Dr Paul Hurrion - Official Site of Putting Coach

GEL Golf expands the Paul Hurrion Signature range…

August 4th, 2009 | GEL Golf, Putting Biomechanics

If you haven’t heard of GEL Golf yet, you’re missing out. They are quite simply, the most forward thinking golf company out there at the moment, full stop. GEL’s new range of putters are just awesome and now, they’re adding four more to into the mix… GEL has just launched four new models, the Ora, Pondera, Vicis and Quasso models which look absolutely stunning. The Ora is an absolute masterpiece in my opinion, beautiful.

Co-designed by GEL Golf and putting master Dr Paul Hurrion, the innovative putters are now available in the UK through GEL distributor, Assay Golf, via selected golf shops and the internet at www.GELGolf.co.uk at a recommended retail price of £185.

In an industry first, the GEL Paul Hurrion Signature Range comes equipped with a GEL True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 iron shaft - rather than a standard putter shaft. This means the club will twist far less on impact with the ball which will help keep you on-line. It also help you to experience increased feel and improved pace control.

The innovation has allowed Dr Hurrion to reposition weight around the perimeter of the putter head using a unique, inline weighting system with tungsten concealed in the putter head leading to a more rhythmic stroke, better response and high moment of inertia (MOI) for a truer roll.

As with his first four models, Hurrion’s new line features the multi-layer, horizontal grooves developed by GEL Golf that are milled at a precise angle onto a soft aluminium insert. The combination of these new technologies creates instant forward roll of the golf ball, reducing the effect of skidding providing a straighter roll off the ball immediately after it has been struck.

Tests prove that the roll of a golf ball immediately after it has been struck is the most crucial element in directing the ball towards the intended target illustrating clearly why groove putters outperform all others on the market. When we say ALL others - we mean ALL others.

“We’re very excited to be releasing additional models to our already-successful line of GEL putters,” said Alec Pettigrew, Managing Director of Groove Equipment Ltd. “With Paul’s expertise in putting and sports biomechanics, GEL has truly delivered a putter for golfers of all abilities.”

Hurrion brings with him over 10 years of research and development in sports biomechanics and is now recognized as one of the top putting coaches on The European Tour. Amongst others, he currently coaches three-time major winner Padraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and recent LET winner, Becky Brewerton.

“Based on the success of the inaugural GEL Paul Hurrion Signature Range, I have designed four new models to help golfers continue to enjoy the key benefits tour players look for on the greens,” says Hurrion.

“A putter designed with horizontal grooves to impart forward roll, peripheral-weighting that maximizes the sweet spot across the putter face and heel-toe weighting to increase the MOI for improved resistance to twisting on off-centre hits creates stability at impact in the area of the game that matters most,” he concludes.

Since its launch in 2007, GEL Golf has firmly established itself as the number one groove putter on the Asian Tour and has already enjoyed six professional Tour wins; one each on The European, Asian and Canadian Tours and two on the China Tour plus one on the Ladies European Tour.

GEL offer truly top class putters and are currently in a league of their own. It’s just a matter of time until all the pros are using putters like these and taking training from bio-mechanics legend, Dr Hurrion.

Just as technology in drivers has changed the game, technology in putting is going to do the same with GEL Golf’s new putters. See our article “Forget everything you thought you knew about putting” for the full story.

Check out the company’s website at www.gelgolf.co.uk for more information or see the tech specs of the new putters below.

Dr. Paul Hurrion Signature Range Tech Specs:

ORA - (Edge)
A modified alignment, face-balanced blade with an inline weighting, a ‘crank-neck’ hosel and full shaft offset. Weight alignment arms create unique weight distribution within the putter face. Three-line alignment system squares the putter face to help focus the putter to the target. Loft 3.0 degrees. Lie 73 degrees. Standard shaft length: 33″ to 35″. 431 stainless steel material. (385gm head weight).

PONDERA - (Balance / Equilibrium)
A heel-toe, weighted mallet with a ‘crank-neck’ hosel and full shaft offset. A single alignment system squares the putter face to help focus the putter to the target. Loft 3.0 degrees. Lie 73 degrees. Standard shaft length: 33″ to 35″. 431 stainless steel material. (360gm head weight).

