Training Aids

Why GravityFit Improves Golf Performance

GravityFit is an innovative company that specializes in postural training and spine/joint stability. It was conceived off the back of a 30-year body of research by Dr. Carolyn Richardson into why society and especially athletes seem to be sustaining more musculo-skeletal injuries than ever.

GravityFit is based on the principle that when your deep muscle system is strong, especially your core, your body has more power, agility, balance, and better all-round stability and posture. But modern life and many types of exercise actually weaken these deep muscles.

The tools and techniques GravityFit have developed have an obvious application in the physical therapy world but we have also gained significant traction in golf, particularly at the elite level:

About 10 PGA Tour pros are currently using GravityFit equipment along with dozens of professionals on the web.com tour, LPGA tour, European Tour and other tours around the world. GravityFit is also used across the national golf programs of Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, Belgium, Slovenia and Dubai.

As GravityFit gains more traction with the club golfer and an ever-increasing volume of coaches, it has become obvious that while initially designed to prevent injury, consistent use of the GravityFit tools has a wonderful carry over to golf performance.

HOW IT WORKS

One device in particular; the GravityFit TPro, has the ability to greatly accelerate golfer’s understanding and application of postural control, postural endurance, spinal and joint stability and quality of movement in the golf swing.

It also works as a powerful learning tool that provides a closed feedback loop to the golfer, always delivering awareness of posture and movement quality.

For both player and coach, this is a very good thing because it allows the player to react to an external cue that they can literally feel, as opposed to an abstract concept presented by the golf instructor. This in turn frees the instructor up to deliver coaching cues and information that is more related to outcome, such as controlling ball flight.

There are two main components of the TPro, the backbow and tubing. The backbow is designed to deliver feedback on thoracic spine posture (mid/upper back) and scapula (shoulder blade) position. Essentially it tells you if you are either too hunched with shoulders forward or the opposite; too extended with shoulders retracted.

What you are aiming for is 3 points of contact, one from the green spikes in the middle and two from the paddles either side. This will mean you are in a neutral position, ideal for golf set up and movement.

The bands give you a light resistance down the arm to the shoulder, it’s called axial load and its critical to help train stability and endurance in those deep postural muscles. This resistance also works really well to train maintenance of radius in the golf swing and connection of arms to the body in rotation.

The TPro can be used for exercises and golf specific practise drills, but you can also take club in hand and do anything from putting all the way to hitting driver. Just remember if you want to chip, putt or hit shots; it’s important to remove the green spikes from the backbow.

For more information visit www.gravityfit.com/golf, and be sure to use the coupon code GolfTipsMag for a 15% discount.

SkyTrak App A Big Golf Practice Help

SkyTrak LLC, a joint venture of SkyGolf and SportTrak, is rolling out Version 3.1 of the SkyTrak app for PC, iOS and Android. Version 3.1 features new performance enhancements including Fairway Practice, Shot Optimizer and SkyPro Integration.

“Version 3.1 helps golfers learn how changes in their swing or equipment affect distances, shot shape and trajectory,” said Andy Allen, SportTrak Managing Director of Golf. “Our continued emphasis on software and app development provides our customers with an enhanced user experience, helping them become better players.”

SkyTrak Version 3.1 software updates include:

Fairway Practice

Practice shaping shots on dogleg left and dogleg right fairways
Set the distance of the dogleg to shape shots with different clubs
Choose between easy, medium, hard

Shot Optimizer

Get immediate feedback on your data
Highlighted optimal ranges for launch angle, back spin and descent angle

SkyPro integration

Integrate a SkyPro device for measured club head speed and accurate PTI (smash factor)
The SkyPro is about the size of a flash drive and weighs less than one ounce. It attaches easily to the shaft of any golf club just below the grip making it virtually undetectable. Thousands of critical data points about a golfer’s swing path, club head speed, swing plane, club face rotation, shaft angles and much more.

Says the company, “SkyTrak is golf’s most convenient, affordable, professional grade launch monitor and simulator. It provides accurate, real-time feedback making it a complete practice, play and entertainment system for golf at home.”

