Dr. Robert Grober, a professor of Applied Physics and Physics at Yale University has developed a highly advanced, yet easy to use, swing aid - the Sonic Golf System-1 - that enables golfers at all skill levels to develop and maintain a consistent swing motion that will assist in game improvement.  Please see the information below that includes links to a recent feature on Forbes.com and a video link to the Golf Channel segment with Hank Haney and Charles Barkley with Charles using the System-1.   Please let me know if I can send you more information on the Sonic Golf System-1.  I can also provide a product sample for you if you are interested in writing a review of this product.  Please let me know.  Mary Beth

http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/25/bethpage-black-night-lifestyle-sports-golf_print.html

http://www.seas.yale.edu/news-media-detail.php?id=20

Get Your Swing in Tune with the Sonic Golf System-1

Sonic Golf’s electronically enabled, intelligent golf club-insert uses patented audio biofeedback developed by Yale University physicist Dr. Robert Grober to revolutionize the way we learn, practice and play golf.  Vijay Singh, the most recent winner of the 2008 FedEx Cup, uses this product to help him maintain the proper rhythm in his swing.Vijay Singh started using the Sonic Golf System-1 training aid in June and the effect was immediate and dramatic. He went on to win The World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, The Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship en route to the season ending FedExCup bonus check of $10 million. Sonic Golf System-1 was recently featured on the Golf Channel program The Haney Project: Charles Barkley, a golf “reality show”.  Hank Haney, Tiger Wood’s celebrated coach, is tasked with correcting Charles Barkley’s infamously horrible golf swing.  In Episode two Hank chooses Sonic Golf System-1 to help Charles with the tempo and rhythm of his swing which Hank describes as “pretty much devoid of any rhythm.”  The results were stunning. “It made a great impact.  He said he hadn’t hit shots like that in at least 10 years”,  said Haney. “It was fun to see the smile on his face.” “Unbelievable”, exclaimed normally cynical Barkley, noticeably thrilled with the results. The key to the System-1 is sound and the brain’s intuitive sense of melody. The System-1 uses electronic technology inserted into the shaft of your own golf club. Your swing motion is then transmitted wirelessly to a belt-worn receiver with headset that converts your swing motion into continuous musical tones. Slow swings are low pitch, quiet tones. Swing faster and the pitch and volume gets higher. With each swing you hear your own rhythm and tempo, backswing, downswing transition, and the timing and speed of your club head release. The beauty of this system is that you can actually work on your swing without a technical thought in your mind; you simply listen to the tones and try to move the pitch to different points in the swing, in doing so you can actually fix your swing faults without even knowing it.   System-1 Solo Edition Designed for personal practice, the System-1 Solo Edition includes everything you need to hear your swing. With the Sonic Golf System-1, you can literally hear the rhythm, tempo and timing of your swing in real-time, and tune in to the most fundamental success factors of the golf swing.      One SX-1 Transmitter/Shaft Insert - the heart of the System-1, used to capture and transmit the data of your swing One RX-1 Receiver/Synthesizer - used to convert the transmitter’s data into sound Three Sonic Golf/Golf Pride Tour Velvet specialty grips - attach them to multiple clubs and easily transfer your System-1 One Sony MDR-J10 stereo headphone system - these headphones are designed to be lightweight and secure, letting you focus on your swing. One Sonic Golf screwdriver (for changing batteries) One roll of Sonic Golf installation tape - for installation of your SX-1. The roll is 30′ long to allow for many installations. Batteries (pre-installed) Instruction Booklet and Instructional DVD One Sonic Golf travel case (to easily transport your system) System-1 Solo Edition Price: $399.99   System-1 Pro Edition System-1 Pro Edition is designed for teaching and playing professionals. The system ships with 2 RX-1 digital audio receivers, so instructor and student can listen to the golf swing simultaneously. With the Sonic Golf System-1, you can literally hear the rhythm, tempo and timing of your swing in real-time, and tune in to the most fundamental success factors of the golf swing.      One SX-1 Transmitter/Shaft Insert - the heart of the System-1, used to capture and transmit the data of your swing Two RX-1 Receivers/Synthesizers - used to convert the transmitter’s data into sound Six Sonic Golf/Golf Pride Tour Velvet specialty grips - attach them to multiple clubs and easily transfer your System-1 Two Sony MDR-J10 Stereo Headphones - one for each receiver. These headphones are designed to be lightweight and secure, letting you focus on your swing. One Sonic Golf screwdriver (for changing batteries) One roll of Sonic Golf installation tape - for installation of your SX-1. The roll is 30′ long to allow for many installations. Batteries (pre-installed) Instruction Booklet and Instructional DVD One Sonic Golf travel case (to easily transport your system) System-1 Pro Edition Price: $599.99   Vijay Singh after winning the 2009 Deutsche Bank Championship “System-1 has helped me tremendously. I always had a good rhythm, but I never had a consistent rhythm. It’s making my swing a lot more consistent, not just with the driver but the whole game. It’s one rhythm for the whole game instead of having a quicker rhythm for irons or slower rhythm for the driver.” For more Sonic Golf information or company/product images please contact Mary Beth Lacy at 760-346-6942 or mb@mblacy.com.

