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The January transfer window gave premiership clubs the opportunity to add new players or ship out those surplus to requirements. David Walker looks at who came and went and how these moves will impact on each teams success.

arsenal

The Gunners have invested in the next generation of young talent after a disastrous season. Vassiriki Diaby joined from Auxerre and Togo striker Manuel Adebayor arrived from Monaco but the most talked about transfer was the capture of Southamptons 16 year old Theo Walcott. The transfer fee could rocket to 12 million.

Quincy Owusu-Abeyie and Jeremie Aliadiere joined Spartak moscow and Wolves respectively while David Bentley joined Blackburn permanently.

Such change is vital to both Arsenals immediate and future success. They currently lie in sixth place but a massive 25 points behind leaders chelsea. The bookmakers arent convinced and offer them at 12/1 in the without Chelsea market to win the premiership.

Aston Villa

After a pre-season transfer investment with very little to show for it, there have been no more funds made available. The Villains, despite spending 11 million on new players in the summer, are only seven points clear of relegation.

Kevin Phillips has scored just three goals, Milan Baros has netted five and defender Wilfred Bouma has been something of a 3.5 million misfit. Poor home and away form could see a bit of value in the 22/1 relegation odds.

Birmingham City

Struggling in the bottom three is never the best position to be in when trying to attract new players but with goals in short supply, two new attacking options arrived in January.

Striker Chris Sutton arrived on a free transfer from Celtic after scoring 63 goals in 130 league appearances and Brentfords DJ Campbell, 24, signed for 500,000. Campbell may be an unknown quantity for top flight defences but his two goal salvo which dumped Sunderland out of the FA Cup will send out a warning to premiership managers.

The bookmakers are not convinced steve Bruces side are relegation fodder just yet, at 4/6 to stay up or 5/4 to go down.

Blackburn Rovers

Rovers may be out of both Cups but are making good progress in the league under manager Mark Hughes. Unbeaten in their last six matches and sitting in eighth position is marked improvement from last seasons flirt with relegation.

arsenal striker David Bentley made his loan move a permanent transfer and scored a hat-trick in the 4-3 win against Manchester United on February 1. Rovers also boosted their bid for a UEFA Cup place with the loan signing of Liverpool striker Florent Sinama Pongolle and Martin Olsson from Hogaborgs for a nominal fee.

Bolton Wanderers

There wasnt much evidence of the usual wheeling and dealing at the Reebok Stadium with only Matt Jansens free transfer arrival from Blackburn. Despite losing five players to African Cup duty, manager Sam Allardyce has kept faith with his current squad.

January has seen more interest in Big Sams future at the club following Sven Goran Erikssons decision to quit as England manager after the World Cup. He is one of the favourites to take over the role and can be backed at 5/1.

Charlton Athletic

After a slump in form which saw the Addicks lose seven out of 10 premiership matches from the end of October to New Years Day results are beginning to improve and they are unbeaten in their last three league matches.

Marcus Bent arrived with a bang following his 2.5 million transfer from Everton by scoring the equaliser in a 1-1 draw at chelsea. Manager Alan Curbishley will hope he can ease the goalscoring burden off 11-goal Darren Bent who can be backed at 20/1 to finish the season as the Premierships top goalscorer.

chelsea

With a 15 point lead at the top of the Premiership and having spent 53 million on new players this season so far, it is not a big surprise that chelsea have been quiet in the transfer market.

One new player arrived in the form of Portuguese winger Maniche, making a loan switch from Dynamo moscow although defender wayne Bridge has headed out of the Stamford Bridge exit door to join West London rivals Fulham on loan.

The Blues are unbackable now as far as Premiership success is concerned with odds of 1/66 the most generous available. Frank Lampard is available at 12/1 to finish as the Premierships top goalscorer.

Part two will look at the transfers impacting Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Middlesbrough and Newcastle United.

Nike Hybrid golf Clubs are available in two versions of two different models, for a total of 4 product lines. These include the slingshot Hybrid and slingshot Tour Hybrid, the CPR3 Wood and CPR3 Iron-Wood. this article will review the attributes of each of these hybrid golf clubs.

slingshot Hybrid and slingshot Tour Hybrid
Both of these clubs have an MSRP of $199 US for either steel or graphite shafts. The slingshot Tour is targeted for low handicap golfers, and the slingshot is for less skilled players. Both clubs aim to deliver a center of gravity (CG) that is low and as far back behind the face as possible. this type of club head design is geared to making the ball get up into the air easier and to be forgiving of off-center hits. Both clubs look like a hybrid or small fairway wood with the upper back section removed. this is readily evident on the companys web site. The weight thus removed is then redistributed in a thick sole and a thick bar around the back of the clubs called a Slingback bar. The result of this design is to have 70% of the mass of the club head below the equator of the ball. The face plate on both clubs is made of 455 stainless steel which is normal for high-end hybrid clubs like these.

There are 5 clubs available in the slingshot line. These are 2-6 hybrids. Perhaps it bears repeating that hybrid clubs are designed to replace long irons that are difficult for most golfers to hit solidly on a consistent basis. A 3 hybrid will replace your 3 iron, for example. All the clubs in the slingshot product line are available for both left and right handed golfers. There is no womens version of this model available, or for any of the Nike hybrid golf clubs models for that matter. Of course both steel and graphite shafts are available. custom fitting options exist for club length (-1/2 to +2 from standard) and for lie angles (-2 to +4 degrees from standard). one would need to have a custom club fitting to know if he needs to order any of these changes. this is a good idea in any case for a person thinking of investing in a set of new golf clubs.

As stated, the slingshot Tour Hybrid is for low handicap players. In fact Nike notes that their Tour staff requested such a model be developed. Four clubs are available in 1-4 hybrids. The shafts on the slingshot Tour Hybrid are slightly heavier than on the slingshot. The same options to customize club length and lie angle can be chosen.

CPR3 Wood and CPR3 Iron-Wood
These two hybrids have an MSRP of $139 with steel shafts and $159 with graphite. The CPR3 Wood clubs have a deeper sole and have more of a wood bottom footprint, thus the name. The upper back section is cut out, and thus again weight can be redistributed around the periphery of the sole to lower the CG and move it back. 2-5 hybrids are available, and all lofts come in left handed models. No womens versions of this product line are available, nor are there any options for customization as there are with the Slingshots.

The CPR3 Iron-Wood has a smaller footprint which is more like a typical hybrid club. This version is targeted to lower handicap golfers and is available in 1-4 hybrids in either steel or graphite shafts. left handed clubs are available, and as with the CPR3 Wood, there are no custom options for club length or lie angle.

Nike Hybrid golf Clubs do not come with versions to provide a hook bias to help golfers with a consistent slice, or adjustable club head weight versions as is offered by Taylor made, for example. It will be interesting to see if the popularity of those design features or the demand for womens hybrids will be high enough to motivate Nike to add these types of clubs to their product offerings. Nike is certainly a top rank golf company, however, so if one of their models fits you properly, you will be playing with excellent clubs.

Walt Ballenberger is a life-long golfer and founder of http://www.hybridgolfclubs.org a resource site for golfers. For a Free Report entitled How to Find the Sweet Spot on Your Golf Clubs in 10 Minutes visit http://www.hybridgolfclubs.org