DST Compressor Review Thread

I would like for you to try an arm swing vs a full upper body rotation swing. My guess with this club is that the arms and torso really need to be in sync and the hips have had to release in order to achieve the desired response.

You are dead on with that guess from what I'm seeing.
 
release the hips and bet the hooks go away.
I hit mine on Friday without seeing the video. The first thing I noticed is how heavy the clubs are. I could launch them easily, but all the shots were big pull hooks. I felt like I was swinging a club with 6 inches of offset. I'll have to watch the video to see what I was doing wrong in the setup.
 
Freddie - take a look at what I wrote 10 posts ago or so and let me know what you think. I'm curious on your thoughts about setup with this and it translating into longer clubs. Seems like a crazy amount of shaft lean for anything other than scoring irons and up.
 
It is a crazy amount. That hand position typically occurs just prior to impact whe nthe club is actually being released. It's not a feeling you typically feel in long irons. It promotes a steep angle of attack and a dragging of the hands.
If you are not a golfer that releases the hips first to start the swing, this position is going to cause all types of issues. I get what he is try to get across but people are going to take the feeling you get with that much forward lean to heart.
Rory get into this position at impact. But a fraction of a second later he is ripping the club through the zone and turning it over. For the average amateur, I think this will become a frustration club. Not saying it can't work but it is going to really frustrate some folks that don't have the creator walking them through the process.
Freddie - take a look at what I wrote 10 posts ago or so and let me know what you think. I'm curious on your thoughts about setup with this and it translating into longer clubs. Seems like a crazy amount of shaft lean for anything other than scoring irons and up.
 
It is a crazy amount. That hand position typically occurs just prior to impact whe nthe club is actually being released. It's not a feeling you typically feel in long irons. It promotes a steep angle of attack and a dragging of the hands.
If you are not a golfer that releases the hips first to start the swing, this position is going to cause all types of issues. I get what he is try to get across but people are going to take the feeling you get with that much forward lean to heart.
Rory get into this position at impact. But a fraction of a second later he is ripping the club through the zone and turning it over. For the average amateur, I think this will become a frustration club. Not saying it can't work but it is going to really frustrate some folks that don't have the creator walking them through the process.


Thanks for that, because it's exactly what I was thinking, but couldn't really explain.

For the wedge though - and even scoring irons - it feels reasonable.
 
Up to yesterday, I'd used the DST exclusively on a mat. Primarily because grass ranges aren't open here. Decided to take it to the course I practice on yesterday to see how it works on grass.

First I just used it to warm up while waiting on the first tee. I think there's some value there, because even without hitting the ball you still want to swing it in a manner that brings the hands through ahead of the club head. Though the setup position doesn't coincide with the driver, the basics of the takeaway are there. You still have to pivot, keep the arms from overrunning the turn, keep the club in front of you, etc. Anything resembling a bad takeaway or over-long takeaway will leave you in a poor spot. I hit some pretty good shots on the first hole (was hitting multiple balls), so I guess you could say it helped. I'm typically a poor starter without range time, if not most of the time.

Second hole I was waiting again, so I grabbed the Impact Ball I had stuffed in the bag as well as the DST. The guys ahead were well out of wedge range. Took some practice swings and then dropped some balls to hit. I think those that struggle with flippy chips and pitches may find some help here. The feeling of a solid turn through is there if you're doing things right. As noted before, you're basically going to shank the ball or make terrible contact if you're trying to toss the hands at the ball.

Full wedge swings were easy to perform off the grass for me. The ball flight was very high with those swings, which isn't all that surprising to me based on the giant sole. Hit a few solid wedge shots at the flag after my tee shot on that hole, and on the next two, so I'd posit that the feeling of using the DST carried through to real swings.

Regarding the rather extreme setup with the wedge, I made a conscious note to not try to replicate that with the longer clubs (as discussed before). Instead I just tried to focus on the setup I'd normally use, giving myself room for my arms to swing, the same general takeaway feeling of keeping the club in front of me and a full turn through the ball. That resulted in some of the better hybrid and driver shots I've hit in a while.
 
Nice write ups so far Hawk!