VICIS - (Time)
A heel-toe, weighted modified blade with a ‘crank-neck’ hosel and full shaft offset. Loft 3.0 degrees. Lie 73 degrees. Standard shaft length: 33″ to 35″. 431 stainless steel material. (365gm head weight).

QUASSO - (Break)
A heel-toe, weighted modified blade with a ‘crank-neck’ hosel and full shaft offset. Loft 3.0 degrees. Lie 73 degrees. Standard shaft length: 33″ to 35″. 431 stainless steel material. (350gm head weight).

http://www.findthefairways.com:80/golfnews/gel-golf-expands-its-epic-range-of-putters-in-2009-2190.html

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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GEL Makes its Mark… the Story So Far

March 10th, 2009 | GEL Golf, Putting Biomechanics, Quintic Video Software

It hardly seems possible that it is just two years since GEL Golf launched its first range of groove putters, such has been the huge impact that GEL has made on the fiercely competitive international golf putter market.

Groove Equipment Ltd (GEL) was set up by former Hong Kong amateur representative and now Hong Kong businessman, Alec Pettigrew, based on the strong belief that groove technology is set to revolutionize the putter marketplace.

“In the not too distant future, all putters will use groove technology given the proven benefits of grooves which reduce skid on the ball and gets the ball to start rolling straighter and sooner and therefore ensures more putts are holed,” explains Alec, CEO of GEL Golf.

Alec first came across grooved putters when he witnessed Goosen’s putting display in the 2001 US Open and was intrigued by the South African’s innovative, if obscure, putter.

Goosen it appeared was using one of the first groove-faced putters to appear on Tour, a Yes! model designed by renown putting guru, Harold Swash. The concept of a grooved putter face was created by Swash when he discovered that grooves at a slight angle grip the golf ball better at impact to improve the forward roll of the ball. The angular grooves allow the golf ball to achieve the desired topspin roll in less time and distance than a flat-faced putter, thereby being more effective at preventing the ball from skipping, skidding or spinning sideways.

Convinced by the groove technology, Alec seized the opportunity to distribute Yes! groove putters in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It wasn’t long before he had created demand that far out-stripped the company’s supply capabilities, so he also took control of global production. Quickly he expanded the men’s range, brought in a ladies range and introduced the distinctive yellow, black and white grips by which the brand is now immediately recognizable.

Yes! putters fast became the second-most played putter on the Asian Tour, and even more telling, first among golfers without a putter contract. Top golfers like KJ Choi, Colin Montgomerie, Nick Faldo and David Howell were all converting to grooved putters. With Yes! sales and profits spiraling skywards the company was in a better position to take its production in-house. Alec made a clean and amicable break from Yes.

Now out on his own and in no doubt about the benefits of grooves in putters, Alec set out to form a new brand of groove putters that he believed would out-perform his rival’s range. It was Alec’s belief that not only could the grooves be improved but there were other technologies that could be incorporated into putters.

And so GEL began operating in Hong Kong in 2006 and its groundbreaking GEL putters, complete with USGA and R&A approval, were launched at the Orlando PGA Merchandise Show in January 2007, closely followed by their European launch in London in March.

The GEL putter range, comprising six models, took the golf trade by storm with their innovative groove technology that boasted inserts of horizontal, multi-layered aluminium grooves for a more responsive feel and enhanced sweet spot. Whilst on the back of feedback from Tour pros GEL has made their putters larger, heavier and more balanced heads, encouraging an even smoother and more rhythmical putting stroke.

Alec ensured that the GEL putters were easily distinguishable by using bright yellow and blue grips for men, and pink and blue grips for women, and electric blue and pink face inserts.

But it was not just the attention-grabbing colourways that made the GEL putters stand out. Independent testing by The Quintic Consultancy on a variety of big name putters (including PING, Titleist, TaylorMade and Odyssey) confirmed GEL as the number one performer.

