As you can imagine the golf industry is flooded with products all claiming to help your game. Most are gimmicks, but some are actually intelligently thought out tools to assist you in learning and/or grooving your swing. There was a day when teaching pros were beginning to look like snake oil salesman as they brought their staff bag onto the teaching tee overflowing with teaching aids (remember Tin Cup?) with the notion that the pro with the most gimmicks, wins. Luckily that has dissipated somewhat but there is still a place for sensible, practical teaching aids in the game of golf.
One such aid that I have used for years is the "Swingyde". Ironically I was introduced to this aid by a teacher from the Leadbetter Academy. Just as ironically, he was using it incorrectly, but that is neither here nor there (and don't get me going about Leadbetter). Swingyde is a great device for improving swing plane and release. It's one thing to talk about swing plane for instance, and it is another to look at video of yourself to see if you are on plane or not, but how about when you are actually hitting the ball? Attaching Swingyde to your golf club (takes sixty seconds max) and then making sure it connects with your right arm on the backswing, and just as importantly your left arm on your follow-through will give you immediate feedback as you hit balls.
With Swingyde you will feel what it is like to swing on plane and release the club, making it easier to replicate that swing on the golf course. And, of course, if you are knowingly swinging properly repeatedly, that means you are training your muscle memory properly. So many people ask why they don't improve despite the fact they practice a lot, and the reason is because what they do in practice varies, making it difficult for the muscles to memorize one action. If five minutes into math class the teacher started talking about Bolivia, and then art, it would be very difficult to learn to add.
So bottom line is I highly recommend Swingyde, and encourage you to give it a go. What I should also say is, quite seriously, when you get your Swingyde put your name on it. Or paint it pink. Do something to identify it as yours. I can't tell you how many Swingydes of mine have gone missing (I suspect into the overflowing staff bags of fellow teachers!).
For more information about Swingyde click here.
