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| Golf Equipment Chronicles
Live from Orlando
Players Only!! |
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Greetings!
Our change in hours worked out well. It is good to have Dian Terova answering the phone between 9:30 and 12:30 M-W. If you need something done and want to talk to someone for sure, she's available. That doesn't mean "don't call". Clint and I have a natural reaction to a ringing phone - we pick it up.
Having Mondays free to work on projects was great for both me and Clint. We're each past our 65th birthdays so we're looking at conserving a little energy for the future.
The Website rewrite is getting there. I've redone most of the "products and services" sections and we've mocked up an online "store" where we can allow clients to configure their own custom setup.
Our best selling irons continue to be the top models from last year, in near new condition, decked out with custom shafts and set to balance for the same price as off-the-rack. While driver prices have been low, the major manufacturers are raising their prices for forged irons. Consider a custom fit and custom built clubs instead of "chocolate, vanilla or strawberry".
Consider this fact: the irons used by the winners of all four of last year's Majors are now on closeout at the discounters for $199. It will be interesting to see if Nike and Taylor Made can repeat their 2009 performance with entirely new designs. It's kind of silly to think that all those fabulous designs are obsolete. It's much more important for your clubs to be the right style to match your swing with a correct shaft - weight, flex and bend profile. And don't forget the balance - counterweights are a simple way to improve performance.
In the next week or so, I'll give you an address for the new website so you can contribute some "user experience" comments before we open it up to the public.
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| The PGA Show - Beware of Mail Overload This Week |
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The PGA Show - Beware of Mail Overload This Week
One of the opinions that came through loud and clear was that Golf Equipment Chronicles readers and Golf Lab clients appreciate accurate technical information about new golf equipment. That includes a separation of the hype from the reality. Over the years, the PGA Show in Orlando, Florida has become THE worldwide golf exposition. That may not continue as Asia becomes the source of all golf equipment but for this year, the PGA "Merchandise" Show is still the King.
I went to the Show for ten years and then missed last year. I felt disconnected from the "industry". Not so this year. I arrived on Saturday and I'm staying until next Monday. I'm going to cover the show from top to bottom.
I'll distribute the daily story by Constant Contact to our entire list. I'll put "Orlando" in the heading so if you don't think you'll be interested in the reports, you can delete them - or better yet, you might decide to keep the series as a definitive look at the golf industry at the beginning of the year. I'll pick the winners and losers in the early handicapping. PGA Shows are always a little visit to "memory lane" as well as a peek into the future.
What would be very cool to find? A "hot product". The main problem with the golf equipment industry today is everyone is suffering from extreme boredom. When sales reps get together they like to reminisce about the good times when golfers stood in line with "bouquets" of Adams - and then Orlimar fairway metals. There was a time when Ping owned more than 30% of the irons market. Today, if any model gets past 3% market share it is a monster success. It's been like that for two years. Nothing really interesting, nothing really selling. Not that bad you say? Callaway is set to announce earnings this week. The "guidance" said "down 40%. Egad!! So, a big piece of the puzzle is what strategies are the big guys with all of their consultants pursuing?
Look for "Live from Orlando" for the next six days.
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| Working with David Balbi |
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Another one of our goals is to broaden and professionalize the services we offer. In the past, we've had success working with teaching professionals, Eric Jones the most notable. I've been waiting for the right "match" with a local teaching professional. In the last few weeks, I've referred a few Golf Lab customers to David Balbi for swing analysis and putter fittings. I went along to see how they came out. In all cases, the results were very good.
David has taken the same technology-driven approach to swing instruction that I've brought to club fitting and club making. His history goes 17 years to the early days of motion capture technology. His teaching studio includes a full size simulator, multiple high speed cameras and plenty of computer screens.
Just like us at the Golf Lab, David is interested in things he can measure. How much acceleration are you losing in the last two feet of your swing? For John Ruark, it was over 30%. Fixing that flaw is easy to quantify. Thirty yards in the air.
I've come to appreciate David's style and approach. He always starts with a player's balance. You make a swing standing on a force plate and watch your center of gravity move from setup through backswing and then finish. For maximum power, there is a specific pattern that your center of gravity must follow. Golfers that want that extra few yards need to be sure of their balance.
Here's a super deal to help introduce Golf Lab Customers to David. He'll combine the two analysis services that are most popular. The complete swing analysis and the complete putter aiming analysis. Normal price for the swing analysis is $150 and the Putter Fitting is $115. For the first ten Golf Lab clients that would like to take advantage of both services we've reduced the price to just $150 for both. Plan on spending over two hours in the analysis.
For those first ten Golf Lab clients you get "two for one". I'll be participating in the process, offering what I know from our club fitting experience. That way, we'll both have the benefit of an extra brain working on improvement.
For an extraordinary follow-up, all Golf Lab clients are invited to join me for a "morning at the Muni". Let me help you understand your game in "real life". There is no way to fit golf clubs without understanding the golf swing. If you've been playing the same game for so many years you can't remember, think about working with a couple of guys who can break you out of your pattern. All you have to lose is your frustration.
We're nervous about sales after taking a week off for the show. Please call Dian and book your two hour fitting with David and Leith for the week of February 2nd.
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| Return of the PowerBilt Driver Challenge |
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The PowerBilt folks were in this week. They've got the new Air Force One model. They've got inventory almost in place which is just in time for orders coming in from the Orlando PGA Show this week.
We're going to repeat the "free driver challenge" that was so popular last summer. The deal is that you hit your driver with our Achiever launch monitor recording the results. Then we figure out a good head and shaft combination with the Air Force One and we put it together for you. You hit that. We compare the numbers. We hope that the Air Force One gives a higher ball speed.
Step two is to take the Air Force One to your own golf course. Assuming that the launch monitor shows some increased ball speed, we're looking for improved accuracy.
If you missed the whole Air Force One story last year, here's a synopsis. Going back to 1999 an inventor has been working on a more durable driver - reinforced by being charged with nitrogen gas under pressure. Since nitrogen is inert - it presents no expansion and contraction problem. The fact that the driver head is charged with nitrogen permits using a thinner face, presumably with more resilience - that somehow was not detected by the USGA. The single thickness face presumably also produces more distance on off center hits. Despite having no idea why either of those claims could be true, quite a few testers reported similarly-worded results. That was a little spooky.
A high percentage of testers thought that the Air Force One produced longer distance and straighter drives. Out of 65 free driver challenge fittings, almost half of the testers ended up buying an Air Force One. That is a remarkable number considering that the first year the driver was ungainly in shape and very, very hard on the ear. We had a dozen players say that they thought the performance was better but they either couldn't stand to look at it or couldn't stand the sound.
The basic deal is a "free challenge". Keep in mind, because it's "free" it is also limited in scope. We highly recommend that you upgrade your "challenge" to our complete driver fitting which continues to get better and better.
In addition to complete swing and launch ballistics analysis, you get a look at your acceleration and the load you put on a shaft. Then, we can give you a handful of matching shafts - each with slightly different characteristics - for you to test to find the "magic". For returning customers, take the complete driver fitting update. $125 normal - $95 for the month of February.
Can we remind you? We're at the PGA Show this week so the cash register isn't ringing. Make a call and book your PowerBilt Driver Challenge. |
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Leith Anderson, Clint Smith, Dian Terova
The Golf Lab
2103 St Francis, Palo Alto, CA 94303
(650) 493-1770
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