In this week episode I interview my good friend, Ian Zubkoff, the Executive Vice President of Super Stroke to discuss the amazing growth of this iconic golf brand.
Not too long ago, all golfers basically used the same grips. SuperStroke was created to change that. In 2009, they launched a radically different line of putter grips. They knew they would help golfers shoot lower scores. What they didn’t know was how quickly they would change the game.
To date, SuperStroke grips have been used to earn more than $500 million in major championships and PGA Tour events. They’ve also helped amateurs around the world shoot career-low rounds and earn important bragging rights over friends and family.
As scientific as golf has become, it will always be a game that blends art and science. And that’s just as true when it comes to golf grips. From driver to putter, we all golf our own unique way. Our bodies are different. Our swings are different. We all need different things to play our best.
At SuperStroke, it’s their mission to help golfers make every swing and every stroke the best it can possibly be.
In this week episode I interview my good friend, Ian Zubkoff, the Executive Vice President of Super Stroke to discuss the amazing growth of this iconic golf brand.
Not too long ago, all golfers basically used the same grips. SuperStroke was created to change that. In 2009, they launched a radically different line of putter grips. They knew they would help golfers shoot lower scores. What they didn’t know was how quickly they would change the game.
To date, SuperStroke grips have been used to earn more than $500 million in major championships and PGA Tour events. They’ve also helped amateurs around the world shoot career-low rounds and earn important bragging rights over friends and family.
As scientific as golf has become, it will always be a game that blends art and science. And that’s just as true when it comes to golf grips. From driver to putter, we all golf our own unique way. Our bodies are different. Our swings are different. We all need different things to play our best.
At SuperStroke, it’s their mission to help golfers make every swing and every stroke the best it can possibly be.
Today we play golf. Let me show you how we do it in the pros. Welcome to Behind the Golf Brand podcast. I never missed with the Seven Iron , a conversation with some of the most interesting innovators and entrepreneurs behind the biggest names in golf. My friends were the golf clubs. I lived on the golf course, I lived on the driving rein from Pro Talk . You should learn something from each and every single round. You play to fun from on and off the green. Why would you play golf if you don't play it for money? Just let me put the ball in a hole. This is Behind the Golf Brand podcast with Paul Libert tore .
Speaker 2:What's up guys? Welcome to the Behind the Golf Brand podcast. This week I had my good friend Ian Zuboff , also on Zubie from Supers stroke golf grips . We're gonna talk about everything about supers stroke , about their growth, where they've been, how they got to where they're at, and more learn more about Zubie and his amazing career in the golf industry. So welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for the introduction. It's so, so kind of you, Paul, do
Speaker 2:You feel , do you feel like all special now?
Speaker 3:I'm sorry . I feel special every day when I just look at the picture of my two kids and my wife.
Speaker 2:Aw , that's the , that's the , that's the clip You're gonna play them probably.
Speaker 3:Exactly.
Speaker 2:My first question is like, where are you located? Like where do you live?
Speaker 3:I personally live, I mean, supers stroke is , uh, based outta Michigan. Uh , but I personally live in , in Arizona, Scottsdale area and have , uh, been here since, you know, day one when we , uh, started the company.
Speaker 2:So lemme ask this question. Are you a golf pro or no?
Speaker 3:No.
Speaker 2:What's your handicap?
Speaker 3:10.
Speaker 2:Alright man. I'm , I'm trying to get to 10 this year. I'm only , I'm a 16. That's a long way though . 16 . Mine
Speaker 3:Has kind of drifted up to a 10. I've been, you know, probably mostly around a seven, eight most of my life. And , uh Oh
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 3:Age has caught up with me. Paul age has caught. But
Speaker 2:Your , I bet your putting's really good.
Speaker 3:<laugh> . Well, I mean, there's times <laugh>, just because I make a great grip doesn't mean I make every put, but , uh, I , uh, have been very fortunate to have lots of different options. Alright .
Speaker 2:So where did you grow up? Like, did you grow up here in Arizona or did you grow up somewhere else?
Speaker 3:No , um, so my family basically, obviously from, you know, migrated here from overseas. Yeah.
Speaker 2:As
Speaker 3:We talked about different parts of Europe. And they settled in the Midwest, mostly Chicago area. And then my parents , uh, moved us down to , uh, south Bend, Indiana. And so went to high school there, college for a few years at Indiana University. From there when I was , uh, right before I , uh, you know, my dad passed away in my early college days and I needed to go find a , a way to help the family. So , uh, started working. So I went right back to Chicago and South Bend and back and forth and trying to figure out how to help my mom, which, you know, it's what guys do if you know, well , I shouldn't say all guys, but most people who are connected with their mothers. And , um, that was in , uh, 1970, late 1970s somewhere. And , uh, you know, ended up in Chicago , uh, uh, at the Mercantile Exchange , uh, the Chicago c m e , which of course, you know, from the golf industry , uh, where I was there for, I don't know, a number of years, did pretty well there. Um ,
Speaker 2:What were you trading?
Speaker 3:Um, well we started the s and p 500 pip. My, my partner and I were, you know, some of the original members who started the standard and poor 500 and, you know, but I mean, we traded everything, pork bellies, golds, you know, so , you know, it was just, it was, yeah,
Speaker 2:Mercantile Merc . Yeah .
