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ddec

ddec

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This year SeeMore has partnered with Cobra Golf to provide 8 staffers a putter for the Ultimate Amateur Golf Event. Not only are those 8 staffers receiving SeeMore putters, but they are also going to have the opportunity to work hand in hand with a SPi instructor to not only get fit for the perfect putter, but also to learn how to improve your putting overall. Each staff member has received contact information for their personal SPi instructor. Over the next few weeks we will be setting up our fittings and heading to our specific locations for what should prove to be both an educational and fun process. SeeMore has welcomed us in to their family and wants everyone to be able to get the best putting performance they can.

In closing we want you to use your SPi instructor as much as possible when you have questions about the putting stroke or SeeMore putter. The more you use the putter, the more comfortable and consistent you will become with the putting stroke. This will lead to you having more confidence on the putting green and making more putts.
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This will be a thread for everyone to talk about their experience and how their decision process was made. If you have already gone through a SPi fitting or lesson please feel free to add to the conversation.
 
i went through the SPI Experience last year when testing the Seemore M Series it changed the way i putt and i learned a TON and gained so much confidence in my putting you guys are in for a real treat. ive been thinking of texting my SPI Instructor and getting a brush up lesson myself for the start of the season.
 
This is so awesome of Seemore to do! I know that the guys in the testing thread that did this saw some huge dividends!
 
i really am excited about this part of the process! it's gonna help me lower my scores. It only gets better from here. I'm reaching out to my SPi instructor in a few minutes. I will update when I know the schedule. This is really exciting...
 
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For my SPi experience I will be heading out to Bloomfield, CT to see George Conner. George has a very impressive bio which includes winning a Connecticut PGA Teacher of the year away twice. Here is some quick information about George.

George Connor has been teaching and coaching golfers of all abilities since 1989. He has taught in Virginia, Florida, New York, Massachusetts, Bermuda and Connecticut. His student's include Division 1 College Players, Professional Players, State Amateur Champions, Club Champions as well as beginners and intermediate players. He has been a member of the PGA of America since 1998 and is also a member of the Proponent Group, an elite Golf Instructor Network.

George has earned the following Awards and Certifications:

  • 2011 Connecticut Section PGA Teacher of the Year
  • 2000 Connecticut Section PGA Teacher of the Year
  • Golf Digest lists George as one of the Best Teachers in Connecticut
  • He has been listed by Golf Magazine as a Top Teacher in Connecticut
  • Aimpoint Putting Instructor Certification
  • SeeMore Putting Institute Certification
  • K-Vest 3D Motion Level 2 Certified
  • TPI Golf Fitness Instructor
  • Golf Channel SwingFix Featured Instructor
Through his extensive history as a Golf Coach and Instructor, George has been resistant to the various "Methods" that have come and gone during his career. His focus when working with any student is on skill development and progressing all students to their greatest potential. His approach is to allow each student to be an individual with great skills rather than making each student look like a specific model.
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Think about this for a second. Imagine this was a set of irons. Not only would you be getting irons fit for you, but a personal instructor that you could ask anything you want to and make you that much better. Now apply that to putters. Simply amazing. Even down the road if you don't use a SeeMore putter this will change your putting game forever. I just cant say enough good things about SeeMore as a company. Just absolutely phenomenal.
 
I just called to set up my fitting. Unfortunately, I had to leave a message. I'm really looking forward to hearing back from Tim. I will keep you guys posted. And hopefully I can get one of my buddies to go this time to take pictures and videos. Gonna be a blast and one heck of a learning experience.
 
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DevRickus said:
Think about this for a second. Imagine this was a set of irons. Not only would you be getting irons fit for you, but a personal instructor that you could ask anything you want to and make you that much better. Now apply that to putters. Simply amazing. Even down the road if you don't use a SeeMore putter this will change your putting game forever. I just cant say enough good things about SeeMore as a company. Just absolutely phenomenal.
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It's going to be incredible. It's something that can help improve your game no matter what level of golf you play.
 
