One man affixes electrodes to the back of another man in a room draped with white sheets. Lasers scan movements from grooves in the floor. Video cameras record one of the men taking a whack at a tiny white object.
This is not a science fiction movie. It's a GolfTEC practice session, where technology allows golfers to work on their game indoors and improve their swing during the winter months.
Franchise-owner Jeff Brier opened the first GolfTEC in Western Pennsylvania in July in Pine.
He's a Greensburg native who graduated from Penn State's professional golf management program in 1996 and landed in the North Hills after working for GolfTEC in Denver and Chicago for four years.
After extensive demographic studies, he chose the Wexford community for his franchise because it has a high concentration of his target customers. He consulted with David Glickman, vice president of retail real estate at Grubb and Ellis, Downtown, and planned this move for more than a year.
"We were certainly looking for a certain level of affluence," Mr. Glickman said.
What makes GolfTEC stand out in golf circles is the technology and the level of instruction. Cameras capture golfers' swings from three angles. Sensors measure and record each golfer's movements and compare them to a proprietary database of 150 top professional golfers. Computers enable the golfer to analyze each swing with the help of an instructor immediately following the action. Clients can access their lessons online from anywhere, at any time of day or night.
Mr. Glickman, who has been playing golf for eight years, was so intrigued that he signed up for GolfTEC lessons himself.
"I've taken lessons all over Pittsburgh, and nothing has been more productive," he said.
"My golf game improved after one lesson," he said, adding that he then spent more than $600 on a package of lessons.
Steve Poknis, 51, travels from Charleroi in Washington County to GolfTEC.
"As soon as they opened up in Pittsburgh, I went up there and I knew going in that it was what I wanted," he said. "I signed up for a package of lessons."
He said he has taken lessons from friends and teaching professionals, but no one else has the technology he found at GolfTEC.
His golf swing has improved with every lesson, he said.
"You get to see how you compare to the professionals and how you progress from each lesson."
Paul Furiga, who was hired to promote the business, also became a client.
"Anybody can turn a camera on you. But the way the technology is married to the level of teaching makes this unique," said Mr. Furiga, a public relations consultant who lives in McCandless.
He helped Mr. Brier launch the opening of the store on Route 19, one mile south of Route 910 near the Festival Food plaza.
"Golf is one of those things I'd like to do more of but I didn't feel that there was a way for me to practice," said Mr. Furiga, who started playing golf 10 years ago.
"This is the best time to do it [when] you can't golf outside in Western Pennsylvania," he said.
Sensors track a golfer's swing mechanics from front, back and side views. And they measure a number of complex movements: a golfer's backswing, attack and follow through.
When Mr. Furiga took his initial evaluation with Mr. Brier, he set a goal to golf in the low 90s. "If I can get 10 strokes off [my game], that would be amazing.
According to Mr. Brier, GolfTEC offers the only technology that analyzes champion golfers' swings and offers them on recorded videotapes for clients to study.
"Styles vary, but they do share many similar movements," he said of successful golfers.
During an initial hour-long evaluation, he helps golfers set goals. Some want to improve enough to get on the high school golf team. Some want to win a championship. Some just want more consistency.
But most just want to hit farther and straighter and feel more comfortable playing the game.
Mr. Brier was the top player on his high school golf team in Greensburg.
GolfTEC employs video and motion technology to track the following:
Path and angle of the club.
Club head speed and ball speed.
Smash factor, or how well you've hit the ball.
Distance the ball flies.
Speed at which it's hit.
Force with which it's hit.
Swing path.
Lessons include video recordings of drills, and chart the improvement each golfer makes.
Mr. Brier believes in the technology so much that he, together with his parents, paid $35,000 for the franchise. His GolfTEC has 200 students so far. It is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday; 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday; and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Eventually he wants to have enough students to fill each lesson slot 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He has signed a 10-year lease with an option to expand into adjacent space after five years.
"One of the keys to having a successful location is access," he said. With Interstate 79, and a target demographic within a 15- to 30-minute drive, he believes the North Hills location will pay off.
He said he intends to open another GolfTEC in the South Hills.
The comprehensive GolfTEC package costs $2,495 and includes 52 weekly lessons, yearlong practice, free fitting for a custom club and an initial evaluation which is required for all programs and costs $165 without lessons.
Lesson packages range from $365 for five lessons to $1,345 for 25 lessons. Individual half-hour lessons cost $85. With the purchase of a program, initial evaluations cost $95.
Practice sessions cost $25 per half-hour but clients may buy a three-month membership for $275 or a six-month membership for $450.
Other programs include short game and putting for $85 per half-hour lessons and club fitting for $95.
For more information, call Jeff Brier at 724-933-3434 or go to www.golftec.com.
First Published: January 8, 2006, 5:00 a.m.