The Guinea Pig: The Putting Doctor

July 2nd, 2009 | GEL Golf, ProStance, Quintic Ball Roll, Tuition

Matt Cooper, golfer: a hacker playing off 15. Gentleman, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world’s first bionic golfer. Matt Cooper will be that golfer. Better than he was before. Longer, straighter, holing more putts.

Read the final words of our mission statement again: “Matt Cooper … better than he was before … holing more putts.”

Holing more putts - how does that happen? How about meeting the man responsible for polishing the putting stroke of double Open Champion Padraig Harrington?

That man is Dr Paul Hurrion and meeting him is a bit like finding yourself in an episode of Thunderbirds, becoming a member of International Rescue and discovering that Brains has a putter in his hands and is ready to tell you all about his latest genius idea to save the world (or a few shots on the greens at the very least). If that sounds absurd, trust me, it isn’t - this man has dissected the putting stroke to such a degree that he understands every dynamic, every angle, every force at work on the ball, the putter and the golfer.

We met at the launch of GEL (Groove Equipment Limited) Golf’s new revolutionary Fitting Centres, an initiative that utilises the ethos, expertise and knowledge of Hurrion, allowing golfers of all abilities to take advantage of his research and GEL’s precision equipment.

It was an afternoon of revelation that had one or two cynics wide-eyed with wonder as old notions and myths were blown to pieces by the quietly spoken Hurrion.

To appreciate his methods it is important to understand his background: he is a biomechanist who has worked with Manchester United, the England cricket team and UK Athletics (amongst many others) but his passion for golf and his forensic analysis of putting has led him to work with the likes of Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy.

But it is with Padraig Harrington that he has formed the perfect partnership because the two thrive on the detailed application of well-researched theories that refuse to be clouded by conventional wisdom.  As a simple exercise in the importance of biomechanics Hurrion asked those of us present to sit with our backs straight and feet flat on the floor. “Now, without leaning forward,” he asked us, “stand up.”  Of course, we couldn’t: it was a simple, but highly effectively, demonstration of what biomechanics is: the science of human movement.

Using that science Hurrion has sought to develop a coherent technical model of the putting stroke; eliminating all that is bad, highlighting all that is good.

Hurrion is no lunatic evangelist however - he still believes that putting is an art rather than a science but insists that basic keystones are required to produce the ideal stroke. Once those basics are understood and applied, then the skills of the putting artist can shine through.

Ultimately one important element counts: the fact that the putter and ball collide for only half a millisecond and in that short space of time it is essential that there is minimum manipulation of the putter face.

Get it wrong, as traditional putters do, and the ball begins with a slide, a skid or backspin.

Hurrion craves forward momentum: he wants us to “believe in the roll”.

Prior to launching the Fitting Centres, Hurrion deconstructed the putting stroke to demonstrate his points.

The response, as mentioned above, was remarkable: sceptical faces laughed in astonishment and wise men gasped as previously trusted ideas were proved wrong.

Essentially Hurrion craves repeatability in the putting stroke - only when the player has a stroke he can trust and understand can he identify the difference between a poor stroke, an unlucky break or a bad read.

And the one part of the putting stroke everyone can repeat without fail is the position of the ball, right?

Wrong.

Amazingly Hurrion’s research reveals that Tour pros will vary their ball position by as much as three ball widths in just ten putts.

This contrasts with a variance of one ball width in ten drives by the same player - and yet they hit only 14 drives per round and roughly twice as many putts!

Despite demanding accuracy and quality repetition in all other aspects of their game, in putting even the greatest golfers on the planet are slapdash when addressing the most fundamental features of a putting stroke.

Everyone in golf knows the phrase “Drive for show, putt for dough” but this is clear evidence that the message is not getting across to even the smartest brains.

Vijay Singh, for example, is renowned as one of the hardest workers on tour - on the range at least.

He once admitted that he uses whichever putting technique “feels” right at the start of the day. He would never allow such woolly thinking to compromise his long game so why permit it on the greens?

It doesn’t make sense.

If simple research has allowed Hurrion to identify sloppy attitudes, more profound science has proved that our perception of straight lines is fundamentally flawed.

Remember the old notion of positioning the ball below your eyes? Unsound.

How so? Well, one by one we were invited to look down a line of 12 golf balls and confirm that they were in a straight line (they had been laser checked previously).

We then addressed the first ball as if planning to putt along the line of balls whilst Hurrion stood in front of the second ball to block our view. He then stepped away and asked for our perception of the line.

Cue cries of surprise and confused shaking of heads: depending on the golfer, the line (previously confirmed as straight, remember) moved either left to right or right to left.

It had bent before our eyes!  To correct this problem each golfer must move the head inside or outside the line until the line is straight. Only then will our eye position reflect reality when looking towards the target and reduce the tendency to manipulate the putter.

The perfect example of this in action is Justin Leonard who famously stands a long way from the ball in his address despite being a fine putter. The experts said it was technically wrong but Leonard had observed the difference between perception and reality himself years ago.