DevRickus said:
Think about this for a second. Imagine this was a set of irons. Not only would you be getting irons fit for you, but a personal instructor that you could ask anything you want to and make you that much better. Now apply that to putters. Simply amazing. Even down the road if you don't use a SeeMore putter this will change your putting game forever. I just cant say enough good things about SeeMore as a company. Just absolutely phenomenal.
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Seriously. Unreal. No other word for it.
 
I just sent my SPi instructor an email. Hopefully I hear back from him soon. I'm off tomorrow. It would be awesome to get it set up that quickly. This is just amazing. Hey guys, I may actually learn to putt!
 
Alright, fitting is set for March 14th with PGA pro and SPi guru Scott Dirck. http://www.scottdirckgolf.com

Scott Dirck - Owner of the Academy, and Director of Instruction for Geneva Golf Club
The Golf Academy is led by Director of Instruction for Geneva Golf Club, Scott Dirck. Scott has been named the Minnesota Section PGA Teacher of the year in 2010, and has been ranked in Golf Digest Magazine as one of the top teachers in the state. Scott's goal is to help golfers of all ages and abilities learn to enjoy the game of golf. Scott has a knack for explaining the golf swing to different individuals in a variety of ways. Scott's passion and enthusiasm for teaching golf make each lesson a positive experience for his students.
 
Howzat said:
Alright, fitting is set for March 14th with PGA pro and SPi guru Scott Dirck. http://www.scottdirckgolf.com

Scott Dirck - Owner of the Academy, and Director of Instruction for Geneva Golf Club
The Golf Academy is led by Director of Instruction for Geneva Golf Club, Scott Dirck. Scott has been named the Minnesota Section PGA Teacher of the year in 2010, and has been ranked in Golf Digest Magazine as one of the top teachers in the state. Scott's goal is to help golfers of all ages and abilities learn to enjoy the game of golf. Scott has a knack for explaining the golf swing to different individuals in a variety of ways. Scott's passion and enthusiasm for teaching golf make each lesson a positive experience for his students.
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nice!!
 
I am super jealous of you guys and I can't wait to hear about all of your guys' experiences. One of my high school buddies is an SPI certified SeeMore fitter. Would be cool if someone got fit by him.
 
GolferGal said:
I can't wait to read everyone's feedback from their fitting. What an awesome opportunity from SeeMore!
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It really is incredible and I can't thank SeeMore and THP enough for the opportunity.
 
Im currently working with a SPI silver certified instructor. It's an awesome experience, even though its fairly knew to me, the amount of confidence it builds in the greens is amazing. You guys will thoroughly enjoy the process and more than that the results.
 
Again...awesome (with a high pitched Barney Stinson voice...)

I just sent to John Higgins at SeeMore a long letter (well...e-mail) about who I am, what I think I need and thanking him SeeMore for giving us MC'ers this opportunity. I also sent him a short video of my stroke. Three random strokes, none of the same, even if I tried :D So...perfect for John to analyze.

I'm sure we will change mails with John a lot, and I hope to send him more videos if needed so we can figure out which putter suits me best. I did come clean about my love for the m2w and that I can't see myself playing a mallet. I'll keep posting here as the journey continues. :D

 
The SPi instruction and experience truly changed my game and my outlook on the greens. Getting to go through that is something that I hold near and dear to my heart. Words can't say just how excited I am for you 8. It was a blast to experience and a blast to document for people to see, truly.
 
i'm anxiously waiting to hear back from my SPi instructor Tim. I'm hoping this is what brings me over the edge of hitting low scores. Secret be known... I really wanted Cobra as my sponsor just for the SeeMore putter. Putting is what hurts my game, and I've heard so much positive stuff about SeeMore's way of doing it. That it can only help me.
 
The SPi experience is simply tremendous.

We often talk about getting instruction and fittings for the rest of our game, but many of us overlook the potential improvement we could see from doing the same for our putting.

My fitter was a great help, and really highlighted for me where I needed to improve. Then he gave me the tools to help me to do it.
 
