We talked last week about demo days and a few of the benefits they offer the average golfer. I passed on a few tips that hopefully will help you get the most of a demo day. They can be a golfer’s best friend or one of their worst enemies. So many clubs… so many questions… so many choices… so many headaches.
Let’s now have a look at some demo day “don’ts”…
Don’t – Go To A Demo Day Without A Plan
Most reps I talk to say consumers are wasting their time going to a demo day without a general idea of what they’re after. My advice… head to your local shop a few weeks prior and hit a few clubs. You’ll start to develop a list of ones that you’d consider and those that you never want to hit again. You’re always better off trying a club outside before buying it so see if you can narrow your list to 3 or 4 choices. Go home and investigate these a bit more… check out what others have to say about them, do some online price shopping and visit manufacturer websites and read more about thier technology. Get to the demo day early, hit a few balls prior, seek out the clubs on your list and see if you can take a sample of each to another section of the practice facility for some head to head comparison. It’s also a good idea to take your current clubs with you… some players want to compare it to what they’ve already got and some reps want to see what you play right now.
Don’t – Turn It Into “The Great Race”
I love golfers that go to demo day and figure they should hit as many balls as possible in the least amount of time. They swing and swing and swing only to discover that they’re no better off at the end. They don’t take time to pick out a club that works for them and that makes it very hard to actually see how the club works. Don’t turn your next demo day into a “swingathon”… you’re only spinning your wheels and making yourself look like an idiot in the process.
Don’t – Be Afraid To Get A Bit Annoying
Ok I should probably clarify this one before every rep on the planet starts sending me mean emails. There’s bad annoying and good annoying. Bad annoying is hogging a rep’s demo equipment and basically wasting their time when you know that you’re not buying. Feel free to take a few swings with some different clubs but be aware of others around you. If you can see that it’s getting busy or there are some potential buyers waiting… let someone else hit some balls. The rep will appreciate it and so will your fellow golfers. Good annoying is asking good questions and asking to hit clubs with other shafts and specs. Don’t be afraid to take a few more swings to find the club you want. Three or four extra swings could be the difference between finding a club that works well and a club that can totally change your game.
So there you have it… a few more tips to make your demo days a bit more useful. I think the biggest bit of advice that I can offer has to do with the idea of creating a plan of attack. Know what you want to hit, know what kind of shafts might be best, have a few good questions to ask and bring along a few of your own clubs. You might be one demo day away from taking your game to a whole new level.
A few housekeeping items before I take off for the night. We’re going to slightly alter the way we write posts. Our site usually gets updated once a day at night… usually 5 days a week. SirPutts and I have decided to make our posts a bit smaller but increase how many we write. We plan on trying to post more than once a day and posting on weekends too. We hope this new system allows us to keep the site even more up to date than it already is. We’ll start this new posting system this week!
A special hello to our friend Mike over at Perform Better Golf. Mike’s site is full of great training DVD’s and aids. He is getting in the Father’s Day mood a bit early and will be having a Father’s Day sale starting June 5th. This sale is a great time to grab some training gear for your Dad or even for yourself. Talk to you later!