A colleague told me at the time I handed my notice in that I was the only person who had left the Tour Department at Callaway Golf of their own accord.
A colleague told me at the time I handed my notice in that I was the only person who had left the Tour Department at Callaway Golf of their own accord.
By Rhys Atkinson (PGA) Founder of Eclipse Golf and ‘Performance Fitting’
One of the biggest reasons for a player “coming up short” especially on longer putts is because the strike has occurred too low on the putter face. This type of contact transfers less energy to the golf ball than if it was struck out of the ‘sweet spot’ or centre of the face. On a 30 foot putt this could result in the ball finishing as much as 10 feet short of the hole depending on how low on the face the contact is! Most players will conclude they simply did not hit the ball hard enough or blame their poor judgement of pace or the fact they “just couldn’t feel the speed of the greens.” In many instances the truth is the player may well have had the correct stroke length to roll the ball the desired distance but they were simply unaware of the fact they miss-struck the ball. This is dangerous conclusion to make as the next time they face a 30 footer they will give the putt a little extra to make sure it gets there and of course this time strike it right out of the centre and blast the ball 10 foot past! The most common reason for a strike off the bottom of the face is because the lowest point of the stroke is too far behind the ball. You can see from the picture 1 below the coloured lines tracking the putter head are travelling on too much of an upward trajectory towards the ball:
By Rhys Atkinson, PGA AAT Member and Founder of Eclipse Golf
An article by Rhys Atkinson, PGA AAT Professional and Founder of Eclipse Golf – The Equipment Specialist Company.
With another incredible display of golf at the 2016 Ryder Cup I got to thinking about the part played by the players equipment choices in the unfolding drama. For me as an Ex Tour rep it’s like watching a hidden world, a game within a game – and a stressful one at that! I’ve been fortunate to have worked regularly with 6 of the players (including one of the US team!) in this years contest specifically on their equipment needs so it was interesting to watch from ‘outside’ the ropes this time. (You can see the players I worked with at the bottom of the page). Generally the viewers at home may be aware of the brand that was being used by a particular player (not that easy at the Ryder Cup with all the sponsor names removed) but would not have an inkling of the little tweaks and set up specific to a player that may have been made to correct problems or get that extra 1% of performance. I used to watch players on the TV hit clubs that we’d worked on that week and hold my breath as they ripped through impact and analyse their body language trying to work out what they were thinking and if I’d have a good or bad following week with them!! Of course our job was also to try and make sure the players were playing with the latest equipment in the brands portfolio – this was not always easy, especially with the more experienced players and even more difficult leading up to a big event like the Ryder Cup. Once they had a club they liked they did not want to budge. I remember a few times walking up to Thomas Bjorn wondering how an earth I was going to broach the subject of him trying the latest driver model – if his beloved Liverpool had played well at the weekend it was usually an easier walk!
