Golf News 41
7 Brands You Should Know About [Full Guide]
Sign up for the newsletter and get our free 30-page eBook on course strategy!
Over the past few years, I’ve been on the hunt for the best golf shirts. I know many golfers default to the big name brands, but there are also plenty of independent companies making better products. After multiple visits to the PGA Show and tons of testing on the course, I’ve got a nice list for you.
In my opinion, all of these brands offer a great combination of design features along with superior fabrics. I play most of my golf on Long Island. We often have brutally humid conditions in the summer – so every company listed has passed the performance test. I’ll link to their websites, along with the in-depth reviews I’ve written if you want to learn more about them.
Linksoul
Linksoul is my go-to apparel brand because I can wear their clothes on and off the golf course. My closet is filled with pretty much everything they sell, but on the golf course, I particularly like their Anza Drytech Polo. It’s made of super-soft performance cotton that can be worn in pretty much any conditions. Additionally, the design can easily be worn in a casual or work setting. They’ve got plenty of other polo options to choose from as well.
Rhoback
When I first tried Rhoback’s signature performance polo last year, I was extremely impressed by its design, comfort, and the quality of the fabric. Their mix of polyester and spandex is perfect for a hot summer day, and it almost feels like you’re not wearing anything. I’ll often find myself reaching for their Fairway Boy polo when the temperature is rising. This small brand based out of Virginia is growing rapidly, and they’ve done a great job expanding their line with new designs.
Tillinger
Jordan Sack first got the idea for the Tillinger Etiquette Polo several years ago when he was working at a summer internship in New York City. On Fridays, he was able to wear business casual attire but didn’t feel that his golf polos were appropriate. While golf shirts would have been more comfortable because of their fabrics – the logos, bright colors, and ill-fit were not suitable for the office. So a seed was planted. Why not try and make a polo that incorporates the performance fabrics used in golf clothing?
Years later, after many trials and tribulations, Jordan perfected his design. The Tillinger Etiquette Polo is a versatile polo that you can wear pretty much anywhere, but also includes the performance fabrics golfers want while they play. It’s easily one of my favorite golf shirts, but also looks great in casual situations. Pretty impressive for a 27-year old who did it all by himself!
Redvanly
Redvanly co-founders Andrew and David got the idea for their clothing brand after they graduated. They both were college athletes that were still active and wanted to create polos that fit the needs of their own demographic. Over the years, they did a ton of research and testing to find the best fabrics to improve upon what major apparel brands were doing.
They now have a thriving business, and I loved a couple of their golf shirts that I tried out. They offer a wide variety of designs (including the first-ever pull-on golf shorts) along with several premium fabric options that can stand up to just about any conditions.
Swannies
Based out of Minnesota, Swannies is a group of guys making golf shirts for the younger, more casual demographic. In just a few short years, they’ve built an impressive network of golf shops selling their product, and their brand is taking off. All of their clothes are reasonably priced, but they don’t skimp on the materials. Also, they’ve got a great variety of designs that are tapping into the latest trends. If you don’t want the same old golf polo, give them a look!
Criquet
Based out of Austin, Criquet is one of the most successful independent clothing brands out there. A few years ago, co-founders Hobson and Billy wanted to make the perfect polo that was reminiscent of some of the classic designs that had disappeared. Their original product, The Players Shirt, exploded and got them name recognition pretty quickly. I love their polo because it walks the line between preppy, casual, and formal without crossing over too deeply into either look. It’s now available in several different fabrics, including a performance blend.
tasc Performance
A few years ago at the PGA Show, I walked into tasc Performance’s booth and felt their shirts. They were remarkably soft and lightweight, so I asked what they were made of. They told me it was bamboo, which I was unaware could be used to create a golf shirt. It turns out that their family business was rooted in the apparel world for years. When tasc first learned about bamboo, they were intrigued by its performance features but found it challenging to work with. After years of development, they were able to perfect a unique blend that was softer than cotton without needing to add chemicals for performance features.