don Quijote had his impossible dream in the musical “The Man of LaMancha.”  He hoped to find, woo and win his Dulcinea.  In the end, it mattered not that he was mad and old, nor that she was clumsy and coarse.  What we learned along the way had more to do with the quest than with the conquest.

I’m about to embark on “The Search.”  The Perfect Hybrid is my Dulcinea, but I won’t settle for anything less than the conquest.  Over the next month, I’ll be trying any hybrid that any company wishes to put in my hand, and I will not stop until I’ve reached my unreachable star.  I’ll cross the Sierra Nevada, battle any windmills that try to stop me and …

A little background would probably be beneficial at this point.

A few years back, I won a TaylorMade hybrid in a golf tournament.  The salvation for many, it was nothing but wisps of despair, plumes of hopelessness for me.  I loved my long irons too much to part with them, but didn’t have the time to devote to honing a true appreciation and dominance of them.  For the past five years, my long game has been a fifty-fifty coin flip…in the bunker or on the green?  Short or pin high?  Wet or dry?  As you know, it’s the good ones that keep you coming back, while the bad ones can be explained away.

As 2009 dawned, I made up my mind.  No more “Halfway Man” for me.  I’ll not settle for less than “Three-Quarter Man.”  I want to hit shots of 195 yards and longer to my target 3/4 of the time.  I need a little forgiveness, and the 1-3 irons are not the knives to do that.  I decided to embark on “The Search” for my perfect hybrid.

Back to that TaylorMade club.  Since I gave it away, I’ve tried dozens from all the big names, from metal-looking to iron-looking clubs.  None has looked right, felt right, or hit right.  And yet, all around me, women and men, professional and amateur, swear by them as if they had ridden with Sancho Panza straight into Aldonza’s inn and found her waiting, smiling.  I knew that the perfect hybrid was out there…correction, IS out there, waiting, smiling, for me.

So off I ride on my Rocinante.  I have a pair of Cobras in hand, with Nikes and Nickents on the way.  I’ll make contact with all the big companies, stop into countless stores on demo day if need be, until I reach the unreachable star.  Keep in touch here and I’ll update you on my progress.

For Immediate Release…

Sweet Spot Golf partners with Womens National Golf School

Golf club manufacturer and nationally recognized women’s golf academy join forces to bring a new direction in golf - bringing FUN to the game as part of the solution.

Los Angeles, Calif. (February 23, 2009) – Custom golf club design and manufacturing start-up Sweet Spot Golf announced at this weekend’s EWGA’s Annual Conference a partnership with one of the largest and most well-respected teaching academies in the US, National Golf Schools. Sweet Spot Golf’s high performance, custom crafted clubs are superior in quality and fashion forward clubs are a unique offering in the golf industry and women golfers are taking notice. National Golf Schools is launching their Womens National Golf School making the partnership with Sweet Spot a perfect match for the two companies to join forces and promote golf products and instruction to women, one of the sports fast growing segments.

“We feel strongly that women golfers have not been given the attention they deserve and our intention in partnering with an academy owned and operated by Northern Florida’s PGA Teacher of the year Pat Livingston’s, is to finally give this consumer more of what they want; the game of golf on their own terms and if that means doing things differently to make the game more fun, so be it” said Brian Allman President of Sweet Spot Golf.

Our line of women’s products not only performs as well as any other in the marketplace but they also bring a sense of style and design that allows the golfer to feel like the game has come to them and not the other way around. When looking for a partner with a similar philosophy, Pat came to mind immediately.

