MAUMEE, OHIO—AboutGolf and its newly formed AboutGolf Labs division have made it their mission to help golfers improve their games with the golf industry’s most advanced technology ever created.
AboutGolf, along with AboutGolf Labs—the company’s internal development group—is joined by several internal "ERPs," or Extension Research Projects, around the world. All are focused on creating technological products and initiatives to be categorized as members of "AboutGolf’s Family of Essential Brands."
AboutGolf believes that golf’s 500-year history has seen very little progress in any of the three foundational areas of golf performance or game improvement: teaching, club fitting and self-analysis. To that end, AboutGolf and AboutGolf Labs constantly strive to give golfers the most up-to-date technology in order to help improve their games.
"AboutGolf is a small company and we don’t want to give anyone the impression we arrogantly think we know more than anyone else," says AboutGolf CEO Bill Bales. "In fact, quite the contrary is true. We know less than many, but we do have a lot of questions and a scientific background that we feel will help us perhaps not only find some answers, but also find some essential new questions.
"But we’re golfers, too," Bales adds, "and as golfers we have a right to be frustrated with the fact lessons don’t seem to help us get better, that the new clubs we buy off the rack don’t help and that the more we practice, the more we become resigned to never get better."
To that end, AboutGolf has some ideas and some very focused initiatives that it believes address some of the problems. Below Bales outlines those problems regarding the key game-improvement areas of teaching, club fitting and self-analysis, then offers his ideas and AboutGolf Labs’ development plan designed to help solve these problems.
TEACHING
Problem: "Only around 10 percent of all golfers take lessons, and not very often. Few enjoy the lessons, and even fewer improve because of the lessons. Lessons can often be painful experiences where the common belief is ‘you’ve got to get worse before you get better.’ This is not the fault of the teacher. It’s the fault of the lesson culture."
AboutGolf Labs’ development plan: "AboutGolf feels that, by continuing to develop and improve technological tools, a growing positive impact will be made. The keys to teaching technology are to provide accurate ball, club and swing data via various forms of measurement, including simple tools like video, ways to enable the teacher to manage data simply and effectively, and intuitive software to help the pro discern valuable information from this data. Next, the teacher needs tools that enable him or her to prolong the lesson experience through the independent practice sessions that follow the actual lesson—tools that continue to monitor the student after the teacher has left, and to gradually—iteratively and responsively—enforce the teacher’s points–the golf equivalent of ‘gentle dentistry.’ "
CLUBFITTING
Problem: "A very low percentage of clubs are fit at all, and most of those that are fit are fit improperly. But a well-fit set of clubs can do more for your golf game than most golfers can possibly imagine. The large OEMs would like to custom fit every golfer. They know as well as anyone how important this is. But they can’t figure out how to do it without completely changing their distribution system."
AboutGolf Labs’ development plan: "If the major OEMs are going to change their system of selling off-the-rack clubs they’ll need extremely functional and efficient technology to enable a golfer to get properly fit. The distribution system will still need to change, but that’s a reality the OEMs are going to have to face. Meanwhile, we must produce technology to make it easier and faster to get the right clubs in the hands of each individual golfer."
SELF-ANALYSIS
Problem: "The old adage about ‘practicing your bad habits’ really does apply. It’s almost impossible for a typical golfer to feel when he or she makes a proper swing. Plus, if your clubs don’t fit properly, the proper swing will not get optimum results. In practice we all spend more time building flawed motor programs (ingraining incorrect motions) than we do helping ourselves. Dave Pelz put it best when he said, ‘Practice makes permanent.’"
AboutGolf Labs’ development plan: "The key to effective self-analysis is real time data, the information data can discern, and virtual instruction produced from quality content, coupled with artificial intelligence. We’ve seen amazing things happen when a player can react shot by shot to accurate real time data."
The bottom line, Bales says, is AboutGolf has initiatives it hopes will provide a powerful, positive impact on the game.
"At least, that’s the goal that motivates and drives us," Bales says. "At the end of the day we’re just lovers of the game wanting to make a contribution."
AboutGolf is a 19-year-old Maumee, Ohio-based company that has been dedicated to golf for its entire history. AboutGolf has produced Microsoft Golf, Greg Norman Ultimate Challenge Golf and World Tours, which is the world’s most-widely-distributed golf simulation, and now is the world leader in indoor golf simulator technology. AboutGolf® is a registered trademark of AboutGolf Limited, Maumee, Ohio.
Contact:
Mary Beth Lacy at: 760-346-6942, email: mb@mblacy.com
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