I became a little obsessed with their line and got a bunch of their golf polos, as well as athletic apparel. It’s incredibly soft, lightweight, stretchy, and holds up perfectly on those hot summer days where sweating becomes an issue.
Source link
Fairways Hit Is An Incomplete Statistic
Sign up for the newsletter and get our free 30-page eBook on course strategy!
Traditional golf statistics do not give a complete picture of your performance on the course. They’re a good starting point, but stats like putts per round can be misleading. In this article, I want to focus on why fairways hit is an incomplete statistic.
Tee shot performance is critical to scoring. But if you are only tracking your progress by how many fairways you hit versus missed, you are not getting an accurate representation of your success off the tee.
I’m going to offer an alternative way to track tee shots. Hopefully, my different view will help manage your expectations more appropriately and help you focus on how to improve.
The Goal of a Tee Shot
Whenever you tee it up on a par 4 or par 5, the general goal should be to hit the ball as far as you can while keeping it in play. Golf is a game of proximity, and modern statistical analysis has proven that the closer you are to the hole off the tee, your opportunity to post a lower score increases. Additionally, being in the fairway is not always a requirement.
Choosing an optimal target and club selection based on the design of the hole helps improve your chances. In this article, I discussed how I use dispersion analysis and hole layouts to plan out my tee shots.
Long story short, no matter what level of golfer you are, you want to keep the ball in front of you. While errant tee shots can’t be prevented entirely, they can cause a lot more damage to your overall score compared to poor putting performance.
However, I am against using the fairway as the only measuring stick of success. I believe that even if you miss a fairway, but still have a clear path to the green with a manageable lie, then I would say you were successful.
Varying Levels of Success
When I discussed golfer performance by handicap level, I showed that a tee shot landing in the trees costs a golfer around 1.1 shots. A fairway bunker is even more penal at 1.4 shots. But the light rough? It’s only a penalty of about 1/3rd of a shot. Of course, landing in the fairway gives you the best chance to hit the green, but all is not lost if you don’t keep your tee shot on the short stuff.
In my estimation, it makes sense to group tee shot results into four separate categories:
- Fairway – perfect lie, and a clear path to the green.
- Rough – manageable lie, and a clear path to the green.
- Trouble – in the trees, fairway bunker, or a tough lie in rough. Any recovery situation that makes it unlikely you will be able to reach the green.
- Penalty – if your ball goes out of bounds, is lost, or in a penalty area.
I can’t account for every situation on the course, but I feel you can use these four scenarios as simple guidelines. You could even lump the last two (trouble/penalty) together if you would like. Another caveat would be the dreaded topped tee shot; you can add that to the trouble category.
Speaking anecdotally, I can tell you that one of the keys to lowering your scores is eliminating trouble and penalty tee shots. A lot of golfers get upset with themselves if they miss a fairway. But if you’re still in play, and can easily get your ball near the green or on it, you’ve substantially eliminated your chances of making a double bogey. That my friends is one of the keys to becoming a better golfer.
As a side note, I should also warn you against trying to make up for your mistakes with aggressive play when you do get into a recovery situation. If you make bogey, you’ll be keeping pace with PGA Tour players, which I discussed in this article. Get your ball back in play, and take your medicine.
Keeping Track
While I don’t believe all golfers need to keep close track of their statistics, I do think it is a good idea for most of you. With technology, there are plenty of apps and shot-tracking systems that help you keep track of your shots on the course.
You can get very interesting visual representations of your tee shots that can help you make smarter strategic decisions and even evaluate your equipment.
If you track your stats the old fashioned way, I encourage you to go beyond fairways hit with these four (or three) categories. You could rename the stat “successful tee shots” – and keep track of your percentage of tee shots that land in the first two categories (fairway and rough). For example, let’s say you hit 5 fairways and had eight other tee shots that avoided trouble and penalty situations, then your successful tee shots would be 13/18, or 72% for the day. That’s not too bad!
I think many of you will find that you might not be as bad off the tee as you think. Additionally, if you are finding that the amount of trouble and penalty situations is substantial, it might be worth looking into the source of the issue. It could be club/target selection, equipment issues, or a technical problem in your golf swing.
