eGolfTip.com Ready For Launch

After scouring the nation for golf's best instructors and creating a series of portable, affordable instructional videos featruing a number of golf's top 100 teachers, eGolfTip.com is set to launch just in time for the Holidays. The golf tutorial Web site hopes to help golfers translate an informative lesson into better play on the course. Here's how they plan to do it.

Many of us have experienced the phenomenon of immediate improvement during a golf lesson with an expert who has easily determined our swing flaws and offered up a quick prescription. A few tweaks to our alignment along with a pair of sensible swing thoughts and we're hitting it long and straight.

But too many times catching lightning in a bottle is short lived and we return to earth saddled with even more frustration and uncertainty about our game. If only we could replay that lesson in our minds and remember the intricacies that made such a stunning turnaround possible.

For the average, weekend golfer, remembering that one great shot often keeps us coming back to the course no matter what number gets posted on the scorecard. Yet we readily accept that it takes expert instruction to repeat those great shots on a regular basis. 

Thanks to the ingenuity and vision of professional baseball player and current member of the Houston Astros organiation, Jason Romano, and the increasingly wireless and portable nature of our technology, a cost effective solution is coming soon. His promise is to deliver helpful instruction in a fun, fast and affordable fashion.

Romano, who played for the Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Rays, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds, came up with the idea of short, functional online video instruction as a way to help his junior baseball students. During the off-season he worked with his private lessons in-person, but he needed a functional way to continue teaching once training camp began. 

The solution:  sharing videos via email.  Two things became apparent very quickly from this approach. First, juniors don't have the attention span or commitment towards lessons the way adults typically do. And second, many of us older "kids" prefer golf to baseball. Thus, the model was adapted to golf and eGolfTip.com was born.

The online resource will be cutting edge compared to other instructional Web sites in the industry, featuring video lessons, practice routines and much more taught by Top 100 golf instructors as rated by Golf Magazine, all in high definition.

Videos are shot and displayed using Divx HD technology. The Divx brand has become popular due to its ability to compress lengthy video segments into small sizes while maintaining relatively high visual quality.

Scheduled to launch Friday, Dec. 12, eGolfTip.com will feature only Top 100 golf instructors such as Mike Bender private coach of 2007 Masters Champion Zach Johnson. Each acclaimed instructor will cover critical shots and situations golfers may encounter during play, practice drills focused on improving specific aspects of the game, USGA rulings, the mental approach, and physical fitness. Each video session is expected to run between two and three minutes.

For example, instructors will teach you how to attack a "Fried Egg Lie" in a bunker by emphasizing the correct technique and instilling the proper swing thoughts you should be having when confronted with such a situation (choke up on the club, open the face, place the ball in the back of your stance...etc.)

Romano said the videos were designed to cover every part of the game to create a well-rounded golfer, similar to a five tool baseball player.

The Web site will also have a feature titled "Cart Talk" that will showcase celebrities, business executives and athletes discussing the game of golf and how it relates to their world. Scheduled to appear on this segment is Tampa native and five-time Major League Baseball All-Star Fred McGriff, who knows a thing or two about instructional videos.

eGolfTip.com's mobility affords golfers the luxury of accessing their golf lessons anytime and anyplace they want, at a fraction of the cost usually required for top-level instruction. Members will be able to store and archive all tips for future review. You will also be able to download a favorite tip to your iPod or Zune for reference while practicing at your local range.

The site is currently giving customers three subscription options. A "Mulligan" is a one week free trial with unlimited access to the site designed as an audition for eGolfTip.com. A month-by-month plan is available for $9.95 and a yearly plan is discounted to $99. Considering a single lesson with any of these professionals will run you an average of $150/hour (not including travel costs), the membership fees are excellent.

Each day members will receive a new tip sent directly to their email inbox. If you choose to view it at a later time, all tips will be accessible on the Web site for your convenience. There's a delicate balance between too little and too much of a good thing, so Romano will gauge member demands during the first quarter.

At a time when everything related to playing a round of golf costs more (from gas in the car to our drink at the turn), it's about time someone offered us an economical way to still chase that elusive dream of the perfect round!