The Best Golf Swing Training Aids
A Review of the Medicus Hinged 5 Iron presented by Shopperosity.com
If you are having trouble with your golf swing, you may be tempted to go out and buy a new set of clubs that promises to cure your slice, give you more distance and lower your scores. Gee, who wouldn't want that?
The problem is, if you are hooking or slicing, pulling your shots, hitting topped shots or hitting fat shots, you need a new swing, not a new set of clubs.
Regular Golf Clubs Don't Cure Swing Faults
Sorry to have to be so harsh about it, but it's true. Oh, there is no doubt that golf technology has come a long way and the new clubs can do wonders for your game. But the newer golf clubs will actually help you most if you already have a pretty good swing. The new high MOI drivers and such don't correct swing faults, they simply attempt to mask them as best they can. If you have a bad swing, you can still hit shanks, worm burners and banana slices. It's much better to fix the swing first. Even with a "fixed" swing, you will occasionally hit it off center, and that's where the new golf club technology will kick in and pay off.
How Do You Get New Swing?
So how do you get a new swing? You are probably thinking that it will take long hours of practice over weeks and months. But actually, it may not be as hard as you think. Obviously, going to a golf pro and getting a lesson is a great start. The problem is, the golf pro will usually need multiple sessions to correct your swing flaws, which means extra cost. And then after you get your swing "fixed," you will have to go back for more lessons every time your swing goes south on you.
Believe it or not, golf swing aids can do wonders for your game, and most of them now come with instructional DVDs so you can see exactly how to use them to their maximum benefit. The swing training devices come in many flavors, but they essentially fall into two categories: golf club swing aids and non-club practice devices.
Golf Training Devices are "Teachers for Life"
The great thing about these devices is that once they work their "magic," you can continue to use them either on a regular basis or whenever problems arise again — at no extra expense like lessons. Some of the products have a steep price tag, but before you go into sticker shock, just remember that even the most expensive devices are still less than what 3 lessons from your local pro would cost, and only a fraction of what it would cost to go to one of those nationally known golf swing gurus. And as I said, you can keep using the device throughout the golf season and from year to year with no further cost. Purchasing a quality golf swing training device is literally an investment in your golf game! For me it was well worth the initial investment.
My Own Experience with a Golf Club Swing Trainer
Probably the most famous of the golf club swing aids is the Medicus, and in my opinion it is also one of the best. The original hinged golf club has evolved into a dual hinge design that forces you to swing on a correct swing plane or else "break" the club at the hinges. The breaking action gives immediate feedback that something is amiss, and lets you know the exact point in your swing the flaw is occurring. As you work to make the club not break during the takeaway, backswing or downswing, you will build valuable muscle memory for what the correct swing should feel like.
The Secret is In Feeling the Way a Proper Swing Should Feel
Did you ever wish you could get inside Tiger Woods' body just for a couple swings, just to know what a great swing like his feels like? Well, with the Medicus, you don't have to live in a fantasy world anymore. The Medicus helps you feel what a good swing should feel like. Okay, so it's not going to give you Tiger's swing, but it will help you to maximize what your potential is based on your athleticism and flexibility. The key to playing golf well is to have a well structured repeatable swing. That's exactly what the Medicus does and what it did for me.
I Doubted this Stupid Looking Device would Really Work
I will admit that I was skeptical the first time I used the Medicus. I had seen an infomercial with Mark O'Meara years before but always figured it was a gimmick. But the fact that it was still around after all these years made me wonder. Gimmicks don't have that kind of lasting power. Besides, tour players like O'Meara and Camillo Villegas said it was great and Tiger's swing coach, Hank Haney even endorses it. So I bit the bullet and ordered one. I ordered the dual hinged 5 iron, since I was having trouble coming over the top with my irons and was pulling everything dead left.