Source link
A Refreshing Take on Golf Apparel
Sign up for the newsletter and get our free 30-page eBook on course strategy!
Every year, the independent apparel category gets stronger in the golf industry. More and more golfers are looking for alternative options to what the big brands have to offer, and there are now some worthy choices. I’ve paid a lot of attention to this space, and I always love to let all of you know about companies you may not have heard of. In this article, I want to introduce you to a Minnesota-based clothing brand called Swannies. I’ve been watching for a few years, and their growth is impressive. Swannies is about not taking golf too seriously and having a good time – a message I can certainly get behind.
Back in January, I spent some time with Swannies co-founder Adam Iversen at the PGA Show. I got a chance to look at their 2019 line and was impressed by the breadth of their designs. Additionally, I like the feel and comfort of the fabrics they were using.
I had assumed that a brand that was trying to tap into the younger market was primarily growing through direct-to-consumer sales through their website, but I thought wrong. Adam told me that Swannies was being sold in close to 500 golf shops across the United States and Canada. That’s quite impressive for a newer company trying to compete in a crowded market.
Interestingly, Swannies first started off in 2015 as a soft-spike golf sandal. Since then, they’ve become a full-blown apparel line. They’ve got a nice selection of hats, tees, polos, outerwear, shorts, pants, and a few other accessories.
My Impressions
Most golf apparel companies are judged by the quality of their polos. For the past couple of months, I’ve been wearing their Mclaughlin Polo, which is a performance polyester blend featuring a subtle dot design.
The shirt is very comfortable, and perfect in warmer conditions. It’s more of an athletic cut, which I prefer. So if you’re in between sizes, you likely should go one larger. Overall, I love the shirt, and it’s now in my rotation when I head to the course.
Taking a look through the rest of their polo designs, I like the mix. It’s definitely not for those looking for traditional golf polos. There are options ranging from more conservative, solid-color designs to more modern prints like their Gilligan Polo.
Perhaps my favorite part of Swannies is their pricing structure. A lot of times, smaller golf companies will cost more, but I found them to be quite reasonable. Their polos cost $56, which I think is a good value considering the quality of their materials and design features. The rest of their line also won’t entirely break the bank, which is likely appreciated by the younger demographic they are trying to target.
If you’re into hats, they’ve got plenty of choices as well. I have their Husby Hat, which features their logo.
Also, I’m a big fan of their t-shirts, which is one of my primary wardrobe choices.
Check ‘Em Out
I love that companies like Swannies are out there and finding success. When I walk into a traditional golf store, I’m usually not too enthralled with the selection available. So if you’re like me, and want an alternative that won’t cost you an arm and a leg, give them a look.
You can purchase the current Swannies line directly on their website here.
Source link
The Dangers of YouTube and Instagram Golf Swing Tips
Sign up for the newsletter and get our free 30-page eBook on course strategy!
A couple of months ago, I was talking with a friend who is a teaching pro. One of his students, who he has been giving lessons to for months, came in the pro shop. The golfer pulled out his phone and showed my buddy a few Instagram accounts he was following. He asked if he should recreate the swing moves the online instructors were suggesting. My friend politely suggested that he should stick with the things they had been working on, which were specific to his swing.
That exchange encapsulates two significant issues I see with the explosion of golf swing content available – relevancy and continuity, which I will explore in this article. David Poulton summarized it nicely in his article,
Years ago when teaching I would be educating and informing most golfers. Now I find I’m spending more time ‘cleansing’ golfers of irrelevant info or stuff they’ve picked up which has no bearing on them actually swinging the club.
When it comes to the golf swing, there is only so much information a player can consume before it becomes detrimental. For those who seek help from online properties like YouTube and Instagram, there are no limits to the number of swing tips available. Despite teachers’ best intentions, golfers are falling into a dangerous trap when they search for advice. It’s simply too much, too fast.
Compared to most of my articles, this one will be a bit more controversial, but I feel this is an important message.
It’s Not the Teachers’ Fault
Over the past four years, I’ve befriended many golf professionals. I’ve learned a lot about the inner workings of the golf industry, and how the business works. I never really understood how difficult their jobs were until I started this site.