I have a DST 8 iron have only been able to use it on mats. I did what one of DST's videos suggest which was to mimic the impact position while still at address minus the lower body turn; then when actually making a swing add the lower body shift/turn. With a little practice that worked great. I was not only able to feel that my original impact position not even close to what it should be, but I was able to make better, more consistent contact. I had someone do a small video and though my hands were not actually as far ahead of the ball at impact as I felt, they were still noticeably further ahead than before I used the DST. That translated into much improved contact with my irons. I still had some mishits and for the most part I could actually feel when I got too quick with the hands or didn't turn my lower body into the shot as I should. I was able to use the DST's pronounced impact position (while still at address) for all my irons but obviously not as pronounced when going into the long irons and hybrid. Forget the driver. I know the driver doesn't normally require hands ahead at impact but I thought I would try it just for hoo-ha's and the result was abominably predictable. I was however pleasantly surprised with the hybrid results.
I look forward to using the club more and actually hitting off turf.
 
Good stuff E-Mel! I'd love to try out the 8 iron. That's the club I practice most often with.
 
I really do think there's something to pursuing this as a warm-up club, rather than just a practice club. I'll really be able to put that theory to the test here this weekend when I can get to a place with a practice range. As of now, I'm basically dry swinging it before teeing off and I feel like it's helping me. What I like is that the position it encourages at setup makes me want to turn off the ball and basically do all the things I am supposed to do. That's a pretty vague statement, but it's as good as you'll get for now. Hard to put into words. In addition, the setup helps me get the feeling of staying behind and turning back through the ball all the way through. Though the setup doesn't translate to longer clubs, the feeling of turning off the ball and staying behind it does.

Just as anecdotal evidence of it being a valuable warmup club, I'll say that my first swing (driver) was about as good as I can hit a ball. Center contact, high, and a tight draw to the middle of the fairway. I'm regularly guilty of getting fast on my first few swings of the day, especially without a warmup, which usually results in a flipped out smothered hook low and off the planet.

In addition, though I'll say that I've been working on the swing frequently at the same time, I'm seeing much improved accuracy with irons and wedges. Again, I get out in front of and flip into the ball, which gives big sweeping hooks, even with scoring irons. Not to toot my own horn, but my shot shape and accuracy are so much better right now on a consistent basis than they have been. Again though - I've been working almost daily on my swing.

I hate to get too 'this is helping me not suck', because there are a million variables out there, but I'll just say this: the setup position has helped me feel where I want to be in my takeaway and the way it encourages a solid turn through the ball has helped me feel like I can replicate it with my other golf clubs. In other words, at the least I'm sensing a mental/swing feel benefit.
 
Interesting thoughts. I have researched this one a lot and your feedback is kind of validating what I have heard or read.
 
That's good to hear. Like I said dude, I've seen and used more training aids than I can remember, and you know more than anybody I hate too gung ho about things. Maybe it's just an upswing in my game (which happens) that coincided here, but I can only really relate what I'm seeing.
 
This thing still has be pondering. I really want to try it out
 
....the setup helps me get the feeling of staying behind and turning back through the ball all the way through. Though the setup doesn't translate to longer clubs, the feeling of turning off the ball and staying behind it does.

......the setup position has helped me feel where I want to be in my takeaway and the way it encourages a solid turn through the ball has helped me feel like I can replicate it with my other golf clubs. In other words, at the least I'm sensing a mental/swing feel benefit.


+1

Exactly what I have experienced.
 
Seems like a crazy amount of shaft lean for anything other than scoring irons and up.

Hi Hawk. Hope you're still hitting your DST good! I'm really liking this club so far.
I think there is a difference here between shaft "lean" and shaft "bend". For this product the manufacturer should really call it "shaft bend" because it duplicates a regular shaft's shape when it impacts the ground after hitting the ball first. I would think that DST's objective is to sell both the compressor models and their respective CR-10 models together so that when transitioning from the compressor to the straight shafted CR-10 the typical shaft lean will produce that pronounced shaft bend when it impacts the ground.
 
