Courtesy: Alpha Golf

At the end of December, I received an email from Joe Simon at Alpha Golf, a division of Kent Sports.

Joe had read my post on Andrew Coltart's issues with length off the tee. Coltart is worried that he can no longer keep up with the long hitters. I noted that his problem has to be more than just equipment since the latest technology is available to everyone - pro or amateur.

That prompted Joe to write with an offer: try out Alpha Golf's new V5 driver.

I accepted because, as Joe pointed out, Alpha's drivers have helped to capture the Re-Max Long Drive Championship six times in recent years. That's impressive despite the custom length shafts those big sluggers are using in competition.

Alpha Golf is shipping me a V5 with a 12 degree loft and a 43 inch regular flex shaft. After interviewing top club maker, Tom Wishon, I opted for more loft and less length.

Wishon contends the vast majority of amateurs use a driver with too little loft and a shaft that is too long, even though it's off the rack.

I'm excited to see how more loft and less length work together. I'll have the chance to put the club in play next month in Orlando and I will plunk something into this space following the experience.

If any readers own or have tried Alpha's drivers (or their other clubs, for that matter), let us know. The more opinions, the better!

In the meantime, I have linked to Alpha Golf's new blog in my blogroll. From there, you can go straight to the company's website.

A more recent post of mine concerned the plethora of online golf coaching sites. That sparked an offer from Steve Farrell at WebGolfCoach.com to try out the process myself.

I have accepted. There doesn't seem to be a better way to find out how helpful an online lesson can be. I will be posting my experience and thoughts here, as well.