For the most part, golf professionals are all on their own. Despite being “employed” by courses, they are operating their businesses. Most of them don’t receive any compensation during the offseason, and sometimes they need to get creative to support themselves. Since the footprint of golf courses is not increasing, it’s harder than ever to make a living as a swing instructor.
About a decade ago (and even earlier), a small group of teachers saw the growth of the online world, and how golfers were turning to YouTube, websites, and social media for advice. Like any growth curve, there were the innovators and early adopters.
They invested a lot of time and money, creating content and growing their following. It certainly wasn’t easy, but there was not nearly as much competition as there is today. They had a considerable head start and were able to create massive audiences.
Years later, a select few have built up businesses that generate revenue from golfers all over the world. They no longer have to worry about if their lesson book is full – their online audience has made their careers bulletproof. Between online lessons, digital products, teaching seminars, and plenty of other revenue sources, they’re doing very well financially.
Others took notice and did the same. You can call them the early majority. While it was more competitive, there was still a chance to build a nice niche for yourself. Word was spreading, and people like myself would tell instructors that they needed to get on board, or else they were risking on missing out.
Fast forward to 2019. While I don’t know for sure, I think we are somewhere around the late majority or laggards. All of the teaching pros who ignored the earlier advice are rushing to create websites, Instagram accounts, and YouTube Channels. All you have to do is spend a little bit of time on each platform, and you can see there is an endless sea of content about the golf swing.
Here’s the thing. It’s not the teaching professionals’ fault; I don’t blame anyone for trying to protect their career. But for golfers, it creates a potentially dangerous situation.
Here’s why…
Designed To Keep You There, and Show You More
The engineers who create platforms like Instagram and YouTube are incredibly talented. Earlier in my career, I worked at Google and was astounded by how smart these people were. It’s the best of the best.
All of these mediums have one goal – to keep you on their website or app as long as possible. That’s how they generate revenue. While I don’t want to get into the dark side of social media and its impact on society, they’ve adjusted and tweaked their algorithms to exploit how our brains work. When the video ends, they’ve got another queued up that is relevant for you based on your usage history. If you have five accounts that you interact with the most, they’re going to recommend ten more that have similar content.
Therein lies the problem for golfers. When it comes to the golf swing, I truly believe less is more, which is the opposite of what is happening. There is no chance for you to make any meaningful changes to your golf swing if you’ve viewed 15 different videos from instructors who all have different philosophies on how to swing a club. The information is endless, and it’s being served up to golfers at light speed.
One Swing, Ten Different Answers
If you took one golfer’s swing and showed video of it to ten qualified swing instructors, you would likely get ten different explanations of how to fix their flaws. Interestingly, all of them could potentially help the golfer improve, but only if a couple of conditions were met.
First, the explanation from the instructor should resonate with the golfer. They need to understand the style of communication in a way that makes sense and motivates them. Secondly, the player would need to stick with that one instructor’s voice as they continued to work. If they listened to all of the instructors at once, they would be worse off than when they started. You can’t make successful changes with too many voices floating around in your head.
This theoretical example illustrates the two key issues I see with platforms like YouTube and Instagram – relevancy and continuity. If you want to improve your golf swing, these two concepts are crucial.
I’ll explain some more…
How Do You Know What’s Relevant To Your Golf Swing?
When you type in “golf swing tips” on YouTube, you are spinning a roulette wheel. The only difference is there are far more possibilities than 38 outcomes – it’s thousands.
You’ll be served up all kinds of videos from various instructors. They all have different styles and ideas. How do you know you’re going to land on the voice that is relevant to you? Will they communicate in a way that makes sense to you? Or will their explanation of the golf swing confuse you?
More importantly, will their advice match up with what issues you have in your swing?
While there is plenty of useful information out there, the issue becomes what is relevant to your golf swing because there are so many different options.
That’s not to say you can’t find someone who can help you. But the odds are against you because of another issue, continuity.