The new app is available on the App Store and Google Play. For more information about SkyTrak, visit www.skytrakgolf.com.

Pin High Pro Teaches Proper Weight Shift

Every golf teacher in creation concentrates on certain moves in every lesson. One of them is what’s commonly called “weight transfer” — that key transition moment from backswing to forward swing, when a player must move the bulk of his or her weight to the forward foot. It’s the pursuit of that vital move that makes Pocket Pin High Pro such a valuable — yet inexpensive — training aid.

Invented by a Tennessean named Carl Papa and put into action by some of today’s top teachers, Pin High Pro is a lightweight, portable, spring-loaded disc that’s about the size of a cup on the green and a little less than an inch thick. On one side is slip-resistant surface which goes under the outside of your lead foot at address, forcing you to keep your weight on the inside of the foot and feel the proper weight distribution just before pulling the trigger: A slight favoring of the trailing leg.

But the real magic happens when you take the club back. Make a swing back and through — anything from a short pitch to a full turn will do; you can even use it indoors when you’re working on your pitching and chipping — and you’ll hear a loud “click” from the Pin High Pro just before impact, meaning you’ve exerted the minimum 15 pounds of force to signify proper weight shift.

It’s that simple, and that powerful.

A full practice session with Pin High Pro will eliminate swaying off the ball in the backswing and the dreaded “hang back” move that ruins golf shots in many ways, from tops and chunks to weak mis-hits. Before long the “click” gets ingrained, overthinking each shot fades away and you just concentrate on that one key “down and through” move. Rhythm and balance improve immediately, which means straigher and stronger shots.

The bottom of the unit is also finished with anti-slip rubber, so there’s no chance of it sliding out from under your foot even if you take a Dustin Johnson-like crack at the ball.

Pin High Pro can help any player at any level — including former NFL players like Jayson Swain, former Chicago Bears wide receiver, who had this to say on the product’s website:

“Playing golf is hard, much harder than playing football. I found the Pocket Pin High Pro easy to use and it helped me establish a basic swing rhythm. It also helped me shift weight to the front foot more consistently with fewer swing thoughts. It works!”

He’s spot on. Pocket Pin High Pro indeed works, and it’s small enough to go into your golf bag and be there when you need it … when those nasty fall-back habits creep back into your game. Plus, it comes in five colors.

$34.95 | www.pinhighpro.com

My Swing Golf: A New 3D Frontier

The golf arena is loaded with high-tech training aids and swing-tweaking gadgets, but MySwing Golf and its full-body, real-time 3D motion capture system really stands out. The product grew out of the movie industry, specifically the motion capture process that’s part of just about every sci-fi and adventure flick and TV show these days.

The product’s creator, Peter Gauthier, is an engineer who created the wireless, instant-feedback technology that revolutionized the film industry via popular shows like “Game of Thrones,” many animated films and video games. “We adapted it to sports and golf as our first entry because golf is a hard motion to capture,” Gauthier told golfgearweek-ly.com. “It’s a product for golf coaches … players are consistently blown away when they see how 3D motion capture helps them improve dramatically. The downswing is faster than the blink of an eye, and players and coaches can now see it from any angle in slow motion.”

With fast set-up, pros spend more time teaching and have the ability to instruct multiple students simultaneous-ly. The MySwing Trainer can set to any angle, tilt or rotation and operate with two or five sensors capturing specific movement with the pelvis and ribcage, left arm, and right arm. “The goal with MySwing Trainer is to provide teaching pros with a rapid ROI and a system that pays for itself in a short time frame through player self-training,” said Curt Wieden, MySwing’s director of marketing. “Students will enjoy the challenge of achieving specific training goals and will experience faster improvement through repetition of correct motions. Pros can set the system to specific ranges to train anyone from the weekend warrior to the tour professional.” Added Chase Cooper, director of prod-uct development, “everything you see takes about 10 minutes to suit up and calibrate, we match the movement live. Nobody does what we can do. We can record, analyze, compare golf swings, overhead squads, putting, dynamic mo-tion, anything you want to measure. We can use up to 17 sensors for full body, or as few as two sensors. That’s basically above and below every major joint. The technology is fascinating. Every time we suit someone up, they smile.”

