By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS The number of Americans at risk for heart attacks and strokes just got a lot higher — an estimated 103 million U.S. adults have high blood pressure, according to new statistics from the American Heart Association. That’s nearly half of all adults in the United […]
The post More than 100 million Americans have high blood pressure, AHA says appeared first on News on Heart.org.
By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS High cholesterol, diabetes and obesity can all lead to heart disease and stroke. But most American women don’t know if they’re at risk, a new poll finds. Six in 10 women are unaware of their cholesterol numbers, blood sugar levels or body mass index, according […]
The post Most U.S. women don’t know their personal risk for heart disease, poll finds appeared first on News on Heart.org.
Last week's PGA Show had little to offer in the way of fresh and compelling new ideas. That said, one could argue if any OEM produced a discernable vibe layered with newfound optimism and dare I suggest, excitement, it was Tour Edge.
It's not often an OEM focuses marketing efforts on a second-tier product, but that's exactly the approach Tour Edge is taking for 2018 with its Hot Launch 3 line of equipment.
The proposition is simple, the price affordable and yet it's a space in which few, if any, other OEMs are willing to play.
Tour Edge defines this niche as a place where consumers can access custom fit, game-improvement targeted equipment, built on the foundation of advanced technologies at uber-budget friendly price points. On top of that, Tour Edge guarantees an Amazon Prime fast 48-hour delivery on all custom clubs.
The third release in this line is the HL3 hybrid, which retails for $119.99. The tech story isn't dissimilar from what we often hear from higher-priced competitors and is no doubt what gives Executive Vice President John Craig confidence to assert "With HL3, you can get the best of both worlds; leading edge performance and a retail price that won't break the bank."
The face is crafted from 450 Carpenter Steel and incorporates VFT (Variable Face Thickness) to promote more ball speed retention on off-center strikes. The Power Channel serves as Tour Edge's "slot technology" giving the face more flex to increase initial ball velocity.
Want to win a…
Enter MyGolfSpy’s Giveaway!
Ranging from 48 grams to 60 grams and available in four flexes (L, A, R, and S), the stock shaft is produced by UST Mamiya exclusively for the Hot Launch 3 line. Exclusive Design in shaft parlance almost always translates as made for, and while these shafts are often less expensive to manufacturer (and tend to be higher launching/spinning as well) than after-market equivalents, let’s not forget the target audience for Hot Launch.
Hot Launch, as a line, is a "MOM" (Meat of the Market) release and my hunch is Tour Edge's balance sheet would reflect the reality that there are far more golfers out there looking for high value-low(er) cost products than gearheads and equipment junkies might readily admit.
It’s the opposite of the PXG Effect, and thus far, it’s a market space that’s proving to be a sweet spot for Tour Edge
The Hot Launch 3 hybrid retails for $119.99 and is positioned to replace 3-6 irons (lofts of 19°, 22°, 25°, 28°) and is offered in both right and left-handed models.
Tour Edge will be a full participant in this year's Most Wanted testing and in an environment where performance speaks for itself, it will be interesting to see what Hot Launch 3 has to say.
For more information, visit TourEdge.com.
“Every company is a media company,” Tom Foremski, ex-FT journalist and the editor of Silicon Valley Watcher, said a decade ago. He meant that increasingly, even companies that aren’t concerned with news or journalism must be able to make meaningful connections with customers with the written word.
Given the growth of content marketing, blogging, and social media, it seems pretty clear that the demand for good writers will remain high.
Starting your own writing business is easier than ever, but making it work as a full-time gig is still challenging. This article will help you think through whether making writing your primary occupation or looking at writing as a side gig might be a good opportunity in 2018.
Recently, I was helping a digital company in their search for a full-time copywriter. The search actually failed. Of the many professional writers around, none would consider full-time, long-term jobs.
Why?
They’re all self-employed now; they figured out how to make it profitable. In this era of omnipresent content, top-notch writing is in the highest demand—and freelancing has its benefits.
