Janis Zichmanis remebers the day his life changed. It was Dec. 29, 2001 and the former marketing executive was watching golf on television while practicing his putting on a practice carpet that had become a permanent fixture in his living room. 

"I'd always heard the key to good golf was consistency," he said. "So I asked myself, 'What's the key to consistency?' and I answered myself - symmetry."

That was the point where the self-confessed golf addict decided that in order to putt better, his body needed to be symmetrical. And in order to do that, he needed to place his hands on the putter equidistant from the top of the club.

That grip, the Pure Pendulum grip, where the two hands join together on the club as opposed to having one lower than the other, became Zichmanis' raison d'etre.

By placing the hands at the same level, the shoulders were parallel to the ground, which he believed provided many advantages from better feel to less chance for a left-wrist breakdown.

"It was so simple, I thought something must be wrong, that maybe it was against the rules or something," said Zichmanis, 63, who lives in Toronto.

But as he began to delve into it, he realized that it was perfectly legal, and that to him, at least, it made sense. From there, he has been on a one-man mission to spread his new gospel to the golf world.

"It has totally consumed me," he said. "But that's what it takes. There's no half-way point, no safety net here."

Since that day, Zichmanis, who was one of Canada's leading creative directors handling such accounts as Budweiser and Coca-Cola, has spent almost every waking hour trying to improve the method and trying to convince anyone who will listen of his belief. He admits to spending almost all his money in pursuing his cause.

At first, his mission came up against nothing but closed doors, but persistence has paid off for Zichmanis. Inch by inch, he has found some converts and some people who will at least listen to his idea.

He has found investors to back his mission and he has advanced the idea of the grip - which is much wider than a normal grip to allow the thumbs to sit side by side on the face  - into a putter as well, designed by Clay Long who has made putters for Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. He recently received a U.S. patent on his invention.

He has spent a lot of time listening and getting ideas not only about the putter but also how to market it. And in January, he went to the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla., to pitch the Pure Pendulum System to the world.

"I think one of the biggest breakthroughs was when I got GolfTown to stock it," he said, referring to the giant Canadian retailer. "I've also got some into some high-end pro shops in Toronto."

Zichmanis has also received interest from U.S. retailers Edwin Watts and Golf Galaxy.

But the No. 1 method of marketing still hasn't happened, use by a PGA Tour pro. Zichmanis has sent Pure Pendulums to numerous Tour players, but so far, none have put it into play.

Still, that hasn't deterred Zichmanis.

"I dream of the day when there's a major player putting to win a tournament and the camera focuses on his grip and the announcers start to talk about it," he says, a wide smile breaking out on his face. "That's when I'll know it's made it."

As featured in SCOREGolf, May 2005