Dean, you are so wise...

tnolan said:
Earlier this month, I got a little excited about having the opportunity to be outfitted with a SeeMore putter for the 2013 Morgan Cup. So much so, that I kind of jumped the gun and scheduled an SPi Fitting/Lesson ahead of time. I apologize for ruining the surprise for the other 7 Cobra/SeeMore staffers...but hey, either way, it's happening!
Anyway, I happened to be in the area of a Silver Certified SPi Instructor and both of us were available on that same day, so I didn't hesitate to schedule something. I had been to a corporate luncheon in New Castle that day, but early afternoon I made my way up to Pine Lakes Golf Club in Hubbard, Ohio to meet up with Chris Carfangia the head pro there for what would be quite the eye opening experience, in the form of a putter fitting/lesson.

The weather was a miserable downpour that day, but I made my way to the course in no time and met Chris inside the pro shop. After an initial meet & greet, I handed over my two Never Compromise putters so he could record the lie & loft, and basically see what I had been working with for the past 2 years. We BS'ed about THP and the Morgan Cup, golf, etc... and Chris (staffed by Nike), opened up a Nike 2013 Product catalog and raved about the new VRS Covert woods/hybrids line, which I must admit...looks pretty damn sweet. Anyway, we grabbed our coats and an umbrella and headed up to his indoor teaching/instruction facility. And if I can make a little plug for their facilities...Pine Lakes has a covered/heated range that is open year round and Chris's teaching room has a large putting green, all kinds of different SeeMore putters, instruction gadgets, and two hitting mats for full lessons. It's really nice.

Chris does a lot of his teaching thru V1 Golf App. It's a free app, on Android and Apple, and it's really slick. I downloaded it as soon as I could and I can now take video of my swing, putting or full swing, and send it right to Chris. It also comes with all the cool line drawing and shapes that most golf instruction apps have as well. I've since imported some of my HOTD videos and trimmed them down to analyze my swing.
Anyway, Chris took down my info and then asked me to tell him about my putting routine and my overall putting philosophy. Chris broke this down and basically explained what we'd be doing that day in the form of 90% lesson which would result in a very easy 10% fitting for a specific putter. I'm going to say this a bunch of times, but you can tell that Chris really has a passion for the art putting and teaching it as well. His knowledge of everything putting was almost overwhelming at times, yet easy to comprehend overall. Chris instructed me to go ahead and putt a few balls while he took video from a few different angles with his iPad. All straight from about 10 feet, I believe I made a few, missed a few, all while recalling other idiosyncrasies and mannerisms of my putting stroke/philosophy. After that, he pulled me aside and had me watch the video from the two angles: head on and from behind the ball. He drew a few lines noting that my stance, posture, eye line and everything at address were all great. He then hit play and said now watch...as I watched he said, "A few things that you thought you were doing, you're not." lol. What's that saying? The tape don't lie? My stroke was out-to-in; I thought it was straight back to straight thru with a little outside finish. The toe of the putter was up off the ground; I thought it was very close to flat. Short backswing and exaggerated follow-through. And my stroke was all arms and shoulders, instead of a good upper torso pendulum/triangle. And my grip would need a minor tweak...

