Talent, Technique, Technology. In that order.
 

There's nothing we can do to help you with the insufficient talent problem. Technique is another story. Heather Hughes will be at the Golf Lab this Saturday giving free 20 minute putting lessons. We keep asking Heather back because customers who have taken advantage of her putting clinics over the past few months have reported that they've dropped their putts per round two or three strokes. They want more. Heather is available by appointment only starting at 10 AM. Phone the Golf Lab to reserve a convenient time. 650-493-1770. Heather relied on her legendary short game to win two San Francisco City Amateur Championships.

 

 Free Putter Checkup - "Technology"
 

The length, loft and lie of your putter can make a major difference on the greens. With the new theories in setup taking hold, most of the big-time teachers are recommending setups that require shorter putters. Every time the Dave Pelz Short Game School comes to town we get a flurry of action from his students - all getting their putters shortened. If you are playing a putter that is the old "standard" of 35" you can be pretty sure it's too long.

Then there's loft. Your goal is to get the ball rolling as smoothly as possible as quickly as possible. Too much loft on your putter will cause the ball to go airborne and skid. To little loft will drive the ball into the green and cause it to jump. Your stroke matters, if you have a forward press you might be de-lofting your putter at impact - a condition that could be improved with a little more loft. The greens on your home course matter. The softer and spongier, the higher the required loft. Hard and fast greens demand lower lofted putters. Do you even know the loft of your putter?

Come by any time this week, but especially on Saturday and we'll measure your putter specifications no charge. We'll give you an opinion about how your putter matches your stroke. No appointment required.

 

 Counterweight Your Putter
 

If there's one great new idea about putting it's making your current putter heavier is a great way to help your putter help you.

There's some history: A few years ago the Heavy Putter Company came out with (you guessed it) a Heavy Putter. It had a very heavy head and about a pound of lead rammed down the shaft. The Heavy Putter never made a huge splash on Tour but it picked up some true believers who made it out of the minors and into the Majors. One such success story is Troy Matteson.

The Heavy Putter was a miracle for a lot of amateurs who have taken our recommendation that "heavier" is something you should at least try. I have never had a product that caused perfect strangers tap me on the shoulder at the golf course and say "thank you" for the recommendation more than the Heavy Putter. There is no doubt. For some players, the Heavy Putter is the next best thing to a miracle.

Now the Heavy Putter Company is out with a new line - the "Not So Heavy Putter". They cut the weight down to about half of what it was. Guess what? The lighter weight has opened the door to more golfers.

But there's another way to skin the cat. Both Balance- Certified and Tour Lock Golf have brought out new gizmos that allow modification of any putter to add weight just like the Heavy Putter. The new method offers a option that is even more interesting. Both systems now allow a player to move the weight down the shaft to help promote a different feel and presumably a different stroke.

There is evidence that the new method works even better than simple weight under the grip alone. John Johnson, the inventor and energy behind Tour Lock worked out a deal to get a Tour Van on the Champions' Tour for the last two events. His van was also at the Northern Trust Open three weeks ago.

His results are amazing. In just two days he fitted over 30 Champions Tour players with his new "Opti Vibe" system that positions weight in the shaft of the putter. What is more amazing is that the players took the putters to the course immediately. From the practice green, into the bag, to the course. Who does that? They knew that their putters were better - right now. No fear.

And now, totally stunning is that we have the complete list of the players who adopted the system, exactly how much weight they used, where it was positioned after fitting and for a cherry on top of the whipped cream, the model of putter they were using.

If you want that list, you have to log into the calgolftech.com website and download it. Here's the link: Tour Lock Installs - Champions Tour

I thought that it was about time that I told the whole story of changes in counter weighting products and ideas over the last six years. Too bad we couldn't have had today's products back then. We might have changed history. But, the breakthroughs are great, they work better than ever and it's a truly American invention that I think will change the way players tweak their clubs. I might be the biggest cheerleader for this "technology" in the world. Mark my prediction: balancing golf clubs is going to become the "next big thing" in club fitting.

To get your own copy of "A Brief History of Balancing Your Golf Clubs . . ." follow this link: A Brief History. The article will be published in the April issue of Golf Today Magazine.

Hopefully you're motivated to try to balance your putter. The counterweight for your putter costs from $50 to $75 depending on the style you choose. It takes half an hour for us to work through the options, watch your stroke, and test several alternatives. We'll hold the fitting fee to just $25. Appointment required.

 

 Get a Grip
 

K.J. Choi has had his moments over the last few months with the huge round grip that he adopted, and then started winning. That's the "Super Stroke". We've sold quite a few but that model has one aggravating quality. It won't fit into an average golf bag.

