Tag Archives: golf

Cut Strokes Off Your Game Using a Golf Ball Locator

Stop Losing Golf Balls Thanks To A Golf Ball Locator

Have you ever heard of a golf ball locator? No, I’m not talking about a buddy you bring along or a dog who finds your errant shots. Golf ball locators can be used on the gof course by beginning as well as veteran golfers who are tired of spending hundreds of dollars each year replacing golf balls that have somehow not ended up down the middle of the fairway.

On the other end of the spectrum, I’m sure you’ve had the occasion of looking for a lost ball for a couple of minutes only to find it almost right in front of your face, just slightly into the rough. At other times a leaf might be hiding the ball or it can be on the other side of the tree that you haven’t checked yet. Let’s face it that golf balls are small enough and sometimes so dirty that they might not be found as easily as we like them too. Then there are the times that we’ve hit a shot 60 yards off that almost goes into the next fairway. In those cases, a golf ball locator can often be your best friend.

So how does a lost ball locator work? Well actually there are a few different types of golf ball locators. One kind has simple technology using a transmitter that finds the ball’s code using receivers. So if you’ve hit your shot out of bounds from the tee, a receiver gets a signal from the ball, it shows you where this golf gadget calculates your ball to be and then you can go and locate it easily and quickly.

Another technology is through something that looks like a pair of sunglasses. Some of these golf ball finding glasses use light which reflects a certain way off the ball to help you find your golf ball while others may dull the surrounding rough while at the same time make your golf ball stand out like a sore thumb. So in effect if you’ve hit the ball into the rough and put on these golf finder glasses, they in theory should be able to help you more readily and quickly find that golf ball.

Some lost golf ball locators are relatively simple and come with a low price tag of around $30 to $40 or so. Heck, I paid nearly that dollar amount for the last dozen golf balls that I purchased. Others are very high tech and may cost in excess of $300. My personal opinion on this is to go with the sunglass type of golf ball locator and see how that works for you but if you are into gadgets, then check out this cool video.

Prazza Golf Ball Finder

In the end, a golf ball finder may cut down on the frustration and sometimes embarrassment a golfer might feel when they’ve not only hit a bad shot but then may have to spend the next few minutes looking for the ball. Between the cost of losing golf balls and losing strokes on the course for the lost ball, my recommendation is to look into the various types of golf ball locators and decide which one might be right for you.

What Putter Do You Use? Belly Putter?

Standard, Long, And Belly Putter

Anyway, long story short, I started to change out all of my 20 year old clubs in an effort to freshen and liven up my love for the game. I bought one of those Face Forward wedges and thus far I like it and now I have a new Nickent Omen putter. However I have a question for the golfers out there because the first time out on the course with the new putter was tragic. I’m hoping in some way you might be able to relate and offer some guidance by commenting on this post.

I golfed for the first time this year at 7:30am yesterday up here in Illinois. The weather here has been beautiful for March and this was another great day. However the greens were sopping wet and full of dew. I played alone and was just going to get in a quick 9 holes before having to go into work. The rest of my game was decent (still trying to get used to the Face Forward 56 degree wedge and not being able to judge distance too well) but my putting was horrific. I’m sure some of it was me but due to the dew (pun intended), a 12 foot put seemed more like a 25 to 30 foot putt. And the dew wasn’t consistent from hole to hole. So you could end up going to the next green and seeing all the dew but the 5 foot putt rifled 6 feet past the hole. In fact, I 3 putted on 6 out of the 9 holes I played yesterday. Besides crying, how do you handle a situation (the scoring part) where for all intensive purposes seems to be out of your control? I know its not the putter and for the most part I know it is not me, but I am really bummed out about my putting right now.