Further enlightenment was provided by Hurrion’s personally-designed Quintic Ball Roll software which filmed our putts at 1,000 frames per second and then allowed us to instantly observe the action of the ball.

The results were astounding. Two of those present used their own putters (manufactured by Ping and Scott Cameron) to strike 15-foot putts. We then watched replays of them in super slow motion and literally laughed out loud as one ball after another skidded off the club face before bouncing along the surface like bombs dropped by the Dambusters.

When viewed in such minute detail it is almost absurd how haphazard the ball’s path appears to be. It becomes clear that the impact of downhill, sidehill or uphill lies on a ball landing with that initial backspin could be incredibly detrimental. It also becomes evident that the sooner the ball assumes forward roll, the more accurate the putt will be. Indeed, tests have proved that the initial performance of a golf ball after strike is the crucial element in maintaining the line of the putt.

Which is where the Groove technology of GEL putters comes in: with its optimal angle milled into the aluminium insert, it creates near instant forward roll and reduces skid. The evidence was right there in front of our eyes: when we used the GEL putter the ball had less bounce and achieved forward roll considerably sooner.

We were astonished by these revelations but you can be, too. Not only has 2009 seen the launch of GEL’s Paul Hurrion Signature Range (featuring a bigger sweet spot, reduced twisting on off-centre hits and a heavier shaft to aid stability through the stroke), but new Fitting Centres are opening right across the UK and Ireland in the next few months.

At each centre you can enjoy the expertise, tools, cameras and software that so wowed us - and leave wielding a putter that has been expertly fitted.

“Our personally-trained pros will be able to use the specially-designed tools to analyse a player’s putting stroke and allow him to accurately fit each and every golfer with the most suitable putter,” explains Hurrion. “Not only will they ascertain suitable length, loft and lie. but also blade against mallet, centre versus heel shaft and face-balanced against toe heavy.”

“Believe in the roll”? I do.  For more information, including slow motion footage of putting strokes, go to www.gelgolf.co.uk

by Matt Cooper - The Guinea Pig
http://www.golf365.com/features_story/0,17923,15870_5406217,00.html

Forget EVERYTHING you thought you know about putting!

June 17th, 2009 | GEL Golf, Quintic Ball Roll, Tuition

I had the absolute pleasure of visiting East Berkshire Golf Club last Thursday to attend the launch of GEL (Groove Equipment Ltd) Golf’s new putter fitting centres. It was quite simply, the most interesting presentation I have ever seen about golf.

When I say, “Forget EVERYTHING you thought you knew about putting!” I really mean it. What I learned yesterday totally changed how I look at putting and more importantly, how to practice the dark art. I’m going to try and pass this info on to all you lovely Fairway Finders so you can start having some more success on the greens.

The astonishing presentation was made by bio-mechanics expert, Dr Paul Hurrion who has spent over ten years studying the science behind putting. To say the chap knows what he’s talking about is an understatement. Quite frankly, he’s the Don of putting and he can prove it.

He started his presentation by lining up 12 golf balls in a dead straight line. They had been checked with a laser to prove they were dead straight. He then asked me to step up to the first ball and set my aim so that I would hit the middle of the second ball if I putted it. While I did that, he put his leg in the way to block my view of the other ten balls. I’ve shown this in the photos below so you get the idea.

Then Paul simply removed his leg from my view so I could see the rest of the twelve balls. Looking down the line of balls, they looked like they curved to the right, like a fade. It looked so curvy, I would have put money on the fact that the balls were not straight but I knew they were which was very strange!

As you move your head forward and backwards, the line of balls appears to curve one way or the other which, when you think about it, is amazing. You see, it’s all about your perception of straight. Everyone is different and the way they see straight is totally unique and that my little fairway finders is why we always miss putt after putt. If you can get this right on your set-up, you WILL hole more putts.

This theory completely blows everything you’ve heard about putting out of the window. The usual thinking of dropping a ball from the tip of your nose, watching where it lands and always hitting it from there is utter tosh. Fairly unsurprisingly, it turns out that we are all in fact, different and as such we see things differently. This is why we all need a personalised set-up that is completely unique to us. It sounds so obvious doesn’t it?

Dr Hurrion has worked with a host of tour stars and analysed their every putt and the figures he has in his arsenal are just astounding. For instance, a tour pro setting up for a drive, will tee up the ball in almost exactly the same position in his stance every time. In fact, it’s within the circumference of just one golf ball. That repeatability is key to their success, so you’d imagine it would be same with their putting wouldn’t you?

Well, you’d be wrong. Dr Hurrion says that in fact the ball position in the stance can change up to THREE full golf balls width (130mm or 5 inches) in any direction. That’s astonishing when you think about it and these guys are tour pros, the cream of the crop. Just imagine how badly an average amateur gets it wrong…

On tour, apparently 40% of all eight foot putts are missed which is totally rubbish when you think about it. If they missed 40% of their short irons into the green, they’d never be there in the first place, so why is it ok for putting?