Speaker 3:Yeah. You know, cattle, feeder cattle, you know,
Speaker 2:Whatever.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Lot, lots of different things. But which led me to my passion at that time, which was music. And of course, I , uh, was fortunate enough to have done okay at the Merck Mercantile Exchange. And , uh, unfortunately didn't do so well in my next venture, which was , uh, in the music business, which led me to the golf industry, the late , the late 1980s, you know, during all those years that we just talked about. I, I had found golf, right? And, and it became a passionate thing for me where like, the only thing I could think of was when can I get out to the golf course? And , uh, I got inundated with , uh, a bunch of guys who were just, you know, loved to go out and gamble and play on the golf course. And , uh, learned, I think the very first time I ever played with somebody, you know, of any meaning I I got my butt handed to me and lost , uh, a lot of money. We won't say how much. And, but I, you know, having been a fairly decent athlete, I even in the very beginning was okay at golf, right? So that passion is easy to grow when you , when when you hit some good shots, right? And you , and you find Yeah ,
Speaker 2:All it takes is one <laugh>. You're like, I like this game. Yeah .
Speaker 3:All it takes is one with with the bet on the line, right? That, that you, that you hit a good one. So , uh, of course that led me to , uh, the golf industry , uh, which I started in , um, I wanna say 88 or 89 when I started with a company , uh, who we all know, head , head sports. Oh,
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Started out, I think
Speaker 2:They came back then. Are they tennis, golf
Speaker 3:Clubs, golf clubs? They started in the golf industry. Uh , I , I mean , it was actually, you know, pretty big deal back in the eighties, you know, had golf equipment. Uh, I'm sure a lot of people who were around back then and pros, they all know it. I mean, it was , uh, it had a unique , uh,
Speaker 2:Value proposition,
Speaker 3:Bit of te bit of technology to it. The guys who were the inventors of the equipment were had just bec were the designer from Hogan and the designer. Yeah, the designer from Hogan and the president from Hogan Golf, which was one of the top golf companies back then. And , uh, they, they shot off. And of course I started with them as a salesman, I think in 88. By 89 I was the regional manager. In later 89, I was VP of the company. And that's where I kind of got my chops going in , uh, in , in , uh, in golf sales. So , uh, you know, we started back then , uh, that lasted until about 1995 , uh, roughly. So I'm gonna tell you this quick story 'cause it'll cover 35 years of golf for me, and we can do that in about three minutes. So , uh, that lasted from , uh, 88 to 95 and 95. Uh, I got a call from the former , uh, uh, one of the guys over there at Head who was the C E O, who's now retired, who used to be president of Mno . Bob Puccini says , Hey, you know, they're gonna sell the company and it doesn't look like the new owner is gonna continue with golf. Uh, things came to things left, kind of started my own company, which was golf assets back then, and Zuko Enterprises, which, you know, kind of filter into each other. That led into starting a company, which you may remember called , uh, Nick Kent , which Nick Kent Hybrids and so forth and so on. And of course, that lasted till 2008, from 95 till 2008, the guy who I was involved with there , uh, it didn't work out any longer. So in 2008, we split up March 31st of oh eight on , I wanna say. So that was March 31st. I wanna say within a week of that, I got a call from Dean Dingman, and you know who Dean Dingman is? He's the C e O of Supers stroke . And , uh, Dean , uh, and I began , uh, um, you know, a conversation , um, asked me what I, you know, wanted to do. You know, obviously he had some interest in getting me to come with him. And at that time they owned , uh, tiger Shark Golf. There was no supers stroke yet. So things came to things. Long story short, we joined forces probably around August of that year. Um, soon after that we had an opportunity with the Supers stroke brand to , uh, to , uh, buy it. And , um, we did, the rest is history <laugh>. It's 15 years later, so how about that? For 35 years in that short of time to be able to tell you that story. That's 35 years in golf.
Speaker 2:Oh , I got a lot of questions for you. Yeah . So here you go. Why'd you go to IU instead of , uh, Notre Dame?
Speaker 3:I had a scholarship.
Speaker 2:Really nice. Lemme ask you that question when you,
Speaker 3:But I am a notary fan. <laugh>,
Speaker 2:Are you, you're both probably, you're kind of stuck .
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. It's tough when they play each other in basketball though, man. Where you went to school and where you grew up next, you know, it's a tough deal. Not
Speaker 2:In football though.
Speaker 3:No ,
Speaker 2:They didn't play each other anymore. I don't even know what they do. Not
Speaker 3:Football.
Speaker 2:I doubt it . I doubt it . They're
Speaker 3:Doing basketball every year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I just, it is been a long time. I mean, I remember when I was at Purdue, like, we'd play Notre Dame and he used to always kick our like we were terrible. And then Drew Bree started for us, and then we started like winning. And the first game we actually won was against Notre Dame. And we went crazy because it was like 15 years since we ever beat them. And I remember we ripped the goalposts out of the ground and threw 'em in the Wabash River. I think there's goalpost, like 15 grand each or something.