The broad market and flexible hours make this profession ideal for people with the right skill set. But before you dive in, evaluate your skills and be critical and honest with yourself. Are you a skilled writer? Are you ready to do full-scale customer service on your own? It’s one thing to write full time, but another to manage client relationships too. Are you knowledgeable enough in certain spheres to create compelling writing?
Yes? Good. Let’s look into details then.
The pay an aspiring writer can expect at first might seem discouraging when compared to any mid-level office position. Despite the demand for quality writers, and the increasing number of professionals in the field, there are not that many writers who actually make living exclusively from freelance writing. It’s not impossible, but to get there, they’ve been working hard for years. This isn’t meant to be discouraging, but it’s important to be real about what you can expect when you’re first getting started.
The professional, self-employed writer risks an irregular income. However, if you sign enough contracts and secure a couple of long-term gigs, you’ll be surprised at the potential. Think of each smaller writing gig as an opportunity to build a positive relationship with a company, so that you’re their first-choice for bigger and longer-term projects.
Pro tip: Don’t sell yourself short. Do some research so you can price your work according to your skill level and the scope of each project. Resources here and here can help you get an idea of the average range.
The competition in the writing field is high. To create a lasting relationship, provide outstanding customer service. Go the extra mile to give your clients the special treatment they can’t get anywhere else. Make it a practice to underpromise and over deliver.
Always do what you’re expected to do—get clear on expectations right from the beginning. Sounds basic, yet it can be tricky. For each job, write a brief proposal listing the exact scope of work the client expects you to deliver, based on an in-person meeting or phone or Skype conversation.
Pro tip: Make a detailed questionnaire for yourself to guide your conversation with your and form the foundation of your scope document. Ask your client to sign the proposal before you begin, as a gesture that they agree that you’re both on the same page. Keep it on file and email them a copy.
Writing needs relatively low startup investment, aside from the most valuable—your time and effort. A major in writing or journalism might help, but the certificates are not a must at all. You’ll need access to a computer, an internet connection, and a space that work that’s comfortable for you, where you can occasionally take phone or Skype calls with clients. If you like what you do, and your clients are happy, that’s all you need to run your business.
Establishing yourself as an authority is a sure way to increase your price tag. Pick the industry you feel most confident about, and become an expert. Do what you’re good at, and write about what you know. But keep learning. Find a mentor, preferably an exceptional editor that is willing to field your questions and help you build your skills. Keep an eye out for useful online courses and industry conferences. Don’t discount the value of a solid grip on grammar.
Pro tip: Writing experts generally have deep knowledge and engaging style. Work on your writing like you would on any business skills. Keep reading, blogging, and freewriting.
Most writers put having a flexible schedule at the top of their list of reasons to consider freelance writing. You can work from anywhere as long as there is Wi-Fi.
You’re also not linked to one employer. That gives you a wiggle room to set different hourly rates for different jobs. Say, social media management can bring you $15 per Instagram post, while a ghostwriting project can shell out something as pleasant as $15K in one run.
It probably won’t make you a millionaire unless you can figure out a way to scale your services without working 20 hours a day, but it does have some perks. The other benefit is that you don’t necessarily have to go all in and quit your day job while you build your writing business. You can start to scale it while you work your day job.
Pro tip: If you have the flexibility, think about moving to a country where the cost of living is adequate to your earnings. Thousands of writers choose Southeast Asia or the small European countries.
Here is a list of services that are in high demand now. Narrow it down to several options that you feel most confident about.
Whichever writing category you choose, you need to build a relevant portfolio. Make sure it convinces your potential clients that you’re the best candidate for the job. A proper web page with your best writing samples is the foolproof solution. Even better if you can point to published writing samples.
A few easy to manage portfolio platforms are Contently, Journo, and Clippings.me.
In general, bigger companies will usually have bigger budgets, so they can be more lucrative. Medical and business writing are charged top-of-the-range, so look into healthcare and business development industries for higher fees. If you plan writing for web publishers, the rates database from Contently is well worth looking through.
To start building your client base:
Reach out to your friends, colleagues, community and online connections. Tell them that you’re looking for clients, and make sure that you’re making it easy for them to access your portfolio of work. Create some business cards and use them. The chances that someone in your circle needs writing services are pretty high.
