Five Ways To Get Ready For Golf Season
It’s pretty much accepted in the larger world that the Masters marks the unofficial start to the golf year. The weather in the northern reaches of the U.S. is finally trending to
I’ve seen more than my fair share of golf training aids in my almost 15 years of golf blogging. The ones listed below are the best, in my humble opinion, to develop your power game.
The golf power swing fan is one of those tried and true golf training aids that seems to have been around forever.
It’s basically a handle with 4 large, plastic fan “blades” protruding that create air resistance when you swing it.
The important idea is to swing the golf fan on a regular basis. Don’t try to muscle it by lunging with your upper body. Feel the “lag” you create when you swing it.
This, too, is a pretty intense exercise so please make sure you are warmed up before going all out. Start out with some nice, easy swings if you are not warmed up, and build more speed as you continue.
Note: Make sure you are training BOTH sides of your body. If you make 20 swings right-handed also do 20 swings left-handed so you keep your musculature balanced.
Speed Whoosh
The Speed Whoosh is a device with a super whippy shaft with a larger, plastic ball attached to the end of it – to give it even more whip as you swing it.
The ball can also be used as a timing device in that it can “set” at the grip end (it uses a magnet) and when you swing it the ball releases, ending up at the other end of the club.
You can really begin to feel if you are releasing the club properly by doing this. Personally, I just like to leave the ball at the club end. Totally up to you.
The main purpose of the aid is to train your “fast-twitch” muscle fibers. I’ll give you the exact blurb they have on the Momentus site which gives further information on it’s benefits:
“Roughly half of the muscle fibers in your body are slow twitch muscle fibers and the other half are fast twitch muscle fibers. These fast twitch muscles lie semi-dormant until they are activated by an action that moves them faster than normal.
When you swing the Speed Whoosh several times in a row at speeds of 20+ mph faster than your own driver, this action activates the fast twitch muscle fibers and readies them for action.
Then, when you pick up your own driver and hit a tee shot, you can expect to add 7 to 10 mph in club head speed instantly, translating into a tee shot flying 21 to 30 yards farther. “
Golf Alignment Sticks
If you don’t think alignment sticks qualify as a golf training aid AND can help your power game you better think again.
I always can tell if “a player” has these in the bag. I say that because your alignment is one of those things YOU can control and it’s one of those things (that all good pros know) that can easily get your power game out of control without you ever really knowing what hit you.
I just happened to do this the other day and realized my alignment was getting closed. I set up the golf alignment sticks and, “all of a sudden” it felt like I was wide open when I was, indeed, square to the target.
The basic way you set them up is to have one alignment stick behind the ball (your target line) and the other parallel to it so you can line up your feet and be square to your target line. The visual example often given is that you are standing on one side of a railroad track and the other track points down the ball line. Same concept.
Additionally, the alignment rods typically have a “sharpened” end that you stick in the ground and use for other drills like the “swaying drill” where you stick the alignment rod into the ground next to your right hip and make sure you don’t hit it as you’re making your turn.
Tornado Ball
The tornado ball is a training aid used for explosive power for all athletes including, of course, PGA golfers.
Funny, I don’t here or see a lot about this exercise/training aid but some of the best power trainers in the world, use this as their little “secret.”
The exercise is done by positioning your back to a cement wall (don’t use your living room wall or any like it, please!) and hold on to the rope end of the ball.
You then start the momentum by slinging it back and forth so it hits the wall behind you. The momentum will then sling it across your body to hit the wall on the other side of your body.
This is an intense, ballistic exercise and needs to be done in short, quick, explosive bursts. Usually no more than 10 seconds. You can do 2-4 sets of these.
SwingRite
This is a unique little training aid. I never actually heard of it until a few years ago when a friend recommended I get one. It was actually invented by a fighter pilot in Great Britain in 1960, making it over 50+ years old. That’s a testament to it’s value.
It’s adjustable to swing speeds between 45 mph and 110 mph and it has this “click” mechanism so when (you release the club properly) it will provide this nice little click sound. You’ll get addicted to the sound, I promise!
This training aid will definitely help your swing speed, proper release timing, impact position, tempo and, of course, power. It takes a minute or two to figure out which setting to put it on (otherwise you won’t hear the “click”) but after that, you’re good to go.
One of the things I like best about SwingRite is that in can be used indoors as well as it’s a shorter club. Whether you’re in a hotel room, on vacation, etc. it’s easy to pack and bring along.
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