In July, Alec made his way up to Carnoustie to attend The Open Championship where GEL made its debut on the practice putting green whilst the signing of former Australian Amateur Champion David Gleeson that week gave the innovative GEL Putter its debut appearance in one of golf most prestigious tournaments. That week, the 29-year-old Australian teed off with a GEL Ruby model in his golf bag in the 136th staging of the prestigious Major.

In a momentous week for the brand, GEL also celebrated an agreement reached with Dr Paul Hurrion, one of the world’s leading sports biomechanists and a renown putting coach, to design a second range of putters under the GEL brand.

With over 10 years of research and development in biomechanics and putting, Alec recognized that Paul’s experience would perfectly complement GEL’s groove and insert technology.

At the time, Paul was giving advice to a number of top European Tour and Ryder Cup players and later that week he was personally thanked by Open champion, Padraig Harrington, in his acceptance speech for his contribution to the Irishman’s first Major title.

By September that year, GEL had appointed Caesar Bayliss as its fulltime representative on the Asian Tour with immediate success; GEL quickly became the number three putter on tour and in December was celebrating its first Tour win when American Bryan Saltus won the Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open on the Asian Tour. Having thrown his regular putter into the lake during a practice round, Saltus played the tournament with a GEL Sapphire in his bag and went on to capture his first major tour title. Asian Tour statistics show that Saltus’ putting average prior to Cambodia had been 30.4 per round but using his GEL Putter, his average that week plummeted to 28.5 putts per round.

“My putting has been the winning formula this week. I had a good start with three birdies and my confidence carried on after that. Quite simply, GEL has changed my life,” were the immortal words used by Saltus to explain his win.

By the end of 2007, GEL was pleased to announce that it had generated first year sales of over 12,000 putters. Not bad for a company barely a year old and entering into a fiercely competitive market made up of a number of big brand names.

After a roller-coaster ride for GEL in its debut year, GEL teed off 2008 with the launch of the GEL Paul Hurrion Signature Range at the PGA Show in Orlando.

Shortly afterwards in May GEL recorded its second Tour win at the Shanghai Championship on the Omega China Tour when Taiwan’s Hsu Mong-nam secured the title at the Orient Golf & Country Club using a GEL Jade model (two other players in the top five were also using a GEL Putter). That week GEL secured its position at the top of the putter leaderboard by becoming the number one putter on the China Tour.

GEL has also been making its mark on the opposite side of the world in North America. In early September GEL celebrated its third Tour win when American Tom Stankowski carded a final round 69 thanks to a birdie on the final hole to capture the Canadian Tour Championship in Ontario. Using a GEL Emerald putter, the American finished the tournament 272, 16 under par, to earn himself US$37,600 along with his first Canadian Tour title.

Over on the LPGA Tour, Tracy Hanson, who discovered GEL putters at the PGA Show earlier this year, has placed her confidence in a GEL Paul Hurrion putter when competing on the top ladies tour in the world. Meanwhile a host of other LPGA players have been flirting with GEL putters though constrained by manufacturers’ contracts that prevent them from using them in actual tournaments.

More recently, GEL once again broke new ground when it secured its first European Tour win when American Anthony Kang clinched the Malaysian Open title in February at the Saujana Golf & Country Club in Kuala Lumpur.

“I actually dreamt last night that I won the tournament but I have those sorts of dreams quite often!” said Kang, who had swapped his GEL putter from the original range for a Rego model in the Paul Hurrion Signature Range at the start of the week. “It feels great to have beaten a strong field here - it hasn’t quite sunk in yet but it is an amazing feeling.”

Kang recorded his first victory in eight years and by winning the Malaysian Open, which was co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, he earned the biggest pay cheque of his career with the first prize of US$333,330.

These developments marked yet more landmarks in the short history of GEL Golf which has quickly set out its stall as one of golf’s most innovative technology manufacturers. Six months into 2008 and GEL confirmed that sales had already increased substantially on 2007, with over 15,000 putters sold worldwide by June – another significant milestone in the history of GEL which reflected the giant leap in terms of the impact that the brand has made in such a short space of time.

