Line and speed are the two crucial factors in making putts. It doesn’t matter what grip you have, what putter you use, or what your apparel scripting is. If you can’t get the putt rolling on the proper line and speed you’re destined to bad putting.
PuttOut Putting Trainer
The PuttOut “Pressure Putt Trainer” is designed to train the golfer get get the putt rolling on the correct line and speed. The unique curved design returns good putts the distance they would have traveled past the hole. The side contours reject offline putts and force the golfer to a bit of a “walk of shame” to get the balls, as those shots are not returned.
An interesting feature of the PuttOut is the little retractable “micro target.” In the photo above you can see the HOG golf ball is sitting in it. Putts on the exact line and speed will stop inside the target. Once the golfer gets used to strokes at such a tight precision and speed, putting into the much larger and easier to hit golf hole seems much easier. The micro target back plate is hinged so the golfer can flatten it out and turn the device into strictly a returning device.
The unit folds into a compact and easy to carry shape. The unit would fit easily in a golf bag or even luggage when traveling.
I keep mine in the hallway between the kitchen, my office, and the bathroom. It’s quite a trafficked spot. It’s fun to grab my putter and stroke a few to clear my my mind and improve my stroke, a few times per day.
Conclusion
If you need help with your line and speed and “pressure putting,” the $29 PuttOut could be a good option. Not sure the unit will help with non-pressure putting though. 😉
I’ve seen some interesting golf gadgets in my now 11+ years of golf blogging. In golf, alignment is a crucial aspect to the setup and golfers do everything they can and utilize every tool in the shed to insure it is correct, from alignment sticks to lasers to now sunglasses.
Birdie Max Sunglasses are not sunglasses one wears during a round of golf, walking along the beach, or riding a motorcycle. In fact, that’s not a good idea. Don’t do that. Birdie Max Sunglasses are meant for golfers to use during practice to check alignment and help them focus on only the target line and setup. How is this achieved? By blocking out everything in the field of vision except the primary target line.
Quite an interesting concept, which I poo-pooed at first. After trying it a few times I did realize a few interesting things about my setup. The most interesting part for me was that my head was not aligned parallel to the target line. My head seems to naturally line up crossing the target line from outside to in when drawing a line toward the target. If my swing wants to follow that line, I produce the dreaded hacker amateur outside-in swing path. Results of that swing path are either slices from cutting across the ball, or dead straight pulls if the clubface is square to the incorrect line.
It is interesting also to use this swing aid during putting not only for setup, but to watch the putter’s path through the stroke. I tend to be a more Ben Crenshaw style (yes, I could have picked a better example LOL), with a swinging gate. That means the putter goes inside the line on the backstroke and the end of the stroke. But the Birdie Max still helped me get the concept of being square at impact. A degree or two off on a putt of more than a couple of feet could mean a large miss. The longer the putt, the bigger the miss.
Included in the package is a nice case and cleaning cloth:
Conclusion
While this unit might seem a bit hokey, as many golf swing aids and alignment aids are, the Birdie Max sunglasses did “open my eyes” (sorry, had to do it) to some alignment issues I look to fix soon in both my full swing and in my putting setup. If you’ve tried other alignment aids and still are not able to get it right, maybe you should “look into” the Birdie Max sunglasses.
Golf-Grip In Action!
The golf grip is the one place where the player connects with the club. This is where it all starts in the golf swing. If the grip is bad, all sorts of corrections in other parts of the golf swing and setup are required to compensate. Starting with a proper grip makes the rest of the swing fall into place, just ask Ben Hogan.
Golf-Grip – Golf Training Aid
Golf-Grip is a very cool golf training aid which goes on the player’s own clubs and helps him/her establish a proper grip.
My grip is a bit skewed, with one hand strong and the other weak. That must be what produces my “granny over-the-top dual chicken wing” swing. After a few practice sessions with the Golf-Grip I’m trying to get the feel of where my hands should be and what relationship they have to each other. It is hard as I’ve learned some bad habits.
Setup
Setting up Golf-Grip is easy. Slide it on any golf grip on any club in the bag except the putter, line up the white alignment line and put your hands on it.
If you want to strengthen your grip to promote draws or hooks, rotate the Golf-Grip clockwise on the grip. If you want to weaken the grip to produce fades or slices, rotate it counter-clockwise.
Conclusion
At around $20, Golf-Grip could really help players get their connection with the club setup properly. More experienced players could rotate the grip to get the feel of draw and fade grip setups.
Related Links
Hooked On Golf Blog Golf-Grip images
Golf-Grip website
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