Last edited:
Hi Hawk. Hope you're still hitting your DST good! I'm really liking this club so far.
I think there is a difference here between shaft "lean" and shaft "bend". For this product the manufacturer should really call it "shaft bend" because it duplicates a regular shaft's shape when it impacts the ground after hitting the ball first. I would think that DST's objective is to sell both the compressor models and their respective CR-10 models together so that when transitioning from the compressor to the straight shafted CR-10 the typical shaft lean will produce that pronounced shaft bend when it impacts the ground.


Yea, that's a good point. I mainly reference that in relation to the address position though, since if you're trying replicate it with a real wedge you've got to put a massive amount of lean on it. Does that make sense?

I'll reiterate that this seems to be a really good warm up club. I hit about half my small bucket with it yesterday and played all but one of my first 10 holes about as well as I could considering I'm a typical sucky golfer and it was freezing and windy. Hit a good number of quality shots.

I took a bit of your advice E-Mel, and tried to 'rehearse' the impact position in practice swings before hitting the ball. Basically getting my legs driving, but my head still behind the ball. Seemed to come together really quickly and I felt like my tempo/sequencing was improved almost immediately. It was very tempting to grab it and take a handful of practice swings with it when I started struggling later in the round, but I wanted to see where I was at and didn't think that would be very fair.
 
Oh, and a word of caution :D

In the course of hitting 10's of thousands of golf balls into it, I've never missed my net completely. Until Saturday with the DST. High, right, and directly over a neighbor's house. Yikes.

Gotta put a good move on it or you may be seeing some pretty crazy ball flight.
 
Great stuff here. I'm going to give my DST's a second chance based on the comments I've read.
 
Great stuff here. I'm going to give my DST's a second chance based on the comments I've read.

Blazer, check out that video where the guy is rehearsing the impact position and do that a few times, then try to get to that same position with a real slow swing a few times, and then speed it up. Let me know how that works, because for me that was like a little light bulb going off yesterday.
 
Testing is about wrapped up here and review will get written soon.

I'm going to post some stills here against my better judgement. The main point I want to get across here is that I 'think' there's been some benefit using the product. I've worked with it quite a bit, both in practice swings and positions as well as hitting balls.

Here is a still of my doing practice swings. As you can see, hands well ahead of the shaft and all that good stuff.

ea347caf5d95d8dbdf763d7b74a23f1b.jpg


It's not a magic device though. It's still very possible to flip the crap out of the club if the swing stinks - and it's possible to make contact. In this case, the ball just went super high and not very far. It's a bit of a toss-up though. You can get all kinds of odd results with it. I tend to know when I'm hitting it at least close to correctly by a lower of the ball flight and some added distance. Not that distance is what we are looking for here, but it's an indicator.

778a0aca9b8062e88975ea9bb29e2889.jpg


Finally, a still of my impact position with a PW later on. This isn't perfect and I know that, so no need to comment on it all you swing experts (except FK). However, it's way better than the spot I'm normally in. I'm a dirty flipper and have never hidden that fact. My feeling is that I'm seeing some help, but it's not a cure-all. I still need to address the root issues that are causing the problem. However, I've seen some improvement. Progress is good.

d04ed77a6b891b91350b1aa9dade5cf1.jpg



I will also say that I played a round on Sunday with no warmup like I'd done the week prior using the DST. Mainly due to the cold temps and wind. I certainly struggled at first compared to the week prior.
 
You can definitely see the progress with it though. I think with more reps you'd get that flip tamed some
 
You can definitely see the progress with it though. I think with more reps you'd get that flip tamed some

I wish I had some stills from a some time ago, because its much better. Maybe one day it'll look a little more like that practice swing though. One can hope at least.
 
One day it will. Then you too can wonder why X wedge went way too far haha
 
Ha! Key word being a 'little' more like the practice swing.
 
the more i look at this and thing about my swing, i don't flip my wedges that often but am working overall on having a better shaft lean across the board. i can see one of these being added to the practice tools.

great pics and thoughts so far Hawk.

wonder if going with the 8i over the wedge is a better option for overall practicing.
 
the more i look at this and thing about my swing, i don't flip my wedges that often but am working overall on having a better shaft lean across the board. i can see one of these being added to the practice tools.

great pics and thoughts so far Hawk.

wonder if going with the 8i over the wedge is a better option for overall practicing.

Wish I could answer that. In a perfect world I'd probably have both.
 
Back
Top