Over the years I and many other golf nuts have trotted down to the practice driving range to hit a bucket or two of balls -probably spending a few hundred dollars a year (don’t tell the wife) and probably thousands over the last decade (now I am in real trouble).
Golf lessons are great for getting the basics right and hours of watching PGA tours on television (much to the chagrin of my relatives) leaves me in admiration of, and desire for, a nice clean shot onto the green. Therefore I am a regular down at the range.
This will sound familiar to many people reading this article and I am sure that you, like me, would take advantage of any golf training aid that would help you drop a few strokes off your game. No doubt you have tried a few over the years.
Our coach can help with our swing, video our actions and comment on our grip, stance and body movements, these are all important aspects for improving our game, but the key element I needed to know was very simple…
“Am I hitting the ball right on the “sweet spot” of the club?
Then I started using a ball impact recording device and began to understand a lot more about my swing at the time it matters most – at impact. Without a ball impact recording device, there are only two sources of information which help assess the effectiveness of our swing… the flight of the ball and the “feel” as it is hit. To these sources of information we need to add a third, the exact location on the club face where it struck the ball.
An impact recording device gives you immediate feedback on where the club face struck the ball and can help you assess your swing and the proximity of the point of impact to the sweet spot of your club.
Personal research on the subject shows that the sweet spot of a club is not the same for all golfers. Club speed, back and down swing paths, shaft stiffness, squareness of the club face at impact, club design and other factors differ among golfers and their clubs. As a result, for many golfers, the sweetest spot on the club face may not be at the exact geometric centre of the club.
A device that recorded the point of impact for each swing would go a long way in helping you find your own sweet spot for your clubs. There are products on the market – some require a new application of spray or sticky paper after each hit or every three or four hits, but there is a better option…
… it was invented in the USA and uses high quality suede leather from Brazil, at only 0.5mm in thickness, it is about the same as a credit card. It is self-adhesive, it presses onto a clean, dry club – you take a shot and view the impression of the ball left on the patch.
Its major advantage, and convenience, over other methods is being able to hit a large bucket of range balls without having to remove or reapply anything since you can erase each hit as you make it. You can also use one for several hundred hits over several weeks before it needs to be retired.
Another benefit that is not immediately obvious is that the use of a ball impact patch will actually protect your clubs. Consider that during an average round of golf you may hit your five iron five or six times, whereas at the driving range you may hit a hundred balls while trying to hone your skill with that one particular club. That is the equivalent of twenty rounds of golf!
A more efficient, more discrete and more effective way to practise. It really works!
Alec Tod