Dr Paul Hurrion - Official Site of Putting Coach

Hong Kong; GEL Golf has firmly established itself as the number one groove putter on Tour in Asia with GEL putters dominating the statistics on the Asian and China Tours over the last couple of months and consolidating its position at last week’s Tour events.

At the Indian Open on the Asian Tour which finished on Sunday (October 12), a total of 21 players had GEL putters in their bags in New Delhi ahead of groove putter rival Yes, who had 16 players in the field using their putters.

Whilst at the Omega Championship, the season-ending Tour Championship on the China Tour, GEL putters completely overshadowed all other putter brands with 27 players – over 25% of the field – choosing to use a GEL putter.

The news completes a breakthrough year for GEL Golf which has already celebrated three Tour victories around the world in the last 12 months; Bryan Saltus of the United States won the Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open on the Asian Tour last December with his GEL Sapphire putter, Taiwanese Hsu Mong-nam secured victory in the Omega China Tour’s Shanghai Championship in May with a GEL Jade putter and in early September American Tom Stankowski captured the Canadian Tour Championship in Ontario using a GEL Emerald putter.

“Considering GEL Golf was only launched at the start of 2007, we are immensely proud of the incredible progress we have made with GEL Putters in the ultra-competitive golf market,” commented Alec Pettigrew, CEO of Hong Kong-based GEL Golf.

“With so many professionals now using GEL Putters on Tour, it proves that we have developed a good quality product that quite simply helps hole putts more often. Whilst we are 100% confident that groove and insert technology creates instant forward roll on the golf ball, thus reducing the unwelcome effects of skidding and giving a straighter, truer roll, the pros are now discovering this for themselves and relying on GEL Putters to improve their performance on tour. There is no greater endorsement for our product that this.”

One of golf’s most innovative technology manufacturers, GEL Golf uses horizontal precision-cut, aluminium inserts for a more responsive feel and enhanced sweet spot. Following feedback from Tour pros, GEL has made their putters larger, heavier and more balanced heads, encouraging an even smoother and more rhythmical putting stroke.

The original GEL Putter range launched in January 2007 at the PGA Golf Show in Orlando comprises of six models, namely the Emerald, Diamond, Sapphire, Jade, Opal and Ruby whilst the latest range, the GEL Paul Hurrion Signature Range boasts four models; the Rego, Scindo, Sedo and Sedo II.

Dr Paul Hurrion, a leading sports biomechanists and a renown putting coach to a host of top European and Ryder Cup stars, combined over 10 years of research and development in biomechanics and putting with GEL’s groove and insert technology, to create the distinctive GEL Paul Hurrion Signature Range.

To look at, GEL Putters are easily distinguishable using bright yellow and blue grips for men, and pink and blue grips for women, and electric blue and pink face inserts.

GEL Golf Ora - ‘Paul Hurrion’ signiture range
www.gelgolf.com

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Hi-Tec CDT wins GOLF EUROPE Product Award 2008

October 8th, 2008 | Biomechanics Consultancy, Full Swing Biomechanics, Hi-Tec, Padraig Harrington, Quintic Video Software

Global sports and outdoor footwear manufacture HI-TEC are proud winners of the Golf Europe Product Awards 2008 presented yesterday at the Golf Europe Exhibition, Germany. Judged by leading industry experts the HI-TEC Pure Power WPi scooped top prize at this years prestigious awards only open exclusively to innovative products scheduled for market introduction in 2009.

The brand new HI-TEC Pure Power WPi is a revolution in golf footwear, never seen before! Featuring HI-TEC’s exclusive CDT game enhancement technology, developed in partnership with Quintic Consultancy and world number 4 and 3 time major winner Padraig Harrington, this style continues to prove that winning power does come from your feet!

The Pure Power WPi also features the worlds first in nano technology - ion-mask™. ion-mask™ is a brand new, earth friendly, scientific advancement that works on a molecular level to repel water and other liquids, ensuring your footwear stays lighter, dryer and cleaner for longer, without changing the original properties of the material.

Unlike other waterproofing technologies that only offer waterproofing with a degree of breathability, the ion-mask™ water management technology offers a further 6 key benefits.

