| As one can imagine,
Golf Industry Online.com (www.golfindustryonline.com), is inundated
with scores of "the best new swing training devices ever created".
Suffice to say, we do investigate and research these game improvement
devices whether identified by ourselves or submitted to Golf Industry
Online.com.
Not unexpectedly, the two most sought after pieces of instruction,
whether to teach or to learn, are about the golf swing and putting
- how do I improve/teach the golf swing and putting? The only
path to golfing excellence is through correct practice. Until
now, only the Touring Professionals could afford to have their
swing and putting mechanics consistently and correctly monitored
by a teaching professional.
At Golf Industry Online.com, we have "discovered" three
extremely useful and easy to use teaching devices for your swing
as well as two teaching/training aids that will increase your
putting skills. Each of these offer the golfer at least one method
that will work for that golfer's visual learning requirement.
The Inside Approach
Developed by Jim Sowerwine, (Director of Instruction, Rick Smith
Golf Academy @ Tiburon, Naples, Florida) and endorsed by none
other than Jack Nicklaus, the Inside Approach swing trainer offers
beginners and advanced students the unique ability to know instantly,
whether they have swung the club on the correct path.
 Not
only does the Inside Approach visually empower you, but for hedonists,
the instant gratification is marvelous, plus the instruction cd/video
is superbly crafted.
The Inside Approach is also ideal for improving your chipping
technique.
The Inside Approach comes with a handy custom tote bag that easily
fits into any size golf bag so that you can take it wherever you
take your clubs or wherever you can make swings. In addition,
the video(s)/DVD'(s) that are offered with the Inside Approach,
give you rare insight from Jack Nicklaus as he shares some of
the fundamentals he was taught when he learned the game, as well
as insight from some of today's greatest teachers (ranked by Golf
Magazine and Golf Digest) as they share their thoughts on addressing
golfers most common swing faults. These videos are invaluable
for simplifying your understanding of the golf swing and ultimately
your future success and enjoyment of the game.
The Inside Approach is the first golf training aid that guarantees
to cure your slice, increase your distance and lower your scores
in just 6 swings or less and comes with a 30-Day Money Back Guarantee.
Price: $79.98
Visit www.insideapproach.com
The Golf Swing Tracer:
The Golf Swing Tracer is designed to evaluate your swing path
and provide instant feedback allowing you to track and correct
your swing. Unlike many bulky or difficult training aids, the
Golf Swing Tracer is easy to use, adjustable, and portable.
For many, the most difficult aspect of golf is consistently and
properly striking the ball squarely. It is nearly impossible to
visually see your swing path and be able to determine if you are
swinging properly and striking squarely. By using the Golf Swing
Tracer you see exactly what path your club takes in the critical
area (belt high on down swing until belt high on the follow through),
which allows you to adjust your swing properly.
The Golf Swing Tracer is chockfull of benefits; such as it's
ease of use for the entire family (pros, beginners, women, children),
it can be used with or without ball, be used at home, office,
driving range, or any convenient area and allows you to practice
anytime - day or night.
 More
importantly, it teaches you how NOT to slice or hook, as well
as HOW to slice or hook. It will also teach and help you hit the
ball squarely, analyze your impact zone and it helps you increase
your club head speed. The Golf Swing Tracer works with any club
(Irons and Woods).
The picture below shows how easy it is to evaluate your swing.
Simply compare the numbers you hit on the six flippers on the
board to the numbers on the chart provided and you'll instantly
see what you are doing wrong. From this instant feedback, you
can adjust your swing to alleviate a hook, slice and over-the-top
action. The Tracer is also ideal for improving your putting motion.
With the purchase of the Golf Swing Tracer you will also receive
additional tips on correcting your swing ($149.95)
A separate driver conversion track can be added to the Golf
Swing Tracer, so you can practice using your driver ($49.95).
www.swingtracker.com
- 1.800.228.0401
The Plane Stick:
Extra! Extra! It's been forty-five years since Ben Hogan popularized
his swing-plane theory in Five Lessons- now there is a practical
training device that teaches his swing-plane concepts - the Plane
Stick.
A golf club swung on the correct swing plane gives a golfer the
best chance of hitting shots that repeatedly go straighter and
longer. Research has shown that 90% of all amateur golfers suffer
from swing plane related problems.
 With
this in mind, Matt Molloy, a former mini-tour player and a teaching
pro at the Golf Training Center at Aberdeen Ridge Golf Links in
Pinehurst, NC, developed the Plane Stick as a tool for trying
to save one of his students from himself. It turns out that his
invention works for ALL golfers of all abilities.
The Plane Stick's main feature is a telescoping aluminum rod
that can be adjusted from 33 inches to 46 inches in length and
can match the lie angle of any golf club. There is a foam and
nylon sleeve covering a breakaway spring on the final 18 inches
of the rod. This allows golfers to swing at balls and groove the
feel for the proper plane without worrying about hurting their
sticks or themselves.
Besides its primary design of eliminating the dreaded over-the-top
move, The Swing Plane can also be set up to cure flaws with the
set up, follow through, hip sway, excessive head movement and
about any other ailment that a golfer can breed and need exorcised.
"The main benefit of the product is that it gives a student
the visual and kinesthetic feedback that they wouldn't otherwise
get just hitting golf balls," said Molloy. "It gives
them spatial reference points, so they know exactly what their
body is supposed to be doing and whether it's doing it correctly
throughout the swing."
The Plane Stick comes with its own attractive carrying bag.
MSRP:$149.95
www.planestick.com
1-866-794-6475
The Zen Oracle Putter:
 The
new model of the Zen Oracle Tour marries three amazing design
innovations with one of the only ways to effectively improve your
putting stroke.
