Today Adams…Tomorrow…????

On March 19^th we witnessed the end of yet another American owned and operated Golf Company. I am not, in the rather populist fashion that abounds these days, bemoaning the death of yet another American Company, as such is not the case. But it does strike me as rather odd that one by one, the big boys on the American Scene have dropped out of the game, and sold their name, rights, patens, etc. to foreign competitors. It’s not so much that they can’t make a profit anymore, as the buyers have all been more than willing to step up to the plate, and pay fat premiums for the likes of Titleist, Cleveland, and now---Adams.  TaylorMade, the buyer in name, is itself, an old American Company that sold itself to Adidas.

     I did bemoan the death of Nickent Golf, as that was a flat out—belly-up, “We’re bankrupt, and we ain’t never comin’ back.” type of deal. “Dick’s Sporting Goods did buy the name, and the rights to the last designs on the drawing board, but that’s pretty much the end of that tale. Sadly, MacGregor Golf suffered a similar fate after what appeared to be a fairly successful resurrection. Sadly, not even the well-heeled Greg Norman could save them. So in similar fashion, the name and the last designs on the drawing boards were sold off to GolfSmith, who has z strong track record of buying the names of many a once shining star. (Lynx Golf, Zevo Golf, Snake Eyes Golf, et al.) So this raises a rather interesting question. If it’s no longer just the niche and marginal players who are leaving the landscape, how long can it be before Callaway, and even Ping Golf go the way of the once burgeoning American Television industry? They are, after all, the last two American players left on the scene.

    Many of the product reviews I wrote about Adams and TaylorMade products featured the fact that several years ago, there was a mass exodus of some of TaylorMade’s best club designers. They left en masse, and the vast majority of their best and brightest landed at none other than Adams Golf. It wasn’t long before Adams shed their staid, and stodgy image as, “ The Old Man’s Golf Club, “ and/or “The Volvo of Golf Clubs.” In fact, pretty soon they were pounding out clubs that looked strangely enough like…”The next logical progression of what should have been the next set of iterations of The TaylorMade Line”, save they bore The Adams’ Moniker. TaylorMade continued on, but when Adams beat them to the both Wind-Tunnel Technology, and eventually the “Velocity Slot/Rocketballz Technology” it was only a matter of time before the boys at Taylormade realized---“If you can’t beat ‘em----Buy ‘em out.” This leads to yet another logical question.

    One of the last marginal American Player’s in the game that is left is “Tour Edge.”  Callaway has been desperate for a hit with their Odyssey Line of putters. Anyone who has read my reviews in the past will note that there is no big secret that Callaway’s/Odyssey’s Marxman line borrowed heavily from Tour Edge’s line—right down to the paint job. Next came the “Backstryke” line of Odyssey Putter’s, and these are definite direct descendants of Tour Edge’s “T-Balance” line of putters. There are also rumors to the effect that the “Diablo Line” is actually a spin-off of some of Tour Edge’s Experimental Prototypes, and that Tour Edge who had already suffered a huge hit from trying to market 2 lines simultaneously (Xotics and V-25) didn’t have the cash flow to take that risk again, so they sold them off to Callaway. Rumors are, after all, only rumors, but it does sound plausible. Could Callaway be in a position to pick up Tour Edge in the same way that Adams bought out “Yes” Putters just before they themselves got eaten up by TaylorMade. If so—who will buy Calloway? It’s no secret that Callaway is raising cash. They just sold off their rights to the old, “Top-Flite” name to Dick’s sporting goods.

    The Top-Flite/Ben Hogan/Strata acquisition is often viewed as the acquisition that saved Calloway who had previously bombed out in the golf ball market, and was suffering severe quality control issues with their Golf Club line. With the practically limitless production potential of Top Flite’s legendary assembly lines, and the Legendary Quality Control offered by the Ben Hogan Corporation, as well as some revolutionary golf ball designs sitting on the drawing boards at Strata, it was a match made in heaven.

Even so, golf is a cut-throat business, and as we now see, even an amazing turnaround is no guarantee of future success. Perhaps they feel the need for another technology infusion, and David Glod’s little company isn’t such a bad idea if you ask me.