100 % Waterproof - By enhancing each individual fibre of the materials themselves and with particularly dense material such as leather it is possible to engineer a 100% waterproof product.
100% Breathable - The treatment binds invisibly (on a nano scale) to material fibres, enhancing them, rendering the material as breathable after the process as before.
Hydrophobic - By enhancing each individual fibre the shoe itself becomes protected, much less absorbent to liquids and quicker drying.
Lightweight - A treated shoe does not absorb as much water in wet conditions and is on average 35grams lighter than those with a membrane.
Stay Cleaner - Like water, the treatment also helps to repel dirt and reduce staining whilst the low surface energy prevents long-term dirt and mud build up.
Environment Friendly - Non toxic, minute quantities of chemical are used during the room temperature process ensuring virtually no waste of materials of energy in comparison to dip application (DWR’s) or membrane technologies.

The award winning Power Power WPi represents a perfect illustration of HI-TEC’s commitment to instantly comfortable and lightweight game enhancing footwear. Available from May 2009 in White / Silver and White / Cobalt in sizes 6-12’s inc halves the Pure Power WPi has a suggested retail around £109.99.

Discover more about HI-TEC featuring ion-mask at www.wetisdry.com
Discover more about HI-TEC CDT at www.cdtpower.com

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GEL Golf Appoints European Tour Rep

July 16th, 2008 | GEL Golf, Quintic Video Software

GEL (Groove Equipment Ltd) Golf has appointed Duncan Bagshaw as its European Tour representative to ensure that its GEL Putters are available for playing professionals to test on Tour week on week.

Prior to taking up his role at GEL, Bagshaw spent a week with renown putting coach and sports biomechanist Dr Paul Hurrion, who designed and launched the GEL Paul Hurrion Signature Range in conjunction with GEL Golf earlier this year at the PGA Golf Show in Orlando and, more recently, at the London Golf Show in April 2008. Quintic software along with Quintic Ball Roll analysis software is key in demonstrating the effect of the putters on the ball roll. The Quintic software is available on the putting green for the golfers to try the putters… seeing is beliving!

“I am delighted with my appointment as GEL’s representative on the European Tour and look forward to introducing the Tour pros to the GEL putter, which I believe is the best putter on the market; it performs well and looks great to boot,” said Bagshaw, who once boasted a handicap of +1.

“The innovative groove and insert technology GEL uses in its putters ensures instant forward roll on the golf ball, reducing the unwelcome effects of skidding and giving a truer roll to putts, whilst the substantial aluminium insert increases the size of the sweet spot and enhances feel.”

The appointment of Bagshaw means that GEL Golf now has representation on the European, Canadian, Asian, Japanese and China Tours.

Back in September 2007, GEL appointed Caesar Bayliss as a full-time representative on the Asian Tour, which very soon produced results; American Bryan Saltus won the Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open in December having exchanged his regular putter for a GEL Putter. GEL is now the number three putter brand on the Asian Tour.

In May this year, GEL celebrated its second tour win when Taiwan’s Hsu Mong-nam claimed victory at the Omega China Tour’s Shanghai Championship. The very same week, GEL became the top putter brand on the China Tour.

“At the European Open, my first event as the GEL European Tour representative, we received a great deal of interest from numerous pros and one player actually used our putter during the tournament – a great start as far as I am concerned,” enthused Bagshaw.

“I am confident that we can match the success the brand has experienced on the Asian and China Tours, and I am already looking forward to a GEL Putter securing our first European Tour title.”

Bagshaw has always been involved with golf and first picked up a golf club at the tender age of three. He went on to captain the Golf Team at Sheffield Hallam University where he studied Sports Science, later completing a work placement in the golf operations department at Gleneagles.

www.GELGolf.com or www.GELGolf.co.uk

Duncan Bagshaw and Dr Paul Hurrion - Royal Birkdale

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Rocket Science for everyone!

June 12th, 2008 | PGA European Tour Golfers, Padraig Harrington, Putting Biomechanics, Quintic Video Software

Arnold Palmer has recently been credited with being the single most important sporting icon to begin the transformation of golf into the ‘game for everyone’. A generation before marketing became a byword for charlatanism with testosterone, Palmer’s looks, undoubted athletic prowess and his charisma made him much more ‘bankable’ than any other golf professional of his age. But here’s an interesting thing… Recently re-produced photos of Arnie in his heyday show the young dragon pouting strangely. This was mentioned in passing to John Lewis from Bay Hill by Palmer UK & Ireland, who explained that it’s because the young Palmer smoked like a chimney, but modern custom forbids this and so the Lucky Strikes have been airbrushed out but the facial expression of the habitual smoker remains. It’s representative of how sport has turned against nicotine and related sybaritic pleasures - many would have thought that golf didn’t really number among the sports where selfdenial and discipline were that evident.