Speaker 3:They're like , you know , there's no statue on the Wabash River. Right. They could still come get you for that
Speaker 2:<laugh> . I didn't do it . I saw it on tv. <laugh> ,
Speaker 3:The Wabash River. I know it well, it's
Speaker 2:Gross now. I think when we had tubing down at once, it was pretty nasty. That was back in the nineties. But, so when you went on to super stroke , I mean, it sounds , so I guess when we were talking earlier about the show, like, you know , before the show started, you were talking about like, we've, you've seen a lot of changes in the industry, right? With over a 35 year career. And I mean , uh, what, what were the big moments over the last 30 years that like, really changed the industry? Like what would like ,
Speaker 3:Well, I mean, there's some, there's some that, that stick out to me, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Like what would , like what's your opinion?
Speaker 3:I mean, my , my opinion is, you know, when we, when I first got here, you know, the golf business was driven by, you know, a few companies and they all had their little way of doing business. You know, you had Hogan that used to get in with all the Greengrass guys, and they had p g a apparel and they had balls and, you know, the rep would go in and fill the shop up and the pro would be on staff. And, you know, I mean, you had companies like Wilson, you had companies like Yamaha and Iowa . I mean, it was a different industry back then. Then you had this little startup company called Callaway back then. And when I say a little startup company, I mean a little startup company. And , um, Callaway I think was the biggest change that I noticed in my young career because they changed the way that we do business even to today. Callaway took the marketing and changed it to a new level. Uh, they , they were by far the first company that drove consumers in to buy things, you know? And that was the biggest change because they, they literally, and, and of course they followed it up with technology that worked. And, and that is a huge, you know, component in being successful. You can talk about what you want, all you all you'd like, and if it doesn't freaking work, it doesn't freaking work, right? Like, but you know, that original , um, SS two H two steelhead driver , uh, with the S two H two irons, and they had the hickory shaft wedges. And then they came out with that product known as the Big Bertha, which, you know, back then was only, I don't know, 290 ccs or something, or 270 ccs, you know, it set the world on fire. And, you know, you , they literally perfected the game of getting tour tour players playing it. They perfected the game of driving the consumer with , uh, marketing to go ask for it. That was kind of the beginning of the change of the golf industry where it became, you know, an advertising business almost as much as it was equipment business.
Speaker 2:What was the advertising like prior to that though? Was it just through the Green Grass Store and trying to know pros the outbreak ?
Speaker 3:It was, it was, it was , it was, it just wasn't as pointed, right? It wasn't as pointed as, as it as it became. Nobody knew they could, they could drive people to buy stuff. They , I mean, advertising as you know, is just cha I mean, you got, you know, used to be product oriented. Now it's, can you remember the ad? You know what I mean? Like, you know, it's like more about remembering some , I mean , sometimes you see these products . Yeah . Sometimes you see the ad now and you can't even remember what it's about until the very end. They go, oh, that's about that. I mean, they'll be like, some guy falling out of a tree and you don't know what the whole thing's about. And then you go, okay, you know, it's about, this advertising obviously has grown for all industries. I mean, you see it, golf really jumped on the bandwagon, you know , at that point. And I think that was a huge changing point back in the early nineties, I wanna say early nineties. Early nineties. And , uh, I think
Speaker 2:War, like, 'cause the big Bertha was like the club everybody wanted. I remember that, right ? And I was, I was in high school, and I, and I remember that, and I have one, I saw the one that I had , I got used on the , I just think it's cool. It's an old club. It's like the only one I have. And I'm like, because I remember it. That was like the thing everybody, like that was it. Like you had that, you were like, oh crap, you got a big Bertha look at you. You know? Yeah.
Speaker 3:Right. So that, that was a big thing, you know, as far as a change. And , and that continues till today, right? Like, you can't do anything unless you're marketing your product anymore, right? Like, you can have the best wedge driver, whatever you want in the world. If you can't tell people about it, you , you're only gonna sell a few, right? And, you know, sell , telling people about it takes a commitment in dollars, right? So that was, that probably the, you know, the ball changing, you know, from balata to these three piece balls I think has been a big thing. And, you know, obviously that that arena has changed golf as far as how far the ball goes, you know, so forth and so on. And of course, you know, what we're doing in grips is, is, you know, is a big change in the , uh, landscape of what's going on. 'cause if you think, you know, Paul, like you were saying , uh, however many years ago before we were in existence, what would you do if you had a bad day putting, I mean, you know, I've done a number of these interviews, podcasts, and so forth, and the story remains the same because it's pretty relevant. What did you do 15 years ago? If you had a bad day pudding? You probably went and bought a new putter.
