Equipment
Review: Gabe Golf Swing Trainer
Pros: No setup required. The Gabe Golf Swing Trainer is simple, and you can hit golf balls with it. It can make drastic improvements to your swing tempo and transition.
Cons: At $150 for one club, it’s an expensive training aid. Only available in a 7-iron and sand wedge.
Who it’s for: Golfers with transition issues in their downswing, and any golfer looking to load more on their right side in the backswing.
The Review
The Gabe Golf Swing Trainer has truth serum built in at two points:
- The marble in the shaft.
- The flight of the golf ball.
For most of golfers, maintenance in bite size portions is always a good thing, and the Gabe Golf Swing Trainer provides the perfect tool for a golfer to properly ingrain important swing fundamentals.
If you keep up with the weekly Tour photos on GolfWRX, then you know how popular the the training aid has become with the best players in the world. The first time I saw the club while trolling on Instagram, I thought it was quite weird looking… and naturally I wanted to give it a try. I’m just that kind of guy, since I don’t play all that much, I’m looking for something I can swing in my living room while I watch Seinfeld re-runs. And with a club that’s in the bag of so many Tour players, I figured there had to be some serious benefits to the product.
As I’ve since found out, the club itself has a metal marble in the shaft that when properly loaded falls from the head to the grip, loading like a bullet in a gun. When the player initiates a proper downswing, the marble takes the ride to a nice click when the club is released.
The beautiful thing about Gabe Golf Swing Trainer is the instant feedback. The legendary Medicus Swing Trainer had this in certain ways, and while I wasn’t a huge fan of it, the feedback was jarring and undeniably positive. If you perform a swing correctly with the Gabe Golf Swing Trainer, the results are cut and dry, too.
Here’s how it works.
It should be of no surprise that a popular swing trainer on the PGA Tour is developed by a two-time PGA Tour champion, Gabriel “Gabe” Hjertstedt, especially when you know a bit about the man himself. Hjertstedt first came onto my radar when he won the BC Open in 1997, and followed that up a couple years later with a win in Tucson. As it turned out, we were working with the same swing instructor, and met face-to-face for the first time after his win in Tucson.
Hjertstedt stresses simplicity in golf instruction, so it’s no wonder he came up with the idea for such a simple product. In his words, here’s how it happened.
“It just started as a shower idea,” Hjertstedt said. “I was getting frustrated teaching some of my clients who couldn’t make a proper backswing. They were always over-swinging. I needed to find a way to slow them down a little, give them enough time to load up and make a proper swing. Now afterward, having used it on myself and students for almost two years, I am now starting to understand the benefits even more. It’s changing the way people are playing golf. People that used to cut the ball are now drawing the ball. The feedback is amazing.”
And obviously, the Tour feedback has been amazing as well.
“Charley Hoffman was the first guy that really that got it, he went on to win a couple of weeks after. Danny Lee the same shortly after.”
After using the product for a few weeks, I believe in its simplicity and that you can’t cheat with it. The feedback is as cut and dry as hitting an old blade; you either wait for the marble or you don’t. You either hit it properly and the ball goes where you are looking, or you don’t.
My swing fault is a handsy, inside takeaway followed by an across-the-line position at the top. If my timing is good I hit it where I’m aiming, but if not, the club gets stuck and the ball could go anywhere. After making 20 swings with the Gabe Golf Swing Trainer, I was able to get the club on-plane, and from a correct position at the top of the swing, I could identify what needed to be done on the way down to hit good shots. Video and Trackman can’t provide this kind of feedback because FEEL is what better players are ultimately searching for.
As far as the product itself, the training aid was crafted with attention to detail. It comes with a KBS Tour shaft, a hand-forged head from a company in Texas and can be built to your specs. Most training aids are not customized to spec, and I believe this is a vital part in the product’s effectiveness. The black forged head certainly has that “cool factor,” and with a playable sole, the turf interaction is actually quite similar to any top iron head on the market. If I were to compare it with an OEM club, it would probably be the Ping S55 as far as address and turf interaction.
So if you’re struggling with transition, tempo, plane or loading in the backswing, and like to hit real golf balls with your swing aids, there’s just no reason to not give this club a shot… unless the $150 is too steep or unjustifiable, which I can understand.