There are lots of benefits to finding local writing work. It can be easier for you to immerse in a company’s brand and voice when you can meet in person. Figure out the best person to contact and see if they need your particular writing skillset for any upcoming projects. Remember that a big part of writing for companies is understanding and being able to write in their brand’s established voice and tone.
Clients you find using online freelancing platforms might not seem like they have quite the potential for building long-term relationships. But these platforms can be useful for drumming up occasional work. There’s always the possibility that a single project that goes well could grow into something bigger.
Upwork and Freelancer are popular platforms.
On Upwork, you create a writer’s profile and get updates through email when clients pick you to pitch for their projects. It’s fair to think you might get several calls per month if you took the time to write a quality profile.
Freelancer is full to bursting with opportunity, but the competition is crazy. You’ll need to stay constantly tuned in to get a good catch.
But be careful out there. The bad news is that both of those platforms have been regularly reported for scams. Use common sense, and remember that anything that seems too good to be true probably is. The good news is that there are new platforms popping up every day. Look into Fiverr, ProBlogger, and PeoplePerHour for starters.
LinkedIn can be a good source of potential client leads. If you defined your niche already, you know the work and clients you want. Who would you like to write for? Say, hospitality? Finance? Go to LinkedIn and type it into the search bar. In the results window, switch to the “Companies” tab to see the list of businesses with your keyword. Pick a company, and click on “See all employees on LinkedIn” link to proceed.
Write a strong pitch that’s customized for each company, and send it out to the content officers. It feels more professional than cold emailing—and more convenient for the employers to send you an instant reply.
ProTip: You are guaranteed to get rejected. It will happen; it’s part of being a freelance writer. Not every gig is the right one for you. Don’t let it get you down. Use those rejections as opportunities to fine tune your pitch.
Starting a writing business is challenging, yet no more challenging than starting any other business. Spend time on proper planning, outlining your roadmap, defining the obstacles, and deciding how you will overcome them. Now go for it.
TaylorMade is on a bit of a roll with its golf balls. While Titleist remains, by far, the most dominant ball in golf, TP5 is the real deal, and that’s given the company and its balls some real tour momentum. Twist Face drivers may be getting all the attention right now, but TaylorMade staffers are winning, and they’re doing it with TaylorMade balls in the bag.
That’s the happy bit of the story, but TaylorMade understands the reality that $50/dozen tour balls will likely never be the biggest seller for any ball company not named Titleist. TP5 might not reach elite golfers the same way a Pro V1 does, but for average golfers, there’s some serious appeal to a tour-quality ball at a significantly lower price. The success of Vice and Snell among others suggests that's the way the market is trending, so it’s worth mentioning that TaylorMade started down that path way back in 2014.
The Project (a) (why the brackets?) is a three-piece golf ball with a cast urethane cover, just like the Pro V1. Until the TP5 launched, Project (a) was TaylorMade’s most successful golf ball model, despite flying mostly under the radar. The Project (a) could hold its own against anything at a similar price point, and you can bet TaylorMade believes its new (a) can more than do the same against anything sub-$40. And yeah, that includes Titleist’s new non-urethane covered Tour Soft.
So what has changed between Project (a) iterations?
I’ll give you one guess.
Yup, distance.
Consumer feedback showed that only 7% of Project (a) consumers chose the ball because of distance. Short off the tee? Not dramatically so, but as you’d expect, TaylorMade has worked hard on increasing driver distance without sacrificing Project (a)’s soft feel. Yes, that’s right, TaylorMade makes a soft ball too.
TaylorMade claims the new Project (a) is producing upwards of 10 more yards off the tee compared to the previous version.
How is that possible?
First up are the dimples. There’s always a dimple story. The new (a) leverages the seamless 322 dimple pattern from the TP5 and TP5x. That gets you less drag so, all things being equal, the ball travels farther through the air.
Second, there’s a new Dual-Distance core. An extra large inner core helps reduce spin, while the firmer outer core helps retain speed. For good measure, a thin urethane cover helps provide soft feel and better bite for more greenside spin.
