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Tour Lock - Gimmick or Legitimate?

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shocktop

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My dad is buddies with a Tour Lock guy who goes around to various courses, sets up camp and tried to sell people $50 pieces of metal. Now my dad is all about spending money on golf and trinkets like this, but he seemed to really speak highly of the product. Nevertheless I still got the gimmick vibe and barely said anything to the guy on a couple occasions ... mostly just a courteous hello and hows it going.

Yesterday the Tour Lock guy was out again, and noticed how well I hit my irons, but how poorly I hit my driver (mostly duck hook), which is absolutely true. The driver in my bag makes or breaks my round every single day I play. Its the only club that I have almost 100% no idea where its going.

So the tour lock guy says, yeah well the problem with these new R1's is the shaft in them is so light (even lighter than last years r11s), and the head is so heavy, you are whipping the head around way too fast. So he put a weight in my club, and instantly, the club felt more comfortable. It was like the difference between trying to hit a ball with a twig and trying to hit it with a bat. The extra weight had me slowing my speed down, and my first 5 shots with it were cuts ... which is almost unheard of for me.

So, is there some evidence to this or is it mostly a mental thing?


(Im swinging a R1 Stiff non tour)
 
Jack Nicklaus is promoting weighted grips, might be something in it...?
 
http://www.tourlockpro.com/index.html

It looks interesting, wonder if anybody on here has tried it. I recognized one of the teaching pros that is "certified" to fit with them as being local, if I run into him next time we play that course I'll try to ask him about it.
 
I have one for my putter, really easy to insert/remove. Was fitted for the weight combo I have. Can make a big difference imo. Both good and bad if you don't get the right setup for you. There is a difference...worth a shot.

LtEvOtApPeD B4
 
With the Boccerri Secret Grips, and the back weighting being put in putters there is something to the idea. Whether a Tour Lock itself is used or another method. I do feel that there is some benefit to be had.
 
I have used tour lock and for me they are the best option for counter weighting. You can get them thru Golfworks/Golfsmith/Hireko for about $5 a weight and $20 for the grip cutter. I typically take 3 different weights out to the range and some impact tape and spend about 30 minutes looking at impact position and feel until I pick the right weight.

There is one other cheaper alternative thru Hireko they have counterweight plugs for the butt end of the grip that have a small hole in them for vent purposes. These are only about $2 each.
 
I've been using Tour Lock weights for several years and yes, I do believe they provide a benefit!!! Counter weighting has been around for a long, long time and isn't something new. It seems it is just becoming more widely known since the "Secret Grip" hit mainstream retail. The big issue I see with the "Secret Grip" is when it's time for a new grip, the cost is higher because you pay for the built in weight whereas with Tour Lock, you can simply buy a new grip and put your current weight in it, saving you money and allowing you to use ANY GRIP you like!! Here's an article about counter balancing from many years ago...

http://mobile.golfweek.com/news/2004/apr/03/counterbalancing-newest-golf-trend/?templates=mobile

Oh - $50 is too much unless he is doing an actual counter balancing fitting OR giving you the grip cutter with the weights in addition to fitting you. The weights are about $6-15 plus around $20 for a grip cutter.
 
Bags said:
I've been using Tour Lock weights for several years and yes, I do believe they provide a benefit!!! Counter weighting has been around for a long, long time and isn't something new. It seems it is just becoming more widely known since the "Secret Grip" hit mainstream retail. The big issue I see with the "Secret Grip" is when it's time for a new grip, the cost is higher because you pay for the built in weight whereas with Tour Lock, you can simply buy a new grip and put your current weight in it, saving you money and allowing you to use ANY GRIP you like!! Here's an article about counter balancing from many years ago...

http://mobile.golfweek.com/news/2004/apr/03/counterbalancing-newest-golf-trend/?templates=mobile

Oh - $50 is too much unless he is doing an actual counter balancing fitting OR giving you the grip cutter with the weights in addition to fitting you. The weights are about $6-15 plus around $20 for a grip cutter.
Click to expand...


Yes hes pretty much spending the time doing the cutting and adjusting for me, and would adjust it at a later date if needed for no cost I would assume.
 
shocktop said:
Yes hes pretty much spending the time doing the cutting and adjusting for me, and would adjust it at a later date if needed for no cost I would assume.
Click to expand...

