Effective training aids

I’ve been a long time lurker, but I’ve never signed up for an account until now. I’ve gotten a lot out of Lag’s posts and my ballstriking has gotten back to an acceptable point since I’ve been working on the 4:30 line and actively firing with the hands. I just wanted to share a few products that I’ve been using which have helped me out quite a bit.

The first is the Vision Track by Medicus. It gives an excellent visual representation of the swingplane from the “birds eye” view of the golfer. You hit balls off of it and it makes the invisible 4:30 line a reality. It’s also great for indoor slow motion and mirror work.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=c3f0uCAili … 3f0uCAiliw

m.youtube.com/watch?v=nPxzoUh8cw0

m.youtube.com/watch?v=oysMxZiYNRk

m.youtube.com/watch?v=TmenSgY4XU … re=related

m.youtube.com/watch?v=N2sA8xg4LbM

Another product is the Power Swing Fan. Most of you have probably seen one of these around somewhere. It has quite a bit of wind resistance and it really gives your hands something to hit against. It’s great for feeling shaft flex and you can do a lot of half swings or even just hand and wrist drills. It’s also a great workout without the noise of an impact bag.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=xfJvJacjCu0

m.youtube.com/watch?v=3EViqHSMRzk

m.youtube.com/watch?v=SjxtfMNruIg

The last thing I’ve had success with is a grass whip, particularly the Bill Mehlhorn one. This was recommended by Mehlhorn and Harvey Penick as the best training aid in golf. You literally just use it to cut grass back and forth. It helps to shallow out impact, it teaches you to square the clubface up with the hands, it builds tempo and “golf muscles,” and it simulates the feel of impact.

golfwithmehlhorn.com/grasswhip.htm

Another interesting thing I’ve come across is Tgolf. I’ve never used it, but it seems like a great, simple way to teach beginners and especially children.

tgolf.com/

m.youtube.com/user/TGolfUSA

Thanks for posting… it’s an interesting topic, and one I enjoy discussing.
Here are my thoughts from experience:

I don’t like plane boards… you should never be trying to have the shaft on plane.
I know this sounds absurd… but to get the shaft on plane through impact… you need
to apply opposing forces in full speed, and those intentions would not be anywhere near a plane board.
I can’t think of anything worse for the golf swing than swinging on a plane board.

It’s also a bad assumption that all golfers should be aiming and setting up on a straight line. Trevino didn’t … Knudson didn’t, Snead didn’t, Hale Irwin didn’t. What you need to develop is a consistent ball flight from your unique set up and alignment. This could be left or right of the target… preferably left, but there have been some great tuggers also.

The swing fan has good intentions. I used one early on a lot, but it destroyed my short game. I don’t believe you should train with anything other than a golf club. in your hands. When you have a golf club in your hands, you are training the feel of a very specific weight and balancing (such as off centerline sweet spot) as well and shaft flex sensations.

O Grady worked obsessively with the fan club early on … and I believe this may have damaged his touch. Just my opinion, but it happened to me for a while, and I would never suggest one use a fan club or weighted club. Golf is a game of feel, and that feel is for a golf club in your hands not a fan club or weighted club.

I would say that at least the “grass whip” simulates the off center sweet spot sensation that exists in a golf swing. Better than the fan club.

The short “T” club again is not a realistic feeling of a golf club. It would be better in my opinion to use a real golf club and place the ball on the side of a hill above you as you would be learning to hit that kind of shot also with the proper and correct feeling of a real golf club.

I’ve tried a lot of these contraptions over the years, but the one theme that kept reoccurring was having to readjust to the feel of an actual golf club back in my hands… and I was never allowed to bring those training aids out on the golf course with me either in competition.

I can’t say there is no benefit from some of these things… but is there a better way that keeps us more connected to the critical feel of a golf club?

I think so…

How do you like this one Lag, it is the one I think would go with ABS. Do not know anybody with it but it is simple. All it does is make it easier to feel lagpressure, shaftflex. When there is no shaftflex you do not feel the pressure.

pureballstriker.com/