SST PURE®

MIAMI — The SST PURE® shaft-alignment process received the official approval of the U.S. Patent Office recently as it granted five U.S. patents covering the process to Dick Weiss, principal owner of Strategic Shaft Technologies, LC. Weiss received the patents on the highly-touted, computer-operated SST PURE® shaft-alignment system currently used by SST licensees around the world and utilized in the SST PURE Shaft Lab that has traveled the PGA TOUR since 2000.

According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the SST PURE patents cover: the computer-operated PUREing machine; the process of identifying the shaft’s PURE location; the method of assembly that aligns the PUREd shaft into a clubhead; and the two processes for charting a shaft’s individual characteristics that are illustrated on printouts of aligned shafts.

“I am very proud to see so many U.S. and worldwide patents assigned to the SST PURE shaft alignment process,” says Weiss. “I am very fortunate that I’ve never been turned down for any patent on SST PURE technology. It’s a long process, but it really proves what I have been saying for almost eight years. Shaft-induced miss-hits are a reality and they can be minimized or totally eliminated by taking the time to analyze each shaft after it is manufactured. It also validates that our SST PURE technology is unique and real, and we’ll vigorously protect all of our intellectual property to ensure our brand integrity in the market as well as our commitment to our SST licensees.”

In addition, Weiss has successfully trademarked the names SST PURE, SST PUREd® and several other terms used on the shaft analysis printouts. The Miami clubmaker and businessman has also previously been granted four other unrelated patents; two on a hydraulic shaft extractor and two on a rudimentary manual 10-second shaft alignment device which became obsolete with the new computerized machines. All of these patents join with a patent Weiss purchased in 1997 on the method of assembly of a golf club using an aligned shaft regardless of how the alignment is located.

Using proprietary computer software and sensitive data-acquisition sensors, the SST PURE shaft-alignment process analyzes the structural irregularities that exist to some degree in every golf shaft and locates the shaft’s most stable orientation. By assembling the club with the shaft in its PURE orientation, off-line bending and twisting of the shaft are minimized and impact repeatability on the center of the clubface by golfers improves up to 51 percent, according to SST PURE data. The process can be performed on existing clubs, new clubs or new shafts — steel or graphite — from most major manufacturers. To date, more than 180 PGA TOUR players have embraced SST PURE shaft alignment technology.

Headquartered in Miami, Strategic Shaft Technologies, LC, was founded by clubmaker Dick Weiss, who was the creator of the SST PURE® process. The patented SST PURE process of club assembly — deemed in compliance with USGA standards — locates each shaft’s irregularities and aligns the shaft to neutralize them, so that each club bends in the direction it should — straight down the target line.

Upon having his shafts SST PURE aligned, a player receives a personalized computer printout confirming the process and an SST PURE shaft label for every shaft that has been PUREd. The SST PURE process of golf shaft alignment is available at SST PURE licensees around the United States and internationally.

SSTraight, DiSSTance, ConSSTant, HoneSSTy in clubmaking. You cannot be sure unless all of your shafts are SST PURE aligned and assembled.