Tour Striker practice club...makes sense to me!

I have been working for nearly 35 years to perfect the early release, the scoop and the left-wrist-break-down, with much success.  Despite these endeavors, my hand-eye coordination and a whimsical ability to putt and chip with certain acuity have allowed me to play golf in the high to mid 70s, with occasional forays in either direction.  Enough bail-outs, fairway-metal toppers and culls have conspired to wreak inconsistency upon my long game.

Dateline:December 2010…a practice club arrives at my doorstep.  Called the Tour Striker, it is promoted by Gary McCord and the man with two first names…not Ricky Bobby, but Martin Chuck.  The Tour Striker is half a club-face, only the upper half.  What does it promote?  Hands ahead at impact, the secret ingredient for consistent, driving shots.  I am intrigued.

I move to the area golf domes and proceed to hit a number of buckets.  When I release early, I top the ball worse than a normal club ever could.  A decent release produces a strike with the trajectory of a punch-recovery shot.  A proper, hands-ahead hesitation dynamites a missile of enviable … everything!  I am even more intrigued.

The bane and weakness of many handicap golfers is the inability to commit and to drive through to the finish.  Too often, we pull up and away out of fear and anxiety, yet our equipment provides a safety valve and the shot still finishes in play, albeit not nearly as distant nor as accurate as necessary.  With the Tour Striker, I can no longer afford to pull up…the misses are so ugly (both visually and auditorily) that I shame myself into commitment.

Will it transfer to real, outdoor golf?  I don’t know.  Many northern golfers flee the artificial mats of the domes, claiming that the bouncy surface muffles misses, creating a climate devoid of shot integrity.  I’ve no other option, as snow golf interests me very little.  I’ll let you know how it goes come April and May.  In the meantime, visit Tour Striker if your interest is heightened.