So, with all that to take in we got down to the adjustments. Chris talked about a lot of things (like I said, vast knowledge) but one thing that really stuck out in my mind was striking the ball correctly and getting the line around the ball to go end over end each time, ensuring a true roll. He mentioned none of my earlier putts did that, which was hard to believe, but true. Being able to strike the ball on the downstroke with the putter, will guarantee that pure roll...while the majority of golfers try to pick the ball up, similar to a chip-shot, wherein the ball will hop first, creating backspin and a very wobbly, unstable roll. So in order to achieve this for me, we adjusted the following...
First we changed my grip just slightly in the form of a much weaker grip. No reason to strangle a putter when you're only swinging it 3 mph. Like any grip change, it felt weird at first but I'm really getting used to it. Next we moved the ball up in my stance about an inch. This is the point where my stroke was well balanced to contact the ball at the correct position. Then we moved my hands out from my body, allowing the putter to sit perfectly flat on the ground as it should. This took a bit to get used to and even looked like the heel was way up off the ground...but the putter was in fact flat on the ground, which was exactly what I was attempting to do before, but was actually not even close. Finally, we made sure that I was making more of an upper torso turn, creating the perfect pendulum/triangle that I was striving for before.
After we got this all in tune, and all the adjustments to sync properly...I started seeing results. It's nice to have visual results right in front of you in the the form of a big black line on the ball, rolling end over end, near perfect and dropping in the hole most every time. I just kept putting and putting, every so often switching out different styles of SeeMore putters, while we kept talking about different things. Chris would throw in a "that was an awful stroke" every now and then, but equal them out with a few "perfect strokes". It was a very relaxed session and I felt good the entire time. I went in there with an open mind and was willing to try whatever works, and came out a better putter. Putting and putting, talking about this and that and switching in and out different putters. Now, albeit a fairly flat putting surface and only from 10ft, there were times where Chris would stop me and say, "You realize you just made like 5 in a row?" I would just laugh, having not realized it at all...focusing on the new stroke and getting that line to roll true. It was a feeling of pure unconscious putting.

Towards the end of the fitting/lesson, I tossed a few putters around...going back and forth between the 2 or 3 that I liked the most, noting that I was open to try anything. But the one I kept going back to and making the most consecutive putts with, was the FGP Original. One of the most simplest designs out there, but Tour proven and just easy to hit. I believe I hit close to every offering from SeeMore and did also enjoy the mFGP and the X2 as well. I believe I even stroked a special Tour edition mFGP once owned by none other than Zach Johnson...pretty cool.

Putting is a huge part of the game and I think it is unfortunately overlooked by many, including myself. Chris even stated that he may give 500 or so full lessons per year, but maybe only a handful of putting lessons. My goal for this new year is to practice more and play less, and focus more on my short game, especially my putting. I think with this lesson and the minor adjustments, that I'm on the right track to start draining a lot more putts, and being fit for a SeeMore putter can only help to increase that chance.
And normally, a putter fitting is not something that I would go out and do...so I do want to thank THP, SeeMore and Chris for the opportunity. Truly amazing...
And I wish I could recant the entire session, as I'm probably not doing Chris much justice with this "yada-yada" review, but man let me tell you what, that guy knows a hell of a lot about putting. It's extremely impressive and I think that I definitely will be seeing him again.
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So totally awesome. SeeMore is an incredible company, period.
 
My SeeMore instruction was over the phone and laptop and it transformed my putting completely, I can't begin to imagine what an SPI instructor could do in person.Great job Dean, thanks for the info!
 
i met up again with Chris at the Erie Golf Expo about 2 months after my fitting.
dcbrad and i talked to him for almost 2 hours. we were able to review some of my videos that i had sent him earlier in the year and he took a quick look at my stroke again. mildly fixing my grip and making sure my torso was turning correctly and not lifting my shoulders up and down, which i had been doing.
the shoulder thing makes perfect sense and is tough to fix, basically because it's the putting stroke i've known all my life. so Chris showed me a good drill on the spot to take a club or alignment stick and put it in my armpits, and there you can see an extension of your torso and whether or not your shoulders are turning correctly, or going up and down. i've been working on it ever since.
Chris was also gracious enough to give me an SPi Medicine ball training aid...which has been another helpful tool to help fix the aforementioned issue there with my shoulders.

the best thing about Chris is that he's not just another course professional, looking to give you lessons for $$$ or trying to get you to join his club or buy his merch. Chris wants to talk golf, Chris wants to play golf, and it's a great feeling to have him as a friend first....and it's just a nice added bonus that i can solicit golf advice from him. LOL.
but in all honesty, that's the truth. we're currently working on a small THP gathering or a couple at his course over this season, where we can all receive a small SPi lesson, grab lunch and play 18 holes.

as Grins has mentioned in his review of his experience....if you're anywhere near Hubbard, OH go see Chris at Pine Lakes. it's well worth the trip.
 
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