Duffix Swing Trainer

The “Duffix” Swing Trainer

Grade: B+
Teacher’s Comments: A nice one-trick pony. If you have a bad slice or hook, this might help.

In one sense, the basic premise of all swing trainers is the same: they seek, through mechanical means to impart to the player the shape and feeling of the proper golf swing. The hope is that the player will develop a muscle memory that they then can take to the course and repeat without aid.

The success of any training device, then, lies first in the degree to which it guides the player’s movements, and second in its lasting impact. The Duffix Swing Trainer passes the first test with flying colors. As for the second, only time can tell.

The Duffix Swing Trainer consists of a metal clamp and a weighted arm which extends from the clamp at an angle. You attach the clamp to a club, just below the grip,and rotate the arm to one of two positions. If you’re trying to fix a slice, place it at the ten o’clock position; to work on a hook, set it at the 2 o’clock position.

I’d caution that you should only use this device on a steel-shafted club. The pressure from the clamp just might damage a graphite shaft, which should never be subjected to any crushing forces.

I used the Duffix for an extended session at the local heated range the other day, and found that it works as advertised. When swinging with the Duffix set at 10 o’clock, the weight forces your hands over, closing the clubface. The reaction was quite noticeable when hitting live balls.

After some weeks of practice with this, I can clearly see how a player with a slice issue could train his hands to snap through. The same might be said of a hook.

If there’s a complaint, it’s that the weight is almost too much, forcing my hands into a quick snap. A future redesign might include some adjustable weights, so that a person could ratchet down the effect. That also would be useful for extended training use. Over a matter of weeks, a player could weaken the force needed until he weaned himself off the device.

Physically, the Duffix is incredibly well made. No plastic here. It’s all machined steel, brass and aluminum. It no doubt will last for many, many years. I hope the company resists going to plastic to get the price point down.

And that beings me to the last point. The Duffix is not cheap. It doesn’t run to the ridiculous price points of celebrity endorsed swing gadgets, but at $90 or so, it’s not a spur-of-the-moment purchase, either. But if you have a severe problem with the banana ball, this might do the trick.