Is Project (a) a tour ball for the masses then? That’s been the message since 2014, and frankly, it’s a ball that probably hasn’t received all the attention it deserves – and that was before TP5, which TaylorMade believes will prove to be a better performing ball for just about anyone.
Project (a) was originally marketed as a tour-quality ball for slow to moderate swing amateurs, but its position has shifted a bit to target the feel driven and now distance driven golfer. Our hunch is that for some within that group, it’s still a better ball than the TP series, while remaining a bit of a sleeper for soft feel at a price crowd.
Bottom line, it’s a good ball worth another look.
Available in White and Yellow. Retail price is $39.99
Also announced is the new Project (s), a 3-piece Ionomer cover ball designed for slower swing speeds. Compression is lower than that of Project (a), and according to TaylorMade, offers the softest cover in its category.
Softer, longer, and less than $25 a dozen. That’s your headline.
Available in White, Yellow, and Matte Orange. Retail Price is $24.99
What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur?Starting a business isn’t for the faint of heart. It can be one of life’s greatest experiences, but it is filled with obstacles and potential failure.
Do you have the right mix of leadership, experience, support, planning, and the ability to handle difficult obstacles? Take our entrepreneur quiz to find out.
Do your best to answer as honestly as possible, and we’ll analyze your results. Based on your outcome, we’ll provide steps you can take to follow your dream of becoming your own boss. We’ll also recommend resources to help you each step of the way.
If you already have a good sense of where you fit on the entrepreneurship scale, then maybe you just need help taking the next step.
Skip the quiz and check out our tips and recommended resources for each step of the way:
No doubt about it—you’re entrepreneur material!
You know how to lead a team, have a solid business idea, and know how to handle failure. You understand the value of planning ahead and have a supportive network of friends and family.
Not only that, but you’re in a good financial position, and you have the necessary experience to get your business up and running.
Now is a great time to put together a business plan, and start taking steps to launch your very own business!
We’d recommend you start by writing a business plan. A business plan will help you think through important aspects of your business strategy, so you can increase your odds of success.
Check out our Free Business Plan Template.
You’re nearly there!
You have a lot of the building blocks in place to be successful, especially with regard to leadership, dealing with failure, and planning ahead.
Your finances might need some work, and your business idea could use some refining. Your experience has given you a great foundation, but you could benefit from someone to push you to the next level.
It’s time to start looking for a partner. Look for someone who has strengths that will balance out your weaknesses, and can add real value to your business. This might be a good friend, a spouse, or a trusted mentor. You might not need an official business partner, but find someone who will be a good sounding board and is willing to join you on your path to starting a business.
Check out our guide: How to Find a Business Partner.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
While you’re excited to become self-employed, you could really use a bit more hands-on learning before you’re ready to jump out on your own. You have a lot of the pieces necessary to be a successful entrepreneur, but you will benefit from a mentor who can share his or her experiences to help you grow.
Take some time to identify a mentor you can trust. A mentor is a teacher—a strategic advisor—that a budding entrepreneur can turn to with questions and get valuable advice, tailored directly to their industry and specific business situation.
Check out our guide: How to Find a Mentor.
You’ve got a great spirit, and maybe even a solid business idea. The only problem is that you’re just not quite ready to start your own business.
You’re the essence of untapped potential, and we have no doubt that you’re going to be successful someday. Before that can happen, however, we need an 80’s movie montage that shows you working hard, bulking up, and hitting key milestones (all while a top 40 hit rocks on in the background).
In all seriousness, you need some more education and experience. That could be in the form of an MBA course, but it doesn’t have to be. The Bplans blog is full of free resources and articles to get you started. You could also take some free online business courses, or simply try starting a much smaller version of your business idea in order to learn what works and what doesn’t.
The point is, you wouldn’t take a long road trip without first looking at a map and planning your route. Think of this as your chance to roll out the map, make a plan, and plot your course.
It’s time to hit the books. Lucky for you, you’re already in the right place. We have a ton of free resources to help you validate your business idea and learn about what it takes to start and successfully grow a business.
Check out our guide: How to Start a Business
This isn’t easy to say, but you shouldn’t start your own business just yet.