I would 100 percent recommend the Gabe Golf Swing Trainer to better golfers (10-handicap or less) and would encourage the higher-handicappers to use it as a compliment to proper instruction from a local professional.
To learn more about the Gabe Golf Swing Trainer visit www.GabeGolf.com
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Whats in the Bag
Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)
- Kevin Tway what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX
5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX
Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)
Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4
More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.
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Equipment
Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?
Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.
When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.
To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.
Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.
“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.
“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”
Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.
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Equipment
Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird
With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.
On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.
Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.
See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here
GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?
Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’
So that’s why I went back.
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OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?
It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.
Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.
It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.
Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.
Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.
So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?
Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.
Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play?
Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.
There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.
It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.
Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.
And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?
Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’
If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’
My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’
I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”
And you’re going with it this week?
Hundred percent.
Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week.
Thanks, man.
See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here
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Philip
Jan 11, 2018 at 6:25 pm
I have a sand filled 7i I picked up on sale a while ago … I’ll have to try it out again and see if I can use it to help myself
Smitty
Oct 13, 2016 at 10:41 am
Just placed an order for the 7 iron. Over-swinging is a huge issue I have in my back swing and I think this is exactly what I’ve been looking for, similar to the student Gabe mentioned.
Desmond
Oct 8, 2016 at 5:17 pm
Mine arrived yesterday — best swing aid ever for smoothing out the transition. Even though the shaft was much heavier than I use in my gamers, my best swings with this club were as long as my gamers – the gamers were a heckuva lot more consistent. Impressed.
Desmond
Oct 28, 2016 at 9:07 am
Have used the Gabe Golf Trainer for 3 weeks. For me, it helped start the downswing with my lower body while I waited at the top. It als helps you take the club back more vertical so you shallow it out in the transition, and smooths out tempo. Enjoy.
Desmond
Nov 7, 2016 at 3:31 pm
Whomever made that black finish did a great job – a month and no sign of wear.
BigBoy
Oct 5, 2016 at 9:46 am
The coitus interuptus club.
Jeffrey Purtell
Oct 4, 2016 at 2:55 am
Gimmick number 394876543897546548376543987654387543654398756486598765897654654987765987654789654765498659865489657479865659865798657659865798657. keep em coming.
Norm StCyr
Dec 2, 2016 at 8:59 am
Great feedback Jeff! Your insight will probably help many golfers trying to improve their swing.
Eric M.
Oct 3, 2016 at 12:50 pm
How hard is it to put a ball bearing (or marble) in the shaft and re-grip an old club? That’s what I did after seeing the Impact-Snap aid. I also added a coat hanger with a foam practice ball on the end of the grip and positioned it to hit my forearm for forward shaft lean at impact. Total cost $10.
B
Oct 3, 2016 at 12:35 pm
The head is just a Maltby DBM rebranded
Desmond
Oct 4, 2016 at 2:22 am
Makes sense since they ship from GolfWorks
Sceptical smizzle
Oct 3, 2016 at 10:43 am
So it’s a marble inside a golf shaft?
Not convinced I want a pause like Maryama, he seems to get out of sequence quite often.
Desmond
Oct 4, 2016 at 2:21 am
I think the long pause is one technique; they also have the short pause where you swing, when you hear the bearing beginning to move down the shaft.
Desmond
Oct 3, 2016 at 9:10 am
On the website, it does not say anything about the shaft or specs – KBS Tour What? – Tour 90 R Flex? No warranty – the site needs more information.
Desmond
Oct 3, 2016 at 9:11 am
No warranty info, that is…
Mark
Oct 3, 2016 at 1:57 am
What is a “hand-forged head”? I think it is impossible for hand strength alone to be able to pound a billet in a die. Did you mean hand finished?
cgasucks
Oct 2, 2016 at 6:05 pm
A frickin’ swing fan will do the same job as this overpriced training aid and cheaper too.
Jeffrey Purtell
Oct 4, 2016 at 3:27 am
How far do these swing fans hit the ball? Do they come in different lofts?
Bwall
Oct 4, 2016 at 5:47 pm
I hit my swing fan about 180
SS
Oct 2, 2016 at 3:16 pm
No thanks. I don’t want to pause at the top, I prefer to be fluid in my return transition
Mike
Oct 2, 2016 at 1:12 pm
I worked at a web.com event this year on the driving range, i saw about 2-3 pros using this aid. Their swing sequence was amazing.