Continuity Is Key, but Everything Is Stacked Against You
Continuity is a problem that exists at every level of golf when it comes to swing instruction. Because this game is so difficult, and your performance can be so erratic on a day to day basis, our instincts can be to jump ship quickly. Even the best players in the world are known to cycle through swing instructors rapidly when they don’t see immediate results.
In my opinion, if you want to give yourself the best chance of making meaningful changes to your golf swing, you need to stick with the same voice/philosophy for a while and allow it to work. I don’t know precisely how long that period is. Nobody does – that’s the challenge.
Online platforms are designed to do the exact opposite. They want to show you as much as possible to get you to stick around. All it takes is about 30 minutes, and you can consume quite a bit of conflicting information on the swing.
Some of it is excellent. I’ve found many great teachers giving quality advice over the years. Conversely, I’ve seen plenty of mediocre content provided by those who don’t have much expertise or lack the communication skills to deliver their information well on video (which is quite challenging). Many times, the everyday golfer won’t know the difference between the two.
Because different instructors are only one click away, and many of them are thrust on you by recommendations, continuity becomes one of the main problems.
One week, a golfer will fall in love with one YouTube channel and find success in implementing some of its advice. A week later, the novelty wears off, and they start having difficulty with their swing again. It’s quite easy to abandon the information and move on to the next account. Or, they are trying different tips from multiple instructors at the same time. Yikes!
Because there are thousands and thousands of teachers available, the temptation to keep going becomes almost impossible to resist.
Then a golfer finds themselves in a situation where they’re on the course, about to make a swing, and they’ve got tons of different swing thoughts in their head. Club Pro Guy (a hilarious satire account) refers to it as his 7-4-7 swing system. Seven swing thoughts from takeaway to transition, four swing thoughts during the transition and seven final swing thoughts from transition to impact. While that’s a tongue-in-cheek explanation, I fear that many players are filling their heads up with that many swing thoughts.
So What Should You Do?
I know a lot of this article has been negative, which is a departure from the way I usually communicate on Practical Golf. To be clear, I am not against the instructors. I’m friendly with many of the popular accounts you have come across, and have learned a lot from them myself. My issue is more with how the information is distributed and consumed, which is beyond their control.
While I don’t have all of the answers, here are a few suggestions that I believe will give you a better chance:
- If you’re going to cruise for swing tips, try to stick with one voice. If you find an instructor who resonates with you, and you’re getting positive results from their advice, resist the temptation to find five others like them.
- I am a big fan of skill-based drills rather than someone explaining their philosophy on the golf swing. There are plenty of instructors who have creative drills you can do at the driving range or at home that don’t involve swing theory. They are meant to challenge you and find ways to self organize to find a solution without worrying about what you are doing in the swing.
- Get lessons. Overall, I believe you have a far greater chance of improving your ball striking if you can get customized advice. If you find a teacher you like, listen to what they have to say. Do the drills and practice they prescribe. Don’t confuse their message by searching for conflicting information elsewhere!
Online golf advice is imperfect. I’ll admit this website has its limitations because I can’t possibly give customized information to all of the golfers who read my articles.
When it comes to the golf swing, things get even more complicated. Each web property wants to keep you on their turf for as long as possible. It’s almost like spending more time at a casino – the longer you stay, the bigger the chances are that you’ll lose.
I realize many of you will disagree with what I’ve written. Like everything else on this site, these are one guy’s opinions. I can assure you I have all of your best intentions at heart; there is no hidden agenda here. Feel free to continue the conversation in the comments section.
How To Get Ready For Your Next Round of Golf
Sign up for the newsletter and get our free 30-page eBook on course strategy!
For most golfers, it’s very exciting to get to the course before your round. You’ve spent all week working, and now it’s time to do what you’ve been thinking about since Monday.
However long you have before you tee off, there are several things you can do to give yourself a better chance of performing well and preventing injury. In this article, I’ll go over a few key concepts that I believe are crucial to a successful warmup session. I also want to help you avoid a very common trap that can affect us all.
The Number One Goal
The main thing you want to accomplish before any round is getting your body ready to golf.