I think for the first time, you can see why all these putts are missed. It’s all to do with your perception of what is straight; if that’s not right you’ve got no chance. Yes, you have to have the right balance when putting and a perfect shoulder only stroke but without your perception being right, your body compensates for your eyes and twists your hands, wrists or whatever to get the ball on the right line and that’s where everything goes wrong because it’s not truly repeatable.

In my opinion, this research sets GEL Golf and Paul Hurrion apart from the rest of the putting crowd. They know what they’re doing, and they can prove it.

All this research unequivocally proves that you really MUST have your putter fitted just for you in just the right way so that you can see perfectly straight every time and start holing those putts. This is what GEL Golf is launching and I can see it taking the world of golf by storm.

The new range of Paul Hurrion signature putters are masterpieces. The technology behind these babies is awesome and I’ve seen it proved with my own eyes. They have a wealth of features to help you get seriously better at putting which, with the right practice will pay dividends.

The most significant of these features is the grooved aluminium insert which gives a lovely soft feel for starters and makes the ball roll better off the face. When I say better, I mean significantly better.

Using high speed cameras as they did in their demonstration, you can easily see the benefits of the grooves. A Scotty Cameron putter we tried out made the ball backspin off the face of the club and bounce along the ground for the first few inches or feet depending on the length of the putt. Conversely, the GEL putters made the ball roll almost instantly off the face, getting the ball on the ground and rolling significantly faster than any other putter.

It might not sound that significant until you start to think about the greens you’ll be playing on. If you have a putter that imparts backspin on the ball and you’re putting uphill, the ball will ‘bite’ on the green just like a wedge but to a lesser extent. But how can you possibly know how much the ball will bite and therefore account for it when judging distance? The truth is - you can’t.

A putter that promotes roll straight off the face and also has the perfect set-up allows you to more accurately repeat the same thing time after time and that is the ultimate goal. You can practice uphill, downhill and distance putts and be confident that you can achieve the same thing over and over, removing as much error as is humanly possible. A much, much better idea I’m sure you’ll agree.

The other features of the groundbreaking putters include stiffened shafts to prevent club head twist at impact keeping you on target and weighting in the top of the shaft to help you centre yourself properly.

As I’m sure you’re thinking though, all of this effort is useless without the right tools to allow you to practice effectively and build a repeatable putting stroke that is on target, every time and that’s where GEL’s brand new putting mirror comes in. The nice chaps will show you how to use it properly when setting you up with your new purpose fitted super-putter.

The mirror allows you to set yourself up correctly with your eyes and body in the right position which is totally unique to you and then helps you to practice that set-up over and over. You can use it for a host of putting drills which will help you hit the right distances and get everything in-line, every time.

Using this, together with a fitted GEL putter is quite simply the best way you could ever learn to putt short of booking a lesson with Dr Hurrion himself. It’s based on quality science that’s impossible to argue with and I just can’t recommend it enough. It’s a true revolution in putting…

I was given one of these mirrors on Thursday last week and have practiced with it for about half an hour since. I played yesterday and I didn’t three putt a single green which is unusual for me I can tell you. I also holed a 50 foot dead straight putt, a 30 foot curved killer putt and seven or eight ten footers. It saved an otherwise poor round and proved to me the worth of this system.

It’ll cost you £185 for a Paul Hurrion Signature Putter, £25 to have it fitted and £39.99 for the putting mirror. Fitting centres are now being rolled out across the UK and are sure to be everywhere very soon. Honestly, if you buy one thing to improve your game this year, make it a fitted GEL Paul Hurrion putter. You won’t regret it!

Currently, they are available at the following locations:

UK
East Berkshire Golf Club, Crowthorne, Berkshire
Costessey Park Golf Club, Norwich, Norfolk
Hinksey Heights Golf Club, South Hinksey, Oxford
Nevada Bob’s, Broadgate, London
Nicky Lumb Golf Centre, Hambrook, Bristol
North Berwick Golf Club, North Berwick, East Lothian

Opening soon:
ZFL Golf, Benton, Newcastle
Nevada Bob’s, Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire
The Golf Depot, Straiton Retail Park, Edinburgh

Republic of Ireland:
Martins Golf, Golden Island, Athlone
Charleville Golf Club, Charleville, Cork
County Cavan Golf Club, Cavan
Ballina Golf Club, Mossgrove, County Mayo

For more information on GEL’s new range of putters, please check out their website at www.gelgolf.co.uk or look at Dr Hurrion’s work at www.quintic.com

by Jonathan Ashworth – FindtheFairways.com
http://www.findthefairways.com:80/golfnews/forget-everything-you-thought-you-knew-about-putting-1761.html

High Fives all Round - GEL celebrating another Tour win!

June 15th, 2009 | GEL Golf

GEL Golf is once again celebrating a Tour win, its fifth in just over two years, following Chinese Chen Jian’s victory using a GEL Ruby putter in the Luxehills Golf Championship on the Omega China Tour.

The 34-year-old secured his first title on the China Tour yesterday (June 14) over the Luxehills International Country Club in Chengdu after overcoming Australian Rowan Beste at the second hole of a thrilling sudden-death play-off.