Speaker 2:As I say , buy a new putter. It's the putter's fault,
Speaker 3:Right? Or, you know, I mean, and a lot of times that putter you had ends up in the lake or in a closet, or in a bag in your garage of the other eight putters you have, or 20 or, or six or five, you know? And then someday you go back to it and you may use it. But now, and , and if you think, you know, 20 years ago, if you went in a retail space, for example, I mean, you'd have to ask somebody, do you have any putter grips? I mean, it , it'd take you over to a corner and there'd be a little thing of four or five putter grips. You know, they were seven, $8 a piece and they were rubber. And I mean, you know, now, I mean, the putting grip is as important as almost anything in your bag, right ? Like, to get your hands quiet and, and to feel, you know, that, that comfort and quietness in your hands, which is what we try to accomplish. I think we've done a nice job of being able to get people more options so that they can get more comfortable and enjoy golf better. Because obviously the, the putter grip is, and the putter is the most used item in the bag. You know, you take more strokes with it than any other club in your bag during a round. So that was kind of , uh, the plan with super stroke was to create a new category that, that mattered. And we saw that as a deficiency. Did we ever dream it would become what it is today? N no. No. I mean, no ,
Speaker 2:Not in a million years, right?
Speaker 3:Not in a million years. I mean, you know, did we foresee success? Of course. But what is success measured by, you know, just, you know, could be the fact that that that grip, that tro grip was accepted on the tour was, was pretty successful, you know, for us, just, just that, I remember in the early days, just, you know, Dean , and I'd be on the phone on a , I go turn the TV on, there's one, you know, we, we, wed have
Speaker 2:All excited, like super excited. You're like, oh my God ,
Speaker 3:One grip, you know, you know, KJ Choi or you know, whoever, you know, you know, on TV with our grip. And it , you know, d dean's done an amazing job holding to the value and the values that he foresaw for our brand. And he's kind of the brains behind all the marketing and , uh, you know, really the direction of the brand. And , um, you know, I'm just there to comfort him. <laugh>, no, that's , uh, and , and that's, there's , there's a lot of truth in that. I mean, he's, he's been the leader , uh, that's foreseeing all this , um, you know, of course I support, you know, the growth and, and with information. And he and I collaborate with, with, now we have a nice, a great team of people that, that are there. We, we , as you probably know, you know, we've got a great marketing team and , uh, we've got a great r and d team now. But I mean , back in those days it was kinda three people, you know, I mean , and , and , and , and, and if we make a bad decision and we might be hauling trash for a living, who knows? You know what? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it might've been different than in the golf business, right? So we've just been really lucky. We've had a lot of support. And, and one of the key principles that Dean has always held to, and that I'd like to , uh, buy into with them is that we're really kind of driven by the tour and we build products. The expansion of our line comes from tour feedback as opposed to, Hey, here's this driver, you know, we're paying you how many millions of dollars a year to play for us. Now we have to make it fit you. We go to them and say, you know, what's your idea on this grip ? And they're like, oh, we like, you know, this hand smaller or this one bigger. And then when you give them what they ask for, there's a lot higher, there's a likelier chance they're gonna use it, right? The tour players , so because
Speaker 2:They wanna win, they're not getting just , it's not , they're getting paid to use it like they're paying No ,
Speaker 3:But the way it
Speaker 2:Comes out making money, they're gonna wanna ,
Speaker 3:It's their idea too, you know? Yeah .
Speaker 2:The
Speaker 3:Development of it. So they buy into it because, you know, they've had feedback in it. And I think that's, that's what separates us a lot from other companies is we value, and we, we take all that feedback. I mean, not just tour players, but I mean designers from other companies , um, you know, just lots of other people that we share with. I mean, you know, o e m companies, and they'll give us ideas. We take 'em , and we, we iterate them down to different, different grips, different sizes. And you know, now just in putter grips alone, I think we have 25 different shapes and sizes. That's not even including different colorations. Then you times them by eight colors. And you know, you're talking however many <crosstalk> ,
Speaker 2:Special limited edition or what , you know, like different design.
Speaker 3:No, I'm not even talking about
Speaker 2:Limited edition . No , I'm talking about that. That's just, that's just pure sizes mean ,
Speaker 3:Look , look , look at that. I mean, those are all just different shape sizes and colors, and that's just 12 pegs, for example. So, I mean, this is evolved from one grip, you know, to, to that. And I think it will keep evolving. I mean, we've, we've got new technology now that , uh, we can't talk about yet , uh, that we're gonna be able to implicate in the next 12 to 18 months. That's gonna change it all completely again. It's gonna be like, so we're pretty excited , uh, you know, about our growth. Uh, I shouldn't say pretty excited, you know, obviously we're ecstatic. Uh, and of course, you know, when you catch a run, like we had, you know, winning seven out of the last eight or six out of the last seven, you know, with, you know, that whole thing with the US Open, kind of coupled into it with Ricky in the story, and Keegan Bradley in the story , um, you know, it's been, it , it , it obviously puts another spike in, you know, the bell curve where you weren't expecting to grow again that fast. So we just keep going at it every day , being humble and try to stay focused to our , uh, our goal, which is to help people play better golf. So
Speaker 2:With the synergy line, right. What, I guess, what makes that different than what's already out there right now in terms of like
Speaker 3:<crosstalk> ? Well , I mean, you know, to answer your question, we're already number one, right? We've been number one for a long time. So to make number one, which is already the best better, is a hard feat, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I mean that , that , you know, how do you make the best better? So that was a hard deal. Luckily from our standpoint, I mean, Dean and his team with, you know, John Bafo and, and Dave and all the, and Pete and all those guys that work on the grips back there, they came up with a better, a better mousetrap. And what makes it better is we were able to take the core principles of the grip and just make 'em better. So , um, one of the, one of the things I'll show you, just for example, so this , this is a, a traction grip right from last year. So if you zoom in on that, you can see the, the behind of it there. That's Oh yeah. That's the spine line. And then you go to this year's, and if you can see that that's, you can see how it's perforated a little bit. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So
Speaker 3:We were able to enhance the spine to get, you know, a better feel there, make it tackier. We've also been able to change, enhance the material, which is making it even, you know, softer and more tacky.
