By WisBusiness.com staff
WAUWATOSA — Technology has dramatically changed the distance golfers drive the ball on the course.
Now it’s changing the golf lesson.
Videotaping of the golf swing has been around for years. But instant, complete analysis of your swing, quick comparison to video of a pro’s golf swing, and rapid before and after video of your improved swing haven’t been available to most Wisconsin golfers.
Now that kind of computer-assisted video lesson with a PGA pro at your side is available thanks to Wednesday’s grand opening of the state’s only GolfTEC store in a shopping plaza located just west of Highway 45 at 12132 W. Capitol Drive, Wauwatosa.
In a few years, there should be more stores in golf-happy Wisconsin. The privately owned Denver firm, a decade old, has more than 50 stores around the country and projects 80 locations open by the end of the year. It’s now franchising the idea. See a 2000 story on the company from the Denver Business Journal: http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2000/06/05/smallb2.html
The Milwaukee-area store’s grand opening, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, featured demo lessons, door prizes, food and drink.
But the real treat for first-time visitors usually is the technology, which has already been drawing a stream of customers to the new store.
Wisconsin native and PGA teaching pro Brendan Locke is a believer, telling visitors that indoor instruction – at least in his shop – is the way to go. In a private indoor bay, you don’t have the distraction of the weather, the embarrassment of gawking spectators or the horror of watching your ball hook, slice or dribble down the tee. So, he says, you can concentrate on re-constructing your swing or building a swing from scratch without the bad habits.
You strap on a belt and harness that’s hooked up to sophisticated cameras, computers and software. You swing away, hitting a mid-iron into the net off a mat. Locke tinkers with your set-up, shows how you compare to a pro, and has you hit some more balls, each time giving you instant video and verbal feedback. After the lesson is over, you can view highlights on your own private, personal Web page.
“A lot of golfers, and instructors, react to the ball as it flies from the tee,” said Locke. “If the ball hooks left, they adjust their swing to correct it.
“We look at the basics of body movement and swing,’’ said Locke, who grew up in the Madison area, worked at several Wisconsin courses and played college golf in the Carolinas. “If we can correct those, the flight of the ball will be corrected.’’
Locke said the computerized analysis helps him show people exactly what they’re doing and what they can do to improve their accuracy and distance. “In the past,’’ he said. “I would have to say: ‘Here’s what I think you’re doing and what I think you need to do.’ This makes me a far better teacher, and it makes it easier for people to learn.”
Locke, a PGA member, is the director of instruction and owner of the Milwaukee-area store, which also offers club fitting for brand name clubs. He recommends a regular instruction program, urging golfers to properly train their “muscle memory’’ in winter as well as the golf season.
Of course, that means an investment of time and money, ranging from 52 weekly lessons and yearlong practice access at $2,495 to one half-hour lesson at $85.
The analyses are based on the swings and styles of 200 PGA professionals, who were monitored and measured for the degree of motion in the hip and back, club angles, club face angles and the angle of the swing as the golfer hits through the ball. Those “averages” serve as the mathematical benchmarks for the program.
After the lessons, golfers can review their swings — and their lessons – through http://www.golftec.com