After capturing a player’s swing, a teacher can compare it to PGA Tour play-ers — or to someone who “plays like you do, find where the worst problems are, work on it and train it,” Cooper added. “We have biofeedback. It’s just our sen-sors and computer; everything uploads to our online database. If both player and coach have YouTube accounts, we send the video to both places. It’s quick and easy to set up.”

Gauthier expects MySwing to show up at many more teaching stations in the near future, and says its usefulness goes beyond just recording and working on a player’s moves. “You need to seek teachers with our product. Our coaches use this to screen players to find what they can and cannot do physically. Most professional golfers are injured at some time, and amateurs over 45 years old and with a handicap between 1-9 are injured the most. Technology and smart coaches make sure instruction isn’t hurt-ing a player by assessing potential injury by screening. Ben Hogan [who played some of his best golf after a life-threat-ening car accident] was a thoughtful, intelligent man who wanted every edge possible in his game. I believe he’d be one of our biggest fans.”
$999 | www.myswing.com

FX Sports Golf Headphones

Walk along many practice tees these days and you’ll see golfers of every stripe beating balls or going through their careful practice routines while wearing headphones. Are they cranking Mozart or Led Zeppelin, listening to a podcast or maybe just some ocean sounds to calm the nerves? Good question, but now they can get expert instruction right through those buds thanks to FX Sports, a U.K. company that’s bringing its technology to the U.S. in a big way.

The built-in 8GB premium mp3 player is preloaded with many hours’ worth of psychological coaching, mental preparation, practice drills and workouts, from world class golf psychologists, coaches and trainers. For the practice drills and workouts ranging from 15 to 90 minutes, the user can choose to have their own music between the messages of instruction, or silence. Practice drills are all intended for real time use. Each drill has its own time period and messages play automatically at designated times, as the user performs the drills.

“People travel halfway around the country to see these teachers,” FX representative Duncan Walsh told Golf Tips. “We have Mark Smith, Karen Palacios-Jensen’s cardio golf program. David Mackenzie’s Golf State of Mind. We have practice drills for on the green, around the green, on the driving range — plus how to control your nerves under pressure, four possible outcomes of any shot and how to deal with them, what to do if the ball lands in the rough, if you’re swinging poorly, and on and on.”

If you’ve loaded tunes onto an iPod, you already know how to set up this device your way. “You’ve got your music, or you can choose to have silence, an audio book. It’s USB to the computer, as soon as you attach it you’ll see all the content,” Walsh said. “You can listen to the audio on the computer, choose lessons in advance and put them in the Workout folder so they’re live. On headphones, a single press of that button and it will voice that workout or drill name — David Mackenzie 20-minute clock drill, Dr. Morris Pickens’ one-hour driving practice … scroll to the one you want, press again and it the messages will play at designated times over your music. They are on two channels so you can change the music without losing your place in the lesson.

Though USGA rules don’t allow coaching during official competition, you can still use the headphones on the course during practice or casual rounds. “You can listen to the podcasts and have the drill instructions playing over them. There are pre-round warmups to put you in the right frame of mind — self-talk, etc. these guys are experts, and it’s their words, their insights. They use examples from golfers like Zach Johnson to offer reminders and encouragement on how to train and practice better. It’s structured practice that helps motivate you more. We didn’t want to create a gimmick; it’s genuinely helpful.”

And it’s not just limited to golf instruction only. “We also include workouts that aren’t golf-related — weight training, gym workouts, the other things that golfers work on. When people are stronger, fitter and more flexible, it’s going to show up in their golf game.”

FX Sports is working on more lessons to be available for download, either free or for a nominal charge.

$199 | www.fx-sport.net

SX3 Helps Your Short Game ‘Click’

At Golf Tips we like to hammer home the point that if you’ve got just a few minutes each week for serious practice, grab a couple wedges and work on your short game, which accounts for nearly three-quarters of the strokes you’ll take during the average round, putting included. So when we come across a training aid that truly helps golfers hone those 60-yards-and-in shots, we take notice.

