Tour Striker Smart Ball Review

The Tour Striker Smart Ball is a fantastic golf training aid from which any player will benefit. Invented by Top 100 teacher Martin Chuck, the Smart Ball is both useful and compact, making it a perfect training aid option to include in your bag.

Tour Striker Smart Ball Details

Some of the best golf training aids are the most simple, and the Tour Striker Smart Ball fits the bill.

Consisting of an inflatable ball on the end of a neck lanyard, the Smart Ball is meant to be worn around your neck as the ball drapes across your chest. After placing the lanyard around your next, you can tighten it to allow for the ball to hang just above your belt buckle. In many ways this is similar to a neck tie, but with a very different purpose.

The science or technique behind the Smart Ball is multidimensional. First, you can use the aid to determine if you are swaying off the ball during your backswing. Allow the ball to hang over the golf ball as you slowly take the club back. If you are swaying off the golf ball too aggressively, the Smart Ball will move significantly away from an ideal address position.

The Smart Ball can also be used to practice staying “connected” throughout your swing. Placing the Smart Ball between your forearms allows you to practice taking the golf club back while keeping the aid in the same position within your forearms. This allows you to determine if your forearms are separating excessively at any point of your swing, which can lead to any number of poor results.

Tour Striker Smart Ball Benefits

I noticed many swing benefits during my time with the Smart Ball. As a golfer who sometimes battles a hook or thin shot, the Smart Ball allowed me to slow things down and focus on my swing sequencing.

When I am swinging poorly, my elbows have a tendency to separate, leading to the dreaded “chicken wing” swing flaw. This causes all sorts of bad shots. My score soars, my enjoyment drops, and life is terrible.

The Tour Striker Smart Ball helped me identify when this (and other) swing flaws were occurring and how to fix them. I was impressed with how well this training aid worked despite its simple design and concept. I think this is an important realization, especially with a game as complicated as golf can sometimes be.

The Tour Striker Smart Ball is trusted by some of the game’s top teachers and pros on multiple Tours. There is no doubt you will also find benefits to your game after practicing with the Smart Ball. This is one of the best training aids I’ve ever used.

For more information, visit the Tour Striker website here.

REVIEW: The Aiming golf shot aiming device

With everything that can go wrong in your golf swing, the least you could do is get yourself aligned correctly to your target. However, a number of golfers still struggle with this concept, which literally sets them up for failure. 'The Aiming', a new golf equipment device made by the Korea-based MotionScape, is designed to help align you to your target during practice sessions or on the course.

As the video shows, The Aiming is a small device that clips onto your belt or waistband and vibrates to let you know when you aren't lined up correctly to your target. After standing behind your golf ball and pressing the button on the device's face, you'll feel and hear a notification that the device is "ready." Address your golf ball and The Aiming will notify you if you're standing too left or too right from your original target line.

The Aiming device is very easy to use and rather non-invasive due to its size when worn on your belt. Admittedly, I took a few minutes to figure out how to use the device properly, but in time I was impressed with how well the device sensed my alignment.

While the tried and true method of laying a training rod or golf club on the ground is still the easiest way to practice your alignment, The Aiming is definitely helpful when playing in a round. Of course, using a training device like The Aiming during competition would be a no-no, so I'll have to keep its use to practice sessions.

Why you should buy this device

If you're looking for a way to check your alignment during a round of golf, The Aiming is a high-tech solution. The sensors are accurate, the feedback immediate, and the device features a long battery life. Just be prepared to try it out first on the driving range.

Why you should not buy this device

At a price point of $149.99, The Aiming might be a little expensive for what it is meant to do. It is definitely a one-trick ponie, and you'll probably be able to find cheaper alternatives or methods to check your alignment.

ProtoSports X Mount Turns Your Smartphone into a Golf Swing Trainer

Sometimes the simplest ideas make the biggest impact. That's the thought that went behind the new ProtoSports X Mount camera brace, which turns your smartphone and swing alignment stick into a camera man. If you're like me, you've probably wanted to videotape your golf swing at the driving range. The most convenient camera choice would be to use my iPhone, but I always struggled with finding a way to position the camera behind me on the range. Tripods were either too short or too expensive, which meant my phone stayed in my pocket. The ProtoSports X Mount eliminates that problem.

