Purpose:
1)promote perfect posture
2)unified take-a-way/ one piece takeaway
3)teach you to hold a powerful angle until impact (prevent casting)
note:The device gets its name from the angle formed between the forearms and the clubshaft at address. According to the company, this angle averages 144 degrees for male PGA Tour players.
Set-Up:
The set-up is very easy -small plastic device -fits between the middle and ring finger of your left hand (for righties) and rests against the grip of your club. The other end protrudes out towards your wrist -providing feedback at 3 major points of the swing (address ,takeaway & downswing to teach lag or prevent casting)
Ease of Use:
Setup: Easy to use the device for the desired forearm to clubshaft at address (it might feel a little uncomfortable in your hands at first but for the most part it did not bother me). When reading on the internet regarding the angle and their claim about how important this angle is, Some reviews where skeptical about the importance of the angle because some pga players don’t have that angle in their swing. While others claimed it to be the holy grail. My opinion on the topic is, you need to have a consistent setup to perform a repeatable swing. I came to this conclusion by analyzing the data, a lot of pga pros abide by the tour 144 angle setup, but some don’t. But what all of them have in common is, whichever way they setup they do it the same everytime. Takeaway: When me and my friends used it some liked the feedback it provided during the takeaway and others felt out of sequence after using it. Holding angle to achieve lag & prevent casting: Again like the takeaway I received mixed reviews from my friends and similar mixed feeling on the internet. Some felt that they didn’t get appropriate feedback and that it felt awkward during full swings, while others loved the anti-casting feature. I myself Thought it did all the aid said it would but there are better anti- casting aids out there(power angle).
Effectiveness:
For the price this aid is worth a buy and a try. Just to see if it will fix some aspects of the setup,takeaway and downswing. -Be warned based on my research It was disappointing to some customers.
Longevity:
I thought this little piece of plastic would be flimsy and probably break after a few swings, but I can honestly say I was wrong, its pretty sturdy. I have been using it for a few weeks now, I use it mainly for setup. I do not like the takeaway or casting drills for it. I prefer to use the swing jacket for the one piece takeaway because it not only goes thru the moves but also connects my upper body to my arms so I have no choice but make a one piece takeaway. Regarding the casting aspect of the aid, I found it gave reasonable feedback but I prefer using the power angle.
Cheaper alternatives:
Use a mirror to watch your swing sequence or tape yourself to identify problem areas. Try putting some tape on the mirror to break down the positions. Also check out youtube ,lots of good free stuff. Indoor Golf Drills – Mirror Work – The Bob & Thomas Show(youtube video)Martin Ayers & DOCF (Part 1): Address – Get Your Whole Body Into It(youtube video on address, I really like martin Ayers he try’s to explain it in different way and that’s sometimes all you need)
Other Site Reviews:
GolferReviews. orgOfficial WebsiteThe Sand TrapThe Hackers ParadiseAmazon Reviews (scroll down the page till you get to customer reviews)