probably not many people can say they go up and down the bag and hit every club like they want to if they can do that then they are prolly on the pga tour lol takes alot of practice to do that.. and remember on the range its not about how many cuts your taking its about the quality of those swings.. just take your time on the range on focus on one ball and not just grab another ball as soon as you hit the first, think about what you did wrong and how you can fix it instead of just swinging away and then try to correct it on the next swing. i used to get in a big hurry where i wud just go through a bucket of balls in no time but now i slow down and really think about shots.. say your warming up for a round of golf.. take your normal swings get loosened up with a pw or something like that the hit your 7 iron and go from there but before you leave use those last 3 balls as what your going to hit on the first hole (say its a par 4 like mine)... so i take my driver and know exactly where i need to put it and make that swing, then my second shot i know im going to need a 9 iron (my first par 4 is short) so i take my 9 iron and i know i need to get it high to carry the bunker, so i take that swing.. then before i leave i grab my driver and visualize that first shot again and swing then drive the cart for the first tee box and make that same swing where i just put the ball where i wanted... just take your time and think about your game on the range visualize shots you would actually make on the course instead of just swinging away...

idk if this helps but it helped me alot.. i dont have any info about the tour striker just thought i cud help your range thinking and what you do.. because i do that 3 or 4 ball drill before every time i tee off to help me on how im going to play that hole..
 
Thanks bridges!! In reality I was both stubborn and impatient. How’s that for a winning combination. I stubbornly picked up the TS again right after Driver knowing that was going to be a tough switch and I did not take enough practice swings with it to get back into some kind of a grove.
It is encouraging to know that going up and down the bag is something others struggle with even if they are not using the TS. Usually when I am at the range I will either go up and down the bag gradually (Driver directly to TS is way not gradual) or I will try to make the range session closer to a course session (take Driver and take mid-Iron…..take Driver and take short Iron or wedge……take 3W and something else depending on what I have with me that day). When I am doing that, I will take as much time between shots as I take when I am on a course.
I do think the length of the contemporary Driver shaft is getting sorta’ funny for us short guys. Heck the head of the thing looks like it is on the Logan Airport side of the Callahan Tunnel and your standing in the North End (Boston joke).
Anyway I still think the TS is going to be a great training tool for me anyway. To get the ball in the air you have to do everything pretty much right and get your hands in front. I think that is why most recommend that you don’t have a ton of other swing issues going on as the darn thing is hard enough to hit as it is.
 
haha i bet it is real tough to get into the air at first..

and i always start out with a 9iron or pw and hit about 10 or so with each then work my way down to my 8,7,6,5,4 then go to my hybrids then driver then i might hit a couple with a hybrid again then il jump back to my 7iron for a little bit and then hit about 5-10 with each wedge.. thats just the range practice though, i have a little different routine for warm up before a round.. putt,chip,putt, then range and tee off for hole one... works pretty good for me...

keep us updated on the tour striker!
 
OK, I'll give my update on this bad boy.

Now, I realized I wasn't your average tour striker customer when I bought the TS, because I already have significant lag in my swing, and I also hit down on the ball quite well. I did want to see what this would do for my consistency though. During my first session, I only hit off of the mats. Unlike most of the other comments on here, I was nailing this thing from the first ball. After draining half a bucket, I started working on shaping the ball, draw, fade, draw, fade, in reversing fashion like that for the rest of that bucket. Some of my shaping worked, some didn't, and through the end of the bucket, I still had yet to hit a fat or thin shot with this. I was literally amazed with myself for being able to pull that off during the first session. Now, fast forward to the second session.

Session number two was like a bad dream. Not quite nightmare, but bad enough to leave me startled. As luck would have it, my range did not have the hitting area close enough to the mats to work with during these sessions, so I took a stab at hitting out of the grass... big mistake. I agree whole heartedly with my com padres on here that have warned against this. The hitting surface was resemblant of a very thick first cut. After driving myself to lunacy and not a single solid shot with good contact or ball flight, I was in a stupor :angry:. I realized right away, that to hit this club out of rough like conditions or even the first cut stuff I was on, that I was going to have to hit the shot in a bad way... FAT. Very Fat. Fat enough to take the award for bad Yo Mama jokes. After hitting some relatively wonderful shots with the TS in this fashion, I switched to a 7 Iron to judge what my body was conditioning itself to. Not good. FAT shots. Every last one of them. So, I took a step back, put the TS back in the bag (done for the day with that) and got my swing back in order with about 50 practice strokes. WARNING: If your range is like this, do NOT use the club to warm up with before a round. I'm certain my swing would have ruined my day playing 18 if I'd been on my way out for a round.

