There are over 400 golf training aids available on the market today, each of which addresses some aspect of the golf swing. Golf swing training aids range from thumb and grip aids, to airplane aids, tempo aids, impact aids, release and tracking aids, and all other aspects of the golf swing. . Many of those training aids focus on putting.
The golf swing has many moving parts and many different aspects, so it is understandable that there may be so many aids available. All but two of the aspects can be discussed and are opinions of the Golf Pro, Instructor or Inventor of the aid. The two irrefutable aspects are: 1. The golfer’s head MUST stay behind the ball during impact; 2. The golfer MUST maintain the angle of the spine throughout the swing. Only the PRO-HEAD trainer focuses on those two aspects. And the PRO-HEAD trainer can even be used to address head movement during putting and chipping.
Jake Zastko, a PGA golf professional and former Tour champion, has been teaching golf for more than 50 years. Jake says the biggest problem he has observed in all his years of teaching is the golfer’s head lifting up and out of the shot. The golfer does not keep his head behind the ball during impact.
PGA instructor Jack Grout recognized this flaw in Jack Nicklaus’ swing when young Jack was 10 years old. It seemed like no matter how many times Grout told Jack to stop moving his head, young Jack couldn’t keep his head steady or behind the ball during impact. One day, completely frustrated, Grout grabbed Nicklaus by his curly blonde hair with his outstretched arm and right hand, and forced young Jack to hit balls for three hours. Young Jack cried from the pain of the hair pulling. But he got the message and Nicklaus became perhaps the greatest golfer of all time. Users of the PRO-HEAD trainer have referred to the swing aid as a “Mechanical Jack Grout”.
Physiologists and psychiatrists tell us that the brain receives information and retains it from three sources: 1. Visually, a person reads data or watches videos or observes physical examples of the new information. 2. Auditory, a person listens to information or instruction. 3. Kinetically, a person types or is touched (tactile feedback) or repeats movements until movement or skill is retained. This tactile feedback is extremely valuable for kinetic learning that ultimately leads to muscle memory. Although young Nicklaus was shown his swing flaw (visually); He was informed about his defect (auditory feedback); It wasn’t until he received tactile feedback (kinetic learning) that Jack Nicklaus learned to keep his head steady and behind the ball through impact.
Some people can learn visually by reading a book, golf tip, watching their swing on video, or being emulated by an instructor or coach. Hence the plethora of golf books, magazines, videos, DVDs, and swing tips available to golfers who want to improve their swings. Similarly, by hearing about their swing failures from a professional golfer or instructor, golfers can learn to improve their strokes. They can also hear and see your failures from a good teaching professional, which is why teaching professionals and swing coaches are valuable and abundant. And why almost every professional traveling today has their own personal swing coach.
Kinetic learning alone, or combined with visual and auditory knowledge, has proven to be the best approach to improving the golf swing. It is within this form of learning, which leads to muscle memory, where the best training techniques and training aids have been focused. Here are some examples:
To. Tea Medicus has been voted the best training aid for years due to the tactile and kinetic feedback it provides to the golfer. I tried and used the Medicus myself and while it helped me with my swing plane and tempo, it did not give me feedback on head movement and did not help me correct this swing flaw.
B. Similarly with the Explode, a $ 800 plastic swing aid that forces the golfer to maintain the plane of the swing. This device offers tactile information to the golfer if his swing deviates from the required plane. Again, however, there is nothing that helps the golfer learn to keep a steady head.
vs. Swingrite It is a complete swing workout that provides aural feedback, a click, when the golfer releases the head of the club at the point of impact. However, nothing for a steady head.
D. SwingPerfect provides feedback through a vibrating device inserted near the handle of the stick.
me. SwingJacket, tea InsideApproach, Perfect launch There are other full swing aids that provide some kind of feedback, but none of them focus on head movement, which is the biggest flaw for most golfers.
Steve Williams, Tiger’s former caddy, was seen on television just before a PGA event, placing the grip end of a club over Woods’ head during a warm-up session. And popular Instructor Hank Haney has published several articles and tips using this same Jack Grout technique to help the golfer keep their head behind the ball during impact. Here is a short animation showing what the golfer will see when swinging correctly and keeping his head behind the ball during impact. Visit http://www.proheadgolf.com to view this 7 second animation.
As Jake Zastko discovered, most golfers have that tendency to go up and out of their shot. It may be because they want to see where their shot went. Or they don’t want to stop their fellow players; or lose your ball. For whatever reason to do otherwise, the golfer must learn to keep his head behind the ball through impact, as Jack Nicklaus did and as the leading instructors tried. When this becomes a memorized aspect of the swing, the golfer will greatly improve his swing and reduce his scores.