At the Open in 1976, Johnny Miller walked away with the champion’s purse of £7500,having beaten Jack Nicklaus in to second place by 6 strokes. And the biggest attraction on the Royal Birkdale ground was the Guinness Tent, says an observer of the time. Golf was slightly rarefied, slightly Bertie Wooster, slightly… well… naff. Then Tiger Woods happened. With his shameless athleticism and firebrand physicality he has 60 PGA victories and 13 majors and will surely go on to break the Jack Nicklaus record of 18 majors … ‘did him no good at The Open, mind you. Padraig Harrington didn’t gain possession of the Claret Jug at The Open using a metal detector. His training regime is strict, well-researched, rigorously executed. And what’s behind it all?

Biomechanics…

When kids go to school today, if they’re taught physical education by a recent graduate of any decent training college, biomechanics will have been written large in the syllabus of what physical education teachers have to master. For those of us who aren’t aware of the term Sports Biomechanics uses the scientific methods of mechanics to study the effects of various forces on the sports performer. It is concerned, in particular, with the forces that act on the human neuromusculoskeletal system; velocities, accelerations, torque, momentum, inertia… It also considers aspects of the behaviour of sports implements, footwear and surfaces where these affect athletic performance and injury prevention.

Harrington has mastered this concept, because as an athlete his in depth knowledge of how his body works in golf competitions allows him to monitor his performance in fine detail, accentuate positive and eliminate negative aspects, as well as avoid strain or injury. Dr Paul Hurrion is a doctor of biomechanics, and consults regularly with Padraig, as well as with the likes of Paul McGinley, David Howell, Philip Archer, and Lee Westwood. During interviews with the press at the Scottish Open, much was made of Westwood’s recent visit to a putting lab to sort out his erratic performance on the greens.

“The laboratory is a room with a hard floor, green carpet, cameras all over the room and mirrors – it’s a bit kinky really,”
Lee Westwood

It’s quite an accurate description of ‘The Quintic Putting Lab’ in the centre of England
where Dr Paul Hurrion is based. It would also describe the set up Padraig Harrington has at his home in Dublin; a faithful replica of the lab at Quintic.

“Quintic Performance Analysis Software provides com-prehensive, easy to use, tools that allow me to analyse my full swing, chipping and putting in fine detail, whether I’m on the practice range, indoors or away on Tour,” explains Padraig. “I am able to synchronise and compare my swing action and tempo immediately, whilst the use of the drawing tools enables me to calculate the speed and acceleration of my club and arms.”

This science is what is making the single most meaningful contribution to sport in our time…

To read the complete article please click here download the PDF document
Hurrion - Golf Ireland.pdf

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The most balanced argument yet for the optimum swing…

May 1st, 2008 | Biomechanics Consultancy, Quintic Video Software

Good balance is essential to powerful and consistent golf shots, putts, chips, and full swings. The human body makes compensations both at address and during the swing to give us the impression we are in balance. Our biomechanical research has found that as golfers, we don’t always know where our weight is truly positioned! We may think that are weight is distributed evenly and ready to hit the golf ball, however, it isn’t until we use biomechanical analyse, in particular force platforms that the true answer is revealed. Even some of the ’s best golfers think they are doing one thing, but actually are doing something else.

One of the most naturally gifted golfers I ever coached owed his considerable ability to a childhood spent playing table tennis. To most, there would be no link here, but because I was encountering him in a biomechanical context I understood just how much he owed to his table-tennis playing and how much it informed his golf.

And it was all down to balance…

If an athlete can achieve equilibrium he or she has an inordinate advantage over every competitor that does not. And the likelihood is around 90% of children don’t have it. But they can learn, and quickly too.

For goalkeepers or cricketers in the slips and wicketkeepers static balance is key. Dynamic balance comes into play during the bowling action, for instance, where the bowler needs to have all forces on the same plane and moving in the same direction.

