Weekend golfers looking to shave a few strokes off their game have more options than ever to aid them in their quest.
GolfTEC, a nationwide franchise that uses high-speed cameras and software to analyze a player”™s swings, opened up in downtown White Plains at 190 E. Post Road last month. That”™s about 10 months after Motion Golf, which also uses high-tech methods to try and help golfers, set up shop next door at 188 E. Post Road (Business Journal July 23, 2007.)
GolfTEC has more than 120 franchises around the country, but the one in White Plains will be one of the company”™s two “premier stores” in the nation, said Tom Sialiano, director of instruction for the White Plains site.
At 3,500 square feet, it will also be one of the largest GolfTEC locations in the country, he said.
The company, which began in 1995, claims to have given approximately 1.3 million lessons across the country since then.
The facility will house four driving bays, and one putting bay, depending on what part of their game a customer wants to work on.
Wherever they are practicing, clients don a vest with sensors that measure specific body positions at every key point throughout the swing.
The instructor then utilizes motion analysis and high-speed video to analyze the swing to within 1/10th of a degree at any point during the motion.
The customer also has the option of pressing a button on a nearby video screen to replay the swing at different speeds, Sialiano said.
“It always helps to have a second set of eyes when learning and this technology is an incredible set of eyes,” he said.
In addition to the information provided by the cameras and sensors, the instructors have a video catalog of 150 pro golfers at their disposal.
The instructors can then put a split-screen image on the video screen to compare the students”™ swings to that of the pros.
Sialiano said practice regimens are based on feedback and what part of the game a customer would like to improve upon.
“The student tells us what their goals are,” he said.
Clients can also receive a computer disk with their lesson on it and hear voice instruction and notes from their teacher to review on their home computers.
The first lesson lasts around 90 minutes, with subsequent lessons being 30 minutes.
Generally, a person would take a lesson once per week for three to six months, Sialiano said.
Sialiano said that Westchester is a major golf epicenter, and the company wanted to establish a presence in White Plains to take advantage of that. If all goes well, GolfTEC may open locations in other areas of Westchester, he said.
He said the store has had the most successful opening month of any in company history, doing about $90,000 in sales.
GolfTEC also has portable bay” and can set up shop at private parties and corporate events, something Sialiano believes the company can be very successful doing in Westchester.
