Frankly Golf

Get the most out of your golf equipment and benefit from today's technological innovations! In this issue of your Frankly Friends Newsletter I talk about the best innovations I have seen in my 40 years of developing and testing golf equipment.

We also bring you some very exciting news about The Frankly Frog, new for 2004. I designed The Frankly Frog to be the ultimate user friendly putter. It makes putting simple and easy and you will enjoy the time you spend on the green for years to come.

The advances in technology over the last 30 years have made more of a real difference in performance than any other series of innovations in the history of the game.

• Making clubs more user friendly : The higher Moment of Inertia (MOI) built into hollow metal woods and cavity back irons makes them easier to hit;
• The graphite shaft, making it easier to attain higher club head speeds;
• The two piece (now multi-layered) balls which are not only of superior quality and durability but perform better than any balls in the past,
• The spring-like effect in titanium driver faces (an accidental discovery) allowing for increased ball speed and thus increased distance without any increase in club head speed.

Most of the innovations leading to more distance, except for the graphite shaft, have been introduced in the last eight years and the statistics on the PGA Tour demonstrate this. These show an increase in driving distance of 21 yards or 7.8 feet per year over the last eight years compared to 1.1 feet per year over the previous 27 years.

Most of us (not only the pros) have also benefited from these innovations, making our game more enjoyable but unfortunately these innovations have not had much effect on scoring. The pros are no different as their scoring has improved only 1 stroke per round over the last 30 years,which is surprising when we think about how good they are and how much farther they are hitting the ball than they were 30 years ago.

Can we expect these distance related technological advances to continue? Unfortunately for us, the answer is NO but this may be fortunate for the game. If this is the case then what can we look forward to in the next 10 to 15 years, or even next year?

Advances in technology, which will improve distance (something we all seek) are governed by the Laws of Physics irrespective of the rules governing the game. So, future innovations will be to make clubs more user friendly especially the long irons “Hybrids” and set make up will be different with fewer but more effective clubs. The ball is at the peak of its performance so the average golfer will be affected by optimizing for head speed. They will also be the beneficiaries of lower prices for very good balls. Golfers will also look forward to improved performance by accepting the fact that “real men do use 12 and 13 degree drivers” and learn to launch the ball higher with less spin, which is now being built into ball and club head design.

Yes we will continue to get some increases in distance but not from different technology but more efficient application of what we already have.

Enjoy your 2004 and keep in touch to see how you can take advantage of optimizing performance.

Have fun on the greens this year with The Frankly Frog, our new putter introduction. Designed by Frank to be the ultimate user friendly putter, it makes putting simple and easy. The Frankly Frog:

Stabilizes your stroke by taking advantage of perfect balance using advanced technology

Keeps your putts online as it starts the ball rolling immediately

Every putt feels sweet giving you ultimate confidence on the green

Learn more about The Frankly Frog and how you can leap ahead by clicking here

From January 29th-February 1st, the golf industry descends on Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

Franklygolf.com will be there, looking at the latest golf equipment products and will bring you a hype free assessment of "What's New". Frank will be there and having walked the show for 30 years, he can easily see what innovations are meaningful and we will cover the show during that week.

So stay tuned to franklygolf.com to learn about the new innovations in equipment, direct from Orlando.

Frank will be appearing on The Golf Channel on the 29th, 30th and 31st of January between 8 and 9pm EST to talk about the Merchandise Show and "What's New" in equipment.