Tour Striker Planemate

[Kenny B]

26 minutes ago, rbsiedsc said:

Agreed on the price. Missed out on the early bird

The feeling will come. Took me a long time for it to fully click and then everything just clicked. I use it once or twice a week and prior to my round to just remind me of the feels i need

I'm currently using it every morning at 7am while the temperature is still cool.  After stretching and swinging the Orange Whip LightSpeed, I hit:

• 40 balls with the PM on my PW
• 40 balls with my 9i
• 40 balls with the PM on my 7i
• 40 balls with my 6i

However, for the 40 balls I am using 3 dozen Almost Golf Balls, followed by 4 real balls.  This practice session takes about an hour

[Bluesman57]

Edit:

Found a used one on Ebay for $125.  Sorry for the whining.

Maybe I should start another thread, but can anyone recommend another training aid that matches the claims that the Planemate makes?  In my case, making a full turn on the backswing and stop picking up the club like I'm chopping wood. Thanks.

Edited July 17, 2021 by Bluesman57
More Information

[RickyBobby_PR]

15 minutes ago, Bluesman57 said:

Edit:

Found a used one on Ebay for $125.  Sorry for the whining.

Maybe I should start another thread, but can anyone recommend another training aid that matches the claims that the Planemate makes?  In my case, making a full turn on the backswing and stop picking up the club like I'm chopping wood. Thanks.

Martin Chuck had several that would work. The tour ball, combined with the plane station. There’s a few others like the plane station out there 

Also a simple alignment stick will do wonders

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-kuVOOl1B6/

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByN9TMMFGh-/

 

[Kenny B]

2 minutes ago, Bluesman57 said:

Maybe I should start another thread, but can anyone recommend another training aid that matches the claims that the Planemate makes?  In my case, making a full turn on the backswing and stop picking up the club like I'm chopping wood. Thanks.

Monte's No Turn Cast video is gold; $27 on his website: www.rebelliongolf.com 

I follow his drills while doing the PlaneMate.  There is a difference between Monte's approach and the PlaneMate approach in the takeaway.  The PM teaches a "one-piece takeaway" with the clubhead outside the hands.  Monte thinks it's trash and a terrible cliche.  He teaches one motion to left arm parallel and club at 90º.  I can do it either way, but I tend to get more club speed with Monte's method because I have a conscious feeling of wrist hinge and bowed left wrist that I don't get every time with the PM takeaway.  I also think I get more depth during backswing rotation.  But the PM works fine with Monte's method IMO.

[goaliewales14]

2 hours ago, Bluesman57 said:

Edit:

Found a used one on Ebay for $125.  Sorry for the whining.

Maybe I should start another thread, but can anyone recommend another training aid that matches the claims that the Planemate makes?  In my case, making a full turn on the backswing and stop picking up the club like I'm chopping wood. Thanks.

The one thing I would caution of getting it off Ebay is that you won't have full access to all of the training videos that show you how to properly use the planemate.

[ChitownM2]

14 minutes ago, goaliewales14 said:

The one thing I would caution of getting it off Ebay is that you won't have full access to all of the training videos that show you how to properly use the planemate.

Really?  Can't you just go on the website and watch the videos?  Are there more than the ones available on the main site?

https://www.tourstriker.com/planemate-protocols/

[goaliewales14]

6 minutes ago, ChitownM2 said:

Really?  Can't you just go on the website and watch the videos?  Are there more than the ones available on the main site?

https://www.tourstriker.com/planemate-protocols/

When you go on that site, you should only see the 7-day protocols that have videos.  The other protocols require a login and a registered planemate at least on my end.

[RickyBobby_PR]

8 hours ago, ChitownM2 said:

Really?  Can't you just go on the website and watch the videos?  Are there more than the ones available on the main site?

https://www.tourstriker.com/planemate-protocols/

If you don’t have the email that was used to purchase the planemate you don’t have access to the advanced protocols.

Martin and David have good info on this advanced protocols and from a business perspective you can’t give everything away for free. 
 