David Beckham’s missed penalty in the World Cup (along with John Terry in the Champions League final) was due purely to lack of balance… To kick accurately, you have to have a stable left foot as the right foot impacts the ball. Beckham’s foot clearly slipped as he made ball contact and it missed by a mile. Immediately afterwards, you could see him looking down at the ground to see what had gone awry.

But you’d never see Jonny Wilkinson making the same error. Part of his pre-kicking drill was to check where his left foot would be planted when he kicked, and if there was uneven ground or another type of irregularity he’d address it first, because he understands how being off-balance would affect the kick.

I give all my Tour golfers extensive balance testing more than anything else because it is really the beginning and end of good putting. If a golfer’s balance is off his putting will suffer. Conversely, once he learns balance, so much else about the mechanics of putting just falls into place.

Similarly for the full swing off the tee. When you watch pro golfers on the TV, they hold their finish for what seems like an age, even until after the ball has landed. It’s a conscious finish to ensure they are balanced. If they couldn’t hold the posture it would be due to lack of balance, and they need to be aware of it to correct it for the next drive – or even the next stroke.

Now translate this to the more frequently encountered athletic disciplines in most schools. Gymnastics, basketball, football, cricket, rugby… they all have balance at their core.

Video capture and analysis of body movement can rapidly identify if this is a problem and make it quick to rectify.

Olympic javelin silver medalist Steve Backley made huge progress through addressing his balance: where his back foot landed for the throw, how his forces worked in unison through correct alignment, his own centre of gravity. Through drills and conditioning, Steve superbly exemplified what we say to encapsulate this crucial aspect of biomechanical performance – effortless power over powerless effort.

Here’s an outstanding exercise I use with elite golfers, all athletes will benefit hugely from this too…

Try and stand on one leg for three minutes. It’s about the stability, strength and muscular awareness. It’s hard. Your ankles know all about it very quickly. Specifically, though, this rapidly develops an awareness of balance through pro-perception, the ability to react to subtle changes in the position of the bodies center of gravity

I use pressure platforms and Quintic video analysis to show equilibrium and balance transfer during the golf stroke, but what works very well to show this aspect as well as make people more aware of their balance (or lack of it) during a physical movement, is to have them stand on balance cushions… The immediate action is to make movement feel awkward, but balance and stability follow on very quickly.

If you never use biomechanics software for anything other than to improve balance in athletes, it’s arguable you’ve recouped the investment. That’s how crucial it is.

Thinking of improving your Golf swing? Think ProStance! www.pro-stance.com

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Biomechanics for Golf Pros: Exclusive Putting Workshop from Cambridge Golf

April 9th, 2008 | Putting Biomechanics, Quintic Video Software

The TP Golf Academy at the Cambridge Golf and Conference Centre is hosting a workshop for PGA Professionals and top amateurs, regarding the understanding of Putting Biomechanics on 21st April 2008. Presented by Dr. Paul Hurrion, the seminar will help PGA Professional Golf coaches to improve their teaching skills through the use of biomechanical analysis.

Understanding the relationship between muscle movement and physics can help the golf pro to assess how the size, shape and strength of an individual golfer and the movement of their putter will affect the motion of the golf ball. The PGA pro trained in biomechanical analysis can better help the student to make minor adjustments to his or her swing to improve the accuracy of his or her putting. Through the study of biomechanics, a golf coach will also have a better idea of which muscles need training and can recommend appropriate exercises specific to the individual golfer.

The workshop at the Cambridgeshire-based TP Golf Academy will be highly interactive, including detailed biomechanical analysis by Dr Paul Hurrion with high speed cameras, synchronised force platform and computer analysis, to demonstrate the technical elements of the putting stroke.

The aim of the seminar is to teach golf professionals the biomechanical fundamentals of the putting action and to demonstrate how the golfer can improve technique, develop a sound, repeatable putting stroke and become more consistent. The workshop will also cover the concepts of skid and roll, pace control and green reading. All delegates will improve their knowledge of the process of putting for their own benefit and for coaching others.

The cost of the seminar is £115 including lunch and it will take place in the lovely setting of Huntingdon, easily accessible from both Cambridge and Peterborough. The TP Golf Academy at the Cambridge Golf and Conference Centre is equipped with the latest in 3D golf swing analysis technology and a state-of-the-art golf short game practice area.