Taylormade Burner 2.0 Irons Review

A friend of mine asked me to do him a favor and do an iron review covering several of the different model/brands based on my recent research and play. I was more than happy to oblige. Well, lets back up. I played with an old set of Cougar irons (a Ping knockoff) since just after graduating college. In other words, over 20 years. They served me well as most of the time I was so busy in my career that I didn’t have a heck of a lot of time for golf. Still, I usually played low 90′s out on the course with the occasional mid to high 80′s. However over the years I was losing distance big time. My scorecard and handicap was going in the same direction which was the wrong way. I went from blasting 270+ yard drives to averaging right about 200 yards off the tee. My 6 iron went from 160 to about 130 to 135 yards. So, I headed off to Dicks Sporting Goods and later Golf Galaxy and went over to their simulator with a few clubs (drivers and irons) in hand. Namely, Ping, Callaway, and Taylormade. To make things fair with the drivers, I made sure to swing with the same flex shaft and clubs with a loft of 10.5 degrees.

I started out by hitting the Ping G15 clubs and also tried a few of the different types of shafts in regards to flex. For some reason I thought that maybe if I was using a senior flex that I might be able to control the ball better and with the combination that these clubs were much lighter than what I was swinging, I was sure that I would see gains in distance and hopefully consistency of hitting in the fairways. When all was said and done and with guidance from the professional, regular shafts seemed to be the best for me, so I would stick with them throughout the testing. The Ping clubs just didn’t seem to add anything at all to my swing. Meaning, nothing changed in my distance with the clubs. I was hoping to be a Ping fan simply because I used a Ping putter for some 20+ years. Off the record, I now use a Nickent putter. Truth be told, I’m not one for having a set from all the same manufacturer. I just want to play my best.

Next up came the Callaway Diablo Octane Driver and the Callaway Diablo Edge irons. I like the way these clubs felt in my hand. My swing speed and distances increased on each of the clubs that I used over Ping. I was hitting the driver about 210-213 yards off the tee and hit 220 yards on my last drive. I wasn’t trying to over hit these clubs and simply based on the driver alone, I was ready to pull out my wallet. I had a problem getting the 4 iron up in the air but I have that issue with most 3 and 4 irons. The Callaway Diablo Edge Irons were pretty sweet as well but I wasn’t so sure about the price.

Finally I hit the Taylormade Burner 2.0 Irons and Driver. I know that the Rocketballz line had just come out but I don’t see paying full price for something when you can get last years model on sale for a few hundred less. So with the driver in hand, my club head speed increased from an average of 83mph with the Ping G15 to 91mph with the Taylormade Burner Superfast Driver. Drives were now rolling up to 220 yards on a consistent basis with a few getting to 230. Now mind you, the only thing that is changing here is the clubs. I hadn’t done a single thing to improve my swing except for dropping some of the heavier 20+ year clubs for the newer ones. Because of how I hit last time out on the course, my goal was simple. I was looking to add length to my game.

Taylormade Burner Iron Video

My Taylormade Burner 2.0 Irons Review

Here’s the deal. After seeing me hit the Taylormade 2.0 irons much better than any of the previous clubs that I tried, the pro wanted me to check out the Taylormade RocketBallz Irons. No doing. Why you ask? Again. Simply because if I’m buying new, I see no reason to pay double on this years model. Plus I have no problem saying no. But that is just me. You are welcome to check out the Taylormade RocketBallz but as for me, I’m happy with the Taylormade Burner 2.0 Irons. Anyway, I was hitting the Taylormade Burner 2.0 Irons about 6-10 yards further than the irons that are currently in my bag. Beyond that (and I know I still need to straighten out my swing), the shots that I was hitting off-center (I tend to hit on the inside of my clubs) seemed to travel better. Now maybe I would have seen yet increased distance with the RocketBallz model. Just say no. Perhaps what sold me more than anything else with the Taylormade Burner 2.0 irons was that I was getting the ball into the air quicker and continuing higher on a good flight path. As being the guy who is known for hitting line drive shots (worm burners) with the ball rolling 20 plus yards, I like seeing that I have the opportunity to hit the green and stay there with the longer irons.

The bottom line is that I did not have the intention of talking about competing brands in this post. This is after all just one persons review. So I have I purchased the Taylormade Burner 2.0 irons? No…. can you believe it. I always like to contemplate any purchase decision and when I went back, for whatever reason the 2.0 clubs with the cool look had been replaced with a chrome stainless steel look. Now take it from me, purchase the Burner 2.0′s and you should be more than satisfied. What did I end up doing? I stalled the purchase throughout the 2012 season. What? Yeah, I just kept playing with my old irons. What was I thinking?