Bradley Hughes does similar with the downunderboard website

[RickyBobby_PR]

9 hours ago, Kenny B said:

Monte's No Turn Cast video is gold; $27 on his website: www.rebelliongolf.com 

I follow his drills while doing the PlaneMate.  There is a difference between Monte's approach and the PlaneMate approach in the takeaway.  The PM teaches a "one-piece takeaway" with the clubhead outside the hands.  Monte thinks it's trash and a terrible cliche.  He teaches one motion to left arm parallel and club at 90º.  I can do it either way, but I tend to get more club speed with Monte's method because I have a conscious feeling of wrist hinge and bowed left wrist that I don't get every time with the PM takeaway.  I also think I get more depth during backswing rotation.  But the PM works fine with Monte's method IMO.

Agree with all of this.  Lots of ways to skin the cat, one just needs to find what works for them.

One could easily go to AMG, Chris Ryan or Eric Congorno YouTube channels and build a game for free

[Bluesman57]

13 hours ago, goaliewales14 said:

The one thing I would caution of getting it off Ebay is that you won't have full access to all of the training videos that show you how to properly use the planemate.

Uh oh.  Oops.

[GolfSpy BOS]

I’m still using mine basically daily during conference calls. It’s a great way to keep my back loose while working the pitching motion. now if I take a club even first thing in the morning, and practice pitching I still feel like I have it on. 
 

I need to do more full swing practice with it though. 
 

[ChitownM2]

13 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

If you don’t have the email that was used to purchase the planemate you don’t have access to the advanced protocols.

Martin and David have good info on this advanced protocols and from a business perspective you can’t give everything away for free. 
 

Bradley Hughes does similar with the downunderboard website

Not sure about down under board but for the plane mate you can just register and get access to the advanced videos. Pick one of the retailers.  Worst case is they actually check and you get denied but I'm pretty sure they don't and have never checked. 

https://www.tourstriker.com/product/ts-planemate-registration/

[OHgolfer2]

Agreed.  I bought mine off FB marketplace and was able to register (for free) on the PM website to access all of the other advanced protocols.  

[edingc]

I strapped the Planemate on for the first time in a while this afternoon. As I've been working on my swing at the range this week, I'm realizing I was "cheating" the Planemate when I used it over the winter.

In my quest to not get the long green band snapping below my forearms on the follow through, I developed a motion where my right shoulder dropped way down on the downswing. This allowed me to get the club coming from WAY inside. If I held my release off I could get to a semi-OK finishing position without the band snapping below my forearms.

Had I been hitting balls with the Planemate on this would have been obvious, but with it being the winter I was doing a bunch of no ball rehearsal swings. I ended up grooving this move into my swing, which led to a bunch of blocks and hooks when my timing was off. 

You can kind of see me doing this on the video I posted several pages back in January (though the camera angle makes this look a little worse, most likely):

Today I worked with the Planemate feeling a more proper downswing, one in which my left shoulder (to me) feels like it's going more down and around rather than up and back in the downswing. Good results so far. I'm going to try to do more dry swings with this feeling to help me cement that movement a little better. I've had good results on the range over my last two sessions, but it's going to take some time before it transfers to the course.

[Kenny B]

3 hours ago, edingc said:

I strapped the Planemate on for the first time in a while this afternoon. As I've been working on my swing at the range this week, I'm realizing I was "cheating" the Planemate when I used it over the winter.

In my quest to not get the long green band snapping below my forearms on the follow through, I developed a motion where my right shoulder dropped way down on the downswing. This allowed me to get the club coming from WAY inside. If I held my release off I could get to a semi-OK finishing position without the band snapping below my forearms.

Had I been hitting balls with the Planemate on this would have been obvious, but with it being the winter I was doing a bunch of no ball rehearsal swings. I ended up grooving this move into my swing, which led to a bunch of blocks and hooks when my timing was off. 

You can kind of see me doing this on the video I posted several pages back in January (though the camera angle makes this look a little worse, most likely):

Today I worked with the Planemate feeling a more proper downswing, one in which my left shoulder (to me) feels like it's going more down and around rather than up and back in the downswing. Good results so far. I'm going to try to do more dry swings with this feeling to help me cement that movement a little better. I've had good results on the range over my last two sessions, but it's going to take some time before it transfers to the course.

