| November 12, 2009 |
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"Shoulder Season"
November Bargains | |
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Our Pleasanton Golf Show Discovery
We were at the Pleasanton Golf Show a couple of weeks ago. There's one good thing about golf shows - we meet new players with rare swings. This year we found a couple of "Monster" players who aim over the trees on the right to catch the left rough. That's a serious right to left ball flight produced by an extreme inside-out swing path.
We installed "next generation" counterweights in their driver shafts that produced a dramatic change in their shot shape. We "straightened out" a dangerous hook with fifteen grams of extra weight located in the shaft. That sounds like a miracle, but it's not.
The easiest possible 'tweak" to improve the performance of your golf equipment is to change the balance of your clubs with counterweights. I think that it is the most important innovation that has come along to help golfers of all skill levels play better with their current equipment.
Adding from 8 to 60 grams of weight to your irons and driver usually results in increasing ball speed 2-4 MPH - 6 to 10 yards of extra distance - and improving the consistency of your swing path, face angle at impact and launch angle. We don't make that up. Every counterweight fitting is documented with launch monitor data - "before" and "after".
In the last year over 500 Golf Lab customers have taken advantage of our "free counterweight fittings" to improve the performance of their golf clubs.
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| Brief History of Counterweights
Since 2002, there has been an evolution in counter weight theory and "technology". First steps were primitive and expensive. Non-reversible club modification was required. The end of the shaft had to be cut off, a sleeve installed and then a removable weight mounted. The cost was $50 per club for the parts, plus installation. The job took several hours.
Because of the cost, most counter weights went into drivers. Very few players were willing to invest $500 to counter weight a set of irons.
Since then the pioneer company in the business, Balance-Certified created a series of ever-simpler products - focused on "drop-in" installation and reusability.
The Balance-Certified parts are intricately machined, made in USA and still cost around $50 per club. But installation is now trivial. Not trivial was figuring out precisely what weight produced the best results.
That's where launch monitor testing comes into play. You can't see a 4 MPH increase in ball speed at the range. We employ the Achiever launch monitor to record and compare performance of clubs with and without weights. Then, we change the weights looking for measurable improvements. Results are guaranteed. We offer a "no questions asked buy-back guarantee" if your clubs don't perform better on the course.
The biggest breakthrough in counter-weighting technology was the invention of the "Stabilizer" by Balance-Certified. Instead of a short weight that was located at the butt end of the club, the Stabilizer moved some weight under a player's lower hand. The results of that move were spectacular. It is rare for a Stabilizer to fail to improve ball speed and consistency. Balance-Certified has been our "go-to" supplier for Stabilizers for over a year.
Balance-Certified Stabilizers cost $55 installed and the fitting is free.
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Tour Lock Golf
One characteristic of American Business is there's always someone out there trying to figure out "cheaper, faster, better" - any one improvement can buy you a niche in the marketplace.
John Johnson is the proprietor of Tour Lock Golf. He's been hanging around the golf industry for years - Tour Pro, Range Operator, and Teacher. John discovered counter weighting and designed his own line of weights that have the singular advantage of being cheaper. Cost was one of the serious hurdles to the Balance-Certified products - as elegant as they might be.
Our goal at the Golf Lab is to work with all of the creative minds in the golf industry - hoping to be on the "bleeding edge" when a breakthrough takes place. That's what I think happened at the Pleasanton Golf Show. Matt King - the Tour Lock "Tour Rep" - drove up from L.A. to work with us at the show.
Tour Lock counterweights are designed differently from Balance-Certified products. They are foam-covered brass parts that are secured in the shaft with an expanding rubber washer. The hole in the grip is capped off with a second weight. Standard nuts, bolts and rubber washers. Cheap and effective.
The big difference is that while Balance-Certified Stabilizers are all one length with the weight of the Stabilizer distributed between the butt of the club and the lower hand, the Tour Lock weights can be located at any position in the shaft. Combine that with an assortment of different weights and you have the ability to significantly change the distribution of weight in the shaft and consequently the balance point of the golf club.
Locating the weight to correct "right to left" was our discovery at the Pleasanton Golf Show. We needed the right player for testing - that super strong guy who was looking for a little help straightening out his swing path and controlling his face angle at impact.
We secured a 15 gram weight at nine inches from the butt of the club. That's a couple of inches below the player's lower hand. That location is not possible with the Stabilizer. The result? Swing path smoothed out by over 4 degrees and the face angle squared up. The right to left movement was greatly reduced.
Disclaimer: This was not a "scientific" study. We're not saying a couple of players prove the case. However, the test corroborated the theory. Location of the weight can definitely help a player improve his swing path.
In prior tests, we found that locating weight below a player's right hand caused loss of swing speed for an average golfer. Until Pleasanton, we have not been eager to go below a player's right hand with weight. We were much more inclined to locate weight high in the shaft with the goal of "stabilizing" an outside-in swing path.
Now, we know that weight below a player's hands can help correct a swing path for a strong player that fights the "lefts".
But remember, counter weighting is just as effective for average golfers. If you haven't taken advantage of the Golf Lab free counterweight fitting offer, make the call today and you'll play better this weekend.
Tour Lock counterweights cost $20 per club installed and the fitting is free. You need to call for an appointment and expect to spend an hour with us.
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Buy the Shafts, Clubs are "Free"
Here's an offer that you can't beat. We've got a few styles of forged irons from our collection that we want to set free.
