Orlando PGA Show 2013

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I have just returned from the 2013 PGA Show in Orlando and as per usual it has fired me up for the upcoming year. I'm not sure what happens, but I am always motivated and excited to get down to providing a better, more informed product for my students by the time I leave.

This year was my best show for education and networking purposes. I attended my second TrackMan University workshop where TrackMan founder Fredrik Tuxen shared some invaluable knowledge. Here I also met Jeff Ritter, Terry Rowles, Martin Chuck and Josh Zander - already great teachers looking to broaden their knowledge base with TrackMan data.

I also attended the very first (of many I believe!) Facebook Golf Teaching Professionals Live Forum on Wednesday night. Talk about a loaded room - there were 150 of the brightest and most cutting edge minds in the game in attendance. From fitting to fitness, from old school to cutting edge and from scientist to psychologist, they were all there. The evening made for great theater and was very well moderated by Nick Chertock, Chris Como and Michael Michaelides.

On Thursday the actual show got started and I spoke to and met some extremely smart people. They included, but were not limited to: Brian Manzella, Joseph Mayo, Kirk Oguri, Tim Cutshall, Tom Patri, Lorin Anderson and Mike Shannon. I have a tremendous amount of respect for all these folks and their expertise in their field is second to none.

On Thursday night I attended my first TweetUp. Ten years ago I would never have thought I would go to a strange place to meet up with strange people I had only met and conversed with online, but here I was hanging out with a large group of extremely talented instructors and I had a blast. If you do not currently use Twitter I would encourage you to get going and once you do hit me up for who to follow. I have learned so much from my affiliation with these teachers through Twitter this year! Thanks to Sara Dickson and Mike Fay for setting this up - I wish I could have stayed longer.

All in all I felt like a learned more than I ever have at the PGA Show and I am inspired to go out and do more research and do a better job for my students than ever before. I am really looking forward to a fantastic 2013 - stay tuned....

2011 Orlando PGA Golf Show

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I have recently returned from the 2011 Orlando PGA Golf Show and I wanted to share a few of my impressions with you. Firstly, if you are an avid golfer, you simply must make a plan to attend this show - it is literally the Disney World of golf! Talk to your golf professional, a friend in the biz, beg, steal, but find a way to get there. Plan on two full days (preferably Thursday and Friday) to soak it all up.

This year there seemed to be a positive vibe at the Show. All the major club companies were represented with Taylormade commanding a huge portion of the floor. My four high points of the Show were:

Swing Catalyst

 

Once again I have nominated this product as one of my highlights. It might be costly, but this machine dispenses invaluable information for any golf coach. It shows where a golfers weight is positioned throughout the swing, how much rotational force is being generated, all while synchronizing with video and either Trackman or Flightscope. Talk about an all in one package! This is the G5 of golf instruction technology.

Flightscope

 

The new and improved Flightscope X2 portable launch monitors do not offer anything groundbreaking relative to what Trackman has always offered, but where they crush the competition is price point - $11,000 vs $30,000+! The accuracy of the Flightscope has always been brought into question, however after meeting with them and seeing the new X2 in action I am sold. Not new technology, but definitely a new price point at which to consider the technology.

Nuun Hydration Tablets

Nuun tablets are optimal hydration and I believe the future of hydration in sports. The taste is light and refreshing and I really like the "green" aspect of this product - you carry your own Nuun waterbottle, fill it with water and add a tablet without loading up the landfills with plastic bottles from everything you drink on the golf course. The speed of absorbtion, electrolyte content and lack of carbohydrates (sugar!) is what sets this product apart. It tastes really good too.

Speed Woosh from Momentus

In an almost unnoticed about face by Momentus (which has always promoted heavy clubs) they are now promoting the Speed Woosh to increase your clubhead speed. Well what about all those heavy clubs I bought that are lying in my garage? Sorry, no good - at least if you want more speed! This device is great fun to swing and as an added bonus it works. It gets the fast twitch muscle fibers to fire and that can only help you add distance to your tee balls. I like it!

In additon to these four highlights I saw a little bit of everything - from six different types of golf tee designs to a device to keep your head still in the swing (it actually worked!) There were also the usual cast of golf celebs from Greg Norman to Hank Haney (hi Hank!) to Natalie and Paula. I also attended a few excellent seminars  by AMF and noted golf instructor Jeff Ritter. Jeff gave an inspirational talk on marketing golf instruction in the modern society.

After leaving the show I felt excited and enthusiastic about the future of our game. We seem to be turning the corner and I am really looking forward to 2011.

Thanks for reading and feel free to post your questions and comments.

A Highlight from the 2010 PGA Show in Orlando

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I have just returned from the PGA Golf Show and came back with a very positive vibe. While it is always good to catch up with friends, old and new I feel that the game of golf is doing just fine even without Tiger. Here are a few notes on what I found to be the highlight of my trip:

Even though this is their second year at the show I found Swing Catalyst Studio to be the most exciting and positive piece of technology involving golf instruction. Last year I reported on the Swingia Balance Plate, but the Swing Catalyst takes the same idea to a new level.

The Swing Catalyst Force Plate seamlessly integrates with video analysis software and an optional launch monitor (TrackMan). The force plate is housed in a tee unit covered with artificial turf.

The Swing Catalyst Force Plate enables the teacher to view a student’s centre of gravity, stance and pressure distribution both live and recorded, in real time and in slow motion. Additional data on rotational force, tempo and rhythm are also available once the swing has been captured.

The best feature shows what percentage of a golfers' weight is on each foot. Many systems have this option, but none go so far as to indicate what part of the foot the weight is located on.

When integrated with a TrackMan system and 300 fps cameras, Swing Catalyst provides the optimal in instructional tools - an upper level viewing experience, all the numbers pertaining to the club and ball flight and now all the numbers pertaining to the body, force and weight positioning.

With integration this really is the Rolls Royce system available on the market today.

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