Let’s be clear: we’re not saying to abandon your dream! Your heart is in the right place. It’s just going to take a bit more time before you should step out on your own.
Does that mean you should sit around and feel bad? Not at all!
There are some clear steps you can take to make progress and get yourself ready to start a business. You can work to improve your financial situation. You can actively develop skills as a leader. You can start building a supportive network of friends and mentors who have the experience you lack. You can do more research to validate your business idea.
First of all, keep your day job. You’re going to need that to provide a financial safety net while you start taking steps to build your own business. Many experts recommend running your own business on the side for at least two years before you should consider quitting a full-time job. Next, identify areas where you need to improve, and start setting some personal goals that you’d like to achieve.
Check out our guide: How to Come Up with a Good Business Idea.
No matter where you are on the entrepreneurship scale, there’s always room to improve your knowledge and skills. It’ll make you more likely to succeed over the long term.
At Bplans, we’re here to offer you help along the way. To stay up to date on our latest tips and advice, you can sign up for email updates, or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Over the weekend, Callaway’s Senior VP of Marketing (and also President of OGIO), Harry Arnett lobbed a Twitter grenade at Titleist, which for the sake of context, still lays legitimate claim to being the #1 Ball in Golf™.
At least that particular Trademark reflects reality.
Harry’s tweet, which will almost certainly go down as the opening salvo in a protracted ball war, was in response to an ad Titleist ran during the Farmers Open.
Here’s the tweet
Hi,@Titleist.How're things? Love whole "trust" thing you got going.Speaking of,just saw ur new piece comparing ur new 2-piece surlyn ball to our urethane ball.Pretty misleading & untrustworthy comparing 2piece surlyn to urethane. Why not Show ProV1 vs Chrome Soft?Oh,I know why.
— Harry Arnett (@HarryArnettCG) January 27, 2018
Make sure to check out the stream of replies. You’ll find a mixed bag of Titleist and Callaway loyalists defending their brands. Even Callaway Staffer, Daniel Berger, weighed-in in defense of Chrome Soft.
The specific point of contention is a couple of charts favorably comparing Titleist’s new Tour Soft golf ball to Callaway’s Chrome Soft, Bridgestone’s Tour B RXS, and TaylorMade’s TP5.
We mentioned that comparison in our recent story on the Tour Soft while pointing out that positioning the performance of a 2-piece Ionomer (at least mostly ionomer) covered ball alongside 3, 4, and 5-piece urethane balls is a bold move.
Arnett’s take is that the ad is misleading and untrustworthy; words almost certainly chosen to undermine Titleist’s message of trust. I don’t want to put words in Harry’s mouth, but given just two letters, I think he’d go so far as to call it BS.
To its credit, Titleist lays out the basis for its claim with more detailed fine print than you’ll find in most golf ads.
In case you missed it in the video, that fine print reads:
“Driver distance results from machine testing setup condition of 140 mph ball speed, 12 degree launch angle, spin rate 2900 rpm: Titleist Tour Soft golf balls are 5 yards longer than Callaway Chrome Soft, 4 yards longer than TaylorMade TP5 and 2 yards longer than Bridgestone Tour B RXS. Tour Soft is 14 compression units softer than Chrome Soft, 15 units softer than TP5 and 12 units softer than Tour B RXS.”
By those numbers, I suppose you can make a case that Tour S is better. Certainly, the lack of a greenside spin comparison, particularly when urethane balls are part of the discussion, is a red flag, but in previous communication, Titleist has been clear about its belief that Tour Soft can hold its own around the green with those other balls.
The issue…at least Harry’s issue is that Titleist is comparing apples (urethane tour balls) and oranges (less than tour balls).
And that raises an interesting question: Fundamentally, is it reasonable, fair, honest, trustworthy, etc. to compare a 2-piece, ionomer ball to 3+ layer, urethane Tour balls? It’s a question for which the answer is more opinion than fact, but I’m certain that if MyGolfSpy made a similar comparison in a ball test, we’d get blasted – and my opinion is that we’d deserve it.