Speaker 2:Yeah . Softer. Yeah.
Speaker 3:You know, of course we're able to take , enhance the texture . So if you look at the difference in texturing , just on the two, you can see there's a big difference.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah. So
Speaker 3:You , you always say, are we, are we doing better? Well, the proof would be in the pudding, right? <laugh> . So when 90% of the tour switches to your new grip, where they don't have to, I think you've been validated, right? I mean, they , they could play this model, they could play that model. They could play one for 12 years ago. We'll keep making it for 'em. We don't care, right? Like, you know , of course we're gonna show 'em what's new, but it must be a better widget. Yeah. Right . It must
Speaker 2:Work, period. Right ? Because if it doesn't work, they're not gonna use it because they're not gonna win. They're not gonna win. They're gonna go with somebody else like that , right ? I mean , when it really comes down to winning, it's like when you're on the putting green, right? So it's like they wanna be comforted and know that they have the right product in their hands, literally. Wow .
Speaker 3:Agreed. And you know, one of the cool things that I think, you know, a lot of people, you know , say super stroke and go, oh, that's the big grip company or , or what have you, right? We make every size grip you can imagine, from the smallest of smallest to the largest of largest . And one of the things we're so proud of, we make grips, like for people who put with the claw, and we make grips for people who put with arm lock, and we make people grips who put with the two piece putter. And we make grips for people who want something really tiny in their hand. And we make grips for people who want something large in their hand, and we make a grip. And you can see the shape of this. Look at that. That's what Keegan Bradley won with, right? And that's meant to go into your wrist, like , like that.
Speaker 2:Yep .
Speaker 3:Right? So that's called a wrist lock grip, right? You see how that piece fits right in the palm of your hand and you can do like, yeah .
Speaker 2:Full
Speaker 3:Control. So, you know, and then you've seen the craze on the, the 17 inch grip recently, right? I mean, if , if you're alive and watching golf, I mean, you've seen Ricky and, and uh, uh, Wyndham Clark and all those guys, you know, switch to the new 17 inch grip, which, you know, this, this is a , a 17 inch grip that TaylorMade has been using for the last couple years. So it's not new, it just got popular. Right, because
Speaker 2:They're using it. Yeah. Yeah , exactly. And it's like working,
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:Well, even the big grip though, people just think that like supers stroke grips are just the big, like, like you said, the big grip, right? But the big grip is really not a big grip. Like it's, isn't it, it's more tapered down as you go down. It looks bigger on top, but it's, no,
Speaker 3:No, it's the same all the way down. Look at it. Oh,
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:That's 17 inches.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, that's
Speaker 3:A , that's a 17 inch, 3.0. I mean, that doesn't taper. That's the whole principle behind it. It's no taper. But
Speaker 2:That , but on the smaller ones, but on the smaller super strokes, the
Speaker 3:Principle behind the original super stroke was no taper.
Speaker 2:No, but what about the one with the lock grip you just showed me? Is that tapered or is that all the same size too?
Speaker 3:This one you , you talking about the wrist lock ? Yeah, the wrist lock . So the wrist lock has this flange here, and then it doesn't taper anymore. Oh,
Speaker 2:I see. And
Speaker 3:Most of our grips, so these are the two, these are the two sizes that basically supers stroke was founded on, right? Yeah . 5.0 and 3.0. And you look at 'em, they don't taper. And that's basically what people really like about it, is that it doesn't squeeze away from you in the bottom hand. Right? That's ,
Speaker 2:You can keep
Speaker 3:The same , the same pressure. Now, you know, we do have a couple, like two out of the, or three out of the 25 that taper, but pretty much the bottom hand , the bottom half just stays constant the whole time, which is what our principle is on taper. Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's what I like. I mean, I, I have super stroke on all my putter grips and I've, I have had from for, I don't know , seven, eight years. Like, it's the only thing I really like to use, like, honestly, 'cause they're just perfect. They fit perfectly in my hand. I feel like I have more control over my putt and not with the small , I always feel like I'm more like, I don't call whippy , but like I feel like I a little more, you know, like I'm more, how you call it your wrist where I'm not able to like make sure my, my putt is pure, right? I'm almost more
Speaker 3:Risky . More risky , risky and more risky.
Speaker 2:That's the right word. I'm trying to think of the right way of saying it. Um, yeah,
Speaker 3:That's
Speaker 2:What I always really like the super stroke grip because I feel like I don't have to worry about that.
Speaker 3:Well, pretty much every other grip does taper down.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Right. So that's a big deal. I mean, and that's, that's kind of where we made our hay and you know, I mean, your number one goal
Speaker 2:Technology that may Yeah, it's your technology that made you different that may it worked, right? And that nobody was even thinking about that. They all probably did the same thing, right? Like, and I mean, nobody, I mean, until you guys came out and started doing this in the late 2000 or , you know, 2008, 2009 , like prior to that though, was there any, like, what was their kind of technological advancements in putter grip technology or not really? Because I can't think of any,
Speaker 3:I mean, for me, no.