After securing your smartphone in the ProtoSports X Mount brace, simply affix an alignment rod to the bottom of the brace and stick the opposite end into the grass. Voila! You've got a sturdy camera "tripod" that you can use to record your golf swing. Brilliant.

"Unlike other expensive tripods and bulky video stands, the X Mount provides an affordable, light weight design that allows the entire kit to be rolled up and carried in any average-sized backpack," said Kyle Stiles, ProtoSports' CEO. "The portable design makes it easy to carry around and setup when the perfect opportunity presents itself."

What I like most about this product is that it can be used anywhere, and not just for taping my golf swing. I see the ProtoSports X Mount as being a staple at family reunions, holiday parties, graduations and anywhere else that a tall camera stand would benefit.

Retailing at only $9.95 for the brace ($6.95 for an alignment rod), the ProtoSports X Mount is the perfect solution for all your camera support needs. be sure to support their cause by visiting the Kickstarter campaign site here.

REVIEW: TourStriker Pro

One of the biggest issues with my golf swing is my inability to maintain the proper impact position on a consistent basis (hands ahead of the ball).  I am by no means in the minority with this issue, especially since most amateurs tend to release the club too early from the top of their backswing, thus losing valuable yards thanks to a poor transfer of energy to impact.  In short, I'm a "scooper" or "flipper" with my irons. The TourStriker training club is designed to help golfers of all levels learn and maintain the proper impact position.  The TourStriker is available in multiple styles and makes for golfers of all levels: Regular model, TourStriker Pro, TourStriker Pro X, Women's and Juniors, and even a wedge series.  The main difference among these designs is where the "sweet spot" originates and lies on the club's face.  From the TourStriker website:

The Tour Striker and NEW Tour Striker Pro training clubs have been created not to care about your swing style or shape. The distinctive designs have little clubface below the "sweet spot" like a traditional club (Figure - below right). The clubs have been designed so you intuitively teach yourself how to deliver the "sweet spot" of the club to the ball like an expert ball striker. Transferring the feel learned to your traditional clubs is an easy step!

Easy step, eh?  I wanted to see if this was true, so I went to my local Golfsmith and picked up the TourStriker Pro, which is designed for players with a handicap of 10 or lower.  After purchasing the club for $99.95, I made my way to the driving range and started hitting a few balls first with the TourStriker and then with my irons.  After a full bucket of balls, I basically had the following impression of the TourStriker:

PROS: First and foremost, the club feels like a normal iron in your hands in terms of weight, however addressing the ball is certainly "odd" at first thanks to the specially-designed clubface.  Swinging the club felt natural for the most part as I began to get used to hitting balls with the TourStriker.  This took me a little while, of course, as the first few shots were anything but ideal.

I will wholeheartedly admit that the TourStriker works as-advertised.  If you release the club too early from your backswing or attempt to "lift" the ball off the ground, the club will be very unforgiving.  Hitting the ball anywhere other than on the miniature clubface will result in either a fast worm-burner or a simple topped shot dribbler.  After a few swings and even a grip change, I was able to keep my hands forward on more than half of my shots, resulting in a true ball flight similar to what a proper 7-iron should fly for me... and perhaps even a little further.

CONS: For the less-experienced or higher-handicapped players, making proper contact with the club might come as an accident.  In other words, the player is tasked with playing around with his or her swing until a proper ball flight is achieved then asked to duplicate this result.  The problem?  If you are a newer player who may not have an engrained muscle memory skill, this can be very difficult to duplicate on a consistent basis.  The TourStriker website does offer a few drills for players to use on the range, and I highly recommend using these drills to get started.  Finally, the TourStriker is best used on a mat or completely even surface; hills or an uneven tee area may cause the bounce of the iron to react in odd ways when hit.

All-in-all, I am pleased with the TourStriker product.  I plan on making a few additional trips to the range with the club to work on my impact position while will hopefully translate to more distance and control with my irons.