As of July 2008, GEL Putters are now available at retail in USA, Canada, Australia, Korea, Holland, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, China, India, Pakistan, Taiwan, Macau and the UK with the number of countries where GEL is available growing all the time.

And in another major development, GEL Golf has Tour representatives on five professional golf tours; namely The European, Canadian, Asian, Japanese and China Tours. All in all, it hasn’t taken long for GEL to get into the groove and make its mark in the world of golf; no doubt just the start of even greater things to come…

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Putting to the Nth Degree - Ball Roll

February 24th, 2009 | Putting Biomechanics, Quintic Ball Roll, Tuition

Out of one of the foremost biomechanics software laboratories comes a world first. The New Quintic Ball Roll System gives putting coaches and putter custom-fit professionals the kind of analysis tool they’ve never had before. What it means is that golfers need never be uncertain of the performance of their putters again.

The 2009 Quintic Ball Roll software tracks the ball for the first 12″ of the putt. It then instantly and clearly shows the ball speed, sidespin, angular rotation, vertical bounce, launch angle and point at which true roll occurs. Crucially as well – and this is the most significant advance on Quintic’s already pioneering analysis tools – all of the above are reflected graphically and numerically in a way that was formerly only available for full swing analysis software for irons and woods.

Putter manufacturers can use this tool to test their equipment, design better putters, and as a sales tool to show the golf professionals how to increase putter sales over the counter. The over-the-counter part is key. Pros who make a living out of retail and coaching have been victims of “web-watch-time-wasters” for too long. This is the practice whereby customers waste a pro’s time by trying out equipment in the shop and then sourcing the cheapest price on the internet.

Golf professionals will be able to more accurately fit their customers for a putter, give better coaching and sell more putters as part of a demonstrable package. Golfers themselves can all benefit from using the system because they will be getting facts to back up their decision on which putter is performing best and see if any alterations need to be made to fine-tune the putter to their stroke.

Shifting the Putter Paradigm

The brains behind the new software is Dr Paul Hurrion - Quintic MD and biomechanics adviser to top European Tour Pros and bodies like the Hi-Tec and Titleist Performance Institute (TPI).

“Putting accounts for over 40% of a golfer’s strokes and yet, most players buy a putter by taking a few off the rack and trying them in the shop or on a practice green - often after a bad round,” reasons Hurrion. “Up until now, you could get a vague idea that your ball was skidding and then rolling forward, but there was no actual way to quantify it alongside hook or cut side spin analysis.

“Attaining proper lie and loft will help the ball roll better but there are other factors involved. The ultimate goal is to get the ball to roll as soon as possible with as little side spin as possible. This easy tool shows you exactly what effect the putter is having on the ball. You need to understand what is happening to the golf ball in order to teach putting!”

Another important point is that the software calculates the point at which true roll occurs. Side spin (hook or cut) will have a negative effect on how soon the ball achieves true roll. It’s now possible to know, through this new Quintic Ball Roll Software, that a ball could have more forward rotation at 18″ but not achieve true roll as quickly as a ball that had less rotation at 18″, due to greater sidespin imparted by the putter.

“We introduced the software at the PGA show in Orlando in January 09,” beams Hurrion. “In less than 5 minutes we were able accurately to fit a golfer to the most suitable putter for him - not just from a lie and loft perspective but also as to blade vs mallet, centre shaft vs heel shaft, and face balanced vs toe heavy. Golfers were both amazed and impressed by how simple and easy it was – suddenly they had tangible results that they could see for themselves. Golf Professionals just couldn’t wait for the launch of this Software to enhance their putter fitting and putting coaching capabilities and convert more enquiries.”