Chen no doubt benefitted from the support of the large local gallery as well as his GEL putter after as he recorded a two-under 70 for an 11-under total of 277 while playing partner Beste shot a 69 to finish level after four rounds.

“I’m so excited. Winning this is a dream come true. I don’t really have the words to express how I feel,” said Chen, a Kunming-based teaching pro. “With so many people watching, I really wanted to prove I could play, that I belonged here. When I birdied the eight and heard the crowd roar, I felt great. It was just an amazing atmosphere.”

With his win, Chen joins an elite group of professionals who have enjoyed professional Tour wins using a GEL putter.

American Anthony Kang secured the Malaysian Open on The European Tour using a GEL Paul Hurrion Rego putter in February at the Saujana Golf & Country Club in Kuala Lumpur whilst in 2008 Hsu Mong-nan of Chinese Taipei claimed the China Tour’s Shanghai Championship with a GEL Jade and American Tom Stankowski clinched the Canadian Tour Championship using a GEL Emerald.

GEL’s first ever win came at the 2007 Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open when American Bryan Saltus won the event on the Asian Tour using a GEL Topaz.

“Given that we only launched GEL at the start of 2007 and already boast five Tour wins, we have made excellent progress into the market with our groove putters,” commented Alec Pettigrew, founder and managing director of Groove Equipment Ltd (GEL) Golf. “Moreover GEL Golf has established itself as the number one groove putter on Tour in Asia and is marketing itself globally so I am sure that we will be enjoying further victories in the near future.”

 

For further information on GEL Groove Putters, visit www.GELGolf.co.uk

GEL Golf Introduces Revolutionary New Fitting Centres into the UK

June 11th, 2009 | GEL Golf, Putting Biomechanics, Quintic Ball Roll

GEL Golf, which manufactures GEL Groove Putters, has introduced revolutionary new GEL Fitting Centres into the UK following its conviction that for the best results on the greens, putters need to be specially-fitted to the individual golfer.

At the official launch today (Thursday, June 11) at East Berkshire Golf Club, renown sports biomechanist and putting guru Dr Paul Hurrion was on hand to teach the GEL Fitting Procedure to 12 PGA Professionals, who will be opening the first GEL Fitting Centres at golf clubs around the country over the next couple of months.

Hurrion, who first linked up with GEL Golf in 2008 to co-design the GEL Paul Hurrion Signature Range of Putters, has developed the fitting procedure, equipment and drills using the biomechanical and practical principles he uses when fitting Tour players.

Each GEL Fitting Centre will benefit from the use of this specially-designed GEL equipment which will comprise a fitting tool, mirror and ProStance (www.pro-stance.com) aid as well as the Quintic 2009 Ball Roll Software (www.quinticballroll.com), designed by Hurrion, to ensure the highest level of customer care and a fitting experience like no other…

In addition, Hurrion will provide the PGA pros with his nine putting drills for them to teach their clients whilst the full range of GEL’s revolutionary groove putters, including those co-designed with Hurrion, will be available for testing at all of the new Centres.

“Through the GEL Fitting Centres, pros will be able to accurately fit each and every golfer with the most suitable putter for the individual; not only will they can ascertain not only suitable length, loft and lie but also blade against mallet, centre versus heel shaft and face-balanced against toe heavy,” commented Hurrion, who coaches putting skills to the likes of Padraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood. “As a result of being specially fitted for a putter, golfers are both amazed and impressed as immediately they are able to see and feel tangible results for themselves.”

Hurrion, who has over 10 years of experience in sports biomechanics, has established independent testing company, Quintic, (www.quintic.com) with his father which provides a range of quality performance analysis software used at the highest levels in sport, health, and education across the world.

He specialises in biomechanical analysis using high-speed cameras, force platforms and computers and is a leading biomechanist contracted to UK Athletics, the International Cricket Council (ICC), English Cricket Board, and British Diving. His passion for golf however has led to his specialization in putting analysis and advice, assisting European Tour Professionals and holding PGA-accredited Putting Clinics.

The unique Groove and Insert technology that GEL uses in its putters is based on scientific testing that has proved that the use of grooves in putters creates instant forward roll on the golf ball, thus reducing the unwelcome effects of skidding and giving a truer roll.

The precision-cut aluminium face inserts give a softer and more responsive feel than the milled grooves of other groove putters whilst consultation with Tour professionals during the design process resulted in the GEL putters being designed with larger, heavier and more balanced heads, encouraging an even smoother and more rhythmical putting stroke.

Manufactured from 431 stainless steel with a Plated Black SQ finish with a sand blast face and coupled with its distinctive inserts and colourways, GEL has ensured that the putters look as great as they feel.

The GEL Paul Hurrion Signature Range uses even lighter aluminium inserts allowing weight to be distributed elsewhere in the putter head, pulling the centre of gravity up the putter face increasing forward roll. The Hurrion putters also incorporate tungsten weights to create MOI, and different shafts to reduce torque, particularly on miss-hits.

The success of GEL putters, launched just over two years ago, can be measured by the fact that they have already enjoyed four Tour victories; one each on the Asian, Canadian and China Tours and most recently on The European Tour when American Anthony Kang won the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur in February using a GEL Rego Putter.