Speaker 2:I mean, yeah, like you would just know like , oh, that's the whatever. I just, I can't think of anything. So I think you guys made it cool and I think you guys made it different. And it's a technology that helped people actually put, and it was validated on the tour because those guys wanna win, and then it just kind of took off.
Speaker 3:Well, I mean, I think when you see, you know, the majority of winners using something, I know
Speaker 2:Proof in the pudding,
Speaker 3:Right? I mean, it , it kind of is what it is. I mean, are there other decent putter grips out there? Of course. Um, we have, you know, a unique super tacky soft feel that, you know , um, takes you to a different level. And obviously the proof's in, like you said, the proof's in the pudding. I mean, you have, you know, a majority of the best players in the world using it. I mean, I, I mean, I think trust
Speaker 2:It. They trust it. That's the thing. I think the word is like, you know, they trust it's not, I mean, how many times you guys see change ? They change clubs all the time, right? But it's the grip. Are they changing their grip? Are they trusting ?
Speaker 3:Yeah. But do you know what, Paul, to answer your question, I think that's when we realized we had kind of arrived in the industry as more than a, a flash, you know? 'cause obviously we went a little crazy in , you know, 10 and 11 and 12, not 2010, 11, and 12. And, you know, then you build to 2015 s speed goes off crazy and , you know, wins three , three majors there over a period of time, 15 and 16, you take it and you look back and now we see people, you know, they'll try something other than super stroke and then two weeks later they go back to supers stroke . So when they're going back to us, you know, it's, it's kind of a , you know, I feel like we've arrived a little bit when we're the one they go back to, right? Yeah . Does that make sense?
Speaker 2:They go home, right ? They know that they , you know, the , the whoever's selling 'em on whatever is gonna make 'em a better putter. They try it out . I'm like, no thing's a piece of crap. I'm not doing this. And they go back to what they know is good and they can rely on 'cause they wanna win. Like, I don't think people, I don't think people understand like that's the key to all of this. Like, if these guys don't win, that's everything, right? That's their whole job. They have to win or place or whatever. And it's like if they can't do it, then they're not gonna use your product. And yeah , they can make money off of like whatever, you know, being paid by a brand or something. But if you're ranked 90th in the world and you don't ever qualify, then it doesn't matter. You know, you gotta win and win. And I think that's what's kind of cool. I say with supers stroke when, I mean, you have, you guys have everybody, like pretty much almost everybody this year has been using a supers stroke grip that's won, right?
Speaker 3:No. Because there's lots of people who don't win who are using supers stroke , unfortunately.
Speaker 2:No, I know, but I'm saying like, you know, almost
Speaker 3:Every win you're saying every
Speaker 2:Winner has been using a super stroke . Let's put
Speaker 3:Well, no, I mean, I'm , I mean, I'd love to agree with you, but , um, let's put it this way. The, the the , I mean, like I just said, we won seven out of the last eight or six out of the last seven. Yeah .
Speaker 2:That's what I'm saying. Exactly.
Speaker 3:And, and , um, yeah, I mean obviously we have a , uh, a pretty good majority, you know, of guys that we like to think , uh, you know, it's interesting you watch golf, right? I'm , I'm sure you're a golf junkie and you watch it. And let's just say you only had eight people in the whole tournament using supers stroke , which of course we have, you know, between 50 and 80 or 50 and 70 every week using supers stroke . But if they're all in the last couple groups, that's all you see <laugh> . So you think everyone's using it true , right ? Yeah,
Speaker 2:Exactly Right. It's very true.
Speaker 3:Right ? So like to your point, a lot of the better players are using it and that's why you notice it so much. 'cause it's always there on Sunday . Yeah. Front it , front and center. And I think that's been one of our, you know, keys is, you know, how many products out there can you really designate what they're being used for while they're being marketed by players? You know, when I say ,
Speaker 2:And they're being, and they're being zoomed in on like, right on .
Speaker 3:I mean exactly . I mean, you look at their driver. I mean, you might know that that red face driver is a stealth and you might know, oh , if
Speaker 2:You're a fanboy and you know, every single new driver, it's out
Speaker 3:And you know the colors right ? But the guy's putting , and you know exactly what he is using
Speaker 2:In two seconds. Yeah. It, it , it sells itself . It's
Speaker 3:Unique, right? There's not many other things out there that you, you can, you know, there's some shafts that have some really cool markings on the shaft where, you know,
Speaker 2:Yeah. But they're like this big, I mean, they're teeny. Like, you , you can't read that. Like, you know, I mean, I guess you could if you know your shafts. I just think like, I think it's brilliant what you guys did actually, you know, you like outside of what you've built, but with, with the technology, but the way it's marketed, it's just brilliant. It's fricking
Speaker 3:Well , I appreciate that, you know, and , um, we do, I mean, we're very fortunate , uh, you know, to have great support and we're very fortunate to have people, you know, who enjoy our products to play better golf. I mean, that's really what it comes down to. Yeah .