The Quintic 2009 Ball Roll Software is available from www.quinticballroll.com. A single licence costs just $1250 and discounts apply for 5 or more licenses or if purchased with other Quintic Video Analysis products. For more information please email: info@quinticballroll.com

Quintic Ball Roll camera stand, light & digital video camera

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‘Now I want the Claret Jug’

February 5th, 2009 | PGA European Tour Golfers, Putting Biomechanics

By Karl MacGinty - Irish Independent

Thursday February 05 2009

THE hoodie had a big California surf motif splashed across its front; his jeans were suitably faded and the baseball cap featured a Mexican beer. Rory McIlroy’s fashion statement came through loud and clear at Holywood Golf Club yesterday as he looked forward to more than two weeks of chilling out with his pals. All’s calm after his desert storm. Gerry and Rosie McIlroy’s world-famous son was a teenager once again… until he started talking about his plans, his hopes and his ambitions.

Sunday’s dramatic one-stroke victory over Justin Rose and an elite field at the Dubai Desert Classic propelled McIlroy to No 16 in the world, forcing him to reset his sights for 2009. Now he’s aiming for a place in the World top-10. “If I win the Accenture Match Play in a couple of weeks’ time, that’ll get me up to fifth,” he said with a chuckle. Clearly, McIlroy’s been doing his sums — these days his dreams have a hard mathematical edge.

When the kid with everything was asked what wish would he like granted in 2009, he paused for nearly 30 seconds before replying quietly: “Win a Major.” If he could pick one? “Win The Open, that would be awesome,” he continued. “After Harrington’s two, it’d be nice to keep the Claret Jug in the country for another while. “To be honest, I’d take any one of the four Majors,” added McIlroy, before his pragmatic side took charge: “In fact, I’d just take another win.”

Having seen McIlroy’s name linked to Tiger Wood’s in so many headlines since Sunday, the world now expects miracles from a 19-year-old who has played just one Major — the 2007 Open, where he joined Harrington on the podium as winner of the Silver Medal for leading amateur.

Crazy

He’s never been to Augusta National, where he makes his US Masters debut in April, nor Turnberry, venue for The Open in July, which he said “seems crazy because you can almost see it from here.” As for June’s US Open at Bethpage, McIlroy watched on TV as Woods won there in 2002, and he’s tamed The Black Course on his PlayStation. He also remembers Hazeltine, where Harrington defends the Wanamaker Trophy in August, for Rich Beem’s 2002 PGA victory, while his friend Richie Ramsay of Scotland won the US amateur title on the Minnesota track.

McIlroy has a wealth of information on this year’s Major venues but, in golf, actually seeing for oneself is akin to believing and it’s no coincidence that Sunday’s breakthrough win on Tour was achieved on his fourth visit to The Desert Classic and on an Emirates Club course he was playing for the umpteenth time.

In the past seven months, however, golf has learned never to say never where this young Ulsterman is concerned. Since linking up with canny Irish caddie JP Fitzgerald and Harrington’s putting guru Dr Paul Hurrion last summer, McIlroy has leapt over 160 places up the world ladder.

“I went to Paul Hurrion because Harrington goes to him and Padraig holes everything,” he admits. “He changed my set-up, changed my grip, changed everything. The way I used stroke it, I could get on a run and be very streaky but I wasn’t as consistent. My pace putting has really improved and so has my holing-out from six feet.”

Fitzgerald has been calming and inspirational on many occasions. McIlroy cited the 17th green in Dubai last Sunday, saying: “JP crouched down beside me when I was reading my putt and said ‘big players love these situations. You’re a big player. This is why we are here’. It was great for him to say that.

“Ever since JP’s been on the bag, I’ve played really good. He’s been a big part of the success I’ve had over recent months.

“If some aspect of my game isn’t so good any day, we’ll sit down over lunch and discuss what we did well or didn’t do so well. I might say my half-shots weren’t so great so he’ll say ‘let’s go work on them on the range. He’s very good in that way.” Yet McIlroy is still very much his own man, as he displayed when an elderly male reporter baldly asked “on behalf of female fans, what about the hair?” “I haven’t had it cut since Switzerland and I’ve played great,” retorted McIlroy, unabashed. “I might just keep it.”

Like Hercules, this reporter suggested. “I think you’ll find that was Samson,” McIlroy corrected. Nice shot kid. Now I know what Justin Rose felt like!