The Swing Mechanix’ new SX3 is such a product, both simple in its application and immediate in its effect. Struggle with hand release issues through impact? Letting those wrists go early, which leads to skulls and scoops? The SX3 should help get you into that crucial “hinge and hold” mold that distinguishes low-handicappers and pros from the rest of us. Just clip it onto the top of your wedge grip — we’ll say it’s best suited for partial pitching wedge shots through easy lob wedges — and adjust its curbed arm to rest against the inside of your lead forearm at address. Then make a few practice swings, and if you’re rotating the wrists properly going back, you’ll hear a click; dragging the clubhead back, or remaining too stiff, and you won’t hear the click. That’s feedback one. Feedback two takes place when you come through the strike zone: Keep your hands in “hold” position, slightly ahead of the ball at impact, and you’ll hear a second click as you pivot to follow-through; no click if you break your wrists too soon and “flip” them.

Simple enough? Indeed. And a few swings on the range or during a practice round will pretty much cure what ails you. The SX3 weights next to nothing, meaning it should take up residence in your golf bag for the next time you get too handsy. And trust us, there will be a next time.

$49.95 | www.theswingmechanix.com

Swing Coach Teaches Proper Tempo

Golfers call it a golf “swing,” but most of us don’t swing as much as we “hit.” Standing there with a club in our hands, any club, we are focused on hitting the ball when what we should be thinking about is making a smooth, accelerating swing in which the ball simply gets in the way at the right moment.

That’s what the pros do. That’s what makes them so much different from the rest of us. They swing. We try to hit.

There are 1,001 reasons the vast majority of golfers try to hit the ball. But reasons for past mistakes are no longer the issue. Not with Swing Coach.

As its name makes clear, Swing Coach promotes making a real, pure, effective swing, one in which the ball simply gets in the way of a well timed, well made, well balanced, and properly accelerating swing. In fact, years of research into training aids has proven that Swing Coach is the only product on the market that helps golfers learn how to create a correct, natural, and efficient swing all by themselves.

Swing Coach uses the flight and direction of the ball to show what is right or wrong with every swing

Perhaps even more important, Swing Coach teaches the golfer how to make the right swing whether it’s a relatively slow swing with a wedge or the high-speed swing with a driver. One product covers all the swings you’ll ever have to make. (Absent the putt, which is a different animal all to itself.)

The secret to Swing Coach is its patented cradle technology, which took years of development to create a device that works for players of all abilities. Developed with guidance and collaboration from the world’s top golf instructors—led by Dean Reinmuth, who has coached numerous tour players including Phil Mickelson and is both a Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher and Golf Digest Top 50 teacher—Swing Coach promotes making a perfect swing by removing the urge to hit the ball from the equation.

The Swing Coach cradle works with regulation golf balls. Put a ball into the cradle, make a swing, and instantly see from the ball’s flight just how good—or bad—your swing really is.

Here’s how it works:

With a golf ball in the cradle, making an efficient, smooth, accelerating swing will launch that ball properly toward the target, or else to the right, left, too high, or too low if your swing needs work.

The Swing Acceleration Marker (SAM) is placed on the ground, four inches in front of the normal ball position for a mid-iron club. Make a full back swing or shoulder turn with a controlled 75% swing, continuing over the top of the SAM marker. The Swing Coach club will release the golf ball online towards the target when swung with the proper arc and acceleration.

Just 15 to 30 minutes of practice with the Swing Coach is all players of any skill level need to see real improvement in their swings and develop the muscle memory necessary to make their best swings over and over again. New and developing golfers need to experience that “aha!” moment of what a correct swing motion feels like and they’ll be hooked. Or for better players to dial in the timing and motion of their swings precisely.

Make a proper, accelerating swing—without thinking about hitting something—and the subsequent flight of the ball will tell you everything you need to know to improve. By removing the “hit impulse” it is finally possible to understand what an accelerating and free-flowing swing feels like. Make those good swings for just a few minutes and your body ingrains the feelings and sensations necessary to create such a motion over and over again.

