The best gear and gadgets to not only get you through, but have you succeed during a wet round.
Having the proper rain equipment can make or break a damp round.
Don’t let the weather be a reason you didn’t play your best, check out some of the best accessories to have on hand when the skies open up.
But first, a few tips to make the most of a rainy day on the golf course:
1) Load up on towels. Whether you’re keeping your grips dry, cleaning your golf ball or drying off your cart seat, two to three towels should help you get through a soggy round.
2) Invest in rain gear. Having a set of rain pants and a weatherproof jacket is well worth the investment. Take care of yourself — you deserve it.
3) Have fun! It may sound silly, but remember…you’re not on Tour. Don’t let a downpour make you sour. Hey, you never know the tales you may be able to tell from a muddy round.
With those tips in mind and quality gear in hand, you’ll be chomping at the bit to hit the links no matter how rainy the day.
Mobility can be a great place to start in your training.
As most of the country is beginning to defrost after a long winter, your body may not be used to playing long rounds of golf or even practicing.
In preparation to swinging a club in the cold weather, many golfers fail to properly warm-up for a range session or their round and that can be a recipe for injury.
Common injuries among golfers affect the back, knees, wrists, shoulders and more. The back is not designed to rotate for a golf swing, so mobility can be a great place to start in your training.
Members of the NYU Langone Health Sports Performance Center team spoke to Golfweek’s fitness guru Averee Dovsek and gave some helpful tips on preventing injuries for golfers.
This full-body kettle bell swing exercise will help with the strength and stability of your golf swing.
The countdown is on to set New Year’s resolutions. Golfweek is here to broaden your fitness knowledge and give you some golf-specific exercises with “10 days of winter workouts.”
Averee Dovsek is in the gym demonstrating a full-body kettle bell swing exercise that will help with the strength and stability of your golf swing.
This exercise activates a variety of muscles and helps with endurance. The kettle bell swing is a hip-hinge movement that targets the glutes, hamstrings, abdominals, quadriceps, lats, adductors and diaphragm.
Give the gift of a lower handicap this holiday season.
Is there a golfer in your life that could use a bit of help with their game? Trick question, that’s every golfer. Give the gift of a lower score this holiday season with our list of training aids.
Whether you’re gifting to a junior golfer, a high-handicap beginner or a scratch player, there’s something for everybody on this list.
While we continue our mad dash towards holiday shipping deadlines, check out our other lists while there’s still time to get the perfect gift sent straight to your porch.
Golfweek’s 2022 Holiday Gift Guide: 8 gifts for the gym-obsessed in your foursome
Are you or someone on your holiday shopping list itching to improve their golf fitness? Golfweek has rounded up items ranging from training aids, fitness tools, recovery technology and fashion to help with your holiday shopping.
In case you missed it, catch up with Golfweek’s holiday gift guide for 2022. Check back through December as we break down all the best holiday gifts for golfers including extending your golf season and items for the serious golfer.
Check out some fitness tips to help jumpstart or continue your journey from our video series, “Fitness with Averee.”
Trying to start your golf fitness journey? These items may help
Beginning your golf fitness journey can be challenging, intimidating and confusing.
How do you start and where?
There is a lot of different information floating around the internet on golf fitness, but the key is to find what works for you and your specific skill set.
Golfweek has rounded up some items from training aids, fitness tools, recovery technology and fashion to ignite your love for the game.
We occasionally recommend interesting products, services, and gaming opportunities. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Golfweek operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
The Tour Striker PlaneMate is a training tool for all skill levels to help improve club path, transition and ball striking.
Many struggle trying to recreate a professional-looking takeaway and transition. Tour Striker’s PlaneMate allows you to practice and get the feel of a correct takeaway without confusion.
The PlaneMate comes with a waistband attachment that has an elastic band that attaches to the club shaft. The set comes with multiple elastic bands for the current and future levels of your golf swing. The PlaneMate is reversible for both left and right-handed golfers.
The device is about shallowing the golf swing and preventing any unwanted steepness. PlaneMate can be used for pitching and chipping techniques to develop consistent contact around the greens.
Tour Striker PlaneMate- $197.99. (Tour Striker)
The Standard Green Pitch Motion Band is a moderate resistance band designed for an abbreviated swing.
The Standard Green Full Swing Band is another moderate resistance band crafted for full swings that helps to build strength and muscle memory.
The Pro Red Full Swing Band is an intense resistance band that is for the lower handicapped players who are looking to take their swing and scores to the next level.
