SWEET STUFF
Breakthrough Golf Putting Lab
Breakthrough Golf Technology, which introduced its revolutionary multimaterial putter shaft last year that has become the fastest-growing on the PGA Tour even though the company doesn’t pay anyone to play it, has now introduced its first Black Box™ Putting Lab that will offer golfers an in-depth putter fitting analysis.
Founder and CEO Barney Adams announced the opening of the facility near Dallas, Texas, where the company headquarters are located, and its engineering crew with 100 years of experience are building some of the most technologically advanced putter shafts available today.
The new lab will give players of all levels a comprehensive putting fitting with the Quintic Putting Ball Roll analysis for proper putter type, length, lie angle, loft, swing weight and grip style--and covers all necessary adjustments including re-shafting to the optimal loft, lie and length. Additionally, golfers will receive information on the ball after impact, including ball deceleration, ball rotation, launch angle, forward rotation, backspin and cut/hook spin.
The staff at BGT thoroughly review’s and explains all data so golfers better understand how to improve their stroke, aim and ball roll-out. They will evaluate a golfer’s putting stroke in 5-key categories, including face angle at impact, face rotation, shaft & attack
angles, ball and club speed consistency and impact ration.
“Our goal is for golfers to better understand how putters work and how a stroke reacts to different putter styles,” said Blair Philip the head of BGT Research and Development. “It can be an eye-opening experience for most golfers and it’s very gratifying to see their putting stats dramatically improve with the Stability shaft.”
According to Adams, this tour-level experience can help players of any ability learn more about their putting game and how they can improve.
“We have a many tools and technology at our disposal, so this is just a natural evolution of our business. It’s an interesting experience and a great tool for all golfer’s regardless of skill level. After all, who doesn’t want to putt better?” he noted.
In developing the lab and the BGT shaft, Adams evaluated PGA Tour Shotlink data going back to 2003 until the present and discovered that the “make” percentages of even the best players in the world is actually lower today—even with all of the advances in equipment and training. Although statistically what he found in terms of strokes lost might not be earth shattering, he did calculate that the average annual difference per-player in terms of dollars lost because of these missed putts was over $500,000!
Adams investigated and found that the modern greens are smoother and faster while the putting strokes have evolved to a smooth pendulum style. Putter heads have become heavier and more forgiving,
“One thing changed dramatically and the other stayed the same and therein lies the answer,” added Adams. “The steel putter shaft was introduced almost 90 years ago, and I’ve been putting with them for over 60 years. How many things in this world have gone virtually unchanged for 90 years? Over the years, quality instruction on the stroke coupled with the modern technology of heavier heads increased the stress factor which interfered with the face returning square at impact.
“So, we postulate; can weak steel shafts cause face oscillation? Yes! They are in direct conflict with the heart of today’s smooth stroke; they don’t allow the putter face to consistently return square at impact. Breakthrough Golf Technology has a golf lab with perfect greens, a putting robot and advanced software for analysis. You must have this kind of environment to isolate and measure the discrepancies. We traced history, lighter heads to heavier on steel shafts and watched the face deflection increase. When we introduced the Stability Shaft into testing, the face angle problem disappeared regardless of head weight.”
He noted that for the average player this improved stability of the shaft can be even greater since more skilled golfers have more consistent putting strokes.
To learn more please visit www. breakthroughgolftech.com