The new Stroke Lab Triple Track line for 2020 from Odyssey Golf is going to make a lot of golfers happy, as the company is now introducing its famous Triple Track alignment system from golf balls to putters. To make it really simple for our readers, the Triple Track alignment system is the best thing ever invented in the golf-world in terms of alignment aids, and this makes the new putters incredibly alignment-friendly so to speak. So, one may ask, okay, but what is a Triple Track after all’s said and done?
The short answer is, just take a look at a golf ball, more precisely at the Callaway Triple Track system, and that’s about all there is to it: 3 high-res parallel lines which are drawn onto a golf ball in order to assist with alignment issues. However, when it comes to putters, things are a bit more complicated, and this stands true even with golf balls, because a golf ball is a spherical object by definition, and if you try to put 3 parallel lines on a sphere is not as easy as it sounds.
In the simplest terms, if you’re not looking at those lines from a 90 degree angle, of something very close to perpendicular, you’ll understand that they’re not actually straight. That’s because the Triple Track technology which is borrowed from the aviation industry (it helps planes to land on carriers if memory serves) uses something called Vernier Acuity, or, to quote from Wiki, the ability to discern a misalignment among 2 line segments or gratings. The human eye’s’ Vernier Acuity capability is what makes sure you aligned appropriately when putting or whatever.
That means the human eye is very good at detecting parallel lines, and this may be an evolution-related trait, who knows; the point is, Callaway golf collaborated with an optometrist and the end result was Triple Track technology applied to golf balls, and yes, they are now improving their putters in the same high-tech fashion. The next question is, what is Stroke Lab? The short answer is a revolutionary technology applied to putters, which is developed to improve the stroke’s physical dynamics. That’s what Stroke Lab putters are first and foremost, and the secret to weight distribution lies in Odyssey’s specially designed Stroke Lab shaft. The thing is, the Stroke Lab shaft is incredibly light, a full 40 grams lighter compared to a “vanilla” steel-made shaft. The Stroke Lab shaft is built using composite materials, specifically a graphite body plus a steel-tip; the end result of the multi-material design is a feather-light shaft that weighs a mere 85 grams, with most of the weight being concentrated in the steel-made tip, obviously.
And yes, the new technology works great in terms of allowing players to sink more putts, at least if we are to believe Odyssey Golf’s claims, i.e. the improved shafts/weight distribution leads to, let us quote, “improvements in the consistency of backswing time, face-angle at impact, ball speed, and ball direction,” while “feel for the putter head becomes more acute.”
But wait, there’s more: besides the Triple Track technology extravaganza, Odyssey Golf is really good at roll and inserts, hence the new putters are designed with the company’s popular Microhinge Star face insert for improved sound, leading to increased player feedback. This revolutionary insert makes the face firmer, which means you’ll get more distance, thus the correlation between sound and feel gets improved significantly.
All these technologies put together are meant to help golf players putt better, and that’s great. But wait, there’s more than Stroke Lab Triple Track, as the company chose to expand its best selling Stroke Lab Black family with extra models, which include the Seven, One, Double Wide, and R-Line Arrow. Here’s Sean Toulon, general manager for Odyssey commenting on the Triple Track technology:
“It really has nothing to do with a golfer’s ability level. Almost nobody is a good aimer. You’re not going to hit much if you can’t aim at the right place or don’t know where you’re aiming. Average golfers don’t aim well and they are wildly inconsistent. That’s in effect what this is. All you have to do is connect the lines from the putter to the lines on the golf ball, and you no longer have to worry about alignment. From there, all you have to worry about is speed.”
Finally, if you’re already sold on the latest gear from Odyssey, the good news is that you can already order the Triple Track and Stroke Lab Black putters, with prices varying depending on the specific model, i.e. the Triple Track starts at $249 and the Stroke Lab Black start at $299.