We occasionally recommend interesting products, services, and gaming opportunities. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Golfweek operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
Recovery from the gym and course is just as important as your training. The PlayMakar MVP Percussion Massager can help with muscle recovery.
Many go through peaks and valleys when it comes to motivation. You may have months where you feel unstoppable when it’s time to hit the course or get in the gym. Some days the thought alone is exhausting. It is important to train hard, but it is equally important to allow your body to recover.
Working out has many physical and mental benefits to the human body. It is a great tool for stress management, but too much of a good thing can result in injury, increased cortisol levels, fatigue, performance decline and more. When you allow your body to recover, you allow your muscles to use that time to repair and replenish muscle glycogen (energy stores).
A great tool to help aid in recovery is the handheld PlayMakar MVP Percussion Massager. This tool is designed to relieve muscle tightness and tension. The massager increases range of motion and decreases recovery time to help you perform better and manage pain.
PlayMakar MVP Percussion rechargeable and wireless massager- retail $249. (PlayMakar)
The device includes six quiet levels of Intensity ranging from 1200 to 2700 PPM. The percussive muscle therapy uses rapid, repetitive strokes to stimulate blood flow & heat. You can shop for the MVP Percussion Massager in addition to other recovery tools on the PlayMakar website.
Constructing an artificial turf putting green at your house is a lot easier than you might think, but it’s a commitment.
If someone asks if you would like an artificial practice green mailed to your house as you are stuck at home for weeks on end during a global pandemic, say yes.
That’s what I did in mid-April after a representative from SYNLawn emailed and asked if I wanted to try one of the company’s artificial greens. The company has designed, manufactured and installed artificial grass surfaces for years. In February, SYNLawn updated a 280,000-square-foot practice area at Carl’s Golfland in Plymouth, Michigan, and it has made synthetic turf areas for much smaller facilities and sells practice putting greens for home use.
While basic, portable putting mats are available, the Dave Pelz GreenMaker Putting Green System is among the Cadillacs of indoor greens. Options range in size from a manageable 6 feet by 12 feet ($1,199) to a mammoth 12 feet by 18 feet ($3,499), and all of them are much easier to assemble than might be expected.
A 6 foot by 12 foot Dave Pelz GreenMaker putting green (David Dusek/Golfweek)
After accepting an invitation to try a Dave Pelz GreenMaker, two packages arrived at my home a few days later. One was a box that contained heavy foam squares that interlock and form the foundation of the green. The other was a big roll that looked like a carpet.
After connecting the foam pieces like a giant Lego set in my basement, then fastening them using dozens of plastic bolts that look like AAA batteries, I opened the roll and saw the artificial grass. The turf laid on top of the foam foundation, with the holes matching up with the cutout hole locations. After about 24 hours, the previously rolled turf flattened under its own weight, then I dropped in the cups and added the flags.
Presto, my practice green was ready for use.
Setting up a SYNLawn Dave Pelz GreenMaker takes one person less than 20 minutes. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The largest greens have four holes, but my compact model had two. According to SYNLawn, the green rolled to a Stimpmeteter measurement of 10, which is slower than PGA Tour standards and more typical for upscale public courses.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic started forcing people around the United States to stay home, putter training aids have exploded in popularity. Even as courses in more states have reopened, golf lovers may have a hard time practicing safely, so anything that can help people improve their skills and have fun at home is going to be popular.
Several things separate the Dave Pelz GreenMaker from some other training aids or mats.
The roll. Putt after putt, the ball rolled smoothly and straight over the artificial grass. While the putting surface is elevated about 8 inches above the floor, it genuinely felt like I was on a real practice green.
The clean look. Many putting mats are covered with markings, lines and other training aids to help improve your alignment, ball position and address. Sure, you can use mirrors and other devices on the Dave Pelz GreenMaker, but you also have the option to practice without those things.
The size. While it was not hard to assemble the Dave Pelz GreenMaker, building it is the start of a commitment. It requires space and could dominate a room in your home. It certainly is not something that you would want to build and disassemble every day or even every week. Setting it up on a deck and enjoying it for an outdoor season, then taking it apart and rebuilding it in a basement before cold weather arrives would be fine, but there’s no getting around the need for space.
The price. For most golfers, this is a serious, long-term investment. It’s one thing to buy a $75 training aid and stop using it after a few months, but spending more than $1,000 means you are making a commitment to use the Dave Pelz GreenMaker not only when you are staying home during the pandemic but for years to come.
