Sam's going to be the man for Hawke's Bay's top amateur golfers.
In a couple of weeks I hope to have SAM (science and motion) Puttlab in the region to help analyse the region's senior and junior golf squads.
The New Zealand Academy of Sport bought the machine for New Zealand Golf for use by the national high performance coaches. We used it very successfully recently at the Titles and Academy Camp in Wellington.
SAM Puttlab is a very powerful putting analysis technology.
It provides Golf Teaching pros with a comprehensive tool to evaluate every area of the putting stroke. Training becomes very focused and stroke improvement is rapid. Additionally the new putter comparison and putter fitting features enable precise club fitting to optimise a student's chances of becoming a great putter. Its major features are:
* Putting stroke measurement: A student hits a series of putts. A report highlighting their average putting trend is then generated, eg clubface at address, impact, path of the club, length of backswing and through swing, where the ball hits the clubface, tempo etc. There's a lot of information in the report but it gives the instructors a clear overview of the student's stroke.
* Training Mode: The teacher may choose to use to focus on individual areas for improvement.
* Putter comparison: This is a great new feature that enables players to determine which putter best suits them and compares up to four putters across every parameter and weights each parameter with importance.
* Putter fitting: It shows very accurate putter fitting information. If someone feels really good about their own putter but needs the "X" factor maybe a simple tweak of the lie angle, loft or shaft length is the answer.
* Competence profile: IT uses a database of 100PGA Tour Pros in Europe as a reference for targets.
* Multi competence profile: It can compare a player's reports over time and show progress in each area.
It is hoped that SAM will be here for a couple of weeks with me at Sharpies Driving Range and that it will help to give our region that vital edge for our provincial team in future.
And who had the best stroke of New Zealand's leading amateurs at the National Camp last week?
Josh Geary, the New Zealand Eisenhower representative and recent winner of the Tauranga Open.
(Brian Doyle is a PGA Hastings professional and also the coach of the New Zealand amateur golf team)
DOYLE'S DRIVE: SAM's the man on the greens
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