Further information can be found by visiting www.GELGolf.co.uk

http://www.gelgolf.co.uk/fitting-centres-coming-soon-1293-0.html

 

Harrington’s Bionic Swing…

May 16th, 2009 | Full Swing Biomechanics, Padraig Harrington

Padraig Harrington has gone bionic in his attempt to create golf’s perfect swing.

The three-time Major winner has been using biomechanics and kinetic sequencing to make himself an even greater player.

It is one reason why the Irish star’s wife Caroline, coach Bob Rotella and caddy Ronan Flood lectured him on becoming too technical. They fear Harrington, famously obsessive about detail, has been going too far in his quest for new greatness.

Harrington admitted: “I have been working with an expert called Dr Paul Hurrion on biomechanics. This has been a collaboration between myself, my coach Bob Torrance and my swing adviser in the USA, Bob Rotella.

“The great thing is that I don’t completely rely on what I am being told in terms of biomechanics. “Bob Torrance has an incredible eye and can see what I need to be doing. When he spots something that has to be worked on, we alert the biomechanics guys and we build a programme to match what Bob Torrance wants to see me doing.” The field of biomechanics has become more and more important to the game’s biggest stars.

It analyses and improves a player’s swing using the kind of statistical and 3D motion capture technology used in movie animation. Fitness and swing coach Marc Wahl said: “Tiger Woods is so good that he has made everybody else search for that extra five per cent here, and another five per cent there that can get them closer to him.”

Another player who has become involved in the appliance of this science is Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell - and weeks after he was wired up at 12 different points of his body he won the Tavistock Cup. And Henrik Stenson, who blew away the field at Sawgrass last week to win with a sensational final round of 66, started using biomechanics the week before The Masters.

The worry for Harrington’s wife and advisers is that he focused too much on the technicalities. I can see why that might be a concern. But Padraig is working with Dr Paul Hurrion, who is perhaps the best in the world in this field.

“No golfer, especially not one as brilliant as Padraig, wants to make himself a robot.

“What I do say is that greater understanding of how the body works will give anybody a better swing and down the line, even if it has not happened so far, Padraig should emerge even better. You only have to look at Stenson to see what can be possible.”

Padraig Harrington - 3D TPI software

 

By Ken Lawrence 17/05/2009
http://www.mirror.co.uk:80/news/top-stories/2009/05/17/harrington-s-bionic-swing-115875-21365350/

Up your putting know how : London Golf Show 09

April 24th, 2009 | GEL Golf, Tuition

If you’d like to attend a putting clinic by one of the game’a foremost flat-stick gurus, get yourself along to the London Golf Show.

And make sure you do so on Friday, May 1. You’ll find the show at ExCel in London’s Docklands. The clinic is to be given by Dr Paul Hurrion, putting coach to a number of top European Tour and Ryder Cup stars and the designer of the GEL Paul Hurrion Signature Range of Putters at ExCel in London’s Docklands

Hurrion, whose clients include three-time major winner Padraig Harrington and the precociously-talented Rory McIlroy, uses a biomechanical approach to putting that has seen him become one of the most respected coaches in the world of golf.

Visitors to this year’s London Golf Show will be given a rare insight into the putting methods that Hurrion has developed following over 10 years of research into the theory of sports biomechanics and which he now passes on to his star clients.

Hurrion is attending the Show on behalf of GEL Golf, manufacturers of GEL Groove Putters, and Assay Golf, the distributor of GEL Putters in the UK.

In partnership with GEL, Paul has designed a range of putters that combines his expertise in biomechanics with GEL Golf’s unique horizontal groove technology.

The result?

The GEL Paul Hurrion Signature Range, is a range of putters that produce greater grip with the golf ball at the moment of impact, therefore enhancing a putter’s ability to produce the desired topspin roll on the ball.

Says Clive Wood, managing director of Assay Golf: “Paul’s illustrious client list is testament to the esteem in which he is held in golf so his appearance at the London Golf Show is a fantastic opportunity for golfers to glean some insider putting tips normally reserved for the stars of the game,”

GEL Golf will be exhibiting at Stand E20 at the London Golf Show where they will be showcasing both the GEL Paul Hurrion Signature Range and the original GEL Range of Putters.

www.gelgolf.co.uk

The doctor’s orders: Putt it like Cristiano Ronaldo

April 20th, 2009 | GEL Golf, Putting Biomechanics, Quintic Video Software

By Mark Reason - Daily Telegraph : 20 Apr 2009

It’s all very well hitting the ball like Ben Hogan, as the Masters winner Angel Cabrera is said to do.
The trouble usually arises when Cabrera reaches the green. Then the big Argentine tends to be more Wogan than Hogan.

We all know the feeling. Think Scott Hoch, who became tagged Scott Choke after missing a two-feet putt to win the 1989 Masters. Or think Doug Sanders, who lost an Open after a nervous stab on the final green at St Andrews in 1970. Sanders said: “Do I ever think of that putt? - only once every four or five minutes.”

