Leaving on a golf plane

BRYCE ALDERTON

Eugene Albertini is 74 and still practices law in a seven-member firm

that does a lot of business in Newport Beach.

Albertini, a Newport Beach resident for six years until moving to

La Quinta with wife Gina last week, is also an avid golfer.

He didn’t pick up a club until he was 21, but became fixated with

the sport and has played it regularly since.

But this game can also provide plenty of frustration. Albertini

noticed that drives he used to consistently hit straight began

tracking left and right a little too much.

“They say when your income goes up so does your handicap,” said

Albertini, who concentrates primarily in civil litigation. “I

literally ran out of time to play golf and practicing wasn’t in the

cards for me.”

“My score was so erratic. One of five times I would be in the 70s,

the rest of the time I would shoot in the 80s.”

The scheduling demands of his job and other priorities leave

Albertini scant time to pound 200 range balls every day.

So two years ago he came up with a solution -- a golf club that

shows your swing path, instantaneously.

Albertini used his education -- he has a bachelor’s degree in

applied physics from UCLA -- to design a training club that uses a

laser beam to chart different stages of a golfer’s swing plane on a

mat. He calls it a Lazerplane.

The first one hit the market in March with the patent coming just

two weeks ago.

The idea is for a golfer to be able to see his or her swing plane

from start to finish. Albertini broke the swing down into 11 stages

-- beginning with set up and ending at the follow through.

The goal is for the golfer to hold a particular pose for at least

15 seconds at each of the 11 positions, to enhance muscle memory to

the correct swing positions.

A laser beam, which extends from the grip end of the club, draws a

straight line on the mat, allowing the golfer to gauge if he or she

is online.

The club weighs 30 ounces for men, 26 ounces for women and

juniors.

Golfers should swing up to 30% of their normal full swing --

nothing more, Albertini cautions -- to allow the muscles more

opportunity to learn the swing motions.

Jim Pooler, owner of Cal’s Caddyshack in Costa Mesa, likens a

golfer’s muscle memory to a baseball player swinging a bat.

“A guy who swings hard might not hit the ball very far, but for

the guy who swings easy, the ball goes forever,” Pooler said.

I took a drive to Cal’s on Tuesday to try this thing out. Derek

Hardy, who taught at Pelican Hill Golf Club for 13 years, observed,

making sure I held the club for at least 15 seconds and that I was

aligned properly.

Sweat droplets began to appear on my forehead as I held the club

at the top of the backswing.

I learned my back isn’t as strong as I thought it was.

After spending nearly an hour holding my swing in the various

positions, I also discovered muscles in my arms and legs I never knew

existed.

With Hardy’s expertise, Albertini drew straight lines for the

different stages of my swing onto the mat.

Imagine a semicircle intersected with straight lines crossing each

other. It looked like a geometry lesson.

Albertini stresses, though, that this technique isn’t a quick fix.

He said one needs 21 days to lose the old swing habits and 21 more to

form new ones.

Golfers are instructed to hold each of the 11 positions for 15

seconds. The goal is to perform 15 repetitions at each stage, but

Albertini said it’s perfectly OK to do five and work your way up.

Albertini initially designed the training aid to help himself, but

teaching pros and aspiring professionals have started testing the

aid.

Pooler said Estancia High golf coach Art Perry and Sage Hill

School coach Erik Gnagy have both expressed interest about having

their teams try the device in workouts.

“Each kid could spend 15 to 20 minutes a day [swinging the aid]

rather than hitting 100 balls and not knowing where their swings are

going,” Pooler said.

They might even sweat more.