   Either way you cut it, we are now in for an era of fewer and fewer “Golf Only” companies. Even Puma has gotten into the game via their acquisition of Cobra Golf from the same folks who spun off Titleist, i.e., Fortune Brands. This should all prove very interesting down the road as Adidas has obviously been successful with their TaylorMade Acquisition, but on the other hand, does anyone out there reading this remember how quickly Fila Sports got in and out of the golf club business? I really am hoping that some of the independents can make it, but in the past ten years I’ve seen even more promising companies go bust, Nickent, MacGregor, Burrows, Carbite---just to name a few, than I have seen get acquired. Acquisitions of brand names don’t count. Seriously, are Lynx, MacGregor and Snake Eyes actually stand alone companies or GolfSmith Brand Names? How about Nickent and Maxfli? These are pretty much Dick’s Sporting Goods name brands now. Let’s not forget Orlimar—now a mere shadow of its former self, and stamped out by the same guys who stamp out “Knight” clubs for Kmart and the like.

   Still, there’s hope for Ping and Callaway, but it is getting to be a tougher market everyday. The domestic market seems to have peaked already, but the global market is just beginning to tap into its potential. It’s no wonder American Golf Companies are a disappearing species. One by one some of the best names in the business are either trading hands, or going belly up altogether. If they want to survive as domestic stand alones, companies such as Scratch Wedges and SeeMore Putters, are going to have to take on a new business model. As thin as the numbers are for such a thing as boutique golf clubs, the Japanese are still making headway. Maruman, a boutique maker, is trying to expand its line yet again, and it’s no secret that Bridgestone Golf, a member of a larger corporate umbrella, is still going strong as well. Perhaps Asia holds more answers than simply acting as an overseas manufacturing option.

  

Hello Mr. Chips

As promised, I didn't dare post anything on developing a new swing that couldn't hold water. At the end of last season, I was 60 percent done with developing a new swing, and I carried those same addresses, back-swings, and follow throughs into the first few months of this season with great success. The real changeover, however, has occurred in my short game. I used to have a killer chip shot and a pitch that could produce the same backspin as a flop--but consistency, as was the case with my old full swing, seemed to evade me at every turn.
   So even though it is time to rework that part of my short game---my putting, as unique as it is, remains the envy of my swing coach, and the only thing that will remain unchanged for now. Which means for now, anyways, I'll have to stick to posting an article on Chipping and Pitching, while saving the full swing articles for later in the season, and the putting for a couple of months down the road. I just want to make sure that the old style putting works well with the Pitching and Chipping before posting an article on the most personal and individualistic stroke in the game. Meanwhile—pass the chips.
The New Chip---No One Can Use Just One
  When it comes to chipping--most people tend to think of a few hackneyed clichés and cease the pursuit of short game finesse, rest assured that the The Chip, Pitch, and Flop, though somewhat similar—are  far different shots that share very little in common, save that they are all members of the short game category. Because clichés offer a false re-assurance, with some warped sense of instant gratification and reassurance, it’s time that we dissect a few of them, and sort the tales from the truth.
   Two of the most famous offenders stick particularly hard in my craw. They are the now famous—

 “It’s just like the putting stroke—just a different club", and the equally infamous,  --"Your swing needs to be steep enough so that you can make sure that you are hitting down on top of the ball in order to get enough spin on it."