If you don’t have time to hit balls, you should consider a routine that includes some kind of dynamic stretching. You need to signal to your body that it’s about to do something physical, which will help prevent injury and get your body loose enough to swing correctly. There are plenty of resources on this topic. Two that I would recommend are Fit For Golf and 18Strong. Even if you have as little as 5-10 minutes, you can do something meaningful.
As I get older, I’ve learned this the hard way. Last year I rushed to the range to quickly hit a few balls in the morning cold. I pulled a neck muscle hitting my driver, which created a nagging injury that lingered for about eight weeks. Had I taken the time to warm my body up properly, I would likely have avoided the injury. I’m sure many of you have similar stories.
If You Can Hit Balls
If you are going to hit balls before your round, I still think you should consider warming up beforehand, but there are a few important points I’d like to get across.
First and foremost, this is not a time to practice or work on your swing. It’s doubtful you are going to figure something out that will have a meaningful impact on your round, so don’t put that kind of pressure on yourself.
Secondly, you should have some kind of routine that you can repeat. When I hit balls, my primary goal is to establish my feel. I’ll start by hitting wedge shots between 30-70 yards. I view this as the most critical part of my process because if I can get those distances locked in it usually translates well to my full swing. Depending on how much time I have, I will work my way through the bag with several irons, and eventually, get to the driver. I also want to spend some time on the putting green to help lock in the speed of the greens. If there is a short game facility, I’ll also hit some chips and pitches.
You don’t have to do precisely the same thing, but if you do have anywhere between 15-45 minutes before you tee off, I find it helps to go through a repeatable process. Granted, you don’t have to have the same intensity as a PGA Tour player because you’re not facing that kind of pressure. Your goal is to get yourself comfortable and ready to play.
The Big Trap
The main reason I wanted to write this article is to help you all avoid a common trap that I have fallen into, and I know most of you have as well.
If you are hitting golf balls, do not use it as a gauge of how well you will perform. Over the years, I have found very little predictive value of how well, or poorly, I strike the ball before a round.
There have been plenty of times where I have had awful warmup sessions and ended up playing very well. Most notably was my range session before my first U.S. Open qualifier, where I started shanking almost every shot – but I ended up having one of my best iron performances of the year. I’ve been around plenty of golfers (myself included) who have declared their rounds over before they even begin because of a poor range session beforehand. The last thing you want to do is approach the first tee with a negative attitude.
On the flip side, if you show up to the practice tee and are striking it very well, that can also create an issue. We all know what happened to Icarus when he flew too close to the sun. I can think of many days where my range session was stellar, only to lose my swing confidence in the first several holes. There’s nothing wrong with going into your round with a positive mindset. Don’t go overboard, though!
Wrapping It Up
Before you play golf, your number one goal should be to get your body ready. I know it might not be fun, but I would put more emphasis on a warmup/stretching routine than hitting golf balls. There are so many golfers who suffer injuries that can last months because their bodies were not ready to swing a club.
If you can hit balls, I think it makes sense to view it as part of the process of getting your body ready. Develop a routine that you can go through each time. Remember, it’s not a practice session or a time to start working on your swing.
Most importantly, don’t declare your day over, or a success, based on the quality of your ball striking. Try not to worry about what happened on the range when you’re on the first tee.
Source link
An Alternative Headphone For Golfers
Sign up for the newsletter and get our free 30-page eBook on course strategy!
Music is becoming more and more important to golfers when they practice and play. Many players are choosing headphones that block outside noise completely, but in this review, I tested out an interesting alternative called Aftershokz
While I wouldn’t recommend Aftershokz to every golfer, I’ll try to highlight who I think might benefit from using them. Their motto summarizes their primary benefit, “hear your music and the world around you.” Overall, I found them to be a very interesting concept that could fit in well with golf and other sports-related activities.
What Is Bone Conduction?
To understand what makes Aftershokz different, you should know a little bit about bone conduction. Essentially, the headphones bypass your eardrum by sending vibrations through your bones and skin. It sounds a bit odd, but it works quite well. As you can see from the picture, nothing is covering your ear.