That said, I’m not entirely sure that Titleist crossed the line here. Should we make comparisons based on performance, based on layers and materials, or both? Again, answers are matters of opinion, not fact, but it’s not a comparison I’d allow to be made on MyGolfSpy unless our stated intent was to compare two unlike things.
The other side of this – likely the Titleist side - is that there is a segment of golfers who don’t much concern themselves with layer counts and cover materials. If distance and feel are the metrics that matter, then maybe it is a reasonable comparison. Materials and layers may not compare, but performance – according to Titleist - does. There are inarguably golfers who want a ball that’s long and soft, and probably cheap too. If Tour Soft is that ball, the rest maybe doesn’t matter.
Ionomer vs. Urethane – meh
2-piece vs. 3+ - also meh
Long, soft, cheap, and spinny-enough around the greens.
Want to win a…
Enter MyGolfSpy’s Giveaway!
The validity of the comparison ultimately boils down to the audience. For my audience and as I’ve said, I don’t like it, and given Titleist’s positioning as a brand for serious golfers, it is, perhaps, a dubious comparison as well. My concession here is that every brand has to reach less-than-serious golfers if it hopes to succeed. Tour Soft is one avenue for Titleist to do just that.
There may also be a strategic element in this. It’s possible that Titleist is hoping to create an equivalency between its non-tour ball and its competitors’ higher-priced tour offerings with the hope that it can then market AVX as the tour-level alternative to what it has previously positioned as lesser balls.
Followers of Harry Arnett know that he sometimes comes across as a reckless hothead; a twitter bull in the internet's china shop. He’s been known to mix it up with competitors, followers, and most definitely MyGolfSpy staffers. I believe that Harry often shoots genuinely from the hip, but I think this one was planned. Perhaps not letter for letter or word for word, but sooner or later Harry was going to fire a shot and when an opportunity presented itself…Harry did Harry things.
There's a case to be made he outdid himself. A conversation is being had. A timeline may have been accelerated.
There was plenty of chatter at the recent PGA Show that Callaway was going to try and make a move in the ball market, and so here you go. Callaway has cemented itself as a clear number 2 in the ball category. With Chrome Soft it has an established franchise that resonates with a segment of golfers, and it has plenty of that oft-referenced momentum that CEO's love to talk about.
The timing is right.
As Callaway moves forward, Titleist is taking fire from all sides. Direct to consumer (both white box and balls with actual R&D behind them) are cutting into the bottom line. It’s locked up in litigation with Costco, and Chrome Soft has almost certainly forced it to play a bit of defense and design with soft in mind.
With AVX lying in wait, Titleist hopes Tour Soft can begin the process of taking back some of what it lost to Callaway, but with all the talk of Graphene infusion, Callaway certainly has the better story (your performance mileage may vary) going into 2018.
While I’m sure there are firm opinions on both sides, what remains to be seen is whether Chrome Soft can thrive with a $5 price hike. If consumers are devoted to Chrome Soft because of the way it performs, then expect the momentum to continue. If, however, consumers love Chrome Soft because it’s soft and cheap, then Titleist has a real opportunity to do some damage with its softer and cheaper Tour Soft.
Not that you asked, but I’m 50/50 on this one. Chrome Soft continues to evolve into a better golf ball, but with each iteration, it gets a little firmer, and now a little more expensive, and with that, a little more removed from what first attracted the consumer to the ball. That could prove to be problematic for Callaway. It could also prove to be nothing at all. Like I said, 50/50.
Whatever you think of Harry’s tweet and the resulting discussion, I can assure you this is just the beginning as Callaway looks to make a serious push towards unseating Titleist as the #1 Ball in Golf (at least at the consumer level). If it happens at all (HUGE IF) It won’t happen overnight, it won’t happen this year, and probably not next year either. Make no mistake, though; this is most definitely the beginning of a serious ball war that, if Harry Arnett’s first tweet is any indication, will be loads of fun to watch.
MyGolfSpy reached out to both Harry Arnett and Titleist. Both declined further comment.
