Free Golf Training Tips – Resources, Videos and Reviews

Today’s marketplace is flooded with training aids. You can find one for nearly every part of the game. And more and more are being introduced every day. While a training aid won’t lower your golf handicap overnight or replace golf tips, it will help improve your golf game if you work with it faithfully.

Below are five training aids golfers often ask about in my golf lessons. Designed to improve your swing or a phase of your swing, these products help correct faults, groove mechanics, and/or ingrain the feel of swing. The key, as always, is finding a training aid that works for you before investing your hard-earned money.

(And incidentally, I am in no way affiliated with these companies nor do I make money from these reviews.)

Amazing Assist Swing Trainer (www.matzie.com)

Available from Gibas & Matzie Golf Products, the Amazing ASSIST training club improves your swing and increases strength. It’s like getting a golf lesson free of charge. Its weighted head and bent shaft teaches the correct hand action. The ASSIST improves muscle memory, extension, and weight transfer as well as tempo and timing.

As the club is swung, the proper release action is exaggerated to eliminate slicing, increase clubhead speed, and produce straight shots. In addition, the training grip places the thumbs and index fingers Vs of your hands in the traditional 11 o’clock and 12 o’clock positions. You can use it at home, on the range, or before your golf lessons.

The Amazing ASSIST is ideal for pre-game or pre-practice warm-ups or for everyday use to improve your swing. The ASSIST is available for men, women, and juniors, and for right-handers and left-handers. An instructional video comes with the product. The cost is $80.

The Elbow Tac-Tic (www.4golftraining.com)

Maintaining one’s left elbow (for right-handers) as straight as comfortably possible determines the width of your swing arc, as I’ve explained in my golf tips. The wider the swing arc, the greater the power. The Elbow Tac-Tic sleeve clicks when the elbow breaks down, providing the instant feedback needed to correct the swing and keep the left elbow extended. The Tac-tic also works on the right arm, clicking when the elbow bends at the proper point in the backswing.

The Speed Stik (www.speedstik.com)

Most golf instruction will tell you that clubhead speed determines the distance a ball is hit. The faster the clubhead speed, the farther the ball goes. Working out with the Speed Stik increases a golfer’s clubhead speed and trains proper balance and on-plane swing. Swing the Speed Stick in a continuous motion back and forth, keeping it about 18 inches off the ground. Start slowly at first, and then build momentum. Check the speed gauge for your MPHs. Every increase of 1 MPH equals three more yards of distance. Repeat a few days a week and chart your distance. Cost: $139.00

The Impact Ball (www.theimpactball.com)

The Impact Ball develops the feel of hitting a ball properly. Available from To-M-Pact Golf, Inc., it’s easy to use and understand. It’s based on the idea that many recreational players have certain swing faults (chicken wing, flying elbows, etc.) or that they try to scoop the ball off the ground when hitting. Sometimes, even the best golf instruction can’t rid a player of certain faults.

The Impact Ball works. It’s placed between the forearms and held there through your swing. The ball is bi-colored, and the only thought to focus on is to getting the ball to change colors as the club moves through the impact area. The product trains golfers to strike the ball solidly with a square clubface, eliminating any attempts to flip or scoop the ball during the shot.

The Impact Ball addresses every phase of the game—chipping, pitching, putting, driving, and bunker play. You can hit balls on the range with the Impact Ball or practice swinging the club with it at home. The cost: $39.99 + shipping and handling.

The Swing Magic Driver (www.swingmagic.com)

Training with Kallassy’s Swing Magic Driver ingrains the proper motion into your swing. Designed to improve timing, tempo, and rhythm, the Swing Magic synchronizes the movement of your arms, hands, and body. A sliding training clip enables you to separate your right hand (for right handers) during the backswing. By separating the right hand on the backswing and reconnecting it on the downswing imprints an on-plane golf swing, essential for consistent ball striking. It prevents you from coming “over the top” as well. Cost: $89.95.

Remember, a training aid is not a panacea, as I often mention in my golf tips. It won’t dramatically improve your game overnight. It won’t make up for good course management. And it won’t take the place of a one-on-one golf lesson. But it will ingrain the fundamentals of a good swing, cut strokes off your scores, and lower your golf handicap, if you practice with it faithfully. Just make sure the training aid is right for you before buying.

