Tour Striker?
Spank818
Brian Gaysian
Did you get the 8 or the 7 Pro?
I think I have a 6 iron.
Although all of the marketing concentrates on forward lean I think there are two things that will have a major impact on your ability to hit the ball with the TS. One is the aforementioned forward lean and the other is how long you keep your wrists hinged in the downswing. Granted the rest of your swing needs to be pretty tidy in order to hit the ball because you have to hit the sweet spot and the darned thing is tiny. I know in my case before I had tried one I thought i had been keeping my wrists hinged appropriately and I quickly learned otherwise. You might take a look at that and see if that is causing you some problems hitting the ball with your TS.
Oh I know youre right. Ive been working on the ever elusive "lag" by using an impact bag in the house. I know for a fact I need to work on the hinge and trapping the ball better.
That is one way that I have used the TS that has added to its usefulness for me OEMK. there are days when I am just seemingly not getting all of the ball or something. However I am not hitting it all that badly either. What gives? Did I not eat my Wheaties this morning? That is one of the more difficult things to deal with in golf at least for me. You are getting decent results from your shots but not the results you should be getting.
So if I am in a practice session and that happens I will pull out the TS and that will more often than not expose the issue. Your margin for error is so much tighter with that club. It does not let me get away with those almost but not quite shots and it forces me to get back on track pretty quickly.
So if I am in a practice session and that happens I will pull out the TS and that will more often than not expose the issue. Your margin for error is so much tighter with that club. It does not let me get away with those almost but not quite shots and it forces me to get back on track pretty quickly.
Fat Free Golfer
New member
When I got the Tour Striker Pro from Martin, I couldn't hit it properly until I did a few things.
#1. I had to stop trying to kill it. I swung like I was trying to hit it 75 yards instead of 150.
#2. Swallowed my pride and ego and practiced chipping and pitching with it.
#3. After I nailed the small swings, I moved into 3/4 and full swings.
Now I use it on the range before we play. I still chip, then pitch, then 3/4 and full swing. It gives me a confidence building routine before I hit the course. My favorite thing is that I can throw it in the bag without my buddies realizing it's a training club. When I had a Medicus dual-hinge driver, everyone wanted to borrow it, pre-round, to check their swings out.
The tour striker and Martin, along with Clive Scarff and the Hit Down Dammit golf instructional series were really big influences for developing the Fat Free Golf Swing Trainer (my product). In fact, they received the 2nd and 3rd ones that came out the box.
#1. I had to stop trying to kill it. I swung like I was trying to hit it 75 yards instead of 150.
#2. Swallowed my pride and ego and practiced chipping and pitching with it.
#3. After I nailed the small swings, I moved into 3/4 and full swings.
Now I use it on the range before we play. I still chip, then pitch, then 3/4 and full swing. It gives me a confidence building routine before I hit the course. My favorite thing is that I can throw it in the bag without my buddies realizing it's a training club. When I had a Medicus dual-hinge driver, everyone wanted to borrow it, pre-round, to check their swings out.
The tour striker and Martin, along with Clive Scarff and the Hit Down Dammit golf instructional series were really big influences for developing the Fat Free Golf Swing Trainer (my product). In fact, they received the 2nd and 3rd ones that came out the box.
Ole Gray
Mayor of the Woodshed
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2008
- Messages
- 31,292
- Reaction score
- 100
- Location
- Watkinsville, Georgia
- Handicap
- Average
Good post Fat Free. I have the eight iron and PW models of the tour striker and I have at times actually put the eight TS in play when I am playing a casual round on the course. It really works well for me. I also look forward to trying your product in the near future. Anything to teach us to compress the ball and strike ball first then ground is a good thing.
I have a question for you Fat Free.
I would guess that you have discussed the issue of hitting the ball fat and other swing related issues with the folks you mentioned in your post and probably others as well. To what extent do you attribute hitting the ball fat to leaving your weight behind you (too much over your back foot) in the swing and/or not making a good turn and to what extent does the product you developed help to cure that?