Yet we all believe in a cure, in a sort of national health service of putting. Cabrera went to Charlie Epps who showed him a video of all the putts he made when he won the US Open at Oakmont. Suddenly Cabrera believed again and was able to make crucial putts on the 16th (most people forget that one) and 18th greens (twice) at Augusta.

I went to see a bloke called Paul Hurrion. When you walk in the front door you get the same sort of feeling as you do when entering the doctor’s surgery.

But when you go to see Dr Hurrion, the putting coach of Padraig Harrington, you believe he’s got a cure for the disease.  Hurrion says: “I need a player to take ownership of his stroke and this applies just as well to all the amateurs.

“Most amateurs, when they have that 10-foot putt for birdie on the first green and miss it left, they haven’t got a clue. Unless they know the difference between a good and bad putt it’s pure guesswork.”

I confess that I know the difference between a bad putt and a very bad putt, but the rest is a bit of a haze. Hurrion points up to a screen and tells me to watch.

He then shows a short clip of a well known European Tour player broken down into 2000 frames per second. The result is startling. When the ball leaves the putter face you can see it take off and travel 15 inches in the air before it hits the ground. You can also see the ball’s rotation and the fact that it carries backspin.

Hurrion explains the implications. He says: “You’ve got 8 feet uphill on the first green of the monthly medal, but the ball comes off the putter in the air (unbeknown to you). It’s like a bit of a chip. It hits the slope and digs in and misses low left.

“On the next green you’ve got a slightly downhill putt, but after that first one you are thinking: ‘These greens are a bit slower today.’ So you hit it a bit harder.

“But it’s still taking off with spin and this time it kicks off the downslope. Suddenly you’re five feet past and about to give the greenkeeper hell.”  Hurrion’s goal is to create what he calls “pure roll.” The first task in this process is to get a putter that fits you. He has co-designed a special grooved GEL putter and according to Hurrion one per cent of loft at impact is optimum.

He says: “A lot of people have a putter that is too long and the lie too lofted.”

The second and third keys are down to you. Hurrion draws a parallel between Ronaldo and Beckham freekicks. Ronaldo hits the ball so purely, with so little spin, “You can see the logo flying”. Beckham hits it with loads of spin. You want to putt like Ronaldo.

The grip, the forearms and the shoulder need to be square and you need to be stable. Most people tilt slightly forwards or backwards during their stroke. Stability and balance form the second key.

The third key is more depressing. Hurrion says: “The secret to solving most amateurs’ putting is they don’t practice.” And you thought Hurrion had a magic wand. Wrong.

Harrington’s got a magic wand and it’s because he has the right ball position, the right putter, good balance, square technique - and because he practises and practises. And that’s all there is to it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/sport/golf/5188757/The-doctors-orders-Putt-it-like-Cristiano-Ronaldo.html

Guru’s gadgetry helps Padraig Harrington prepare for Augusta

April 6th, 2009 | Padraig Harrington, Putting Biomechanics

by Peter Dixon
The Times - Monday 6th April 2009

You could call it the appliance of science. One reason why Padraig Harrington is the possessor of three major championships and one of the few players comfortable going head-to-head with Tiger Woods.

And it is why Dr Paul Hurrion, Harrington’s putting coach, thinks the Irishman is every bit as good as Woods on the greens and why he believes his man has every chance of winning the Masters that gets under way at Augusta on Thursday.

“There’s no question that he is in Tiger’s class,” Hurrion said. “And the tougher the test, the better it is for him because some of the others tend to give up.” As everybody knows, there is no test tougher than the ice-fast, sloping greens of Augusta. But it is Hurrion - a biomechanist by profession - whose scientific approach to the game within a game has helped to turn Harrington from a very good putter into a great one.

Who, for instance, could forget the way in which the Irishman took the USPGA Championship from under the nose of Sergio García last year with a putting display from out of this world? In his final round he took only 26 putts and had single putts on eight of the last nine greens, every one of them like a blow to the Spaniard’s solar plexus. “It was when all the hard work paid off,” Hurrion said. “It was perfect, the moment when everything came together.”

We are talking at Hurrion’s base, more like laboratory, in a small village in the Midlands, part of an annexe to a house within its own grounds. The only clue that a player with two Opens and one USPGA Championship to his name has been there are the framed and signed flags from each of the majors Harrington has won.

Hurrion, at 37 the same age as the Open champion, describes biomechanics as the science of human movement. He has worked with Jonny Wilkinson, Steve Backley, and the Great Britain bobsleigh team. He is on the International Cricket Council panel that assesses the action of bowlers suspected of throwing.

He has been with Harrington since 2002 and uses all the technology at his disposal to analyse every aspect of the player’s putting. He has high-speed cameras and specially-designed computer software that gives instant feedback on such things as head, shoulder and body movement. The aim, he explains, is to create an efficient, repeatable stroke that works every time.

His cameras record up to 2,000 frames per second and show in the minutest detail how the ball comes off the face of the putter. What the naked eye cannot pick up, the cameras certainly will. If, say, the putter cuts across the ball at impact it will impart side spin that will affect the direction in which it moves.

