After nearly 4 years searching I finally got hold of an old SwingRite training club marketed by Mindy Blake. I won it in an Ebay auction. It arrived today and looks to be in near mint condition. There are no instructions on how to use it.
The head is shaped like a Driver and is made of hard black plastic. There is a "Power Setting" indicator scale molded into the rear of the crown with a slit which exposes the interior of the head. Inside you can see a red line which can be advanced or withdrawn using a red plastic twist knob located on the back of the clubhead. Twist clockwise and you set for greater power. The head settings run from 1 to 4, with three hatchmarks between whole numbers making it possible to obtain settings like 2.25, 2.50, 2.75, etc. There are two major screws on the toe and one in the drill through area where an extension of the shaft would protrude which presumably hold the upper and lower halves of the plastic head together; it appears that the head is constructed in two pieces (upper & lower) so that the clicking mechanism can be inserted during manufacture. The club is 35" long (about the length of a SW) and the head is weighted so that it feels like a normal club.
So far I've only had a few minutes to try to swing it, and only at the "1" setting. It gives quite a nice click and kick which you can hear and feel when the mechanism releases. I'll report more about SwingRite later. Does anyone else possess one?
Yes, I've had one for several years, and I think Chris Walker also has one. I bought mine from the maker in England and it was accompanied by both a written instruction and a video.
The club works well but I must confess I don't use it so much. I've also attached a velcro system to it so that I can follow my impact angle. On a good day I can get a click at grade 3 but most of the times I have do with 2,5.
Your name calls to my mind the image of a fierce Viking. Do you play a vicious game of golf? LOL
My SwingRite has a green Victory grip on the handle. I think the club is virtually unused, but the grip has a form and slick feel which suggests rubber oxidation due to age. My guess is that the device is 30+ years old. The sole is stamped with Patent numbers relating to several countries including the USA, UK, Canada, and Australia. The USA Patent # was issued in 1962.
Yes, Tom, my name is a Viking name, actually born by Swedish king I was told by a historian neighbour. My game of golf is not as fierce as my ancestors exploits, but I am a true Mindy follower. I'll get back to you on the origin of my SwingRite (we're in the middle of the night here in Sweden.
Ingvar,
You mentioned that you were coming to the States a while back. Did your visit occur and did you play any golf while here? How's your Blake swing going this season? Best wishes, Jim
Jim, we have stayed for two weeks in Moore, OK, with my resident sister, and managed to rent some gear to play the Westwood public course in Norman. Not playing with one's own clubs was not the best thing, but I did like the quality of the greens. Good greens are a must for good putting!
We are now staying in Coeur D'Alene for my grandson's high scool graduation and we'll be trying to play some golf tomorrow Monday. We'll not be playing the course with the floating green due to its ridiculously high price. The countryside though is breathtaking!
Later this summer I'll really work on my golf and get back to the forum with some clips!
The device delivers a sharp clicking sound and a pronounced jolt to the hands can be felt when the device releases in the head. After each swing a quick shake of the head resets the internal mechanism.
It takes a sense of timing to match the click with the bottom of one's arc on the downswing. If the setting is at "1" I need to swing with less than full speed or else the click will happen too soon in the downswing. If I crank the setting up to "3" the click occurs after impact unless I swing like a maniac (for me). I can not make the SwingRite click at all at 3.25 no matter how hard I ty to swing. My nephew can trigger SwingRite at setting "4" but the click is late.
In "The Golf Swing of the Future" Mindy writes: "I believe that for most golfers the only way to develop a sound swing is to use the SwingRite in simulated practice at home where you can concentrate on the details of your swing." Mindy said that once he developed the SwingRite he could train without hitting balls and that over the course of a year he became a single-figure handicap golfer and that he logged a few hundred thousand swings with SwingRite in a short time. He suggests that a golfer can accomplish a desired swing change by using SwingRite a few thousand times over the course of a week or so. He says that you can swing SwingRite once every few seconds which makes an intended movement habitual quickly and also builds strength and stamina.
I don't have the fitness to swing as much as Mindy advocates. I'm lucky if I can tolerate 20 swings in a day in my back yard. Mindy would recommend 15 times that amount.
Tom,
One wonders whether developing the sense of timing needed to make the SwingRite "click" at the exact bottom of swing arc would truly help a golfer learn the sense of timing required to accurately strike a golf ball with a real club. Jim
I bought a SwingRite from Mindy himself about 1974 but never used it extensively. Even though it has that satisfying "click" somewhere near bottom of swing arc, I found it rather boring. At that time I lived in Edzell, Scotland and much preferred playing or practicing outside. However, Mindy designed the short length so that it could be used inside, handy for the occasional (ha!) nasty weather in Scotland (or England). Blake's heroic practice regimen is probably only duplicated by golfers hoping to become tour professionals. Or, just maybe, by someone on a determined quest to find the secret of the golf swing. I suspect Mindy really did log hundreds of thousands of practice swings. Hey, maybe THAT explains his straightness and accuracy of length.
A few years ago I found the SwingRite in the attic. It didn't seem to be "clicking" like it should so I took it apart, cleaned it, and put it back together. Inexplicably, I forgot to tighten the screws securing the two halves of the hard plastic cover. On my driveway I made a full swing and some of the innards went flying into unknown parts of shrubs and flowers. Thus, I now have only 3/4 of a SwingRite. It's back in the attic. Jim
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