Session number three was back to the mats at a "mat only" range. I was not going to give myself the temptation to try to hit the TS off of any other surface. It worked like a charm again. Very eventful practice session. I switched back to the clubs in my bag for my 3rd bucket, and was quite impressed with the quality of the ball striking. The TS had delivered during this session. The next day, I played 18 and was watching my practice session from the day before come to life before my eyes. 74 strokes later, I had one of my best rounds of the season. Maybe it was the Wheaties I had for breakfast, but regardless, I'm hooked on the TS for practice sessions now. Mats only as a rule.

I'm scared at what this would do to my game if I tried hitting it out of grass again, but for now, the mats sessions are achieving some of the best golf shots on the course I've seen yet. So, for you more advanced players out there, don't think of this as only a tool for use with intermediate or beginners, it's game on for those of us with sub 10 handicaps as well that already have decent ball striking capabilities.

I'm Ed, and I approved this message (and approve of this product). :D
 
I think Edjaz is spot on with this assessment. Im not sure what the official word from the TS people is but Im not sure this thing is meant for grass at all. Id been hitting the ball pretty good the last few weeks before last Friday. That is when I stopped by my favorite practice facility to get some range time in and had the TS with me for its first trial. I was hitting it off nice, fairway like grass and it was a tough one to get figured out. I gave up and went back to beating balls but the damage was done. I think my swing has been a little tweaked ever since. Had my two worst rounds of the year Sunday and today. Now Im scared to pick it up and even try it again.
 
I think Edjaz is spot on with this assessment. Im not sure what the official word from the TS people is but Im not sure this thing is meant for grass at all. Id been hitting the ball pretty good the last few weeks before last Friday. That is when I stopped by my favorite practice facility to get some range time in and had the TS with me for its first trial. I was hitting it off nice, fairway like grass and it was a tough one to get figured out. I gave up and went back to beating balls but the damage was done. I think my swing has been a little tweaked ever since. Had my two worst rounds of the year Sunday and today. Now Im scared to pick it up and even try it again.

You could send it to me so I could try it? :)
I would like to hit one someday, but I am so scared that it would show me how bad my iron swings are.
Even if they arent perfect, the past 2-3 rounds I know where-abouts my irons are going. Thats a first for me and I would like to keep it that way for now
 
@ bridges: Don't be intimidated, just hit off the mats, you'll be fine, and I think you'll like the results you get with your regular irons.

@ OEM Kevin: I wouldn't be scared to pick the TS up again, just block out two hours and about two hundred balls and take two things with you to the range: 1. the TS; 2. A low iron (preferably 8 iron if TS, 7 iron if TS Pro). Hit off the mats, the TS will get your swing back in order all by itself and correct the damage that it did to it when you were on the range. That's the funny thing I found, that the TS will work perfectly to correct your swing when hit off of the right surface, but will do terrible damage to it when used in the wrong conditions.

Remember, the Tour Striker is a tool, and as a tool, it must be used appropriately. Would you ever use a 20 Lb sledge hammer to hang a picture in drywall? It could be done, but it's just not the right use of the sledge to do so. Through my trial and error, the TS should be used off of mats... period.

@ RxGus: I think this is worth the $ to just pick one up and have it in the trunk of your car. I really do think this can help everyone's swing if they use it appropriately. I continue devoting 2 of 4 practice sessions a week to ball striking, and this plus the one forged blade I keep in my practice bag are helping me make some major strides into the "holy cow, you're shots are all golf shots" category of player.

If anyone has other questions about ideas on how to use this, keep posting in here, or I'm open to PM's if you're shy about it.
 
The mats comment strikes me odd, only because mats are real good at masking fat shots since the club will slide into the ball instead of digging like it will with turf.

I'm still playing phone tag with the Golf Agency and UPS regarding my broken in transit TS. SO it's not like i'm commneting from personal use of the TS.
 
