There exists a contingent of consumers who feel technology and putters are mutually exclusive entities.
Don't count TaylorMade among the Luddites. Yesterday, it introduced its first-ever technology integrated putter – the Spider Interactive Powered by Blast. Yes, it's a mouthful, but the concept is one likely to catch the eye of both consumers and competitors.
The Spider model has been a success story for TaylorMade at both the retail and professional levels – so it made sense to use it as the canvas for this endeavor.
For this high-tech Spider, TaylorMade collaborated with Blast Motion (sensors) and SuperStroke Golf (grips) to create a putter which can measure performance attributes (backstroke time, forward stroke time, stroke speed, face rotation) and leverage these metrics to provide user-specific training modules and drills along with YouTube videos from TaylorMade's instructional partners.
To make this platform run, users will need to download a mobile app. The iOS version will be available March 1st, and an Android-compatible one is expected sometime during the second quarter.
If feedback improves performance, it stands to reason then that more timely and accurate feedback should help players improve faster. If integrated technology can accelerate the teaching-learning-improvement process, we're likely to see more OEM's follow Cobra (partnered with Arccos) and TaylorMade (partnered with Blast) down this path.
One small caveat with the Blast sensor is that it's not USGA conforming. Effectively, the rules say you can't use it to gather data during your round. Blast is a practice tool, it wasn't designed for on-course use, but it's something you should be aware of. The putter includes a yellow "dummy sensor" for use in situations where the USGA rules matter, but the fact that the grip precludes the use of on-course conforming technologies such as Arccos is a bit of a bummer. Given that Blast is available as an add-on product that isn't embedded in the sensor, I'm not sure the convenience of integration exceeds its limitations or its cost.
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This is not uniquely a TaylorMade/Blast problem. Anyone who has ever tried to use Arccos with a counterweighted SuperStroke grip has figured out that you can't have both. No doubt the Spider Interactive is a compelling offering, but it's important to understand that the inherent limitation here is that you can use the new Spider with Blast and Blast only...at least until someone figures out how to make competing technologies play nicely.
Availability & Pricing
The Spider Interactive will be available for purchase on March 23rd at a retail price of $399. It will be offered in two lengths 34"-35" and two models - one face-balanced and one with 21* of toe-hang. Both models come in RH and LH.
What technology do you want in a putter? Is this too much, or a step in the right direction?
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