Category: Training Aids
Golf is a difficult game to master. And to help you through it, inventive minds have come up with thousands of different training devices. From the Swing Jacket, to the Medicus, the SpeedStick, the Inside Approach, the Impact Bag and the Birdie Ball, there's something that will help everyone's game.
8 Board Golf Swing Trainer
The 8 board is supposed to teach you proper balance and weight shift with its two rotating disks. With one foot on each disk, you take practice swings, and the device’s rotation forces you to make the proper body rotation.
The device make sense for the forward rotation, but I wonder about the backswing. Most teachers have you coiling your top against a stable lower body. It seems that a rotating disk would also encourage you to swing your hips backwards.
Gyro Swing Golf Swing Trainer
The Gyro Swing has a 20,000 RPM gyroscope built into the head of the driver head that’s supposed to force your swing to stay on plane, and generate a perfectly timed release. It was a winner in The Golf Channel’s inventions series. You can see a video on it below. I looks amazing and as a gadget freak, it’s something that I really want—especially as Rick Smith demonstates how it cures the “chicken wing”—my continuing nemesis.
T3 Putting Arc
GOLF AROUND THE WORLD T3 Putting Arc
The T3 Putting Arc is designed to teach an “inside to square” putting stroke. This natural stroke is based on the principle that a good putting stroke has the hands, arms and shoulders moving as a single unit. When done properly, the stroke will form an ellipse, and take unreliable wrist action out of the movement.
That’s exactly how I putt, and why I think I’m so successful at it. Putting is by far the strongest part of my game. It could also be yours. If you think about it, putting is a lot easier than playing drivers or irons.
The Impact Ball
The Impact Ball is a training aid designed to solve a host of problems—but primarily to bring the player back to “the postition” at point of impact. With the ball between your arms you can take a full swing while maintaining that “triangle” throughout. That’ll help you on the backswing, the downswing and the follow through alike.
Vijay Singh’s Golf Mat
It’s about this time of year—after a couple of long months of weather enforced absence from the golf course that I begin thinking about setting up a driving range in my garage. There are a lot of plastic balls I could buy, but the issue of the mat always has been the problem. I absolutely can’t stand hitting off a traditional mat—it’s why I rarely go to a driving range. When I practice on those mats, two things happen: first, I get used to the idea of my club skipping off the surface of the mat. That really screws things up when I get to the course. And second, I get a bad case of “golf” elbow.
So I was intrigued when I saw this golfer’s mat. The surface is supposed to “give” like regular turf, simulating the taking of a divot. That makes it possible to take your regular shot—not having to alter it for the hard mat. And it should save the bones from the shock.
This is one I’d really like to give a try.