We all go through something of an iterative process with our golf swings. When I really had a ton of problems to solve, one of them was swaying and getting too much weight outside the inside of my back foot. Once I cured that I was left with the occasional problem of simply not moving my weight forward during the hip turn. You can turn your hips and still leave too much weight over your back foot.
While I get the idea of aiming forward of the ball's position at address in order to train you eye to bottom your golf swing between the ball and the target is it rational to expect that training your eye in that way will keep you from leaving too much weight behind you on the downswing? I am trying to understand if there is a direct correlation in your view between moving your weight forward and making a good turn and the aiming point. I would think that you could aim forward of the ball and still leave too much weight behind you, over your back foot causing you to hit it fat.
By the way I have already ordered one of your products because I like training devices like your's and I will always support a fellow THPer whenever I can.
I would guess that you have discussed the issue of hitting the ball fat and other swing related issues with the folks you mentioned in your post and probably others as well. To what extent do you attribute hitting the ball fat to leaving your weight behind you (too much over your back foot) in the swing and/or not making a good turn and to what extent does the product you developed help to cure that?
We all go through something of an iterative process with our golf swings. When I really had a ton of problems to solve, one of them was swaying and getting too much weight outside the inside of my back foot. Once I cured that I was left with the occasional problem of simply not moving my weight forward during the hip turn. You can turn your hips and still leave too much weight over your back foot.
While I get the idea of aiming forward of the ball's position at address in order to train you eye to bottom your golf swing between the ball and the target is it rational to expect that training your eye in that way will keep you from leaving too much weight behind you on the downswing? I am trying to understand if there is a direct correlation in your view between moving your weight forward and making a good turn and the aiming point. I would think that you could aim forward of the ball and still leave too much weight behind you, over your back foot causing you to hit it fat.
By the way I have already ordered one of your products because I like training devices like your's and I will always support a fellow THPer whenever I can.
arydolphin
GTHC!
Easy way to figure this out, look at the back of the club. If you see "PRO" written on the back, you most likely have the Tour Striker Pro 7 iron, otherwise you have the regular Tour Striker 8 iron. The only other Pro model is a 5 iron.
bogey_russ
outside operations
i think i need one of these
Fat Free Golfer
New member
First, thanks a ton for your purchase, it's truly appreciated. I have talked with the others, sometimes about golf swings and sometimes business & I've met a lot of people while giving impromptu product demos. You're right that weight shift can play a factor in hitting the ball fat. Mostly because people over-emphasize the weight shift. It's a subtle feeling that requires tons of words to explain. I tell people to go roller skating and they will realize the feeling of pushing off the inside of the right foot. (All advice is reversed for lefties) You start off with your weight centered, so if you don't make a weight transition by coming on the toe of the right foot, you at least have to return to a weight centered position at the moment of impact to make contact. I agree with you that the hip turn and weight shift is connected, so if you make a full hip turn and point your belt buckle at the target, then you would have made a proper weight shift.
Then there's the - Watch This - factor. If you normally drive it 200 and your buddy blasts one 260 first, chances are your tee shot will be errant. People swing harder and lose their tempo, not realizing that technically you aren't playing against your buddies, you're playing against the course. So what he out-drove you, just get on the green in two and it's still even. Along these lines is the person that tries to crush a 7-iron instead of swinging a 6-iron smoothly.
Another tempo killer is the ball itself. People make beautiful practice swings and when they see the ball, they go beserk. That's why I like people using our product to simply 'strike the penny' a few times before using a golf ball. "Swing and let the ball get in the way." We recommend an iPhone app that uses the same 3:1 tempo ratio that Tour Tempo promotes. Tempo helps a lot.
To much information makes people hit the ball fat. Meaning, they know they have to "hit down" on a golf ball, so they swing the club like it's a hammer and turns their swing into a ">" shape instead of a ")". Even tho everyone hates the word slice, I use it to describe the golf swing as a ninja using a sword to cut someone's knees. The golf ball is on the ground - so why should I say hit down? Yet, the phrase is now a popular marketing term, so it's on our website. I personally fought against it, but google doesn't lie.