The cutting takes about 45 seconds per club and putting in the weight adds another minute - so 2 minutes per club. I'd suggest driver and putter to start, and maybe a fairway wood or hybrid if you're so inclined to do so. $50 for 2 clubs plus the weights and any necessary adjustments later in this case seems reasonable to me.
 
I counter weight my putters and the results have been great. I tinkered with 20g counterweight in my irons and long term they didn't have great results. I hit them well enough now as is. I use a mid size grip and lead tape to bring the balance point up a bit now instead. If i did it over I would have bought lighter weights for my irons. I do believe in counter weighting and it's benefits for some ppl.

Let me know if anyone is interested in trying. I have 8 20g and a couple 40g weights.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
 
sleuth said:
I counter weight my putters and the results have been great. I tinkered with 20g counterweight in my irons and long term they didn't have great results. I hit them well enough now as is. I use a mid size grip and lead tape to bring the balance point up a bit now instead. If i did it over I would have bought lighter weights for my irons. I do believe in counter weighting and it's benefits for some ppl.

Let me know if anyone is interested in trying. I have 8 20g and a couple 40g weights.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...

Bring them with you when you come out this way ;-)

Jman has a DIY method for putters, bet it would work for all clubs.

LtEvOtApPeD B4
 
I haven't noticed much improvement, but I'm usually pretty straight. If it works, get it. The Boccieri Secret Grip is cheaper though.
 
Backweighting works extremely well for many, has for a long time now. The tour lock products are really nice and easy to use, I'm just cheap, I can make the same thing with a bolt and some lead tape.
 
I have used the tour lock on putters, fairway woods and drivers. They seem to help me most in the putter (I think it helps keep the hands out of the stroke) and Driver (always seems to improve my smash factor which is a great help for distance, but accuracy is what is helped most) but also help in the fairway woods. It may help me keep a smother tempo, at least is seems that way to me. The guy that fit me with these had 3 different weights and with the heaviest was almost impossible to miss hit, but he pointed out I hit the ball longer with the middle weight as I lost more swing speed with the heavier weight. I would imagine it would be nice to have a driver with the heavier weight just as a fairway finder.
 
Secret Grips on my driver, fairway, and utility; 30g Tour Locks in my irons and wedges; 70g's of lead tape and tungsten powder under my putter grip...I guess you could say I'm sold on the idea.
 
TMAdidas said:
The Boccieri Secret Grip is cheaper though.
Click to expand...

Only initially... $17. Tour lock = $20 for the grip tool then $6 roughly for the weight.

Change grips only 1 time then you've spent $34 on Secret Grip vs. $26 plus the grip of your choice using Tour Lock weight. After that, Tour Lock is essentially paid for, PLUS you can use ANY grip you want! Find someone with the grip tool and the cost is instantly 1/3 the cost of the Secret Grip.
 
Bags said:
Only initially... $17. Tour lock = $20 for the grip tool then $6 roughly for the weight.

Change grips only 1 time then you've spent $34 on Secret Grip vs. $26 plus the grip of your choice using Tour Lock weight. After that, Tour Lock is essentially paid for, PLUS you can use ANY grip you want! Find someone with the grip tool and the cost is instantly 1/3 the cost of the Secret Grip.
Click to expand...

To be fair, the SG isn't just about the butt plug, which is only 17g's. The SG is also an inch longer than standard, has a built up lower hand profile, and is made from a heavier compound, all of which is to say the weight is distributed a little farther down the shaft than simply installing the Tour Lock weights would accomplish. (Not addressing the Optivibe Tour Lock product here, which would add significantly to the cost per club thing, at least initially.) So, it's not exactly an apples to apples comparison.
 
I found the Opti-Vibe is useful if you just want to add some static weight to your shaft. I loved the shaft profile of my Matrix HD6 but it was too light. I found myself casting a bit because I was out of sync.

Figured instead of reshafting I would just jam a 30g Opti-Vibe in the shaft past the flex point and see how it felt. So far so good. I blow my grips on and off with air so I didn't bother drilling a hole or counter balancing just took the grip off, installed Opti-Vibe, put grip back on. I had the tool already for using the Opti-Vibe as a failed attempt to weight my putter (never felt right).

Had a 12g from the kit so put it in my 4w a little higher towards the handle to get the weight right between my driver and my hybrid. Nice transition between the three clubs now.
 
I used one on my driver for a while. Really easy to install, I liked that about them. Never really took the plunge and threw them in my other clubs.
 
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