I think the mats comment comes from some earlier discussion of hitting the TS off of a cushy turf lie. The TS does not like cushy lies whether they come by way of a mat like the CCE mat or extra fluffy turf. In my case the range I go to has a turf range and a mat range. The turf range offers very tight lies. It is almost like they are trying to make the turf assimilate mats. In fact when they move the tees, they cut the new tee areas back so much that they are super tight. So my turf range is pretty good for working with the TS.
I also like to take some cuts at home without having to head out to the range. At home I will use the Vijay mat with True Strike plastic balls and Birdie Balls. I did get some Qolf balls and as I feared, their range is not restricted enough for me to use them at home. While the Vijay mat is a pretty tight cut, there is the hump that this particular mat features. I have found that the combination of True Strike plastic balls, the Vijay mat and the TS forces you to reduce your expectations for how much you can get the ball into the air when swinging the TS. You just can’t pinch those plastic balls against that mat as much as you would like when you have so little club head to work with. I have found that if I am getting those plastic balls into the air to some degree with the TS, when I go back to my regular irons I have a much easier time of it and the TS has done its job.
The point is that I think you just have to get used to the different surfaces that you might be playing off of and even the different types of practice balls that you might be using so that the TS does not create some problems for you. This is particularly true if you use several different practice set ups in order to get in as many good practice strokes as you can.
 
I just checked this thread again before ordering the TS. My range is grass only. I have been preparing a driving cage for home use. I think I will wait to finish it before I place the order.

Great reviews, everyone.
 
What kind of mat do you think you will put in your home set up?
 
What kind of mat do you think you will put in your home set up?

I found a post that had a few that JB recommended. I will probably purchase a pro quality. I plan to use it a great deal. The drive time to the range is an hour for me.
 
I think I found that post as well. The Vijey mat I have been referring to is the second mat that JB talks about in his post. In my case I was not looking for a permanent mat set up. I wanted to be able to go out my door and hit practice balls. "The Golf Mat" gave me something I could move around and hit from whereever. As I had indicated in an earlier post I think the combination of plastic practice balls. the mat I have (with its hump) and the tour striker forces me to realize that I am not going to be able to get those plastic balls in the air as much as I would like when using all three in combination.
The only comments I have a hard time understanding are those regarding the inability to identify fat hits off of them. While it is true that the club tends to siide along on any of the mats intended to give the player a feel of taking a divet, I can certainly tell when I have hit the ball fat off of The Golf Mat. So to me, relative to hitting it fat, the only difference between a flat mat with no give and mats that are designed to try to give you the feel of taking a divit is that you don't kill your wrists and hands like you would hitting it fat off of a flat mat. The ball still doesn't go anywhere but your wrists don't hurt. In fact I would bet that a fat hit off of The Golf Mat gives you a worse result than you would get off of a flat mat and you have saved your hands and wrists.
 
all this tour striker talk had me wondering about this toy... so ive watched the infomercial a few times and have come to the conclusion that i dont think i need this...
it seems to be for ppl who dont want to be "picking" at the ball because it forces you to be a 'digger'...
im already a digger... i would however buy this for one of my brothers
 
Most specifically it helps you get your hands out ahead as the ball will go nowhere unless you do. It helps you understand what it feels like to really get your hands out ahead and then it is up to the player to transfer that feeling to his regular clubs. It is very good for someone that has made a good deal of progress with his swing and needs to work on this one specific and very important swing element.
 
all this tour striker talk had me wondering about this toy... so ive watched the infomercial a few times and have come to the conclusion that i dont think i need this...
it seems to be for ppl who dont want to be "picking" at the ball because it forces you to be a 'digger'...
im already a digger... i would however buy this for one of my brothers

That is not really the point. Its about ball compression, not digging. These are two very different things. One is good, the other may not be so good...it depends. Ball compression leads to better trajectory, distance, and accuracy because it eliminates the tendency most golfers have to be flippy at impact. Being flippy can turn draws into hooks, and can lead to shots that are too high, costing you distance. No matter what the swing looks like, the best ball strikers in the world all look the same at impact, making contact with the ball first using a descending blow where the hands lead and the club head follows... a forward press. If you are already there, great. That means your shots have a mid-trajectory and a very penetrating ball flight because of the lag in your swing, if not, trust me you can use this thing. I am not big on training aides, and I am a decent player, but since I've been working with the Tour Striker Pro I have seen improvement in my shots. If you have a grooved swing, the Tour Striker Pro is going to challenge you to hit the ball perfectly every time. What better way to practice? At the end of the day the Tour Striker is a training aide that becomes a practice aide. Once it corrects your swing you can use it every time you go to the range as a swing reality check in order to keep your swing where it needs to be. No... I don’t sell them, I just think this is the best thing for the golf swing I have ever seen.
 
I just checked this thread again before ordering the TS. My range is grass only. I have been preparing a driving cage for home use. I think I will wait to finish it before I place the order.