The technology is beneficial for people with hearing loss. Beethoven, who was completely deaf, discovered bone conduction on his own in the 18th century by attaching a rod to his piano and clenching it with his teeth so the sounds would transfer from the piano through his jaw. But enough with bone conduction trivia…
Since the sound quality of bone conduction has improved, companies like Aftershokz have directed it towards people who want to listen to music while they are active. The main benefit is that you can still hear music without missing out on what is going on around you because a headphone does not cover your ears. You are probably wondering why you would want to do that, and I did myself before trying them, but it does have useful applications with several activities, including golf.
My Testing
Like many of you, when I listen to music, I generally want to have the world drowned out. I’ve owned Bose wireless noise-canceling headphones
I’ve been using the Aftershokz Trekz Air
When I first tried them on, it was a little strange to be able to hear music without having my ears covered, but they work as advertised. I would describe the sound quality as pretty good, but not great. If you’re used to listening to music through a higher-quality headphone, you will be slightly disappointed at first, especially if you are an audiophile. If I had to rate the sound quality, it would be somewhere around a B to B+. From what I understand, the quality has dramatically increased from prior models.
If you keep the volume somewhere around a low to medium range, you can hear what’s going on around you quite well. I wouldn’t recommend having conversations with people around you because you’ll be distracted, but if someone was trying to get your attention, or if a car was coming, you could easily hear it. However, if you have the volume cranked up to the highest level, you might not hear everything around you.
How Aftershokz Could Work For Golf
Music is becoming more and more popular for golfers. A growing number of golfers want to listen to their favorite songs when they’re practicing or playing.
Recently, I conducted a poll on Twitter, and almost half of the responders said that they listen to music.
Do you listen to music?
— Jon Sherman (@practicalgolf) June 4, 2019
I do think Aftershokz can work well in a golf application for certain people. First off, the headphones are very lightweight and comfortable. Once I got used to them on my head, I found them very easy to swing a club with because they stay firmly attached in place. If you are a runner, biker, or do any other kind of activity while listening to music, these are well-designed to stay on your head and deal with sweat (they are IP55 certified, which means water resistant).
In the past, I have not used my noise-canceling headphones during practice sessions because I want to hear my club making contact with the ball. People’s opinions might differ on this. I know plenty of golfers want to go into a distraction-free universe with headphones. If that’s the case, then I wouldn’t recommend this product for you.
However, if you want to have music playing, but still be able to take in your environment around you, then they work well. I found them to be particularly useful working with my swing tempo beats, and it might be my top recommendation on how to practice with the Aftershokz effectively.
One morning when I went out early on the course by myself, I did listen to music while I played. I found it quite pleasant. I could still hear the birds chirping and everything else that was going on around me. If you’re someone who does want to listen to music while you play, these could work well for you for a couple of reasons. You can still hear what’s going on around you for safety reasons (fore!), and you’re still able to interact with playing partners. I’m not sure I would wear them while I played with other people, but that’s a personal choice.
Not For Everyone, But I Do Like Them
Aftershokz and bone conduction technology is not a product for everyone. Plenty of people want to listen to their music and not hear anything around them – don’t buy them if that’s what you want. Also, if you want the highest-quality audio, you will likely be a little disappointed.
However, let’s say you frequently run or bike with cars around you. They are a much safer way to listen to music while being aware of your surroundings. Additionally, I usually take phone calls on my Bose headphones, but because they cancel all of the noise around me, I only keep one ear on so I can hear my voice. The Aftershokz was much better with phone conversations because I could listen to myself speak. The microphone works well, and the person on the other end told me they could hear my voice very clearly.
If you want a pair of headphones that you can wear comfortably while you swing a golf club, they will serve that purpose as well. I liked being able to hear music, but not completely drown out the sound of the club making contact with the ball, or even if someone came up to say hello. Additionally, if you want to take them out on the course, I think they serve that application.
All of the Aftershokz wireless headphones are below $150, which make them comparable to many other wireless fitness headphones. You can purchase the Aftershokz Trekz Air here
Most commented