Now if you've ever been a good putter, you probably never hit down on top of the ball with your putter--and that’s just plain fact!
    So are these two clichés wrong? Are they mutually exclusive? Are they both correct, and just two different schools of thought? Or are they simply, similar to, "Keep your head still, and your eye on the ball.” misguided half-truths that after years and years of being pounded into our collective psyche, unwittingly accepted as axiomatic?
1) Well for openers, the putting stroke is a good analogy for those who have taken the steepness of the swing to an extreme. It teaches them to flatten things out. On a good Chip, as well as The Chip and Run. That’s because in both of these cases, the ball needs to be placed back in the stance, almost opposite the big toe of your rear foot. (Which you would never do on a putt) Yes this is true even though you are splitting your overall weight distribution as 60/40 with the 60% planted squarely into your front foot. (Something else you would never do on a putt.)
 2) The hands need to be leaning forward in order to deloft the club face (something you might never do with a putter), and this helps balance out the 60/40 weight forward ratio that you would never employ in putting either. ---- BUT---The club needs to be taken back SOMEWHAT SIMILAR TO A PUTTING STROKE, in the sense that you must
 3) Take the club  back:
     A] Straight and in  tempo, with a measured distance.
     B] Also, similar to a putting stroke, the initial stroke back needs to stay close to the          ground—not lifted up by the hands as is the most common mistake. 
     C] Yes you rock the shoulders as you do with a good putt, but the club eventually comes up just a little bit in order to develop a ”U” shaped swing and not the “V” shaped swing so many high cappers make by prematurely lifting the club with their hands.
     D] Similar to a good putt you want to keep your wrists flat so as to prevent a twisting of the club before as well as after impact.
Most people know that a putting stroke is measured “Tic-Toc” or “One-Two”. The “Tic/One” is the backstroke, and the “Two/Toc” is the follow through. The same goes for both The Chip, and The Chip and Run.
So as we can see, there are definite fragments of the putting stroke on  a good “Chip” or “Chip and Run”, “Flat wrists, no lifting of the hands, a good shoulder rock, etc…BUT---To treat a Chip like a Putt at face value, can result in lots of Chops instead of Chips, and Blades and Skulling  of the ball rather than Greenside Blades of Grass and Hole Outs.
Now about that “Hitting down on top of the ball” theory
    1] Again, it is the “U” shaped hitting down, and not the “V” shaped variety. Though theoretically a “V” shaped swing can come in more sharply at the ball, and theoretically create more spin, it allows very little room for error, so even the pros who engage in a very similar technique have been known to “Chunk Their Chips” at very inopportune times. This happens especially on uphill and downhill lies where a sloping of the platform underneath the feet creates absolutely no room for error on a “V’ shaped stroke.     
   A fat shot, or the ever dreaded last minute deceleration in a hapless attempt to compensate for a perceived error in stroke path has cost many a golfer of all levels two to three additional strokes at crucial times and often result in a lost round or playoff. Hitting down on a chip is a natural occurrence from a “U” shaped swing. The subtle difference of letting the rocking of the shoulder lift your hands naturally “U-Shaper” is a much safer bet than the disaster prone tendencies when employing an affected version of The “V-Shaped” variety.
   2] I mentioned the dreaded “Deceleration” in the middle of a chip shot. It is a disaster prone move caused by failure to commit to the swing you started, and a last minute attempt to readjust for a stroke we suddenly deem to have taken too far back in the backswing. Consequently, we suddenly end up  slowing the club down mid-swing in a futile attempt to compensate for this mistake. This is how most amateurs end up blading their chip shots into oblivion, or chunking them as we come in too steep for the initial move, and hit behind the ball.

    My Chip and Runs are now measured in feet, and not yards, because the consistency of the stroke makes it possible. With a Sand Wedge, from the deep fringe or first cut rough, I place the ball parallel to the big toe of my rear foot. From here I can adjust the openness and width of my stance, depending upon the amount of distance I need to cover, and the minimal amount of loft necessary to get my ball to the chosen landing point on the green. With this technique, I can usually calculate a 40 foot run for the hole to carry 25 feet, and a roll out of 15 feet based upon a level lie, and fairly level green. Most of my greenside chips are carried out in this fashion with the mean average coming in at roughly 2/3 carry and 1/3 roll out.
   Higher lofted chips, which are needed for clearing bunkers, yet still requiring more roll out than A Flop Shot usually have me placing the ball middle stance, and the club’s shaft barely leaning forward, and not the full scale de-lofted forward press of the Chip and Run. I still take the club back straight on these, and my weight is still 60/40 favouring the front foot, BUT---The more leveled shaft allows for more play with the opening of the stance, and the club’s face. Think of it as an explosion shot without the need to come in behind the ball. I tend to use both my Sand Wedge and/or Lob Wedge on these, depending upon the actual lie of the ball. Hard pan tends to rule out the Sand Wedge, due to the danger of bouncing the flange into the ball.
I’ll cover Pitches and Flops in subsequent articles, but let’s just say that this season is already showing more consistency and promise than any other. With a Tourney coming up on the 29^th, I’ll be pressing a lot of my latest theories into action under actual competitive conditions. It is so much better than just taking them to the range or the simulator. If  they hold up, I’ll be glad to elaborate a little more on my full swing, which is 85% of where it needs to be at the current time.