This is the other difference between the PlaneMate and Monte's teaching.  The PM protocols for followthrough require a hinged trail wrist through impact.  In the NTC video Monte teaches that in the Cast B to 12 o'clock the trail wrist must lose flex.  If you do that with the PM, it definitely results in the long green band on the other side of the forearms.  Martin Chuck says that's bad, but he never explains why.  I personally don't see that as a problem.  I can do it the PM way or the Monte way and still have a good strike on the ball.  I am leaning towards Monte's method.

So, the takeaway and the followthrough are different, but the PM is very useful for me to work on Monte's Cast A to 8 o'clock and impact.

[GolfSpy BOS]

47 minutes ago, Kenny B said:

This is the other difference between the PlaneMate and Monte's teaching.  The PM protocols for followthrough require a hinged trail wrist through impact.  In the NTC video Monte teaches that in the Cast B to 12 o'clock the trail wrist must lose flex.  If you do that with the PM, it definitely results in the long green band on the other side of the forearms.  Martin Chuck says that's bad, but he never explains why.  I personally don't see that as a problem.  I can do it the PM way or the Monte way and still have a good strike on the ball.  I am leaning towards Monte's method.

So, the takeaway and the followthrough are different, but the PM is very useful for me to work on Monte's Cast A to 8 o'clock and impact.

I like the planemate follow through feeling, as it seems to help me with some consistent pitch and 3/4 shots.

but I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to take a full swing without that band crossing over.  

[Kenny B]

2 hours ago, B.Boston said:

I like the planemate follow through feeling, as it seems to help me with some consistent pitch and 3/4 shots.

but I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to take a full swing without that band crossing over.  

That's my problem.  The PM is great for short iron shots; I can do those.  However, the longer clubs are a little trickier.  I like the feeling of a full release followthrough, because at my age I tend to not follow through enough, and I need to practice that.  So... I'm doing both, and I need to pick one and stick with it.

[edingc]

11 hours ago, B.Boston said:

I like the planemate follow through feeling, as it seems to help me with some consistent pitch and 3/4 shots.

but I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to take a full swing without that band crossing over.  

Excellent for pitching and half shots! One area that immediately got better when I got the Planemate because I used to be all arms.

9 hours ago, Kenny B said:

That's my problem.  The PM is great for short iron shots; I can do those.  However, the longer clubs are a little trickier.  I like the feeling of a full release followthrough, because at my age I tend to not follow through enough, and I need to practice that.  So... I'm doing both, and I need to pick one and stick with it.

I do like the PM follow through because it encourages me to get through the ball and not hang back and flip. On the other hand, it can also work against me because being that rotational also leads me to get my lead arm stuck across my chest. Monte talks about getting the left arm off the chest a lot and it resonates well with my swing.

[OHgolfer2]

For those of you who are still using the PM, do you guys have a typical miss (e.g., pull, push, hook, slice)? 

Before PM, my miss was either a snap-hook (with a driver) or a slice (with everything else), and my usual ball-flight was a fade.  Now, most of my shots are either straight or a slight draw.  However, a handful of shots per round, I'll have a pull or pull-hook.  I'd guess that of my misses, 75% are of the pull or pull-hook variety.  This is obviously a lot better than where I was before, but I'm wondering if others have had this issue.  Thanks!

[GolfSpy AFG]

33 minutes ago, OHgolfer2 said:

For those of you who are still using the PM, do you guys have a typical miss (e.g., pull, push, hook, slice)? 

Before PM, my miss was either a snap-hook (with a driver) or a slice (with everything else), and my usual ball-flight was a fade.  Now, most of my shots are either straight or a slight draw.  However, a handful of shots per round, I'll have a pull or pull-hook.  I'd guess that of my misses, 75% are of the pull or pull-hook variety.  This is obviously a lot better than where I was before, but I'm wondering if others have had this issue.  Thanks!

Based on what you are describing I would think the PM would be very beneficial.

To answer your question, my miss is a slight push.  The thing is, through a lot of PM use, I can confidently say it's pretty much the only way I miss.  In other words, it's been a very long time since I've hooked a ball.