There are four cameras in all, one to the side, one straight on to show the path the putter takes, one at shoulder height to show how the shoulders move and one above the head. There is also a pressure pad under the feet that indicates how the weight shifts through the stroke. The more the body moves, the more manipulation of the putter head will be needed - and that is the path to inconsistency. “We are looking for perfect symmetry and control, aiming to hit it out of the middle every time,” Hurrion said.

Some of the key areas on which he works with Harrington are posture, stance, balance and stability. The aim is to create a pendulum motion that keeps the putter head as close to the ground as possible. The higher off the ground, Hurrion explains, the greater the margin for error.

Harrington’s unquenchable thirst for improvement means that he knows exactly where to look if things start to go awry. “If you have an eight-foot putt for birdie and it misses left edge, you need to know why,” Hurrion said. “What you need to ask is: Did it miss left edge because I aimed there? Have I pulled it? Have I hit it not quite quick enough and not taken the break out of the putt? Have I just misread it? Did it hit a spike mark or has the wind blown it off course? All of a sudden there are half a dozen variables and unless you can tell the difference, you’re stuck.”

All of which brings to mind García, who had just such a putt for victory in the Open Championship at Carnoustie in 2007 and who stood agog when the ball “lipped” out. It opened the door for Harrington, who went on to claim his first major in the four-hole play-off that ensued.

Watching García on the practice green at the CA Championship in Miami, Florida, recently, it looked as if he has learnt nothing in the interim. It was not so much that he missed the vast majority of the putts he took from about nine feet but the way in which he missed them, with half of them going to the left and half going to the right.

With good technique comes mental toughness. “It’s tough to be positive if you know that your technique is not really good enough to deal with what you are about to face,” Hurrion said. “Is your technique good enough to repeatedly hit the ball on the lines you have read? If you do it wrong, the record books will show you are not as good as you think you are.”

In Harrington, Hurrion has found a hard taskmaster. “After each session you come away with more questions than you have answered,” Hurrion said. “I lie awake in bed at night thinking about it. Then I’ll text him an answer if he’s travelling and he’ll send one back saying, ‘Yep, I’ll try that.’

“The sessions could easily last all day and there are times when you think, ‘Geez I need a break.’ But that’s what makes a major champion. And that’s why our work is done for the Masters.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/golf/article6040490.ece

Padraig Harrington’s major success is mainly in the mind…

April 5th, 2009 | Padraig Harrington, Putting Biomechanics

By Mark Reason
Sunday Telegraph 5th April 2009

Padraig Harrington is a mind apart. Vijay Singh hits ball after ball until his hands are like strips of leather left out to dry in the Fijian sun. Harrington practises thinking, rerunning the same thought time after time, just as he would hit 100 short putts in a row.

The winner of the previous two majors has learned a ruthless sporting intelligence to compare with even the great Tiger Woods.

Silver lining: Padraig Harrington with the US PGA trophy

The other week in America Harrington was answering a few questions as he walked the quarter of a mile from the practice bunker to the practice ground. Harrington was talking about how distractions are a benefit to golfers, how people who have just got married or just had kids often experience a surge in form.

I wondered how much the birth of Patrick in 2003 had contributed to his own surge in form, how much the birth of a son had inspired him to be an “overachiever”. As soon as the awful word was out, there was no scooping it back. Harrington said nothing for a moment. He continued signing autographs, but already he seemed to have walked away.

“Overachiever” is a daft sporting cliché. It is applied to people who reach heights that their physical talents may initially suggest are beyond them.

But why not flip it around and call John Daly, the winner of an Open and a PGA, an overachiever? The American has won two majors and has wonderful physical gifts, but besides Harrington he is a mental pygmy.

Maybe Harrington is still an underachiever. Paul Hurrion has been Harrington’s putting coach since the pair met on a green in Spain at the end of 2002 and continues to be astonished by the Irishman’s attention to detail.

There are flags from each of Harrington’s three major victories on the wall of Hurrion’s putting lab and he believes there are more to come.

Two weeks ago Hurrion flew to Dublin to work on Harrington’s putting ahead of the Masters. He got in on Wednesday evening and at midnight Harrington was still hitting putts, still asking questions, to many of which Hurrion did not have answers.

Hurrion says: “Even now, after seven years, I will receive more questions than I can answer. One of Padraig’s gifts is the mental. But that doesn’t just come. He works just as hard at that as anything else. People don’t fully appreciate that. It’s not a five-minute job.”

For many players, putting is an art. For the world’s best – and Hurrion nominates them as Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington, Justin Leonard and David Howell – putting is more of a science.

Harrington has worked thousands of hours with Hurrion so that he can release the putter blade square each time. He does not want variables in his stroke, like head movement or an unstable pivot point. And for that half a millisecond when the putter is in contact with the ball, he wants the centre of gravity of the blade to meet the centre of gravity of the ball.

It is not an art, it is an exact science. Understand the science and then you can get creative with things like visualisation. Woods makes a mental movie of the ball tracking into the hole. But Tiger can do that with confidence only because he has near-perfect technique.