Clive brings to my attention that people don't use their right hands properly in a golf swing. That results in fat shots too. He says that a right handed golfer should push the club instead of using the hand that they can't brush their teeth with. It's similar to pushing a car uphill vs pulling it. He has drills in his program and has made some public on you-tube and his website. I'll say his program is an eye-opener.
I'll say that the Stack 'n Tilt dvd was the first thing that opened my eyes, even tho I returned it. They simply did a demo where he swung the club and his divot was ahead of the ball every time. Bobby Clampett calls it the Sand Drill. They discuss the flying wedge which is the bend in the right wrist thru impact. Bobby Clampett has a term for it too (that slips my mind - these are The Impact Zone references).
I found that in a quest to have my club parallel to the ground at the top of my backswing, I was letting it go and regripping it during my swing. This did nothing but give me incredibly inconsistent results. Now I play to my physical limitations, my swing is compact and consistent.
I also found that there's a point in my swing where I used to lose sight of the golf ball on my downswing. Don't ask what I was doing but now I see my target the entire time. I'm shocked that I hit the ball well enough to play in the first place... I've had other people tell me that they hit the Fat Free Golf Swing Trainer because I told them not to.
Oh, I almost forgot - Improper ball position. When you make a few practice swings and see where the club is hitting the ground. Your ball should be slightly behind that spot. I'm not a believer in a position golf swing because we're all different. You have to find the proper ball position for your swing.
There's fatigue, where towards the end of the round people swing with just their arms. There's also poor hand/eye golf coordination.
Here's my favorite weight shift drill - swing downhill. Find a hill or incline where your right foot is higher than your left. Keep your shoulders level to the ground and take nice, easy swings. Depending on the severity of the incline, you might run down the hill after your swing. But if you can hold the finish, you'll feel the end result of a weight shift.
If you're aiming at the golf ball and hitting it fat because you're not making a weight shift. I would say chances are good that aiming at a point ahead of the golf ball could serve as a visual reminder to make a weight shift that will move your swing bottom forward so you will avoid hitting the Fat Free Golf Swing Trainer in it's 2nd position or to make clean contact with the coin during the first drill. The mind knows what to do. Here goes - Throwing a ball to someone standing still, your mind & body adjusts. Have that same person run away from you and you'll automatically try to throw it ahead of them because your eyes register the difference. In our case, the eyes may register the penny and notify the body to move farther left in order to strike the coin.
That's just a rough theory, let me know if it motivates you to get more onto your left side and I'll put that in one of our advertisements.
Hope I covered everything.. Enjoy your Fat Free Golf Swing Trainer!
(thread jack over)
I'm going to have to try one of these out, maybe. I just started taking lessons at GolfTEC in January and this was the first thing we really started focusing on - early release, no angle at impact. So I got drills to work on and spent range time doing just those drills and got a lot of very good improvement in just a few total hours of time working on it and already feel and see a big difference. The TS might be a great tool for me to use on the range in warm ups to make sure I keep that lag and forward press at impact like I've been working on in the lessons. I think I'll check with my coach first, though, just in case. I can't imagine it would hurt anything...
I really can't see the TS hurting anything either. You have to make a good swing to hit the ball. It just won't let you get away with a bad swing and still let you get anything done cause the sweet spot is so darned small. Just don't let yourself get frustrated with it and you will get there.
I'm not worried about a small sweet spot. My blades already have a tiny sweet spot so I'm used to that. I guess I need to head over to ebay and start watching some auctions (sounds like no reason to pay full price if I can get a good deal on ebay, etc.)
hunterprov1x
BETTER THAN MOST!!!!!
ive seen some of the pros at my course helping there students with one of these next time i get a chance ill ask them to try it and post here what i think about it
rrpruett
New member
I have the TS 7 iron Pro and it has helped me alot. I used to hit way behind the ball. I am now hitting into the ball much better after using this tool. I have had it for about two months and try to use it every week to hit balls. At first it was very hard to use after a lot of work I can hit it about 75% of the time. It also goes further then my 7 Iron when it well.
