Golf Gadgets & Gizmos

Shot Watch

We’re all in pursuit of longer, straighter shots, a lower handicap and the ability to shrink scores.

Utilizing state-of-the-art technologies from servomechanisms, robotics, and the aerospace and medical device industries, the Shot Watch is designed to give golfers improved grip pressure.

Used on its own or in tandem with other training aids, it also leads to better consistency and control with swing speed and tempo.

Worn like a wristwatch, the lightweight Shot Watch features a built-in alert that sounds when a player deviates from his or her optimal swing, which has been saved in the device’s memory with the push of a button.
A unique “handicap” feature adjusts its parameters to the skill level of the golfer and the instant feedback facilitates muscle memory control to keep users “in the groove.”

Suggested retail price: $149. www.shotwatch.com.

Footjoy Classics Custom Exotics

Golf shoes as a rule are fairly conservative: brown, black, two-tone. But if being unique is of interest, Footjoy’s “exotics” represent a noteworthy lineup.
Crafted from three types of leather — gator, lizard and ostrich — these shoes, as celeb chef Emeril Lagasse says, kick things up a notch. Handmade in Brockton, Massachusetts, the toney shoes feature leather linings and insoles for durability and breathability.

By stitching the upper, a sculpted platform of shock absorbing cork and Poron® urethane, and the outsole together, the wearer enjoys a precise fit for many rounds to come.

Appreciating that it can take eight-12 weeks to make each custom pair, this won’t be an impulse purchase. Ostrich and gator come in three colors, and the lizard in two colors.

Suggested retail prices: $1,195 Lizard, $1,595 Ostrich and $2,795 Gator. www.footjoy.com.

Zero Restriction Outerwear

Weather in the Rocky Mountain West can bring sun, rain, biting wind and snow, sometimes during the same round.

Produced in limited quantities by Red Lion Manufacturing in south central Pennsylvania, Zero Restriction Outerwear (ZR) is highly detailed in its construction. ZR’s men’s and ladies’ lines each include waterproof rainwear, technical windproof wear and wind fashion wear.

The official outerwear for both Presidents Cup teams, ZR also is very popular on the PGA, LPGA and Champions tours. Patented features like dual motion cuffs, expansion back pleats and a snug liner snap system converge to guarantee an unrestricted golf swing in a variety of conditions.

Though pricy, ZR’s lightweight, packable and breathable GORE-TEX gear comes with a lifetime guarantee.

Retail prices range from $70 to $425. www.zerorestriction.com.

SmartPath Swing Trainer

Who doesn’t want to improve his or her swing? PGA Professional Geoff Greig, former senior director of instruction for the Nike Golf Learning Centers, is hoping a few hands go up in answer to that question.

Used indoors or outside, this training aid is engineered to imprint the correct swing plane as the golfer repeatedly moves the club between two sets of parallel-mounted, color-coded posts.
Each swing provides golfers immediate visual, kinesthetic and auditory feedback whether they are using a golf ball or not.

Practiced with any club ten minutes a day over a three-week period, the proper swing path, face angle and low point of the swing arc — the only influences on the optimum flight of a golf ball — slowly but surely become virtually automatic.
Suggested retail price: $99.99. www.smartpathgolf.com.

If anyone knows how far a club can blast a ball it is the Long Drivers of America®.

Official drivers of the LDA, the new Insight XTD Drivers were designed specifically to achieve greater distances by expanding the impact zone of the club face.

Employing Boxer Technology®, the innovative geometric shaping used in the company’s industry-leading hybrids, the XTD’s maximize ball speed for both on-center and off-center hits.

Two models — the a3OS and a3 — give golfers options for optimizing distance. Targeted for slower swing speeds, the draw-biased a3OS has the center of gravity positioned low and toward the heel of the club to help close the face at impact for better distance. The neutral-biased a3 features mass properties that achieve optimal launch conditions for those with medium to high swing speeds.

Suggested retail price: $349.99. www.golfsmith.com, www.golfgalaxy.com, www.dickssportinggoods.com.
 

Statistically, fewer women play golf than men. And it hasn’t been that long that little girls have had role models like Annika Sörenstam, Lorena Ochoa and Morgan Pressel to get them psyched about learning.

For women looking to take up the sport or return to the game, Celeste Palermo’s book, From the Red Tees: Help, Hope, and Humor for the Women on the Green, is a lighthearted read containing need-to-know tips, basic golf etiquette and the rules of the game.

Small enough to fit into a purse or golf bag, the 256-page book was written for women by a woman who's frequently been over par and out of bounds.
The book gives women the confidence to tee it up from the reds, enjoying more relaxed rounds with their husbands, friends, and business associates.
Suggested retail price: $13.99. www.amazon.com.