Gadget lovers, rejoice! We have a tie for the Equipment Jazzy Award this year. Two products combined to shave several strokes off my handicap: one is a cerebral device which helps keep my tempo and the other is the best putter I’ve used since 1985. I vouch for both of them, so get on out there and go lower.
Troy Puckett at Cayman Putters is renowned as the man who gave us the Teardrop putter. Troy and his sales manager Tommy Pollack sent me his new Buckeye model, a modern version of the Teardrop. For those of you that like a light putter, this is the model for you. A rounded hitting surface starts the ball rolling smoothly. Perfectly balanced, with a flange affording a smooth stroke and excellent sight lines, its only drawback was its light weight. I was still using it with excellent result before disaster happened. I had someone shorten my wedge. Well he grabbed the wrong club and shortened the putter – by a foot too much.
Happily, a friend had given me the original Teardrop. I started using that, and promptly began holing putts. A little heavier than its Buckeye counterpart, the original is the same in almost every other respect. Reasonably priced and useful from off the green as well, this will hone your stroke to a smooth, deadly accurate pendulum.
Choose the weight that suits your game best: the original for those that putt on faster greens and from the fairways, or the Buckeye for its great feel, light weight, and terrific polymer compound.
Next, golfers across the country are grooving to music and humming their way to lower scores. “Tempo In Motion is a dynamic swing aid that transformed my golf swing,” explained a grateful Craig Cassano, Ice Hockey Director of Coaches at the Winter Club in Huntington, New York, who has shaved at least five strokes off his handicap this season by trying the new swing aid. “The great music not only puts me in the “Zone” while practicing, but has raised my concentration by canceling out the distractions at a busy range.”
Tempo In Motion is musician Mike Boyko’s contribution to the game he loves. It’s derived from his other true love, rock and roll music. Fresh off his stints with 2 Skinnee J’s, Scatterbrain, Smashmouth, Ram Jam’s Howie Blauvelt, and guitar virtuoso Steve Vai, Boyko was sick of playing to a pedestrian fifteen handicap. “I realized that by grooving to music, your body naturally mimics the beat. You find your natural tempo,” Boyko says. “The golf swing is no different. So no matter what musical style fits you – metal, rock, ambient, jazz, crossover, country – we’ve got a track for you and your swing.”
The process couldn’t be easier. Visit www.tempoinmotion.com and download the track that seems the most natural for your golf swing. Then go hit the range armed with your iPod, MP3 player, or cell phone.
There’s no question that Tempo In Motion grooves your swing to repeat at the same speed – and a repeatable swing is the cornerstone of a solid golf game. I found I get the club back easily to the top, pause properly for some lag, then drive through the ball with both improved power and, more importantly, better balance.
2007 Winner: Puku Putter
2006 Winner: Pixl Wedge