The PM, and the Smart Ball, reflect Martin Chuck's philosophy of using your body to control the clubface rather than hands and arms.  I think you'll find most PM users will tell you it is extremely beneficial in helping you correct an excessively inside takeaway, helping you learn to shallow the club on the downswing, and helping you learn not to flip the club or get handsy at impact. That last one might be what you need to get past those pull-hooks.

[goaliewales14]

12 minutes ago, Getoffmylawn said:

Based on what you are describing I would think the PM would be very beneficial.

To answer your question, my miss is a slight push.  The thing is, through a lot of PM use, I can confidently say it's pretty much the only way I miss.  In other words, it's been a very long time since I've hooked a ball.

The PM, and the Smart Ball, reflect Martin Chuck's philosophy of using your body to control the clubface rather than hands and arms.  I think you'll find most PM users will tell you it is extremely beneficial in helping you correct an excessively inside takeaway, helping you learn to shallow the club on the downswing, and helping you learn not to flip the club or get handsy at impact. That last one might be what you need to get past those pull-hooks.

100%!!!  Couldn't have said it any better!

My miss has also been a push.  It'll be as straight as an arrow though.  I've got a few other swing things that I'm working through, but the main thing I always come back to are the parallel to parallel swings that I did in the first week of the PM.  If I'm ever struggling through a round, I'll switch to 1/2 or 3/4 swings and just club up.  I've won 2 closest to the pins in 2 back to back days because of that swing.  The first one hit a foot behind the hole and backed up to about 4 ft and the other hit and stopped to 6 ft.  

[OHgolfer2]

On 8/2/2021 at 11:32 AM, goaliewales14 said:

100%!!!  Couldn't have said it any better!

My miss has also been a push.  It'll be as straight as an arrow though.  I've got a few other swing things that I'm working through, but the main thing I always come back to are the parallel to parallel swings that I did in the first week of the PM.  If I'm ever struggling through a round, I'll switch to 1/2 or 3/4 swings and just club up.  I've won 2 closest to the pins in 2 back to back days because of that swing.  The first one hit a foot behind the hole and backed up to about 4 ft and the other hit and stopped to 6 ft.  

Thank you for the response, goaliewales14 and Getoffmylawn!  The flipping of the clubface and getting handsy at impact have been my issue for years.  I've been using the PM since early June, and it has helped tremendously. 

With the PM strapped on, it's easy to keep my hands/arms passive on the downswing and let my body rotate to control the clubface.  However, when I'm playing, it seems like I'll go through a 3-4 hole stretch in which I revert to old habits and get too handsy, which causes the pull and/or hook.  For whatever reason, it has been a hard habit to break for me, and it seems to arise when I face a tougher or high-pressure shot (e.g., a long par 3 with trouble on both sides, or a tight drive).  I almost need to remind myself "keep hands passive and focus on body rotation."

[GolfSpy AFG]

8 minutes ago, OHgolfer2 said:

However, when I'm playing, it seems like I'll go through a 3-4 hole stretch in which I revert to old habits and get too handsy, which causes the pull and/or hook.  For whatever reason, it has been a hard habit to break for me, and it seems to arise when I face a tougher or high-pressure shot (e.g., a long par 3 with trouble on both sides, or a tight drive).  I almost need to remind myself "keep hands passive and focus on body rotation."

Think about how many swings you've taken with your "old" motion, versus total reps with the PM and your new action.  Bottom line, it's going to take time and reps.  Keep at it!

[goaliewales14]

4 minutes ago, OHgolfer2 said:

Thank you for the response, goaliewales14 and Getoffmylawn!  The flipping of the clubface and getting handsy at impact have been my issue for years.  I've been using the PM since early June, and it has helped tremendously. 

With the PM strapped on, it's easy to keep my hands/arms passive on the downswing and let my body rotate to control the clubface.  However, when I'm playing, it seems like I'll go through a 3-4 hole stretch in which I revert to old habits and get too handsy, which causes the pull and/or hook.  For whatever reason, it has been a hard habit to break for me, and it seems to arise when I face a tougher or high-pressure shot (e.g., a long par 3 with trouble on both sides, or a tight drive).  I almost need to remind myself "keep hands passive and focus on body rotation."

