The American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson had an immortal epigram which insinuated that the builder of a better mousetrap would find the world beating a path to his door. It's unlikely that Emerson had golf in mind when he penned his words, but the principle is readily translated to the golf industry where inventors produce a steady flow of new gadgets and gizmos.
Golfers tend to be an impatient breed, certainly when it comes to improving their game, and so the "quick fix" training aids and accessories invariably find a ready market. Often, the "new" inventions are mere variations on existing products; nevertheless, frequently any perceived improvement is sufficient to find a niche in the marketplace. Products range from simple putting devices to swing aids and high-tech simulators.
As revealed in these pages recently, Bruce Fleisher, the leading player on the US Seniors Tour, has endorsed an Irish-made putting aid called "The Gimmee", a device which another American player, Jim Furyk, described in the first programme of his new television series Rub of the Green as a training aid that will "teach you the fundamentals of putting and eliminate the main cause of missed putts, a great training aid".
In an American market worth in excess of $4 billion annually, such endorsements are like manna from heaven. And to demonstrate that the computer is changing just about every business - including golf - this product is available for purchase online at www.golf.ie, which has opened up a global market for the Irish manufacturing company behind it.
Indeed, Irish companies are refusing to be left behind in the fight to offer devices to aid players. "It worked for me - it will work for you," is the official endorsement given by Christy O'Connor Jnr to the Galway-based Irish Response Ltd, who market a range of magnetic therapy products which claim to reduce inflammation and improve circulation. Such therapeutic products are increasingly common in the golf marketplace and range from the popular Sabona copper wristband to more elaborate pain-relieving aids.
O'Connor isn't the only Irish player backing a commercial product. At the top end of the market, Darren Clarke is the professional face behind the Huxley Golf All-Weather Practice Green. These greens are available in a range of sizes from 225 square feet, at costs from £3,600 sterling up to £15,000.
Clarke installed one of the all-weather greens in the back garden of his Sunningdale home at the start of the year and regularly spends 90 minutes each practice session chipping and putting on the green.
"The advantage for me is that I just have to step out the back door. Apart from the fact that I'm more inclined to actually do it, I save a lot of time driving to and from the practice range. The surface is really impressive - it's like playing on a summer green," said Clarke, whose results since the all-weather green was installed indicate that he is doing something right.
Of a more virtual nature is the availability of golf simulators which are springing up in sports bars, hotels and golf clubs in the United States - and which are expected to be the next fad on this side of the Atlantic too.
Played indoors, in a room recommended to be 12 feet by 16 feet, participants use real clubs and balls to play world famous courses. From a hitting surface that simulates rough, sand, fairway and green conditions, these simulators use clubs and balls to interact with a state-of-the-art computer system which precisely calculates the ball's flight and reproduces it on a large screen. Simulated balls bounce off trees, splash in water, bury in sand and roll along the fairway, through the rough and, eventually, onto the green and into the hole.
Players are confronted with all the conditions of an outdoor course and it normally takes a player between 45 minutes and one hour to complete his round. Up to eight players can participate in this indoor golf at any one time, with the players choosing the course, number of holes to be played and conditions like wind speed and softness of greens.
Every year inventors come up with new devices. "The golf market thrives on innovation," said Barney Adams, chairman of the Adams Golf Company. And it is a worldwide quest to be different.
An American inventor, Frank Posluszny, remembers his father's pain in bending over to tee up a ball. When a neighbour asked him to design a device that tees up a ball, he jumped at the opportunity. Suction cups on a stick have been around since the 1960s to get balls out of the hole, but no one ever did anything about stooping at the teebox until Posluszny invented the Tee-Up Stick, which grips the ball and tee in a cup.
"It's definitely not high-tech," he said, but the device works by enabling the golfer to turn it over, place the opening on the ground and then pushing the release mechanism.
Inforetech Golf Technology, a Canadian company, is going high-tech. Their device is like a personal laptop that fits into the palm of your hand. It measures the distance from the flag, keeps score and receives messages from the clubhouse to hurry up slow fourballs. It is aimed at the leisure golf market (in the US) and, obviously, isn't legal in competitions.
An Australian, Rodney Clarke, has devised plastic grips that capture the precise hand positioning of Mark O'Meara. It took Clarke a decade to perfect the locking system that allows the device to quickly slip over the handle of the golfer's own clubs. "It helps you to master one of the biggest mysteries of golf, the grip," insisted Clarke, who calls his invention The Perfect Grip.
Then there is Bjorn Edwardsen, a Norwegian who has developed a training aid that straps laser pointers to the golfer's club, head, leg or arm, producing little red dots that move across the ground and reveal flaws in technique.
There are all kinds of weird and wonderful devices available to a player, if so inclined, to assist in the reduction of handicaps. For instance, the Matzie Swing Trainer/Exerciser is "guaranteed" to "eliminate slicing while building the perfect swing." The manufacturers claim that it improves grip, extension, wrist action, weight transfer, clubhead speed, strength, tempo and timing and muscle memory - which sounds like it is the perfect device, if you were to believe it all.
Another device available online at golftrainingaids.com is the Mad Jack Swing Trainer which, it claims, has "rewritten the standards for a swing trainer. Unlike other hoop trainers, the swing machine can be used by different size and shape golfers," it claims. This retails at just under $300 and comes with a 30-day, money-back guarantee.
Not everything is so elaborate, or so expensive. For instance, Reebok have just launched handgrips - £4.95 per pair - which are designed to improve power and performance in all sports "through wrist, forearm and upper body muscle development" with the manufacturers claiming they are "particularly effective for golfers".
Reebok claim that "the muscles of the wrist and forearm drive the majority (75 per cent) of clubhead speed. The Reebok Handgrips will provide you with an extremely effective means of building these key muscles. With the resulting increase in flexibility and strength you will be able to hit harder and with greater control."
There is no end, it seems, to the devices that claim to assist a player cure his golfing ills. From the TacTic elbow trainer (used by many club professionals to prevent their pupils from bending their elbow and to increase swing arc width) to training gloves that are aimed at improving a player's grip, if you want it, it is out there to be acquired.
Of course, teaching aids also come in the myriad of books, manuals and videos available . . . but probably the best advice of all is to visit your club professional, get the basics right, and let him steer you in the right direction.