Great reviews, everyone.

Yes, the Tour Striker is meant to be used with mats, or off a very tight lie since the one of the concepts of the club is to help with ball compression. Fluffy lies in the rough, even in the first cut, don't really allow you to achieve this even with regular irons. That is why everyone, including the pros, has issues with distance control, flyers, etc., from the rough. Nevertheless, the lag and forward press that the TS helps to create in your swing is something very desireable in every swing and with every club, so you will get a benefit in all the shots you face during a round.
 
Intriguing!

This is a really smart design. Im tempted to grind away at an old club and try to replicate this, but then I might have to add some weight back on. Hmm grind and welding.

Maybe i'll just buy one lol... the guys deserve some money for this one anyway
 
That is not really the point. Its about ball compression, not digging. These are two very different things. One is good, the other may not be so good...it depends. Ball compression leads to better trajectory, distance, and accuracy because it eliminates the tendency most golfers have to be flippy at impact. Being flippy can turn draws into hooks, and can lead to shots that are too high, costing you distance. No matter what the swing looks like, the best ball strikers in the world all look the same at impact, making contact with the ball first using a descending blow where the hands lead and the club head follows... a forward press. If you are already there, great. That means your shots have a mid-trajectory and a very penetrating ball flight because of the lag in your swing, if not, trust me you can use this thing. I am not big on training aides, and I am a decent player, but since I've been working with the Tour Striker Pro I have seen improvement in my shots. If you have a grooved swing, the Tour Striker Pro is going to challenge you to hit the ball perfectly every time. What better way to practice? At the end of the day the Tour Striker is a training aide that becomes a practice aide. Once it corrects your swing you can use it every time you go to the range as a swing reality check in order to keep your swing where it needs to be. No... I don’t sell them, I just think this is the best thing for the golf swing I have ever seen.

Excellent post. I know this thing revealed just how bad my swing is and how much I need to work on better ball "stryking". Do you agree that this thing is meant for mats and not grass?
 
My opinion based on having played it off of both is that it can be played off of turf as long as it is a tight lie. I wrote earlier that my closest range offers both mats and turf tee boxes and they cut the turf boxes down way closer than standard fairway turf. It has been an advantage for me relative to the TS. By the way, I think the TS is a great training tool and a great practice tool. It is one of the few training tool clubs I have seen that forces you to make a good swing. While it is designed to help you get your hands ahead of the club head, in reality you have to get the club head in a good position at impact or nothing happens. I would believe that it would not care if you did it the way Furyk does or the way Freddy does but you must do it. In point of fact, I don’t see many Furyk’s out there so for most of us, it will force us to make a good swing in the classical sense. I have some training tools that have turned out to only be useful for a very short period of time. The Medicus comes to mind. However I suspect now that I have it I will use the TS for as long as I play this game. The only way that won’t happen is if I get the TS Pro.
 
Just saw the infomercial for this at lunch, it was quite interesting to say the least. Anyone have some really good success with it? I'd love to try it before I buy it, anyone know where to demo it?
 
Wouldn't doing the old fashioned drill of putting a head cover down & putting a ball in front of it & striking the ball without hitting the cover accomplish the same thing?
 
Mccord's face is on this, and with all the trash they talk on him in tiger woods's games, i wonder why... aha
 
That is not really the point. Its about ball compression, not digging. These are two very different things. One is good, the other may not be so good...it depends. Ball compression leads to better trajectory, distance, and accuracy because it eliminates the tendency most golfers have to be flippy at impact. Being flippy can turn draws into hooks, and can lead to shots that are too high, costing you distance. No matter what the swing looks like, the best ball strikers in the world all look the same at impact, making contact with the ball first using a descending blow where the hands lead and the club head follows... a forward press. If you are already there, great. That means your shots have a mid-trajectory and a very penetrating ball flight because of the lag in your swing, if not, trust me you can use this thing. I am not big on training aides, and I am a decent player, but since I've been working with the Tour Striker Pro I have seen improvement in my shots. If you have a grooved swing, the Tour Striker Pro is going to challenge you to hit the ball perfectly every time. What better way to practice? At the end of the day the Tour Striker is a training aide that becomes a practice aide. Once it corrects your swing you can use it every time you go to the range as a swing reality check in order to keep your swing where it needs to be. No... I don’t sell them, I just think this is the best thing for the golf swing I have ever seen.

Well said Ironman. I concur.
 
Back
Top