GEM Golf Training Aid Review

GEM Golf Training Aid Review

GEM Golf Training Aid
Grade: A
Teacher’s Comments: It works quite well at what it claims – giving a sense of the clubface on plane through impact.

GEM golf sent one of their training aids earlier this summer, and I have found that it does a good job at its primary purpose: helping players groove a proper swing plane with an inside-out path.

The device’s name — GEM — is an acronym that means Golf’s Essential Move. There are a lot of moves that could be — and are — pegged as THE “essential move,” but a swing on the correct path is certainly one of them.

Overall, the GEM is a deceptively simple device: it consists of a clamp, a rod and a weighted ball. The clamp goes just below the grip, the rod screws into the clamp, and the ball screws onto the end of the rod.

There are actually three rods of varying lengths in the package, with the longer ones naturally applying more force.

The device should be attached so that it hangs down while the toe of the club faces up.

When deployed, the weight pulls your hands down into the proper slot, and through the release. If you let it happen, the feeling is quite remarkable. Do it a bunch of times and you can really groove your swing.

The guy in the video below is pretty enthusiastic (although he likely was paid to do the video.)

My guess is that there wasn’t anything wrong with this guy’s swing in the first place.

My own (unpaid) thought is that the GEM trainer is a nice addition to an arsenal of weapons against swing faults. I have a variety of gadgets, each of which purports to address one or more core parts of the swing. A couple even address the same downswing motions as the GEM.

One advantage the GEM has is that it is highly portable. The whole thing fits into a small bag and can be attached and removed quickly. I have used this as a warmup device before a round; I think it helped get me started on a better footing.

The GEM trainer did not turn me into an elite ball striker after a short session. It does, however, help convey the feel of a good swing path and release. When combined with some solid lessons from your local PGA golf professional, I think the GEM golf trainer can be a real asset.