stunna1983
New member
Just got the Tour Striker Pro 7 iron and went to the range for the first time with it. I tend to sweep the ball and generally battle hitting thin and fat, but I have been striking the ball pretty decently as of late. I used to be able to shoot in the low 80s, but I took about 5 years off and just got back into the game this past year. I thought by getting this club it would really ingrain the hitting down on the ball I apparently lack and become a more consistent ball striker. I started off at the range on the mats and after a few worm burners, I started to get the ball up in the air. Even though I was hitting it in the air, the balls didn't feel solid and my ball flight was not that impressive. I switched off a couple of times with my regular 7 iron and I didn't hit it very solid so I sensed something was awry. I finished up my first bag with the Tour Striker feeling somewhat satisfied that I was hitting the ball in the air, but was concerned because it didn't feel solid. I remember reading about having to hit the tourstriker off a tight lie and the mats felt kind of spongy to me so I decided to buy another bag of balls and head to the grass and hit. After clearing out some grass, I placed the ball on the dirt. Just as I suspected, the mats were allowing me to cheat as I was not able to hit a single shot up in the air with a dirt lie. I was fairly frustrated because no matter how hard I tried to create lag and impact the ball with a forward leaning shaft, I was unable to get the ball in the air. Just thinking I needed a little tweak and the Tourstriker would help, I left very humbled and realized its time for me to get some more lessons. I'm going to see if my instructor can hit the tour striker. I plan on going in for a lesson this week and insist on only using the tour striker so hopefully I'll be able to see better results with the help of video analysis. I'll post my results.
Fat Free Golfer
New member
Stunna, good luck using your Tour Striker Pro and getting your game back. I have a training aid that works perfectly with the Tour Striker, but I'm not going to go into sales mode. I'm going to offer you some advice because you didn't mention it here.
When you're having problems with the Tour Striker, go to the basics. Forget the full swing and chip, chip, chip and then pitch, pitch, pitch.
Good Luck
When you're having problems with the Tour Striker, go to the basics. Forget the full swing and chip, chip, chip and then pitch, pitch, pitch.
Good Luck
KellyBo
Golf, Have Fun or Quit!
Good advice! Same thing my coach tells me.
Hole~Out~1983
Active member
Just try not to get to frustrated and stick with it. Im sure if you truly dedicate yourself to it everything will come around for you. Good luck and keep us up to date.
bogey_russ
outside operations
i saw these at golf galaxy today for $99 i was tempted to get one
mdbuschsr
Just playing for fun
I think this is the 10th time I have read through this thread. I am ready to pull the trigger on it. Question...
My irons are .5" long and 2* flat. Should I order the TS 8 with the same specs? I only ask because it's like $30 extra for those seemingly minimal modifications.
My irons are .5" long and 2* flat. Should I order the TS 8 with the same specs? I only ask because it's like $30 extra for those seemingly minimal modifications.
stunna1983
New member
Ugh. I posted a huge thread on my recent experience with the TS and the browser froze up on me and it was erased. I guess I'll provide the gist. I got a lesson on Monday because I could not hit the TS in the air for the life of me. I used the TS during the lesson and towards the end I was able to start hitting some balls in the air. The next day I was about 80% in the air at the range. My thinking: The TS is an effective feedback tool that shows you if you are hitting down on the ball. I believe that hitting down is a byproduct of a sound swing and is not something you actively try to do. Before, I was trying all these different things to try to hit down. Now, I just swing and try to hit the ball, which is much easier I think.
Tour Striker
Tour Striker
I searched the site didnt Find anything on The Tour Striker Irons. Has THP Demo'd? Any one have one? Comments about it? I'm thinking about getting one, so wanted to run it by my fellow THP Members.
Tour Striker
I searched the site didnt Find anything on The Tour Striker Irons. Has THP Demo'd? Any one have one? Comments about it? I'm thinking about getting one, so wanted to run it by my fellow THP Members.