It took me about 10 minutes with the Medicus before I was finally able to swing without "breaking" it. Once I could do that, I decided to try to hit some balls. Well that was a little different. You know how you can have great tempo on your practice swing and then swing totally different on your real swing (usually swinging way too hard)? Well, that's what happened to me when I first tried to hit a ball with the Medicus. Even though I could swing without breaking the hinge on a practice swing, everything changed when I tried to hit the ball. After about 20 failed attempts to hit the ball, I finally hit one without breaking the hinges. I didn't hit it real solid and my swing was a bit tentative by this point. But I now had the feel of what it took to make a correct swing at the ball. Within another 20 minutes and about 50 more balls (I'm a bit of a slow learner!) I was finally hitting the ball consistently with the Medicus without breaking the hinges.
Result: A Smooth Swing with an Added Bonus
I was amazed at how my tempo had changed. Have you ever noticed how some of those tour pros look absolutely effortless on their iron shots and yet the ball goes zipping off the club face long, high and straight? Well that's exactly what happened to my swing! Instead of trying to beat the club into the ground (that's what I thought I had to do to get that 'descending blow' they always talk about), I had a nice smooth swing with a great release and the ball just seemed to jump right off the club face with very little effort. I was a decent golfer before using the Medicus and my normal 5 iron went about 170 yards. After my 30 minute session with the Medicus I was hitting the ball 185-190 yards every time. And even after I switched back to my regular 5 iron, the muscle memory was still there and I continued to average around 185 yards for my 5 iron. The funny thing is, I wasn't even trying to add distance. Remember, I just wanted to cure my over the top move that was making me pull my irons left. In the end, that got cured, and I added about 15 yards to all my irons. Needless to say I was very pleased.
The Medicus Helps Maintain the Proper Swing
The swing 'feel' I learned with the Medicus 5 iron translated well to all my other irons, so My entire iron game is now greatly improved. If I could do it over again, I probably would have ordered the hinged 7 Iron, since that is my favorite club and one that I hit much better than my 5 iron. It probably wouldn't have taken me so long to get the hang of it! But in the end it all worked out fine. In fact, my scores went down by about 4 strokes per round initially, and they continue to drop, mainly because I can now concentrate on other aspects of my game like chipping, putting and strategy. I still use the Medicus whenever I go the the driving range. I use it for my preliminary warm ups to make sure some funny hitch hasn't crept back into my swing. Once I'm confident that the swing is okay, I start using my own clubs and watch the ball soar. It's also a pretty neat feeling when you see other people watching you hit the ball on the range.
The Medicus Works for Many Different Swing Faults Will the Medicus work for you? I can't say for sure, but I do know that I have loaned mine to a half dozen of my golfing buddies, and they all found problems in their swings and got them fixed. One buddy was so impressed he bought the Medicus Hinged Driver. Oftentimes we'll trade for a few days and I'll work with his hinged driver while he works with my Medicus hinged 5 iron. I was always a good driver, but found that the Medicus driver exposed a different flaw in my driver swing. Since a driver is a longer club, the driver swing will always be on a flatter plane. I was actually getting too flat and starting the swing too far to the inside, which had me making a correction in the downswing that led to frequent off-center hits. By correcting that, I now strike my drives much more solidly and with less fade. But my friend who actually bought the driver saw a dramatic change. He had always been a terrible slicer and now after working with the Medicus he hits his driver almost dead straight (still a little fade, but way longer and usually still in the fairway). I think he must have gained at least 30 yards on his drives.
Even if the Medicus isn't the right training device for you, or if it is a little out of your price range, there are a couple other devices that may help you that cost a little less. The simplest and easiest to use is the Jack Nicklaus endorsed 'Inside Approach' Swing Trainer, and it is fairly inexpensive too. It's worth checking out because it actually works (Jack Nicklaus wouldn't endorse something that doesn't work!). A couple other very simple and inexpensive devices are the ArmMaster (if you have a flying right elbow) and the CoilMaster (if you have trouble making a full turn and your swing lacks power). Both are less than $20 and come with free shipping.
Once you develop a good swing, the best trainer is the Momentus weighted club. It will help you maintain the golf muscles you need as well as help you keep the good shape of your swing. The Golf Warehouse (TGW) also has a wide selection of other golf training aids you might like.
All these devices deserve reviews of their own, but that will have to wait for another day.
Until then, all the best. And hit 'em straight! Of related Interest:
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