My favorite five secrets of a great business team? This list came to me first as an answer to the question how do you build a great business team on Quora. These five points aren’t something from the business school curriculum. They come from the experience of actually doing it, recruiting a team and growing a business from zero to millions. (For more on that story, click here).
The post 5 Secrets of Creating a Great Business Team appeared first on Planning, Startups, Stories.
By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS On the heels of a study that showed infant deaths from critical congenital heart defects fell by one-third in eight states that first mandated a newborn screening test, experts now look forward to technological improvements in the test so that more babies’ lives can be […]
The post Pulse ox screens catching many newborns with heart disease, but there’s room for improvement appeared first on News on Heart.org.
Lost in the flurry of PGA Show releases, and perhaps even FootJoy’s own classically stylish throwback 1857 Collection was the release of the Tour S Golf shoe.
You may recall that a couple of years ago FootJoy tried to make a run at shoe fitting based on the idea that, in addition to finding the right size (and width), it was also important to fit for how your feet move in the swing. FJ FreeStyle (my favorite), for example, is a prime example of a mobility shoe. It’s for those of us with what I’d suppose you might call busy feet in our golf swings.
On the opposite end of the spectrum are stable shoes. In a less than literal sense, they’re designed for golfers who benefit from being anchored to the ground. Think of these shoes as offering a firm, stable base, and not a ton of wiggle room. It’s a platform, or at least a notion, that many golfers love and so I suspect many golfers will love FootJoy’s new Tour S.
I’ll touch on the tech in just a bit, but the big takeaway here is that the Tour S is the most stable shoe in the FootJoy lineup, in fact, it’s the most stable FootJoy shoe ever. Basically, it’s the polar opposite of FreeStyle. How I feel about that is very much TBD.
The stability comes from what FootJoy calls POWERPLATE technology. In simple terms, it’s an outsole design consisting of two key design elements.
The outsole is made from Pebax, an elastomer that’s stiffer but more responsive than TPU. One of the things you’ll likely notice with the Tour S is that it’s not particularly pliable – and that’s exactly what FootJoy wants in the Tour S. What you lose in flexibility, you get back to an extent in responsiveness. Pebax springs back faster than TPU, and ultimately that means less fatigue over the course of a round.
The second stability element is the addition of what FootJoy calls Launch Pods. The pods are what house the spikes, and while it’s easy to get caught up in the aesthetics, their purpose is actually to widen the cleatbed so golfers can better leverage ground forces to create more power in the golf swing. It’s also worth mentioning that that Launch Pods in the toe area are comparatively narrow to allow the golfer to rotate thought the swing without interference.
As a weight saving measure, FootJoy has replaced the metal shank traditionally hidden in the middle of its soles with lighter visible carbon weave fiberglass. The same material is also visible in the heel cup where it again saves weight without compromising stability.
A golf shoe, no matter how stable, is pretty much worthless if it isn’t comfortable. With that in mind, FootJoy has bundled plenty of comfort features into the Tour S.
That last one is particularly interesting to me. My one and only knock with the Pro SL was that I felt the tongue was a bit longer (and firmer) than it needed to be. With the Tour S, the foam-based tongue is much softer on the foot. It’s a simple, yet positively brilliant innovation.
FootJoy has already seen some of its Pro SL players switch to Tour S, and the expectation, or at least the hope, is that staffers who are still in the XPS-1 (the previous most stable shoe in the FootJoy lineup) will make the jump to the newer model, specifically for its increased stability, lighter weight, and improved comfort.
Tour S is a new flagship in the FootJoy line and with that you can expect a couple of things.
Firstly, it’s going to be available in a tremendous number of size and width combinations. I’d wager it will be the most complete offering in the golf shoe industry this year. As I’ve said before, if you can’t find a FootJoy that fits, you might want to think about getting new feet.
Secondly, as you’d begrudgingly expect, it’s priced like a flagship shoe. FootJoy is doing a bit of consolidation and SKU reduction, so initially, the laced version ($249.95) will be available in 3 colorways (white, white/blue, and black) and the BOA version ($279.95) will be available in a single white/gray colorway.
Given recent trends, I’d expect FootJoy to add additional colorways at a later date.
Retail availability begins 2/5/2018.