And again and most important, without trying to “hit” anything. It’s all about making the best possible swing. And here’s another wonderful thing about Swing Coach: If your game starts to slip, it’s is right there, in your bag, ready to get you back on track in just a few minutes. No need to make an appointment or get wired up for detailed scientific analysis. You don’t even have to see another person.

$109 | www.swingcoachclub.com

R-Motion Introduces Affordable Home Golf Simulator

Partnering with ProTee United, the leading golf simulators company, Rapsodo has launch of R-Motion Golf – The Golf Club Game (TGC) Golf Simulator Kit. Golf fans can now play the award-winning video game using real golf clubs and balls to experience a highly realistic in-game simulation of their swing and ball flight from the comfort of their own home for an affordable price.

“Rain storms, time constraints, greens fees and tee time availability are a few challenges most golfers know all too well. Playing TGC with R-Motion Golf makes year-round golf a convenient reality for anyone,” said Batuhan Okur, founder and managing director of Rapsodo. “We’re excited to be able to leverage Rapsodo’s strengths in developing tracking technologies to make the game of golf more accessible to everyone with fun, affordable and highly accurate simulated gameplay. R-Motion Golf’s personalization and accuracy are sure to enhance the players’ experience with the game.”

Dennis van Drie, president of ProTee United, added, “Our new partnership with Rapsodo will allow every golfer worldwide to immerse themselves further than ever before into the best golf simulation game ever made, using one of the most technically advanced golf simulation methods on the market.”

Until now, TGC for golf simulators was playable only with upscale sensors and camera systems. R-Motion Golf is changing the game with a compact, state-of-the-art golf swing tracker that sits at the base of the club grip and serves as an advanced game controller. This tracking device translates a player’s swing mechanics and ball impact data into an incredibly realistic simulated golf shot within the game. Weighing in at less than half an ounce, it’s designed to have zero impact on a player’s swing.

R-Motion Golf offers a low cost, low maintenance and high quality alternative to competing golf simulation systems. The kit includes one golf swing tracking unit with a 4-hour battery life, four club attachments, a Bluetooth USB dongle and TGC golf simulation software, complete with 15 beautiful courses and one driving range.

To get started, players simply download the TGC software and insert the Bluetooth dongle into their PC to connect it to the R-Motion Golf swing tracker. Four clubs can be pre-equipped with the provided club attachments so that players can easily slide the tracker onto their club of choice and quickly move it between clubs. Aiming the clubface at the virtual target line onscreen and squaring it to the golf ball for roughly one second before taking a backswing will automatically initiate swing tracking for each shot.

R-Motion Golf – The Golf Club Game Simulator Kit was based on the original TGC, an award winning golf simulator video game by HB Studios, originally released on Sony PlayStation 4, Microsoft Xbox One and PC Windows platforms in 2014. Since then, the game has been widely acclaimed as one of the most realistic and technically advanced golf games for its stunning visual presentation, authenticity, and in-depth course design feature that allows users to build new courses and share them with other players online.

“ProTee United is a long-term valued partner of HB Studios. The ongoing evolution of their technology and their partnership with Rapsodo is exciting for everyone involved,” said Alan Bunker, CEO of HB Studios. “We’re extremely proud to have our very own The Golf Club game software behind the great strides ProTee United and Rapsodo are making in bringing affordable golf simulation to players everywhere.”

$299 | www.rmotiongolf.com

Full Swing Golf Debuts New S2 Series

Full Swing Golf, the leader in indoor golf technology, has announced plans to debut the latest model in its award winning series of golf simulators, the S2. Specifically developed to offer customers a Full Swing Golf experience, but at a more affordable price starting at $19,900. “The S2 simulator is the first of its kind to be a DIY installation at the lowest cost of ownership, allowing more families, businesses and golf courses, the ability to own a simulator,” explained CEO of Full Swing Golf, Ryan Dotters.

The S2 is streamlined in design and set up for self-installation, allowing for great compatibility on any type of flooring within varying spaces. The product gives greater access to different types of customers, especially golf facilities that remain open during the winter season and throughout the year. “With the streamlined installation process, smaller footprint and best value for the price, we’re hoping to equip golf professionals with the opportunity to extend their teaching season throughout the year, regardless of weather conditions,” said Dotters.