Harrington believes that putting, along with strategy, is one of the two keys to winning the Masters. He says: “You’ve got to be in top form with your putter the week of Augusta to be in contention. You can hit a good putt at Augusta from an awkward spot, and if you’ve got it to six feet you’re happy, whereas on a regular flat green if you’re outside two feet you’d be disappointed.”

Mental toughness allied to brilliant technique has brought Harrington to the third leg of the so-called Paddy Slam. It makes him more likely than anyone else in the game other than Woods to keep holing those six footers. Great putting is the aspect of the game that separates the multiple major winners from the rest.

So how would Harrington relish coming down the stretch next Sunday, one of only three men still in with a chance, the other two being Woods and Mickelson. He says: “I wouldn’t be a bit comfortable, but I’d be loving it. I’d be nervous as hell. The shots you have to hit there are so intimidating, so precise, and I’d be panicking big time, but I’d also be loving and relishing the idea.”

But ask Harrington specifically about winning the third leg of the Paddy Slam and his tone changes. He recites monotonously: “If you said to me I’m going to miss the cut at this Masters and win the Masters next year, I’d be very happy with that.”

Harrington has practised that thought and practised that speech and he just keeps hitting it out there, like another practice ball, into the deep blue yonder.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/5099189/Padraig-Harringtons-major-success-is-mainly-in-the-mind.html

Superstar putting genius Dr Paul Hurrion wants to play Bag Tag

April 3rd, 2009 | GEL Golf, Putting Biomechanics

http://www.findthefairways.com/golfnews/putter-genius-dr-paul-hurrion-plays-bag-tag-1325.html

Superstar putting genius Dr Paul Hurrion wants to play Bag Tag this week and has told us exactly what’s in his bag. Paul is the top man where biomechanical analysis is concerned using high-speed cameras, force platforms and computers at his top class Quintic Lab. He is contracted to a huge number of sporting companies and associations including UK Athletics, International Cricket Council (ICC), English Cricket Board, and British Diving.

His real passion lies with golf though and this has led to a specialism in putting analysis and advice, assisting European Tour Professionals and holding PGA accredited Putting Clinics.

The Quintic hi-tech Putting Laboratory is developing and has already benefited many European Tour Golfers including Padraig Harrington, Paul McGinley, Rory McIlroy, Robert-Jan Derksen, Phillip Archer, David Howell, Darren Clarke, Henrick Stenson and Lee Westwood to name a few.

In his victory speech at the 2007 Open Championship, Padraig Harrington thanked Paul for his work behind the scenes. For the last two years, Paul has collaborated with Groove Equipment Ltd (GEL) to co-design a range of putters, the GEL Paul Hurrion Signature Range, using over 10 years of research and development in putting biomechanics. Wow! Sounds like some nice work then. You’d assume that Paul has more than one putter in his bag then?  Read on…

What kind of golf bag do you use?

A GEL Carry Bag - bright yellow & bright blue! I like to carry my bag as often as the courses allow.

What clubs are in there?

Titleist driver 10 degree, 3 wood & 21 degree Hybrid, Irons & wedges, all courtesy of being on the TPI Advisory Board. The guys at TPI fitted me last year, great experience on the launch monitor, testing lots of different shafts and heads. I felt like a PGA Tour Professional for the afternoon (the closest I will ever come!)

My putter is a GEL Sedo 33″ 71 degree lie and 3 degrees loft… It is my personal favourite out of the eight GEL Paul Hurrion Signature Range Putters that I have designed so far! Very solid feel, I like that in a putter.

What else is in your bag?

Plenty of ball markers from different courses, along with a variety of coins from different currencies…they make great ball markers. Plenty of balls (ProV1s), plus food, drinks and chocolate bar wrappers. I still have a bag of 250 wooden tees in the bag! I’m still not sure why I bought so many?

Do you carry a lucky charm?

No lucky charms as I’m too much of a scientist for all that! However, I will never use red tees and I mark my ball with three black dots.

What’s the most important piece of kit in the bag that’s not a club, ball, glove or towel?

The laser comes in very handy for distances and slope, especially playing new golf courses!

What’s the oldest thing in your golf bag?

Probably the bag of tees… and a few chocolate bar wrappers

Which is your favourite club?

My GEL SEDO Hurrion Putter of course! It’s just that it’s the most consistent club in my bag, the one that inspires the most confidence as I am always hitting putts at the Quintic laboratory with it. I just have to remember to take it with me when playing. I have turned up to play without any putters before (when there are over 500 back at the laboratory - it can be a little embarrassing!)

That’s fantastic and a big thanks to Paul for sharing the contents of his bag which surprisingly often doesn’t include a putter! Excellent!

In traditional fashion, we will Bag Tag four others on Paul’s behalf who will hopefully tell us what’s in their bag! Remember that if you write a blog and you want to get involved, just tell us what’s in your bag to be in with a chance of winning some fantastic prizes including an amazing GEL putter! The full details are here http://www.findthefairways.com/golfnews/bag-tag-whats-in-your-golf-bag-452.html



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