"Until you see it for yourself, it's hard to realize you're doing it."

Pros Using Testing Labs to Polish Their Play

By Tom Spousta, USA TODAY

”It's not going to do you any good unless it's got the right shaft, right loft, and it's custom-fitted for you. The game's hard enough. Let's make it as easy as we can."

FORT WORTH, Texas — "Launch monitor ready," a computerized voice announces as Justin Leonard sticks a tee in the turf. Next to him, Chris Couch already has learned he's blasted several drives with ball speeds at 180 mph.

"C'mon, Justin, hit one hard," Couch teases.

"I'm just getting loosened up," says Leonard, who so far has topped out at 163 mph. A few swings later, Leonard reaches 167 mph and listens intently as the launch monitor's robotic monotone gives him unbiased feedback that also includes the ball's spin rate and launch angle off the clubface.

An extra 4 mph doesn't sound like much, but at the Nike Golf Research and Development facility — and other testing centers across the USA — players thirst for just such an edge, one that might be revealed while hooked up at the launch monitor or putting laboratory and translate into more prize money.

Leonard, Couch, and other pros consider testing akin to having a suit tailored instead of buying one off the rack.

"The machine doesn't care about the driver or who I am," Leonard says. "It's just taking the measurements you can't get with the naked eye."

Tiger Woods has seen the benefits for himself during occasional visits, especially when he switched to a big-headed driver and graphite shaft a couple of years ago.

In Carlsbad, California, Phil Mickelson hatched his two-driver Masters plan while testing at Callaway's performance center. Annika Sorenstam makes regular trips there, too. Retief Goosen and Paula Creamer tinker at TaylorMade's facility, also in Carlsbad. Vijay Singh keeps Cleveland Golf's people busy.

"You never know when you're going to find that magic tool, that magic putter, that magic driver," says Couch, who notched his first victory at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. "If we find something better while we're here, we're going to use it. Otherwise, you're not getting the most out of your game."

Amateurs would be wise to follow suit, pros say. Leonard often asks his pro-am partners why they play the ball and clubs in their bags. Answers are always the same: They saw one of their favorite PGA Tour players using that equipment on TV.

"I'll tell them, 'I know Tour players who can't play that ball. You're making the game harder on yourself,' " Leonard says. "It's the same thing with shafts and drivers. You have some guy using an 8.5-degree lofted driver with an extra stiff or stiff shaft and he's wondering why he hits it 8 feet off the ground.

"It's amazing how many people go and grab whatever driver or ball or iron is the hottest thing and start playing. It's not going to do you any good unless it's got the right shaft, right loft, and it's custom-fitted for you. The game's hard enough. Let's make it as easy as we can."

Leonard and Couch test several drivers, ripping tee shots down a practice range equipped with the same radar technology used to monitor weather.

In an effort to hit the ball higher with less spin, Leonard has switched to a 46-inch shaft (from 45 inches) and added loft to 9.5 degrees on his driver. That 4 mph increase in ball speed? It might mean an additional 5 yards of carry and 10-15 yards in distance, depending on ground roll and course conditions.

A putting lab, though, is where pros believe amateurs can truly change their games. Lasers, cameras, and a computer analyze every angle of the stance and stroke. Wires are connected to a putter and run to a device that looks like a hand-held video game.

Even Leonard was startled to see how far a putter blade can be out of position on takeaway, impact and follow-through. Though he authored one of the great putting rounds in major-tournament history during the final round of his 1997 British Open victory, his stroke had faltered in recent years — until he rediscovered it during a recent session.

"I was ... asking anybody I saw for putting tips," Leonard says. "I saw some of my numbers and the charts and just thought, 'Oh, that's awful.' "

Leonard tinkered with the ball position. Set himself to where his eyebrows were lined up over the ball. Then reminded himself of what he was taught as a youngster: head down, stay still. He finished 26th at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship and says he's putting better than he has in six months.

"It was like, 'Bingo,' " he says with a grin. "Until you see it for yourself, it's hard to realize you're doing it."

--May 17, 2006