It takes a lot of repetition to break those old habits!  I did mine last year during the pandemic, so there wasn't really anything else for me to do besides work with the PM.  

The one thing I did, and still continue to do, is warm up with it on the range before each round.  For me that gets the feels started for the day/round.

Something you might consider is what I had to do with Martin Chuck when I did his golf school review.  After each day of the golf school, we always finished it off by playing 9 holes to put into play whatever we learned that day.  The first day, I had to play those holes WHILE using the Smartball.  If you're not in a serious round, you could always play a few holes with the PM on.  

[OHgolfer2]

35 minutes ago, Getoffmylawn said:

Think about how many swings you've taken with your "old" motion, versus total reps with the PM and your new action.  Bottom line, it's going to take time and reps.  Keep at it!

That's a great point!  For me (and most others), using the PM is undoing probably decades of bad swing habits.  Like anything, I guess it is just a matter of time and practice.  Thank you!

 

34 minutes ago, goaliewales14 said:

It takes a lot of repetition to break those old habits!  I did mine last year during the pandemic, so there wasn't really anything else for me to do besides work with the PM.  

The one thing I did, and still continue to do, is warm up with it on the range before each round.  For me that gets the feels started for the day/round.

Something you might consider is what I had to do with Martin Chuck when I did his golf school review.  After each day of the golf school, we always finished it off by playing 9 holes to put into play whatever we learned that day.  The first day, I had to play those holes WHILE using the Smartball.  If you're not in a serious round, you could always play a few holes with the PM on.  

Great points - you and Getoffmylawn are on the same wavelength!  Out of curiosity, what did you think of the Smartball?  In particular, did it help in correcting any of your swing faults?  

[goaliewales14]

2 hours ago, OHgolfer2 said:

Great points - you and Getoffmylawn are on the same wavelength!  Out of curiosity, what did you think of the Smartball?  In particular, did it help in correcting any of your swing faults?  

I liked the Smartball, but I felt like I could cheat the system a bit and not get what I needed out of it.  I still have it, but I use the PM way more than the Smartball.

[GolfSpy AFG]

7 minutes ago, goaliewales14 said:

I liked the Smartball, but I felt like I could cheat the system a bit and not get what I needed out of it.  I still have it, but I use the PM way more than the Smartball.

Same.  @OHgolfer2, I know your question was directed at goaliewales14, but I also use the SmartBall after having it recommended to me by my GolfTec coach.  I had (and still fight) a tendency to collapse my arms a bit in the backswing, and then stay folded up like that through impact....probably my number one swing issue that I continue to work at.  Smart Ball helps me maintain that structure; I use it for a dry swing drill in the basement basically going parallel to parallel.

Like you, I feel like PlaneMate replicates a lot of the same movements and positions so I can't say my Smart Ball gets a ton of use lately.  When I did take it to the range I used it mostly for wedges and kind of warm-up punch shots...past 3/4s I found it too distracting.  @goaliewales14, I can't imagine using it for a full 9 like that...full driver swings and everything??

And btw @OHgolfer2, welcome to the forum!  Stick around.  You hang out here long enough you can't help but get hooked, and get better.

[goaliewales14]

54 minutes ago, Getoffmylawn said:

I can't imagine using it for a full 9 like that...full driver swings and everything??

Needless to say, I didn't take many full swings, and I watched an 80+ year-old man out drive me by like 100 yards on the first tee box

A lot of it was done on purpose to have me focus more on 1/2 and 3/4 swings rather than go full blast into the shot.  I think it was about hole 3 where Martin coached me through after watching me struggle with a 100 yard shot. Here's the video of him having me re-hit it. Absolutely never left the flagstick. 

 

Edited August 4, 2021 by goaliewales14

[wactor]

I have one for sale if anyone is interested in bypassing the line.

[SP2001]

After one year of using it still like it to keep short game in line, for full swing it is too far from my swing and my mobility  dangerous thing like with lot of training tool is to develop bad habits, particularly is used without actually using a ball, in my case even not going to driving range but just on home sim I’ve seen that without ball I tend to do a swing that seems fine according to the feedback provided by PM but real ball flight is not very good…