4/16/2014 By Mike Hoye
Introduces Kick X Line Of Performance Golf Clubs and Equipment
VISTA, Calif. – After more than 20 years as the leading developer of golf swing training products, including the best-selling line of dual-hinged clubs, Medicus Golf is in the midst of a major expansion. The company has announced that it is moving all of its operations to Vista, Calif., a town in north San Diego County that together with Carlsbad is the epicenter of the golf equipment industry.
“Over the years, we’ve always had a location in Brunswick, Ohio for product design and manufacturing; and a warehouse and offices in Vista, Calif. for marketing and shipping,” said Medicus Founder Bob Koch. “We have expanded our staff, infrastructure and facilities in California to accommodate our new-product development plans and we felt it was important for all of our operations to be in Vista, the hub of the golf industry. Having one location to serve the needs of our existing customers, as well as new ones, will be a win-win for everyone. The process of fulfilling orders will be streamlined. This is a major step in the evolution of Medicus Golf and I could not be more excited.”
In a related move, Medicus has also announced the introduction of a new line of performance clubs and products, including drivers, fairway woods, irons, putters and golf balls. The Kick X Golf by Medicus brand represents more than three years of exhaustive research, development and testing. As with the array of Medicus training products, the Kick X Golf performance clubs, says Koch, “Will make it easier for people to play golf: to play it better, faster, and ultimately get maximum enjoyment out of the game.”
Developed by Koch with Mark Adams, former vice president of research and development at Tommy Armour Golf, the Kick X Golf by Medicus clubs feature innovative designs and new, leading edge technologies that create larger and hotter sweet spots on the faces of drivers and irons. The innovations in the clubs enable golfers to more rapidly and effectively apply the lessons learned from Medicus swing training devices and teaching methodology.
“It’s often hard to get ahead of the curve in this industry,” said Adams, who is now Medicus Golf’s vice president of product development. “But I believe we’ve accomplished this with our Kick X Golf by Medicus designs and technologies.”
From Training to Performance
A former PGA Tour professional who often talks about his struggles with the game, Koch founded Medicus Golf in 1986, after inventing the now widely-used dual-hinged clubs that help golfers address swing flaws. Medicus has since become one of the most successful golf training companies in the business, through a variety of training devices and accessories, videos on the short game and swing—including the popular “Pure Strike 5SK” program—and instruction both online and through its select golf schools.
With 5SK, or “five simple keys,” Medicus unveiled a training program which identifies and explains the five basic elements that every great golfer from Bobby Jones to Tiger Woods has in common in developing a consistent and repeatable golf swing. This is supported by a DVD collection, instructional book, training accessories, online videos and certified 5SK instructors around the world that now teach the five simple keys in their lessons.
“One reason teaching the five simple keys is so successful is because a student can focus on one part of the swing at a time,” says Koch. “Mastering these five fundamental movements, one at a time, helps golfers build a swing that enables them to hit the ball pure, with repeated accuracy and steady distance. We see it as a game changer for everyone.”
The next step in helping golfers, Koch determined, was to build performance clubs that took the training onto the course. “But we needed a new brand, so that players wouldn’t confuse the products with Medicus training devices,” he explains. “So we formed Kick X Golf by Medicus, and brought Mark Adams on board to make it happen.”
Die Hard Designer
A Canadian native who splits his time between his home in Niagara Falls and a Florida design shop in Orlando, Adams was a onetime General Motors tool and die designer. But for the past two decades he’s been involved in golf club innovation. Along with his R&D work at Tommy Armour, he served on the influential equipment panel of Golf Digest Magazine.
Adams also developed the sliding weight found in the back of the Kick X Golf hybrid, a feature now adopted by several other manufacturers. Called the Tracker SRT™ With Sliding Response Technology™, it enables players to move weight across the back of the clubhead and lock it into place. The shift in weighting can help golfers eliminate slices and hooks without changing their swing.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to develop clubs that are truly game-improvement equipment,” says Adams. “For example, the Kick X Golf by Medicus MA-9 irons are cast, but have the feel of a forged club and a larger sweet spot than what’s traditional.”
The Kick X Golf by Medicus “Blast Driveway” is the longest fairway-wood ever, a 12.5-degree club that can double as an effective and efficient driver. Boasting what’s called Compression Cavity Technology, or CCT, the club is designed to produce more power by compressing the entire clubface, and even the interior of the head, at impact. The CCT effectively has a trampoline effect, giving the ball more velocity off the tee, and thus distance. And like all other Kick X Golf by Medicus products, it conforms to USGA standards.
Fleisher Tested
Kick X Golf also offers four models of Zball™ putters, with lines that match up to those on the company’s new TourZ™ golf balls, for pure alignment during putting. The TourZ golf ball’s triple-layered cover provides a soft feel around greens, while its proprietary Metal Fuzion Core™ delivers explosive distance off the tee.
Many of the Kick X Golf by Medicus clubs have undergone real world tests by Bruce Fleisher, the hugely successful PGA Champions Tour player. Fleisher has used the clubs in tournaments, provides feedback to Adams and Koch, and serves as the brand’s ambassador.