Are Golf Gadgets Important – The Stress Eraser

Are Golf Gadgets Important?

If you are new to golf or even an intermediate golfer, you probably already know there are thousands of companies touting their ability to help you improve your game. Which are worthwhile and which are simply worthless? Unfortunately, only you can answer those questions. There are some things you can consider to help you evaluate the products and instructions to decide whether it’s worth the time, effort and money to incorporate them into your golf game.

One of the first things to keep in mind is that golf is an incredibly popular sport. As such, everyone sees the potential for making a profit by offering advice or products “guaranteed” to make your golf game better. That means that many of the companies are going to be offering worthless information and gadgets. Remember to evaluate the company as well as the golf products before you buy. Guarantees are a good sign that a company is legitimate, but be sure the guarantee is iron-clad.

Start your quest for new golf products by evaluating the needs of your game. Where are you weakest? Don’t simply listen to your golfing partners, but don’t ignore their advice either. Take a realistic look at your game and try to figure out what areas could use the most work.

Focus on a small area at a time. If you say that your entire game needs work, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Even as a beginning golfer, the game should be fun. If you’re working hard at every step, you’re quickly going to start thinking of golf as work – and that wasn’t meant to be.

Consider hiring a tutor for regular sessions. Make time to actually play golf after the lessons so that you start incorporating what you’ve learned into your game.

While gadgets are fun, consider their value before you make a financial investment. Some golf aids are simply ridiculous, but the companies producing them count on the fact that some golfers are anxious to improve their game without putting any effort into the process. A helmet that will perfectly line up your shots probably isn’t going to work. On the other hand, some golfers find it useful to make a mark on the golf ball to help them line up the shot. Deciding what gadgets to invest in depends entirely on the individual – what works to help correct problems.

In the end, the goals of the golfer are likely to be the most important part of deciding whether golf aids, gadgets and instruction is a wise investment. For the weekend golfer who simply wants to get some exercise and enjoy time with friends, a bad game of golf may be sufficient!

Gadget Man Phil Reed has a new doodad which will help you on and off the links. Its the Stress Eraser, and it will keep you calm on the course, lowering both your score and your blood pressure.

Keep Your Stats To Improve Your Golf Game

If you are a “golf junkie” like I am, you are always looking for ways to improve your game, since you are reading this you probably fall into that category.  One of the easiest ways to improve your golf game is to keep your stats.  Let’s face it, if you are not trying to improve your game what’s the point?  I often find myself playing golf with high handicap golfers ( not that there’s anything wrong with that), but I find it interesting that a lot of times they don’t  keep their score.  How can you expect to improve your game if you don’t keep score?  Seniors are notorious for this, but senior golfers are on most occasions on a different agenda, a lot of senior golfers are just out for exercise and commodore, and God willing, I sure hope I make it that far. For the rest of us that are trying to play better golf,  keeping stats on your game is a must.

Talk to most golfers on tour and they will tell you exactly where they stand in almost every category.  The main reason for this is so they know exactly what they need to work on to improve their scoring average.  Looking back at the 2006 U.S. Open Padraig Harrington finished 1 stroke behind Phil, Monty, and Jim Furyk for third place, the difference in his check was $245,000.00.  If he cuts 1 stroke per day off his score he wins by 3 strokes.   For the players on tour the meter is always running.

Keeping your stats also helps keep your focus throughout the round. Even if I am not playing well on a particular day, I still keep my stats, that helps me from ”bailing” on the round.  The best way to keep your stats is during the round, but if you don’t like doing it during the round, make sure you do it right after while the round is still fresh in you mind. .  Before the round grab an extra scorecard.
Here are stats that you should keep:

Short of green,  Over green.

There are several golf statistics programs, the one I recommend is IntelliGolf. Once you have compiled your stats for a few rounds you will be surprised to see patterns in your game. Now all you have to do is focus your practice sessions on your weaknesses. If  your intention is to play better golf, keeping your stats is where to start.