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.
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From GPS devices and shot-tracking systems to motorized carts, check out these great holiday gift ideas for the golfer in your life.
In October, “The Today Show” aired a segment on scores of massive container vessels waiting off the coast of Long Beach in California. The ships, which crossed the Pacific Ocean from Asia, were loaded with everything from consumer electronics to kitchen goods, clothing to sports equipment. Unfortunately, as you are undoubtedly aware, there are long waits at the port and too few trucks to haul everything to where it needs to go.
According to experts, the problem will not be solved any time soon, so this is not the year to wait or put off your holiday shopping until the last minute. But don’t worry, Golfweek has you covered. This is the earliest we have ever released our Holiday Gift Guide, and while it is divided into three parts, we have put together a list of things that every golfer will love.
First up is gear that can help your performance on the course, make your round more pleasant and maybe even lower your scores.
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.
With many golf courses around the United States closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, PuttOut training aids can keep your game sharp.
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Gear: PuttOut Pro Putting Mat, Pressure Putt Trainer and Putting Mirror Price: $89.99, (mat); $29.99 (trainer); $74.99 (mirror)
There was a time when home putting trainers were simple contraptions that you hit a ball into and that would then shoot the ball back across the room at you. If you putted over a sticker, you pretended you’d made the putt and the “green” was a piece of green foam.
If that’s still what comes to mind when you think about home putting devices and training aid, you clearly have not tried the gear made by PuttOut.
Based in London, PuttOut makes mats and training aids that are several products often used by PGA Tour players when they practice. With many golfers around the United States unable to go to the course, PuttOut’s devices are perfect for helping you have fun and keep you’re your game sharp at home.
PuttOut Putting Mat. (PuttOut)
The Pro Putting Mat, available in either gray or green, comes packaged in a large drawstring bag and unrolls to a length of 8 feet. It is made using a thick rubber backing and has an artificial putting surface that rolls to a 10 on a Stimpmeter. On either wood or tiled floors, putts roll smoothly over it and several markings allow you to practice from several specific distances. There are also alignment lines on the mat to make it easier to practice setting up squarely to your target.
While a true-rolling mat is essential for indoor practice, the product PuttOut is best known for is the Pressure Putting Trainer. It is a plastic, parabolic ramp that has bevels on either side and a circular disk at the bottom. The disk is the same size as a golf hole. When you putt toward the Pressure Trainer and roll the ball over the disk, it is returned to you the same distance that it would have gone past the hole. So, you not only practice your aim and putting stroke, you simultaneously practice your distance control. Putts that go over the ramp would have raced over the hole and missed, and any putt that goes over the sides the trainer would have lipped out of the hole on the course.
PuttOut Pressure Putting Trainer. (PuttOut)
What makes the Pressure Putting Trainer addicting is the addition of a small hole cut into the ramp. It’s a micro-target that is only capable of holding a putt struck with the perfect speed on the perfect line.
While the majority of golfers will practice with the Pressure Putting Trainer inside, the ramp folds down and can easily be stored in a golf bag and used on the practice green.
Finally, the PuttOut Putting Mirror is designed to help golfers set up to the ball more consistently. It features a cut-out area where you position the ball and several parallel lines that can help you get your eyes in the same position before every putt.
PuttOut Mirror and gate. (PuttOut)
Under the mirrored surface is a steel plate, for durability, and there are rubber spikes on the bottom to keep it secured to the floor, carpet or turf.
A pair of red guides come with the mirror and magnetically attach to it, allowing golfers to create a channel for their stroke path.
A 50-millimeter gate is also included that attaches to a pair of red plastic disks. The disks have tiny spikes to keep the gate steady. The gate is just wide enough to allow a golf ball to fit through and serves as an intermediate target when you practice.
All of these training aids can be used alone, by when you combine the mat with the ramp indoors or the mirrors and gates on a grass practice green, they can work together and create a more meaningful practice experience.
