Tyler Talk

I can’t believe anyone thinks that is a bad idea. Probably the same people who criticized the “first down” line in football – can you imagine watching a game without that now? The truth is that the biggest challenge in putting is reading the green, and anything that can help illustrate that variable on tv is a good idea.

I don’t lke the line to be there while the ball is actually rolling. I like it before the putt, to help me see the contour of the green. But it is distracting during the actual putt.

I like the Aim Point although it must have not worked really well for TV fans or was too expensive (remember how the fist down line software was pretty expensive because it was patented?). They don’t use as much any more as they did at first.

I think it it a great tool. I remember seeing a putt recently by Lorena Ochoa on the 18th hole of a tournament she won that was going a little slower than the 12 or 14 inches past the hole Aim Point uses for speed calculations and hers was outside the blue Aim Point line but I knew the speed was quite slow and sure enough, it broke slightly more than the line portrayed and curled in with almost the last revolution of the ball because it was hit just hard enough to barely get to the hole.

Have any of you ever played Wii golf? I would like to see them do a graphic to go along with Aim Point like Wii uses with the graph-like “mowing lines”. I can really relate to the way the break is depicted on that game and have gotten to where I regularly one-putt 30, 40 and 50 foot putts. It has some sort of distance/speed/slope sensing software that after a while is pretty predictable but it also factors in the vast difference in uphill and downhill drag on the ball. The grid system is two-dimensional but because of the perspective shown like railroad tracks narrowing as they are farther away, it is easy to relate to visually with a little practice.

Wish I could “take that newly-found Wii knowledge to the course”!

I am, also interested in how Aim Point “maps” the green’s surface because it would seem there has to be some sort of topographical input that influence the coordinates it figures along the path. They must also have to calibrate the Stimpmeter or speed of the greens at each location into what must be a very complex set of variables.

Very intriguing!

Nice blog.

Later,

Ino