The National Golf School Philosophy is to take each person and use what they have to their greatest advantage. “You will never hear a ‘one method fits all’ mentality from our staff of Professionals,” said owner and award winning PGA instructor Pat Livingston. “Learning is best done in a fun, respectful environment and that describes our school perfectly. Combined now with Sweet Spot Golf’s products assist students in bringing out the best in their game. They feel more in control, not just physically, but also because their equipment better reflects their personal style. We are going to have a lot of fun working with Sweet Spot and because of that our students are going to benefit, they’ll have move fun too, which is what it’s all about!”

Mr. Livingston further commented, “Sweet Spot Golf has designed and engineered a unique, well crafted and evenly weighted putter. It’s built with quality and their unique Precision Positioning System allows us to better teach golfers to find their target line and sink putts with style.” Sweet Spot’s new Black and Pink clubs are available in Putters, a 13-degree Driver as well as a Hybrid in three different loft degrees (19, 22 and 25). The women’s line is expected to have a variety of colors available by the summer of 2009.

Additionally, Sweet Spot Golf’s Pink line is a proud sponsor of the National Breast Cancer Foundation. “Women who have seen and tried the stylish Pink clubs have embraced them with enthusiasm because they know that playing with these products means more than just owning a quality golf club” says Sweet Spot Partner and club designer Chuck Parise, “They say ‘I support finding a cure for Breast Cancer.’ It is the Power of Pink!”

Sweet Spot Golf launched the sale of the Pink line of clubs on their website www.sweetspotgolfclubs.com and is currently looking for retail outlets to sell their products. Additionally, they will now be available for purchase at the Womens National Golf School.

About Sweet Spot Golf LLC
Sweet Spot Golf is a golf club manufacturer located in Southern California. Their commitment to building performance based golf clubs while adding a unique sense of design and color will be their standard mark in the industry. Current plans include the release of their men’s line of clubs as well as a custom Sports Branded line of Putters. Additional Information at www.sweetspotgolfclubs.com

About National Golf Schools/Womens National Golf Schools (WNGS)
National Golf Schools is the “#1 Resort Golf School in the World” with 90 locations nationwide and international locations in Aruba, Puerto Rico, St. Andrews, Scotland and Ireland. In partnership with Womens National Golf Schools (WNGS) an effort has been made to offer women only golf schools at locations with women friendly amenities at the finest resorts in the world. Outstanding female PGA & LPGA teaching professionals will provide the highest quality instruction specifically for women. Sweet Spot Golf has set their sites on producing the finest womens golf clubs in the business. Sweet Spot is working with Womens National Golf School (WNGS) to bring these quality products along with the best women LPGA and PGA instructors to the perfect woman friendly resort golf school. Additional information available at these web-sites: www.nationalgolfschools.com & www.womensnationalgolfschools.com

Contact information
Sweet Spot Golf LLC
Brian Allman: ballman@sweetspotgolf.net
310-529-6045

Contact information
Womens National Golf Schools/ National Golf Schools
Sally Livingston: SlivingstonWNGS@cfl.rr.com
Pat Livingston: natlgolforlando@cfl.rr.com
For reservations: 877-580-1500

Does anyone remember the old admonition “If you spent THAT money on lessons instead of a new driver, you would really start to improve”?  I was one of those guys that spent the money on lessons and I DID improve.  The new millennium has a different admonition, but one that is as penetrating as the aforementioned warning.  It goes something like this:  “If you spent THAT money on a fitting, your clubs and ball would really work for you.”

Personalized club fittings (and now, ball fittings) are all the rage.  The professionals have done this for years, having accesible tour vans at every stop, to tweak and grind away their every concern.  You and I now have the option of visiting the Titleist Performance Institute, the Callaway Golf Performance Center, and the TaylorMade Motion Analysis Technology studio (at the cost of big bucks) to have our equipment tailor-fit to our postures, body types, heights, weights and swings.  Or…

We can go to one of the following sites and perhaps do it a little cheaper.  Here are one ball and three club sites for you to consider as you endorse the decision to personalize your equipment:

1.  Golf Ball Selector:  http://www.golfballselector.com

2.  HotStix:  http://www.hotstixgolf.com

3.  Loftus:  http://www.golfclubfittingsystem.com

4.  Top Golf:  http://www.fittingblog.com

I’ m fairly confident that you’ll understand the need to step up your connection with your clubs by submitting to a personalized fitting session.  Af for me, I’m there.  Look for my name in all the papers!