The idea behind the big grip is to steady your wrists and just like the heavy putters, help you make a stroke with your "big muscles".

There are plenty of other alternatives. You've seen Woody Austin with the "Big Lite". We have the "Two Thumbs", the "Wishbone", the Enlo and every other option that has made the newsreels. Or, if you just want something conventional, you can always go with a nice new Winn or Golf Pride.

 

 "On Tour" Next Week
 

In the last couple of months I've picked up a new avocation - attending PGA Tour events. We all talk about "The Tour" all the time so I thought it would be interesting to produce some eye-witness reports. The AT&T didn't turn out too well because of the weather. There's not much drama when the final round gets cancelled.

But I had a good experience at the LA Open - now the Northern Trust Open. I followed the last group "inside the ropes" and reported the story that I saw. If you missed that, here's a link to "Which Phil?" that will be published in the April issue of Golf Today along with my usual Golf Equipment Chronicles.

What's next? I've received media credentials for the LPGA Kraft Nabisco in Palm Springs starting next week. This is my first look at a "Major". There is probably more to learn from the way the top women play the game that is relevant to Golf Lab clients than we get from the PGA Tour Pros. Since so many of our clients are women, the Kraft Nabisco is sure to provide great insight that might end up helping some of our younger amateurs down the road.

I'll be there next Tuesday and Wednesday so I can see how the top LPGA Professionals approach their equipment in the Tour Van area prior to the start of the tournament. John Johnson will be there with the Tour Lock Tour Van so I'll have a chance to keep an eye on his progress as well. Will he get along with the ladies? He surely should.

I'll come back to the Golf Lab Thursday and Friday to earn a little money with putter fittings, counterweight fittings and driver fittings. Call in for appointments Thursday and Friday if you want an interim report in person. Then, I'll head back down to Palm Springs for the weekend drama.

Monday, April 5th there will be no appointments as I will be decompressing from a hectic week. But, please book whatever you want for the rest of the week. The recession is on and we need to keep the ball rolling.

 

 Our New Putter "Exchange" Program
 

We don't know anyone who doesn't have a dozen putters scattered around his house and garage. How many are you using and how many are just getting rusty?

One of these days, we'll have a "Putting Lab" just like our full swing analysis lab. We've made a couple of false starts already but the reality is that the gizmos to analyze putting just aren't quite cooked. Worse, there doesn't seem to be a consensus about which ideas are going to come out winners. For now, we're sticking to fitting putters by eye and by testing performance - but judging performance by eye.

We have a nice collection of putters. They include the family of Heavy Putters, a nice selection of Rife and most of the models that have been popular over the last few years. We also have started collecting the "classics".

In the "very interesting" category, we have bought out a couple of lines that had very good styles but couldn't make it on putters alone. The last of Dick De La Cruz's premium putters are at the Golf Lab. These used to sell for $250 and up. We got the last of the finely milled "Kokopelli" putters. These are nicer than Scotty Cameron in our opinion.

We've priced all of our putters in ranges: $20, $50, $100, $150 and $200. They're all color coded and we'll let you in on our secret pricing code.

If you want to deal, bring in your putters to trade. We'll appraise each of your "trade stock" on our state-of-the- art Terapeak program that gives us every eBay transaction over the last two months including starting price, final sales price and sell through percentage.

Once we agree on a trade value that matches our system, we'll go 3 for 1. Give us three of the putters that are wasting away and take one of ours that has a brilliant future. How can you beat that deal?

We'll even trade for our custom built putters. If you're looking for a belly or long putter, if you want one with an exotic shaft or grip, you can trade for those: used for new.

 

 Turn Your Old Clubs into New Clubs
 

If you'd like to buy new clubs but don't want to spend your money, you can bring a few of your unused sets into the Golf Lab. We'll give you an appraisal based on the same eBay values. Keep in mind, there is an "overhead". eBay gets 15%. Heather Hughes gets 10% to do the work. You get the rest in immediate credit at the Golf Lab. You can "spend" the credit before your clubs sell.

You can get the new clubs you want for the clubs you already have - but are not using.

 

 Update on SST PURE
 

No article that I've written in the past five years has generated more energy - negative and positive than the - "Does He or Doesn't He?" - article about Tiger Woods and SST PURE. I even got an anonymous, threatening, late night phone call. Egad!! If you're interested in staying current with what's happening on Tour with SST, here's a link to a weekly newsletter that they publish - writing by Tour insider Steve Hosid. If you'd like your own copy, log into the SST website and register. The SST Newsletter.