Can this really improve my game?

In golf, as in life, there are gimmicks around every bend in every fairway, all claiming to be the path to golfing nirvana.

Frankly, as I see it, there seems to be a new gimmick almost every week, always better than anything that has ever been brought to market before.

“For three easy payments of $49.99” says the voice on television “you too can learn how to putt”.  Then you hear “But wait, call now and save $10”. 

Who knew putting could be so easy and so cheap too. 

There are so many different devices that claim the demise of all our putting woes that it is quite amazing that any of us ever three-putt.

But three-putt we do, despite the many devices that were going to banish all three-putts to never-never land.  If only, I hear you mutter, if only.

There is the Medicus driver that will train you to swing the club perfectly, but first you must work your way through the frustration of the breaking shaft. 

Two minutes of that and I’m done. 

Now there is some contraption that you can strap yourself into that will train you to swing on a perfect swing plane. 

I can imagine getting into the thing and not being able to get back out of it, sort of like a straight jacket.  Actually, that would make some sense since golf drives us all to the whirly bird place anyway.

There is a golf ball made especially for each of us that will maximize our potential to play the game.  Bridgestone was the first to throw this marketing curve ball at the other ball manufacturers and it seems to be working. 

Titleist, the ball leader by a wide margin, is responding to the Bridgestone campaign with one of its own.  “Start greenside and work backwards to find the perfect ball for you” says the Titleist ad. 

If I wasn’t confused before about which ball I should use, I sure am now.

Golf is a game of opposites. 

Hit down on the ball and it will go up in the air, which in turn will lead to better ball flight and optimal distance. 

To encourage us to do exactly this, some bright spark has invented a device that will actually train us to hit down on the ball. 

I gather it has a funky shaped head, sort of like a judge’s gavel but with a tiny, tiny hitting area. 

I don’t particularly like judges or their gavels so I think I’m going to pass on this one.

At the end of the day, in all my years of playing this great game, the one gimmick that I’ve found that actually works is to have confidence in what you are doing. 

Magic and sleight of hand might be fun but they don’t usually last. 

Hard work and self belief are a pretty good combination. 

After all, whether you believe you can or you believe you can’t, you’re probably right.