Golf by New Brunswick Tourism
Golf can be very frustrating and many amateur, and professional golfers would agree with Winston Churchill’s famous quote that captures the exasperation of players trying “to hit a very small ball into an even smaller hole, with weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose." An accurate golf shot is difficult to master. No matter how much you practice or how proficient you are, you will always be challenged to improve your game. Gadget makers are aware that there’s an abundance of players trying to perfect every facet of their game and produce a huge number of gadgets to help golfers improve. We’ve picked some of the most popular choices that will let you play better.
1. The SensoGlove
Price: $90 CAD
The SensoGlove is a digital golf glove with built-in digital sensors that monitor the pressure of your grip. This gadget helps you develop one of the most important golf skills — a consistent, strong, and smooth swing. As Jim Flick, renowned golf instructor, pointed out,
Relaxed muscles are fast muscles. In golf, the surest way to hit the ball shorter with less consistency is to give the club a death grip.
SensoGlove
This gadget is designed to teach you maintain a lighter grip when you swing. An automatic sensitivity button identifies the best grip pressure for you based on your previous grip pressures. If you’re holding the club too hard, audio feedback informs you. Once you swing your golf club, you can look at the display to find out the peak grip pressure as well as which fingers had too much pressure during your swing.The glove is made from high-quality cabretta leather, like any other decent golf glove. The small computer is barely noticeable when you're wearing the gloves, and you can remove it and use it in a replacement glove.
2. Garmin Approach S3
Price: $350 CAD
The Garmin Approach S3 — a luxury, high-res, touch-screen golf GPS watch — contains more than 30,000 courses worldwide. It displays full front, back, and centre views of the green and is able to calculate distances with manual pin positioning. The watch has access to digital scorecards and enables users to save, review, and print them from their home computer. Fitness electronics retailer the Heart Rate Watch Company has rated Garmin Approach S3 the best golf watch ever made. Rusty Squire, president of the company, remarked,
This is the most technically sophisticated golf watch available anywhere and it gives you precise drive distances, hazard layups, and even lets you move the pin on the green through touch screen technology to get super accurate approach shots.
The watch provides you with all the information necessary except wind speed and wind direction to pick the right club. The glove-friendly design is very easy to use and discreet, as no one notices that you’re checking the distance rather than the time.
3. Bushnell Tour Z6
Price: $330 CAD
Bushnell Tour Z6
The Bushnell Tour Z6 is a tournament-legal laser rangefinder that can instantly read flags up to 450 yards away with extreme speed and incredible range. The gadget features display technology that can measure distances from 5 to 1,300 yards, readings from 5 to 125 yards with half-yard accuracy, and distances displayed down to one-tenth of a yard. With Bushnell Tour Z6, you won’t miscalculate the distance even in bad weather, as it has a waterproof and rainproof lens. Jordan Vermillion, director of product development at Bushnell, noted,
The Tour Z6 is the most accurate and most compact rangefinder we’ve ever developed.
This powerful rangefinder is protected by an improved rubber, armoured metal housing that provides comfortable grip. The gadget is easy to use but doesn’t include an automatic scan mode, which would enable users to hold down the power button, pan across, scan across multiple points, and instantly receive distances to the target. Tour Z6 includes only a PinSeeker mode, which doesn’t allow users to pan to a point farther from them and receive an updated distance.
4. Prazza Ball Finder
Price: $299 CAD
Prazza Ball Finder
Losing a ball on the course is one of the most common hassles that even the best golfers have to withstand from time to time. However, the Dutch company Prazza has brought a solution to this inconvenience in the form of a gadget that tracks your lost golf balls. The Prazza Ball Finder is a hand-held device that detects a signal from a micro chip–embedded golf ball and guides you to the ball through a monitor with an arrow pointing in the direction of the lost ball. Prazza’s president, John van Driel, commented,
Who hasn’t been frustrated by golf balls which seemingly vanish into thin air? And it’s expensive to always be losing golf balls. We reckon golfers will play faster and score better using the Prazza ball finder. We also believe beginners will learn the game more quickly — and with less fear.
All you have to do is calibrate the ball to the handset at the start of the round, and balls within around 100 yards pop up on the tracker, as well as balls submerged in water up to eight inches. The balls don’t have a soft cover, so their lifespan is longer and you shouldn't expect much green-side spin. Moreover, if you hit your ball into the middle of a lake, you won’t find the ball finder very helpful. Still, the Prazza Ball Finder speeds up your game, increases players' confidence, and saves money you’d spend on lost balls.
5. 3 BaysGSA Putt
Price: $200 CAD
3 BaysGSA Putt
The world’s lightest putting analyzer weighs only 9 grams and uses advanced motion sensors. This lightweight device fits into the the handle of a putter and sends stroke information via Bluetooth to an Android or iOS device. It's able to send over 10,000 data points per swing, which appear in real time on your smart phone with animated reviews. Debby King, former LPGA Coach of the Year, said that this could be the best teaching aid ever invented.
Setup is very easy — just plug it in, align it properly, and you’re ready to play. 3BaysGSA PUTT features new nine-axis motion sensor as well as a sophisticated algorithm that detects, captures, and digitizes the movements of the putter with great accuracy. Once you swing, you can see the animation playback of your stroke with such details as your plane, path, speed, tempo, angle, and more on your smartphone or tablet. You don’t see or feel the analyzer, but you can feel the improvement in your game after a few weeks.
6. Cam Caddy Pro
Price: $29 CAD
Cam Caddy Pro
An increasing number of golfers are using their smartphones to capture high-quality swing videos and use visual feedback to improve their game. But asking a friend to hold your phone every time you swing is too much bother. The Cam Caddy Pro is a simple device that attaches to almost any alignment stick and enables players to record their swings much easier. It adjusts to different heights, and unlike other products that are designed only for certain phones, the Cam Caddy Pro can hold any smartphone. The developer of this gadget, Bill Silva, explained,
We wanted to have a fully adjustable model for the reason that everybody has different phones. Phones change size and shape every six months. You take the alignment stick and press it into the ground. You set it 10 or 12 feet behind you, and the device snaps to the alignment stick and will hold it in place at any level. You can record your swing and send it to your coach very easily.
7. The Can’t Miss
Price: $180 CAD
The Can't Miss
The Can’t Miss is a golf putting training aid that features twin super-precision gyroscopes that spin at 15,000 RPM when clipped to the putter. The gadget is designed to teach your muscles a pure stroke. It might look complicated, and it takes about a minute or two to set up, but it's simple to use and after a few times, you’ll get used to it. Andrew Kelly, OneAsia Tour player, pointed out,
If the TCM is pushing me around, I know I need to step away. I re-group, relax and let it guide me. If I can trust it in practice I know I can trust it when I get out there.
TCM has two modes, Elite and Standard. The modes differ in the feedback and the power of the guide. TCM is a great coach that will increase your confidence. But you need to recharged it throughout your practice session, depending on the number of putts.