Ocean State Golf

This writer had a chance to see a MATT (Motion-Analysis-Technology-by TaylorMade) System at the PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, Fla. in January. We were part of a media tour and didn’t get a chance to actually try it out.

How fortunate it was a month later to have a call from Steve Tolpa, manager of the TaylorMade Performance Lab in Bolton, Mass. at The International Club, asking me to come try out the MATT system.

I’ve talked to TaylorMade reps in the region, and they kept saying that I should bring someone from Ocean State Golf in to go through the program and write about it. As Billy Currington says in his country hit song, I was the man for the job.

There are only five of these labs around the country, and we are fortunate to have one less than an hour and fifteen minutes from Providence up Route 495.

Tolpa, 33 from Belchertown, Mass. used to work at The International as a youngster. He is a graduate of the University of San Diego and is a teaching professional. He previously taught and fitted clubs in Natick, Mass. before taking this position with TaylorMade.

“Our program is to provide quality club fitting specifically designed for TaylorMade clubs and to use our computer technology with the MATT system to learn about each individual’s golf swing and match the equipment to the swing rather than have the player adjust to the clubs,” said Tolpa as he fitted me with a harness with many electrodes to be screened by the six cameras and fed to a computer. “Take a few warm-up swings so that you’ll be ready for the scans,” he said as he handed me a TaylorMade six-iron.

There are four sets of shots that are part of the program, and each one is evaluated. First you hit six shots with the six-iron and then you go over to look at the results on the computer.

The computer shows your swing speed, tempo, angle of attack, spot hit on the club, and the degree that the club is open or closed at contact. You definitely see what patterns are being formed.

After the six-iron you a give a wedge and you repeat the same process.

Next is the driver, and this is where Tolpa did the most tinkering. The swing speed is obviously higher because of the length of the club, but he tried different shafts and different clubface positions as well as trying different types of drivers to get the best results.

We walked back and forth to the computer many times during the driver part of the program.

Lastly we tried the TaylorMade Rossa putter. Six putts from ten feet into a cup.

This reporter was lucky enough to make all six and made me think about changing to a Rossa. The computer shows the take-away, follow through and point of contact on the putter.

Once the hitting is completed the computer gives you a printout of what clubs would be best for you. The lie and loft are calibrated to your swing. The shafts are fit to your swing speed.

“Doesn’t it make sense to use the technology available to purchase the clubs that are best made for you? We want the people who come in for a club fitting to leave with the confidence to know that the clubs are best for them and they can validate what feels good to them when they hit differently designed clubs,” said Tolpa when we were finished.

The two and one-half hour fitting is not inexpensive, but it sure is thorough.

Usually it takes about a week to get an appointment.

If you are planning on purchasing TaylorMade clubs, it costs no more to order the ones that have been fitted to your swing. The fitting lab is indoors, but the driving range at The International is right outside, so you can swing the clubs in a natural setting with a launch monitor.

“We feel that we get people from a 100 mile radius of our facility, so the whole southern New England area is our market,” said Tolpa.

The International is a couple of minutes off Exit 27 on Route 495. You can visit www.tmplabs.com or call them at 978-779-2779