Book a complete iron fitting ($125) or update your fitting if you're a repeat customer ($62.50). We won't cut any corners. After we determine your most likely specification, we'll supply demo clubs of each recommendation to confirm our theory at the range or on your own course. That includes testing for the correct counter weight.
The only truly reliable club fitting is the one you confirm by hitting the exact club that you're planning to buy so you know - without doubt - that the "demo" is exactly the specification that fits and feels the best. Then, make sure that's exactly what you get.
You'll choose Nippon lightweight steel shafts, Aerotech Steel Fiber Shafts, KB Tour or Matrix graphite shafts in the correct weight and flex - that's if your hands-on testing outdoors comes out like 99% of our fitting clients. The price of those shafts, installed, ranges from $59 - $95 per club depending on the cost and whether you choose to have your irons SST PUREd ™. Reshafting a set of eight irons costs from $480-$750 with everything set up perfectly for weight, flex, balance, loft and lie.
KB Tour or Nippon 950's matched up with top quality Hoffman forged Balliwicks, Kahler USA Forged, Ram 802's and a few one of a kind sets start at $480 - custom built to match your specifications. Custom clubs for less than "off the rack". You can't beat that deal on eBay. You buy the shafts and you get the heads for "free".
You have your choice of the following styles brand new:
If you would rather have "name brand" we have a few sets of slightly used Bridgestones, Miuras and MacGregors that we'll include in the deal for a small upcharge.
If you've been waiting for the right time to pick up a great set of irons, custom fit with high end, high performance shafts, now is the time.
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Payback from Shafts that Fit
You'll get a little more distance. Most players swing light weight shafts a little faster. We don't emphasize distance because that's not the most important feature of irons. Much more important is accuracy, ball flight and distance control.
If you've been playing with heavy steel shafts - True Temper S300 or the like - the most important thing you'll notice from lighter shafts is better control of the club. An ounce doesn't sound like much, but when you're swinging your six iron at 80+ MPH there's a lot of centrifugal force. It only takes a fraction of an inch off center to send your ball into a bunker.
The third advantage of modern shafts is "feel". Once you test for the right length, weight and flex it's time to find out which material gives you exactly the feel and ball flight that you're looking for.
Many better players are prejudiced against graphite. Modern graphite is stronger than steel. If you're a low index player looking for a boost in your game, you owe yourself a test of Aerotech Steel Fiber shafts. We also recommend Matrix Studio series graphite shafts for players who like a softer feel - but without losing control.
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The Ultimate Iron Fitting
After three rounds of analysis with our Achiever launch monitor, Shaft Max and Launch Max and comparative testing to determine the factors that improve performance, we narrow millions of possible combinations of heads, shafts, grips and balance to a few viable candidates for you to test.
We have over 100 custom demo irons from Miura, Mizuno, Vega, Bridgestone, Epon and MacGregor - each set up with custom shafts and carefully calibrated for player testing after a fitting. If we don't have an iron in our demo set that matches our recommendation - and your desire - we'll build it for you - no extra charge. You should never buy a golf club you haven't hit.
That is a service not offered by any custom shops in California that we know of. But, we're going one step further with an even more extensive demo program.
We've built complete sets of irons, with high performance shafts so our clients can take a complete set of irons for play on their own golf course. Do you want to test a set of forged irons with KB Tour shafts against a set with Aerotech Steel Fiber 110's? No problem.
Are you wondering if your game is good enough to play forged irons? We can set up a head to head test - "game improvement" models versus forged blades. There is no need to wonder, you can find out for yourself the best way - playing golf on your own course.
Our complete set demo program is available on a daily basis for $50. Or, for $200 test all of the demo sets in our collection for a month. There is no better way to find out exactly what a high performance set of irons plays like than on-course testing - through multiple rounds if you like. Demo fees apply at 50% to any purchase.
All of our complete sets are Proline irons: Bridgestone, Mizuno, and MacGregor with limited choices from the boutique Japanese brands and Tom Wishon.
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Mark your calendar for Saturday the 21st of November for a repeat of our popular sidewalk sale. "Barbeque Joe" (Joe Marasco) will be returning to the Edgewood Plaza with his fabulous smoked pork shoulder - and a few other delectable treats. Every customer can sample the best of his award winning barbeque.
If you're interested in smoking meat, the easiest way is the Traeger "automatic" smoker. It lights its own fire and keeps the smoking chamber at exactly the temperature that you set. If you're used to wasting a whole day watching a couple of racks of ribs, you can forget that. Set your smoker in the morning and head to the golf course. Then, invite your foursome back to your house for the best ribs or pulled pork shoulder. You'll be surprised by how easy it is to get professional results.
I am a dedicated barbeque "nut" - just a little less than golf nut. We use our Traeger smoker every week and are constantly experimenting. When it's easy, you use it.
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There's no better time to work on optimizing your golf clubs than November.
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Leith Anderson, Clint Smith, Dian Terova
The Golf Lab |
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| Send a Friend for a Free Putter Grip |
New customers are the lifeblood of any business and the very best source is referrals from current customers. Now, you can kill two birds with one stone.
Forward this email to one of your golfing buddies. All he has to do is bring it with him to the Golf Lab and we'll give his putter a check up. We'll test it for loft and lie and make sure that it is correct for his stroke.
Then, we'll give him a choice of a new grip and install it absolutely free. We have a great selection of over 50 styles. And just for a little incentive for yourself, we'll copy your name from his email and keep that on a list. Then, the next time you come into the shop we'll give you the same putter checkup and new grip.
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| Offer Expires: December 1, 2009 |
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