The newest golf technology fixes all errors.

I golfed for the first time in years this past weekend. I had given up golf because I only hit every other shot well, and that is a very long golf game with far to many strokes. A group of us went golfing just for fun and that seemed reason enough to break my boycott. The expert of the group took one look at my 30 year old golf clubs and said that they would be "hard" to hit.

My clubs are in good condition and were hand me downs from my older brother, but they represent the bronze age of club technology. Since that time, golf technology has passed through the iron age, steel age on onward to carbon fiber composites, titanium and other extremely light metals, as well as new shapes and weighting to improve club effectiveness even further. The next generation of clubs will probably consist of plasma constrained by force fields.

One of our foursome let me try his technologically advanced golf clubs. He had a driver so advanced that it has adjustable weights to tailor the effect on the ball when you hit it. It also has a huge sweet spot. I went from topping the ball and only getting a good (but short) drive every third try or so to beautiful long straight drives with a delightful ping when the club hit the ball. That club was like confession, it covered up all of my golfing sins. After I swallowed my pride and starting borrowing his clubs for the second nine holes I shaved 11 strokes off the second half. It was sad that I had that many strokes to shave but the point is technology fixed my golf game. I actually birdied the 18th hole because I first used the great driver for a perfect drive, a perfect 9 iron to four feet from the pin. I sunk the put with a futuristic putter that forced me to have a correct pendulum like putter swing. I am a convert!

When I started playing tennis again last year I experienced the same effect. The last racket I had was purchased maybe 15 years ago, during the transition between wood and composites and actually was wood with carbon fiber inlay. The racket I got last year was half the price of that one, and half the weight at least. You can even buy clothes tailored to the specific sports activity with sweat wicking fibers that keep you cool during your workout.

What a great comparison and contrast of golf and tennis technology from long ago to today.

tags: golf, technology