This January I spent 5 days at the 2013 PGA Equipment Show held in Orlando, FL. I spent the majority of my time there attending 4 different training sessions related to short game fitting and improvement. Here are some insights that I learned that might help you improve your short games:
Edel Golf Putter Fitting Training. Bobby Dean, Edel VP of Operations and David Edel conducted this training. Many of you will know from my past newsletters that these putters can be fit for excellent aim and speed control.
My big take from this session was how important both Bobby and David think speed control is in putter fitting and performance. David said he starts every putter fitting with a speed test - because it shows how poorly "self-fit" putters do at controlling speed. This is something that I plan to do in all Edel putter fittings. Golfers who want to improve their speed control when they practice should also consider doing this. Get a piece of string, find a straight 15 foot putt - no hole - and work to get the feel of landing all of your putts on the string.
Edel Golf Wedge Fitting Training. This training session was conducted by Mike Adams - a Golf Magazine Top 100 Instructor and developer of the Edel wedges. Mike first discussed how he did a lot of initial evaluations of different wedge designs - often older wedges that were known to perform well - to come up with the Edel wedges. He noted that many modern lob wedge designs have far too little bounce - because these wedges are designed primarily for use off of tight lies. He characterized the Edel wedges as "all terrain vehicles" that can be successfully used from any type of lie.
The really fun part of this training was the last hour or so. He said "OK, what shot do you hate?" and then showed us how to hit that shot. Shots from tight lies, deep grass, standard bunker shots, severe downhill bunker shots (I hit that one, perfect the first time!). He also taught us how to hit a low two-hop and stop lob wedge shot that he learned from Luke Donald.
The great part was HOW he taught these shots. In his words - "The only way to face your demons is to be in the most uncomfortable spot possible." So for example - the guy who was afraid of tight lies hit shots off of the putting green, toward a condo about 20 yards away (better not skull it!). Why not use that approach in your short game practice!
AimPoint Green Reading Training. I was fortunate to land a spot in this training - done by Mark Sweeney, developer of AimPoint. I had taken the training in Knoxville about 8 months ago, but the chance to learn from Mark was too much to pass up. Stacy Lewis, the 2012 LPGA Player of the Year uses AimPoint, and more and more PGA pros are learning and using it.
Mark went through the process of helping us to - for putts up to 20 feet - find the zero line (no break line between the ball and the hole), zero line slope, and the angle relative to the zero line. Knowing these and the green stimp you can accurately - and emphasize accurately - predict the break of a putt.
During the class I learned how to more confidently "feel" the zero line and the slope with my feet. It is much easier than I had originally thought. With practice I believe I can learn to estimate the break of putts that are less than 20 feet in about 10 to 15 seconds (Mark can do this in about 5 seconds).
I am now totally convinced that if you are trying to determine the break of a putt by looking at it behind the hole you are unfortunately just guessing. Taking an AimPoint class is a great investment if you want to become a great putter!
SAM PuttLab Level 1 Certification Training. Christian Marquardt, developer of the Science and Motion Sports (SAM) PuttLab, taught this course. Here are some of the gems that he talked about during this training:
- If a golfer's aim is 1 degree off for a 13 foot putt, he will miss the hole. And more than 50% of PGA tour players mis-aim by 1 degree or more at address;
- In spite of this, Tour players are more interested in their putter face angle at impact (where the rubber meets the road?);
- The importance of your putting path on missing short putts is often overestimated - you miss short putts because of where your putter face points at impact;
- He said that Tour Players simply do not have equal length putting backstrokes and forward strokes (recommended 2 back, 3 forward);
- Grooves on a putter do nothing to make the ball roll better (in terms of topspin). They can influence how far a golf ball rolls;
- Trying to NOT FAIL on short putts causes you to attempt to control your stroke - and fail;
- The actual Sweet Spot on a putter face is up on the face relative to the vertical center of the face. This is because of the weight of the putter shaft and grip above the putter face; and
- To create a Rise Angle in their putting strokes, Tour players keep the putter low in their backswing, and then just before impact create a rise in their strokes.
It was a great week of learning at the PGA Show!
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Faldo by Edel A new golf club partnership was introduced at the 2013 PGA Show. Sometime last year Sir Nick Faldo was fitted for Edel putters and wedges, and he liked them so much he decided to create a partnership with Edel Golf - this partnership is called "Faldo by Edel." One of the most visited booths at the PGA Show was the Edel Golf booth. Sir Nick spent a lot of time at the booth promoting the new "1 of 1" irons that he and David Edel have developed. Here is a short GolfWRX interview from the show related to this partnership:
GolfWRX Interview - Sir Nick Faldo and David Edel