Additionally, the new S2 series allows golfers and their families to enjoy, learn, and play the game more frequently, at a faster pace. “Our dual tracking technology combines high speed camera and infrared light wave technology to produce the most realistic ball tracking data you can get,” explained Senior Vice President, Jason Fierro. “At Full Swing, we strive to constantly develop the highest quality, best performing golf simulation technology in the world and the S2 series delivers this at the best value for the price,” added Fierro.

Full Swing Golf is a San Diego based company specializing in cutting edge golf simulation technology. The technology features state of the art ball tracking and offers clients 87 Championship Courses. Full Swing Golf, found in over 60 countries worldwide optimizes the player’s experience with its real time environment. The technology can be found in the home of PGA TOUR Player’s including Jordan Spieth, Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington, Patrick Reed, Bill Haas, Hunter Mahan and Mark Wilson. For further information, please visit www.fullswinggolf.com.

Brits Introduce Zen Green Stage

When The Daily Telegraph, one of the United Kingdom’s largest newspapers, recently reported how golf’s major winners were turning to Southport, England-based Tour coach Phillip Kenyon to transform their putting, eagle-eyed readers may have spotted a reference to golf’s new secret putting weapon – the Green Stage by Zen.

With 2016 Major victories, late-season surges in form and stellar performances at the Ryder Cup all following recent sessions with him, many of the world’s best-known Tour superstars now turn to Kenyon when they want to improve their form on the greens.

And when they visit Kenyon’s studio at the Harold Swash School of Putting, located at the Formby Hall Golf Resort Hotel & Luxury Spa in Southport, Tour stars regularly spend time on the adjustable slopes of the Green Stage

“The Zen Green Stage allows us to create any type of makeable putt on the planet, within seconds” said Phillip Kenyon. “If you collect data on both straight and breaking putts, you get a much truer picture of how the student carries his/her stroke patterns onto the green.

“Green Stage creates the ideal training environment when working through stroke changes and drills.”

The world-first, computer-controlled Green Stage – developed and built in Sheffield by Andy McCague, Nick Middleton and the team at Zen Green Technology – enables golfers to practice an almost limitless number of breaking putts to their heart’s content, mastering the art of green reading in a comfortable indoor environment. The Green Stage, which is available in three sizes from 12 to 20 feet in length, takes seconds to adjust from one slope to another, and can offer golfers challenging double-breaking putts as well as all other putts in the scoring zone.

When combined with the other technology at Kenyon’s disposal, including SAM PuttLab, Quintic Ball Roll, GASP high speed cameras and software, and 3D analysis systems which measure the body’s movement, the Zen Green Stage is proving formidably useful in transforming pupils’ fortunes on the greens.

“With the constraints of the British weather, it is hard to capture the right putting data outdoors,” said Kenyon. “Having the Zen Green Stage at the studio here has been a big step forward for us. We can capture all of that date across each of the different putt types – uphill, downhill, sidehill, and double breaks – in a controlled environment.

“The Zen Green Stage creates a much more effective putting coaching process” he continued. “We can see how a golfer tackles an emerging environment, typical of what they will find on the golf course, rather than simply assessing them on a flat surface. Green Stage enables us to create an ever-changing putting experience indoors – which makes for a far more enjoyable environment for the golfers who come here to improve their putting.

“Zen Green Stage has also allowed us to be more economical and cost-efficient with our floor space. Putting it into our studio was a great decision.”

Green Stage co-inventor Andy McCague said: “We are delighted that Phil Kenyon and his high-profile customers have found such incredible success on Tour in 2016, and we are proud that he has selected Green Stage to play such a pivotal role in his world-class putting studio.”

“Green Stage is not just a moving floor” said co-inventor Nick Middleton. “We have new sensing technology and some fun gameplay in development. Green Stage is completely changing putting practice, and we’ve put enjoyment right up alongside improved performance as our twin goals.”

www.zengreenstage.com