- The unit extended mallet shape, with the Zen Oracle Aperture
and sole wings, spreads the weight of the putter rearward and
around the perimeter of the head, creating a huge sweet spot
and unmatched club head stability at impact.
- The contrasting finishes of the putter head, combined with
the center hole and alignment markings, make the Zen Oracle
one of the easiest putters to align perfectly
every time.
- The E.S.P. core provides a solid feel not found in other putters
that merely have face inserts. The Zen Oracle Tour's face insert
material is poured throughout the center cavity of the putter
delivering an integrated sensitivity that allows for greater
speed control and responsiveness.
With the Zen Oracle Aperture incorporated in the design, the
golfer can use the same proven putting training methods used by
pros and amateurs worldwide over the past three years to subconsciously
groove a high-performance putting stroke.
The Zen Oracle Tour is the only golf putter-training device that's
also a USGA conforming championship putter. Over 60 PGA pros and
thousands of amateurs around the world to lower their golf scores
are using it. The Zen Oracle Tour's revolutionary "Zen Aperture"
provides immediate sensory and visual feedback for perfecting
your putting technique.
It is most definitely one of the best teaching and training aids
currently available on the market today. The putter comes with
four simple Zen Oracle practice drills that are guaranteed to
improve your putting! It also is offered with a thirty-day money-back
guarantee. MSRP: $159.80
www.zenoracle.com
1.888.988.2274
Dandy Putters - The Complete Answer to Putting
 Allan
Strand, a concert pianist and athlete turned putter designer,
may be setting the stage for the next generation in putter design.
His approach to putting is unique, as is the fundamental design
of his putters. Having been influenced strongly by his father,
a science teacher with a Master's degree in physics, Allan's Dandy
putter is perfectly balanced at setup and at impact and immediately
induces overspin at impact.
 What
makes this possible is the Dandy's patented onset design. With
the shaft attached just slightly behind the true center of mass,
golfers are able to see the entire putter face at address for
easy alignment and effortlessly pull the putterhead back on the
takeaway. Once in motion, gravity becomes an additional ally and
along with its heel/toe weighting makes the Dandy putter extremely
forgiving on off-center hits.
According to Allan, "the putter influences the putting stroke.
In fact, it determines what the putting stroke can be. Balance
and energy transfer are key elements in creating a putter that
allows each of us to perform at our highest personal level."
But being unique has also been quite challenging for the Dandy
Putter Company since most golfers are drawn to brand name putters
and tend to shy away from making the necessary changes that 'true
innovation' require. Therefore to make change easier, each Dandy
putter comes with a setup trainer, which snaps onto the bottom
of the putter and enables the putter to stand in the correct address
position with a built-in forward press, and an instructional video
hosted by Allan with special guest Dr. Gil Morgan, 2nd All-Time
Money Leader on the Champions Tour. Morgan has worked closely
with Allan in testing the performance of the Dandy putter and
has 22 wins to show for it, almost half of them playing the Dandy
in competition once it was fully ready for competition. Vijay
Singh also played a 35" prototype Dandy to win the 2000 Masters
putting left-hand low.
Each Dandy comes with a unique LIFELINE grip and supports time-tested
fundamentals that many of the games greatest players believe in.
For more information about the Dandy and what makes it unique
in the game of golf, you can visit their Web site at www.dandygolf.com
Dave Pelz's O-Ball and New Book "Ten Minutes A Day To
Better Putting"
For $29.95, Pelz's new book is well worth the investment. The
self-styled short-game guru has definitely put together a coffee
stand book that will benefit your putting skills.
Every golfer knows that improving your putting will lower your
scores, yet it has long been one of the most elusive goals to
achieve in golf.
 According
to Dave Pelz, it can be done, and you can see how in this book.
Its not just a matter of time, it is time well spent ... with
feedback on what you're doing right, or wrong. Pelz guides you
through a versatile process - from creating a workspace, defining
your focus, using proper tools, and finally, making it easy to
find that most precious of commodities - the time to make it happen.
Pelz demonstrates how you can reap tremendous benefit from proper
practice conducted in a positive environment - in increments as
small as 10 Minutes a Day!
The book contains 208 pages with over 400 full-color photos and
illustrations.
A tip to the wise - Get yourself custom fitted for a putter.
It is money well spent. For a previous article on this subject,
visit www.golfindustryonline.com under their "Equipment Reviews"
link.
After you have read and studied Pelz's book, you should definitely
purchase a sleeve of his new O-Balls. The balls are an excellent
visual training tool that will accelerate your putting skills,
as they definitely make aiming and putting on-line easy. They
improve your putting stroke and help your green reading.
 Each
O-Ball™ is marked with a unique (U.S. Patent Pending) pattern
of O-Rings around their equators and poles in order to provide
feedback on how well you stroke every putt. Then, after you learn
the feel of your good strokes, and make more of them, O-Balls™
help you learn to read greens better.
The O-Balls™, manufactured by Wilson, are long, straight
and conform to the USGA Rules of Golf. They utilize 4-piece high-energy
internal V3™ core construction (DuPont HPF™ Polymer)
for distance, a thin Urethane cover to maximize short game spin
characteristics, and True-Balance™ technology for the best
putting roll in golf. MSRP: $59.95
Barry Lotz, J.D., Ph.D. is the director of the Professional
Golf Teachers Association of America. He is also a member of the
Golf Writers Association of America and the California Golf Writers
Association and a Mediator for the golf industry. He is a contributing
writer to numerous national magazines. He can be reached at drlotz@cbsgolf.net
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