INVENTING A NEW GOLF PUTTING IMPACT TRAINING AID

Golf professionals like Phil Mickelson and noted golf instructors like Hank Haney have stated that putter face alignment at impact is more important than putter path.

There have been many attempts over the past few years to develop a golfer friendly putter impact training aid that is easy to use.

To date, all such training aids have had the same common problem, they were ultra sensitive to impact alignment. If the golfer did not have the hand/eye coordination of a brain surgeon it was nearly impossible to strike the training aid correctly. So, nearly every putt attempt resulted in failure with the unit veering off to one side. Only, rarely would a "perfect" impact occur sending the unit smoothly forward.

An adjustable sensitivity golf putting impact training aid

The invention described in this article solves the "ultra sensitive" problem. In fact it even offers an adjustable sensitivity that the golfer can use to progressively pace themselves as they improve.

Since I design and manufacture custom fit putters, I have many many sections of cutoff putter shafts as scrap. I did not want to throw them out but short of starting a chrome tube "wind chime" product line had not come up with any ideas to utilize the scraps.

One old, seldom used, impact training device was simply a roll of coins like nickels or quarters. It was ultra sensitive but started me thinking about how to emulate it with my cutoff putter shaft leftovers. And, of course my goal was how to improve its performance.

I started with a six inch length of putter shaft but quickly found out it was "too hot" and "too sensitive". And, impact was not always reliable because it was only about one-half inch in diameter making it difficult for the putter to make solid contact vertically.

So, my first development step was to add wheels to the end of the shaft tube in order to raise it height. Initially, the wheels were epoxied to the shaft tube. Well, the wheels solved the vertical contact problem but the unit was still "too hot" and "too sensitive"

In order to desensitize the unit I tried increasing the width and weight of the end wheels. This made a definite improvement in reducing the impact sensitivity but there was still room for optimization. Impact with the unit was harsh and was still quite "hot". It jumped off the putter face at impact.

Instead of hard mounting the wheels to the shaft tube, I decided to use a compression fit with a special vibration dampening material. This gave a much better behavior. Impact with the tube was still a little harsh but acceptable.

My next step was to add another training feature to the impact trainer. I wanted to create a gate effect that could be adjusted down to the heel-toe width of the putter being used. This would allow the golfer to improve their stroke consistency as well as their putter face impact squareness. I decided to put two rubber "O" rings on the tube as adjustable "gate" rings. These "gate" rings could be adjusted by sliding them in and out to set their spacing. They worked great. I finally had my new putting impact trainer ready to market.

Then came then real breakthrough, I decided to move the rings together in the middle of the unit and test it that way. Wow, the feel was great (rubber rather than steel) and the sensitivity was near zero. I almost stopped there but decided to move the "gate" rings about one inch apart. Well the feel was still great but the sensitivity had noticeably increased. To my surprise and delight, I had serendipitously invented an adjustable sensitivity putting impact putting trainer. And, it could be used by right or left hand golfers of all putting skill levels.

John "Sandy" Reese is the founder of Golf Lab and the inventor of the REESO Putter. The REESO putter is the ultimate game improvement putter. It uses a patented rear mount shaft design to produce an "Auto Tracking" putting stroke. The open frame mallet head design frames the golf ball for ease of alignment. Its patent pending "Easy Fit" shaft mounting design allows the golfer to easily adjust the putter lie angle for a perfect fit. And, it maintains perfect face balance at any line angle from 10 degrees to 22 degrees. The USGA conforming REESO putter is available right or left handed in lengths from 29 inches to 54 inches. Conventional, Mid/Belly, Long/Broomstick, and Face-On/Side Saddle styles are offered.

You may view and read about the features and benefits of the new REESO Impactor Putting Impact Trainer here See Putting Impact Trainer

You may also see a brief video and read about the features and benefits of the new REESO VTX Putter here See The New REESO VTX Putter