Dr. Paul Hurrion specialises in biomechanical and sporting analysis using high speed cameras, force platforms and computers with 2D and 3D analytical software. He is a leading international biomechanist contracted to organisations such as UK Athletics, ICC and ECB. He is also putting coach to Open winner Padraig Harrington as well as many other top professionals.

For more information and to arrange to take advantage of the further short game coaching opportunities contact Jamie Donaldson at the Cambridge Golf and Conference Centre (http://www.cgcc.co.uk) via email at jamie@cgcc.co.uk or on 07733255044.

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High-Speed Video : Driver Impact 15,000fps!

April 3rd, 2008 | Quintic Video Software

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‘GEL Paul Hurrion’ Signature Range Debuts at London Golf Show 2008

April 2nd, 2008 | GEL Golf, Putting Biomechanics, Quintic Video Software

GEL Golf will showcase its new range of Groove Putters, the GEL Paul Hurrion Signature Range, to the UK golf market for the very first time at the London Golf Show from April 25 to 27 2008.

Designed by sports biomechanist and putting coach Dr Paul Hurrion in conjunction with GEL Golf, the new range incorporates the innovative groove and insert technology that defined the original GEL Groove Putter Range and reflects over 10 years of research and development by Hurrion into the art and science of putting.

Independent testing at Quintic Consultancy, has proved that the use of groove technology in putters creates instant forward roll on the golf ball, thus reducing the unwelcome effects of skidding and giving a truer roll.

Meanwhile Hurrion’s biomechanical analysis of putting has proved that the performance of a golf ball during the first portion of the roll is the most crucial element to direct the ball towards the intended target, ensuring therefore that grooved putters will always outperform all other putters.

In this latest range, GEL’s unique groove technology, using a firm, multi-layer aluminium insert over a larger area, has allowed Hurrion to position weight around the perimeter of the club head creating a high moment of inertia (MOI) so increasing the forgiveness and creating an even truer roll of the ball.

“Working with GEL Golf, I have designed the Paul Hurrion Signature Range of putters to help golfers enjoy the key benefits Tour players look for on the greens. That is, a putter designed with horizontal grooves to impart forward roll, peripheral-weighting that maximises the sweetspot across the putter face and heel-toe weighting to increase the MOI for improved resistance to twisting on off-centre hits,” explains Hurrion, who works with a host of European Tour and Ryder Cup players.

“Based on the biomechanical principles that I have studied, the new GEL range of putters creates stability at impact in the area of the game that matters most,” he concludes.

The result quite simply is that the Paul Hurrion Signature Range delivers great feel, exceptional feedback and creates immediate forward roll ensuring that good putts are rewarded.

GEL Golf, which introduced its first range of GEL groove putters in 2007, has produced four models in the Paul Hurrion Signature Range, namely the Sedo, Sedo II, Scindo and Rego, which retail at UK£165.

“All the independent testing that has been undertaken on putters proves that grooved putter faces 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,” adds Alec Pettigrew, Managing Director of GEL (Groove Equipment Ltd).

“GEL has further improved groove technology by introducing horizontal, precision-cut grooves to generate an even better topspin roll and now that we have drawn on Paul’s scientific expertise for the Signature Range, I am confident that we have developed one of the best ever putter ranges on the market.

“Given the number of strokes that putting can add to a round of golf, and the beneficial effect that grooves can have on a player’s putting, the potential for grooved putters is enormous.”

Within a year of launching, GEL was proud to secure its first Tour winner. In December 2007, American Bryan Saltus won the Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open after exchanging his regular putter for a GEL Putter. Asian Tour statistics showed that Saltus’ putting average prior to Cambodia had been 30.4 per round but using his GEL Putter that average plummeted to 28.5 putts per round.

The Paul Hurrion putters are all fitted with WINN grips and the distinctive electric blue inserts that did so much to differentiate GEL’s first range of grooved putters when they were first launched into the golf market in January 2007 at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.

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GEL Putters are distributed in the UK by Assay Golf which is based in London and can be found at www.GELGolf.co.uk. For further information, please visit www.GELGolf.co.uk or contact Helen Heady of Heady PR, on behalf of GEL Golf, on T: +44 20 8789 0900 or M: +44 7966 491 509 or E: helen@headypr.co.uk