Karl MacGinty

http://www.independent.ie/sport/golf/now-i–want-the-claret-jug-1628232.html

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GEL to debut ‘Paul Hurrion Signature range’ expansion for 2009

January 26th, 2009 | GEL Golf, Putting Biomechanics

Orlando, FL, January, 2009

Putting Master Adds New Models to Already Impressive Line

With yet another successful year under its belt, GEL announced four new additions to its ‘Paul Hurrion Signature Range’ for 2009. Since its launch in 2007, GEL Golf has firmly established itself as the number one groove putter on Tour in Asia and is aggressively working its way into the PGA, EU PGA and Canadian Tours.

In an industry first, the ‘GEL Paul Hurrion Signature Range’ comes equipped with a True Temper Dynamic Gold iron shaft rather than a standard putter shaft used by the rest of the industry.

This innovative approach allows Paul to reposition weight around the perimeter of the putter head, leading to a more rhythmic stroke, better response, and high moment of inertia for a truer roll. Paul has also created a unique inline weighting system with tungsten concealed in the putter head. Unlike industry counterparts, GEL putters feature horizontal grooves that are milled at a precise angle onto a soft aluminum insert.

These new technologies create instant forward roll of the golf ball, reducing the effect of skidding providing truer roll off the ball immediately after its been struck. Tests prove that the roll of a golf ball immediately after it’s been struck, is the most crucial element in directing the ball towards the intended target, and show why groove putters outperform all others on the market.

“We’re very excited to be releasing additional models to an already successful line of GEL putters,” said Alec Pettigrew, Managing Director of Groove Equipment Ltd. “With Paul’s expertise in golf and biomechanics, GEL has truly delivered a putter for golfers of all abilities.”

GEL’s groove and multi-layer aluminum insert technology enables weight to be positioned around the perimeter of the putter head, creating a high moment of inertia (MOI) for a truer roll. In conjunction with the increased MOI, the patented new GEL True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 shaft design enables the golfer to experience the latest in shaft technology, increased feel and improved pace control. Unlike industry counterparts, GEL putters feature horizontal grooves that are milled at a precise angle onto a soft aluminum insert. The result is a putter that starts the ball rolling faster and straighter offering unparalleled feel.

“Based on the success of the inaugural GEL ‘Paul Hurrion Signature Range’, I have designed four new models to help golfers continue to enjoy the key benefits tour players look for on the greens,” said Dr. Paul Hurrion. “A putter designed with horizontal grooves to impart forward roll, peripheral-weighting that maximizes the sweet spot across the putter face and heel-toe weighting to increase the MOI for improved resistance to twisting on off-center hits. This creates stability at impact in the area of the game that matters most,” he concludes.

Dr. Paul Hurrion Signature Range - Overview:

1) ORA – ( Edge)
A modified alignment, face-balanced blade with an inline weighting, a ‘crank-neck’ hosel and full shaft offset. Weight alignment arms create unique weight distribution within the putter face. Three-line alignment system squares the putter face to help focus the putter to the target. Loft 3.0 degrees. Lie 73 degrees. Standard shaft length: 33″ to 35″. 431 stainless steel material. (385gm head weight)

2) PONDERA – (Balance / Equilibrium)
A heel-toe, weighted mallet with a ‘crank-neck’ hosel and full shaft offset. A single alignment system squares the putter face to help focus the putter to the target. Loft 3.0 degrees. Lie 73 degrees. Standard shaft length: 33″ to 35″. 431 stainless steel material. (360gm head weight)

3) VICIS - (Time)
A heel-toe, weighted modified blade with a ‘crank-neck’ hosel and full shaft offset. Loft 3.0 degrees. Lie 73 degrees. Standard shaft length: 33″ to 35″. 431 stainless steel material. (365gm head weight)

4) QUASSO – (Break)
A heel-toe, weighted modified blade with a ‘crank-neck’ hosel and full shaft offset. Loft 3.0 degrees. Lie 73 degrees. Standard shaft length: 33″ to 35″. 431 stainless steel material. (350gm head weight)

PONDERA – (Balance / Equilibrium)

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