Speaker 2:You have a lot of new stuff coming out. You said something , you said even more groundbreaking right? In the next couple of years . Yeah.
Speaker 3:Like
Speaker 2:You're always, it'll
Speaker 3:Be our most groundbreaking product ever.
Speaker 2:That's crazy. I mean , every year it feels like, I don't know , I just feel like the products you make are so high quality as it is already. So it'd be ama it'd be really exciting to see like what that new technology is.
Speaker 3:We'll make sure and let you get a sneak preview before we do it, guys .
Speaker 2:Like I , you guys sent me this box of grips, like, I don't need it . I don't know if you knew this, but like, I have his box, it's like this big, it's flap open and there was like eight grips in there, right ? Every single color. And I am , I am giving him away to like, my subscribers, my fans, whatever. It was the coolest box. It was like open a box of chocolates. Like you open it up, it's like, oh, which color do you like? And it was like every single color of the sun.
Speaker 3:Yeah. It's pretty cool. I mean , that's what's, that's what's nice. There's colors for everybody, but it's all the same feel, right? Like, so if you like a feel and there , there's one for everything. And, and I think, you know, you mentioned early , we do some one-off stuff, some special edition stuff. Uh , you'd have to go to our website to follow us to find that stuff that only comes out for like an hour or two. And it so sells out in in minutes, you know. But , uh, we, we've got some really unique things we do. You
Speaker 2:Had a summer one, didn't you? Like a summer one that like sold out so fast. I remember that because I saw it and I was like, what it , it was like this bar . I don't remember what it was. It was like a month ago. It was like the coolest thing I'd ever seen. The turn . Like it looked ,
Speaker 3:It was close
Speaker 2:Turn . Yeah , that's what it was. How fast that sell out because like, like right away, right? Same day .
Speaker 3:Same day. Yeah. Like
Speaker 2:Yeah ,
Speaker 3:Hours.
Speaker 2:I went to Carl , I was like, yo, send me one of those super swift cruises . They were cool . He was like always all that like two months, two weeks ago, bro. I was like, oh yeah .
Speaker 3:Well I think, I think that the , the one thing that a lot of your listeners probably don't realize is that we make club grips.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's right . I forgot that. I mean, you guys sent me some. Those are actually really cool because you can do some cool designs on those as well.
Speaker 3:You know, like I just brought a few here to show you, you know? Yeah. These are the exact same feel as our putter grips, but tackier and firmer, I mean, they come in many different colors, shapes and sizes. Uh, we've got your traditional kind of wrapped looking one that comes in black gray , uh, we call that basketball, other
Speaker 2:Color copper.
Speaker 3:That's really cool. Right? Of course. And you've got one that looks more like a putter grip. I mean, we sell lots and you know, there are a lot , and , and the same great feel that's in our putter grip now you can have on all your clubs. It's interesting, huh? That's
Speaker 2:Super cool. And then
Speaker 3:You go to, then you go to our rubber version for example, which is what Jordan Spieth plays.
Speaker 2:Oh wow.
Speaker 3:Exactly. And he doesn't have to, he plays it 'cause he likes it. So we we're, we're very blessed. Uh, well, I mean, you know, our, our our club grips are just growing like crazy. You know, these, these, when
Speaker 2:Did you guys start doing that?
Speaker 3:Uh , I don't know , maybe five years ago, six years ago. I mean, this thing feels unbelievable. I mean, it, it , it feels, if you like the feel of the putter grip, there you go. And it tacky. It's really good. You'll really like, and you
Speaker 2:Also have like, like did you guys also like do a bunch of licensing too? Like you have licensing?
Speaker 3:We do as
Speaker 2:Well.
Speaker 3:We do that. We , we license, you know, N F L um , N H l M L B colleges. I mean , you can get , um, a grip that , you know, that says, I don't know if we do one that says Notre Dame says Purdue, but Notre Dame for sure. I
Speaker 2:Don't see, I don't see <laugh> , I don't see Notre Dame with a Notre Dame in here of iu. I , lots of this is cool. Like, I, I , I don't know , I just think it, you guys are a good product. One last question for you, like what's your favorite grip right now? What would you say to use for yourself? I'm
Speaker 3:A 3.0 fan and I'm waffling back and forth between the standard length and the 17 inch 3.0. So this is a pretty standard size for us. The super stroke 3.0
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:The tour 3.0. But it seems like a lot of the tour, like
Speaker 2:The bigger one.
Speaker 3:No, they like, they like this little pistol Lee shaped one that, that one that does really well on tour. Um, we have, you know, Jordan plays a grip called the Flato , uh, which is a Penta Shape grip. Um , oh , I
Speaker 2:Think I have that one. Yeah, kinda
Speaker 3:Like that one. And that allows you to get those five pressure points in your hand. All quiet. It sets right in there. You know, we just, I mean, my favorite is the 3.0 that's me. Um, it's big enough where my hands are relaxed, which is really what, you know, I'm looking for, is just for my hands to relax. And , um, I think, you know, that's my favorite. That's the second model we ever came out with was the 3.0. So , uh, I feel very , uh, I'm kind of old school that way. I've tried 'em all and obviously if I try one I like better. I go to it for a while . That's what you have .
