‘Bonusyards’ device claims to improve driving distance
A former NASA rocket scientist has devised a gadget which he claims will increase the average golfer’s drives by an average of 25 yards. Tom Cannon of Maryland, Virginia has developed ‘BonusYards’ – a small plastic device that attaches to the club shaft and feeds back to the player to help proper addressing of the ball.
Cannon developed the idea after reading several texts which suggest the optimal angle of ball address for golfers before teeing off is 45 degrees and set about devising a method which would aid golfers achieve this optimal angle.
Using first a spirit level – which he found was both too heavy for use, and wouldn’t stay attached to the club – Cannon developed a small, light plastic attachment which resembles a child’s play ring, with a flat coin-sized head which encases the bubble and indicates proper address of the ball.
Cannon claims the golfers he has approached and have used the device have given positive feedback but now has to convince golfers to adopt the device.
You can read more on the device, and watch a short video of the device’s inventor explaining the concepts on the Reuters blog.
Do you think Cannon’s device works? Let us know your thoughts!
Don’t get caught short on the golf course!
Being caught short while out on the course is something that any golfer can relate to. After imbibing one clubhouse coffee – or other refreshment - too many, the need to pee during a round of golf becomes too great to hold off and subsequently a mad dash is made to the nearest thicket in order to answer nature’s call.
Heavy Putters Feel Right
As Phil Mickelson demonstrated at the end of the season, the putter can be a “weapon of score reduction.” After a few hours with putting guru Dave Stockton, Phil went on to win two tournaments and The Presidents Cup, putting lights out the whole time. The putter is the club that can reduce your score the quickest but at the same time it can be the club that causes us the most aggravation.
It’s critical to have a putter that fits you right, that allows you to make solid, centered contact with the ball and most importantly feels right. Feel is a critical aspect of putting and even golfers with the most mechanical of putting strokes recognize the importance of feel.
I have experimented with some putters over the years and determined that I like a little more weight in my putter. I have added a few lead strips to my putter head and have been sold on a heavier putter for years.
I recently tested a few of the “Mid-Weights” from Heavy Putter and found them to be quite suitable to my more weighty expectations. When Heavy Putter made its debut with the original Heavy Putters I tried those but found them to be too weighty and unsightly to look at. They looked like a piece of the Flux Capacitor that was left on the floor. No such issues with the Mid-Weights.
After listening to players and consumers feedback they have reduced the weight and made the Mid-Weights in the shape of many traditional and classic putters. I tried out the CX2, J2 (both Blades) and the H3 a Mallet. All three felt great. They had just enough weight to feel very comfortable and had that “swing by itself” feel. All you had to do was bring it back and the putter comes through the hitting area with a good follow through all by itself. That’s part of the thinking behind the Heavy Putter philosophy: heavier mass engages the body’s larger stable muscles, resulting in a more consistent pendulum stroke.
Each putter has a weighted shaft to better distribute the weight so it doesn’t feel like a sledge hammer and a thicker, mid-size grip that feels perfect in your hands.
The putter face is scored and the ball comes off the face with little skid and rolls true. The classic designs of the Mid-Weights make them easy on the eyes as you stand over your putt. Most importantly to me the putter feels right. It swings easy and gives plenty of feedback and feel. With a few practice putts you’ll adjust to the weight and before long it could be your “weapon of score reduction.”
Tiger’s Balls: Tail of the Tiger Golf Balls
A Canadian company has cashed in on Tiger Woods’ current infamy by giving golfers the chance to play around with the world number one’s many mistresses.
The company – Creative Classics – has released a range of golf-balls called ‘Tail of the Tiger’, with each ball featuring a portrait of one of Woods’ women including Rachel Uchitel, Jaimee Grubbs and Joslyn James. However the range doesn’t feature the full set of Tiger’s birdies – there are only 12 of the rumoured 19 included in the set.
The balls are the brainchild of Creative Classics’ Mike Caldwell, who struck on the idea just before Christmas. The balls sell for $44.95, but are selling out as quickly as the company can produce them., and in just three days, $40,000 worth of balls were sold.
Biodegradable Golf Balls to Feed the Fish?
Whenever a player dunks their ball into a water hazard, the chances are they won’t be thinking about the environmental impact their wayward shot has had.
Research teams at the Danish Golf Union recently discovered that an average golf ball takes between 100 and 1000 years to decompose naturally, and given that there are an estimated 300 million golf balls littering the lakes of the United States, or lost in rough then golf balls clearly present a problem.
To illustrate, the Danish Golf Union devised several tests to determine the environmental impact of golf balls on their surroundings and found that as the ball degrades it releases high quantities of heavy metals, such as zinc. In the synthetic rubber centres used in solid-core golf balls, it was found that the levels of zinc reached danger levels, and when submerged in water the zinc attached itself to the ground sediment and poisoned surrounding plant and marine life.
Now, a Spanish golf ball manufacturer has developed a means to actually help the environment whenever a stray shot ends up in a watery grave with a fully biodegradeable golf ball which not only dissolves quickly in water, but has a core made of fish food! Called the ‘Ecobioball’ the ball has an outer layer constructed from a recyclable plastic polymer which can completely degrade in water in less than 48 hours claims Albert Buscato, CEO of Albus Golf.
However, don’t expect to play a round of golf with these balls just yet – the balls are lighter than standard golf balls at under 51grams meaning they don’t travel as far when hit. They have been developed to allow players to practice playing shots over water and will only survive a single stroke.
And with more than a year spent on the design and construction of the ‘Ecobioball’, there’s likely a ways to go before biodegradable golf balls become advanced enough to be able to be used during a round of golf.