, you'll know
for sure.
It's arguable that shaft choice is more important in
your fairway metals than your driver or your irons. With
our Shaft Max, we can detect the way the shaft
in your club bends during your swing. That lets us
recommend a shaft with the correct bend profile - and
set the tip stiffness. If you're having a problem with
the consistency of your fairway metals, it's a good idea
to have a look at your shafts. It might be a simple
problem
Utilities are another category that can be improved
by "tweaking". In the early days of utilities, they were
built more like fairway woods. If you measure your 21*
utility (3iron or 7 wood equivalent), you're likely to find
that it's 41.5" long, or even longer. Compare that to a
standard length three iron at 39". Two and a half
inches is a lot. Once again, the standard on the PGA
Tour is to build utilities shorter and heavier - to match
your irons. At the Golf Lab, we fit club length just a
little bit longer than the corresponding iron that is
being replaced. If you play standard length, we're
going to build your 22* utility to 39.5" - just half an inch
longer than your three iron. Then, we're going to
adjust the head weight to get the right swingweight.
After we get the length and balance right, we'll give you
a chance to try all of the best performing shafts on the
market. You'll hit your utility a lot more consistently.
There's one other thing about utilities. If you're going
to match your irons, you need to match the lie angle
as well as the length. Practically all utilities are set to
flat lie angles - assuming that they would be played at
longer lengths. It is imperative to find a utility head
that can be bent - and a clubmaker who can set your
lie angles correctly. If you're missing your utilities to
the right, it's likely that the lie is too flat. The Golf Lab
is equipped to bend utility clubs.
And one more tip. If you're going to play your utilities
like your irons, then you have to hit them like your
irons. That means placing the ball back from your left
foot, closer to the center of your stance - just like you
hit your irons. When you do that, your consistency will
improve dramatically. Don't fall into the trap of playing
utility clubs like your fairway metals.
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Plan to pay us a visit at the Golf Lab soon.
Regards,
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