Update: 12/15/2012 To make a long story short, throughout the 2012 season I spent more time in the simulators and finally ordered the Taylormade Burner Plus irons. Huh? After talking about the Taylormade Burner 2.0′s so much? Yeah. Now I didn’t care so much for the grips but otherwise these clubs felt so much better with my swing. What would have been errant shots seemed to somehow leave the clubhead better. I gained even more distance than my 20+ year old irons and with an even yet higher trajectory. We are talking an average of 10 yards per club! The larger clubface made this golfer feel all the yet more comfortable. Maybe it was a mental thing but it worked for me. Yes, this all was in the simulator but I’ll be looking forward to putting these clubs to the test on the course in the upcoming golf season.

Golf Gadgets – Cut Strokes Off Your Game

GOLF GADGETS

When I started playing golf in my teens, there were no so-called golf gadgets to be found. Sure, at that time you may have found a smaller golf ball that was available that was supposed to be illegal and give you new found distance but otherwise you just grabbed your clubs, golf bag, golf shoes, some golf balls (which may have come out of a lake), tees, card , and pencil and you were good to go. In fact, you didn’t use a golf cart or pull the clubs behind you. You actually got exercise by hefting the clubs and golf bag on your shoulder. Oh… the good old days.

Today, golf gadgets seem to be the in thing. You have frictionless golf tees, tees which allow you to miss the dimple when hitting the ball, golf balls which are made from 3 parts and balls which have double dimples or should I say dimples inside dimples (yeah… I just picked up some of those). When you hit the ball in the rough you can put on some special glasses which helps to block out the grass and make the ball stand out. Heck, at the cost of a dozen golf balls now-a-days, we could all use a little help in finding those errant shots.

I get a kick out of technology and one of the golf gadgets that I particularly like is a unit that uses GPS/Pinseeker to let you know how far you are away from the pin. So, I can pull out this device and see that I am 168 yards from the pin. Pull out the trusty 6 iron and let it fly. I mean just take a look at this product. How cool is that?

At the top of this page you see a neat device called the Swingyde Golf Swing Training Aid. It got such good reviews that I just had to have one. Basically, it lets you know when your arms are in the right position, how to know if you are creating the correct lag, and then if you have a good follow through. At the price, this is one of the golf gadgets that made its way into my car and I use it while practicing inside at the dome these days. I put up my view of the Swingyde Golf Swing Training Aid.

Golf Gadgets To Increase Your Club Head Speed

Whoosh. That is the sound that you hear on the golf range when you are next to a guy who is has a 110 mph club head speed. I was at the range with one of my buddies a some years ago (before getting back into golf) and it was my goal to roll up and hit the fence some 250 yards away. It was my friends goal to fly over this 50 foot high fence on the fly. When he hit the ball well you could hear the sound of his club knife through the air. Today you can buy an item that will help you get increased yardage by activating your fast twitch muscle fibers and when you swing the Momentus Speed Whoosh, you will hear it whoosh through the air. If applied properly, when you using the Speed Whoosh, you will be swinging the device 20 yards faster than your own driver. If all works well, that should translate to an extra 20-30 yards with your driver on the golf course.

Golf Gadgets To Measure Club Head Speed

Now you may know that you are not hitting the ball quite as far as you used to but until you measure your club head speed, how do you know where your baseline is at? Well, it is definitely not an exact science but when using a driver, you will get approximately 2.5 to 3 yards per 1 mile per hour that you swing the club. But swinging the club harder does not always mean that you will hit the ball further. In fact, you are better if you get your tempo and lag going correctly on your golf swing rather than just attempting to swing hard. A good starting point is to use one of the golf gadgets that lets you know your club head speed.

Need to swing on plane? There’s a golf gadget for it. Need to figure out how far to stand from the ball, correct alignment, and foot distance from the ball? There’s a golf gadget for it. How about a putting mat, a net to hit balls into, a trunk organizer? Yes, these are just a few of the golf gadgets that might soon help you enjoy the game of golf that much more!