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Florida Golf Magazine Fall 2007
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So
You Want to Play Better? Try TaylorMade Performance Lab for
Properly
Fitted Clubs |
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Mar.
1, 2008 - Just about every golfer imagines hitting soaring,
accurate shots and putts drilled dead in the center of the
hole. It’s natural, even though
in our heart of hearts we know we’ll quite probably
never attain the proficiency level of touring professionals.
There
are potential solutions such as investing in the latest equipment
with the newest technology or maybe lessons to straighten
out a few of those quirky swing moves. However one major
question is often overlooked and that is do our clubs really
fit us? Put another way, are we playing with equipment which
matches our swing and our game?
It’s a simple truth
but corrected fitted clubs give us the best chance to hit
good shots even if our swings are less than
Tour-quality.
The
process of finding the right clubs goes way beyond simply
having shafts whose specification is based on some so-called
standard. It means taking advantage of modern motion-capture
technology with analysis using the latest software in a modern
swing lab setting to find true custom fit clubs.
Low-tech methods around for years such as putting tape on
the sole of an iron or measuring lie angle at address are
OK but pale in comparison to making 25 separate measurements
as the club is being swung. Club fitting is now the beneficiary
of really startling technology which really gives players
the opportunity to play with the instruments best suited
to their own swings.
We visited one of the most up to date and cutting edge fitting
centers to see the system touring professionals use to improve
their ball striking, a system now available to average golfers. ‘Welcome
to the twenty-first century’ is the initial impression
walking in to the TaylorMade
Performance Lab on the grounds of Grand Cypress Resort near
Walt Disney World outside Orlando, Florida. The lab makes
use of a state-of-the-art proprietary Motion Analysis Technology
by TaylorMade or MATT system. It’s the one you’ve
seen the PGA Tour professionals using
on television.
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Travis Kent is manager of the TaylorMade
Performance Lab at Grand
Cypress Resort near Orlando, Florida. |
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Travis Kent, the knowledgeable
and personable manager, begins a club fitting session with
a series of questions such as, “What’s the ball
flight when you hit a good shot?” and “What do
your misses look like?" Answers are entered into a computer
system and become a baseline
for the session.
Kent, a PGA of America member, explains the next procedure, “First comes
the black body suit with the markers attached. The reflective markers are tracked
by the cameras [nine cameras positioned
around the hitting area] to give a picture
of the swing including the markers
on the club as well.”
Camera data from swings using a variety of clubs is fed into the computer resulting
in a three-dimensional animated image which can be replayed, viewed from any
angle and stored for future reference. The system’s launch monitor also
records ball speed, launch angle and spin which along with the images are copied
on to a CD for the player.
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All this information
is used to produce a personal swing analysis and, most importantly,
specifications for each club from driver to putter. According
to Kent the computer really ‘knows what it’s
talking about’. Stored in the system are more than
500,000 swings from touring professionals to weekend hackers
to be used for comparison.
“Some players are really surprised at the results and even some better
players have found they’ve been playing with the wrong clubs, maybe for
years,” said Kent.
The final step is out to the practice tee for a session to actually hit the TaylorMade
clubs that match the computer generated specifications. Of course this whole
fitting exercise is also about selling new clubs and Kent does point out a new
club order will be delivered within 48 hours, but he isn’t pushy. Quite
properly he lets the results do the talking.
In a nutshell this process works very well which is why the best players in the
game periodically go through it. The cost is about the same as a new driver,
$400, so along with the investment of 2 ½ hours of time, your ball striking
will improve and that’s a sure way to lower scores. |
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