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:But I think that's what's nice, going back to our point from earlier, I think that's what's nice. You can have one putter and you can have, you know, 20 different shapes and sizes on there eventually. Right. You can try everything. And you don't have to, you don't have to buy new putter. You
Speaker 2:Might, yeah. You love your putter and you don't ever wanna get rid of it. You could buy new grip for, you know, not that much bucks and comparison
Speaker 3:30 to a
Speaker 2:New putter, 30 bucks, you know, 30 bucks for new putter grip. You try it out, you try it out for a couple , you know, season or you try it out for as much as you want, and then you don't like it, put a new one on. I mean, there's like lots
Speaker 3:Of
Speaker 2:Variety, which is cool. One thing I like about your website, I people knew this, but like if you don't know what grip to get, like you can go to Supers Strokes website and they have like a whole quiz, right? Where you can like kind of figure out what grip's made for you. They've already kind of figured it out within reason to help you .
Speaker 3:Well definitely, it'll definitely point you in the right direction, right
Speaker 2:Direction. Yeah , exactly
Speaker 3:Right. It , it'll definitely get you to a point where you can , uh, uh, narrow it down within a couple grips and then you can go over to your local retailer if you want, or you can buy it online. You go over to a retailer and try it, you know, because you can put it in your hand and feel it and, and , and get some different , uh, feedback from it. But I think that quiz is extremely helpful. Right . Super smart.
Speaker 2:Yeah . Yeah. It guides people in the right way .
Speaker 3:For sure. For sure.
Speaker 2:Um, one last question to you too . If you were new to the game of golf, right? And you're looking for a good putter grip, and I know you like the 3.0, like, what would you say for like , because like a lot of people who are new, you don't understand like putting and you know, what grip is good for them or whatever. Would you recommend them to try out the putter, the putter quiz online and then see what maybe supers stroke is best for them? Is that what
Speaker 3:Absolutely. I think, I think, but you know, I think, I think I've found through my years doing this that for somebody new, keeping them from squeezing down is a , is an attribute, right? When people put, they tend to get tense, right? So a little, a little bigger always allows you to relax your hands rather than a little smaller. So I always go a little bigger with the newer, the newer ones , uh, the newer people because I think it relaxes their hands. You can't really squeeze down on it as much. And you know, I'm sure that squeezing down is just not good for a putting stroke. No , it's , it's about,
Speaker 2:Yeah . Yeah.
Speaker 3:It's , it's
Speaker 2:About, it's a mess . Yeah. Yeah .
Speaker 3:You , you don't want pressure. You want light pressure, you know, you just wanna be able to, you know, get the thing moving on a pendulum and the easiest. And if you're squeezing it, I mean, the pendulum, you know, goes, translates into your shoulder. So I always tend to think that a little bigger is better for newer people until they get the feel, and then they may decide a lot bigger is better for 'em, or a little smaller than that. But I'd stay in the mid-size category, you know, if I was new. But I think that quiz that we've developed on our website will guide you, you know, but I don't know how much it guides a beginner. 'cause I don't know if they know what they're doing yet, but I guess it's a , it's a starting point. Yeah ,
Speaker 2:Exactly. Well, I was supposed say thank you for being on the show. Where can people find supers stroke at
Speaker 3:Every golf shop on the planet? <laugh>, I mean, and
Speaker 2:Also their website too,
Speaker 3:Right? Our websites and every website, I mean, supers stroke usa.com , right? Supers stroke usa.com . I mean, you can find it every major retailer, you know, in North America, I mean, Sporting Goods, golf Galaxy, the , the ,
Speaker 2:You're everywhere. Like you're, you're the , like , you , you're like worldwide .
Speaker 3:The worldwide golf golf town in Canada , uh, vans , uh,
Speaker 2:Amazon, everywhere.
Speaker 3:P G A P G A Tour Superstore. I mean, you know, I mean, if, if you're , I mean, your local pro shop has them, I mean, you know, every , everybody carries 'em . Uh, they may not carry every size like the bigger stores like P G A and , and and , and Worldwide, but they, they sure carry supers stroke and they can get you anything you want.
Speaker 2:I mean, honestly, guys, I am a huge fan of supers stroke grips. Like they make literally the best grips. They're like, they're perfect. I mean, as
Speaker 3:I'm a fan of your show. Well, I
Speaker 2:Appreciate that <laugh> , but I think you guys , if you guys haven't checked out supers stroke , please do. Um, we've done a ton of reviews on , on the show , um, on the website as well. And , um, I really wanna say thank you for being on the show Zubie . Um, and , um, he's very, very busy person, as you guys can see. So it's really cool to have him on the show talking about supers stroke . Like I said, probably one of the best or if not the best putter grips around. And I'll see you guys in the next episode.
Speaker 3:Well, I'll leave you with one more, Paul. It is the best putter grip around.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to another episode of Behind the Golf Brand podcast. You're gonna beat me a golf stay connected on and off the show by visiting golfers authority.com. Don't forget to like, subscribe and leave a comment. Golf is always more fun when you win. Stay out of the beach and see you on the green.