Technosonic check go review

[MissionMan]

Picked one of these up because I wanted to see if there was any validity to the balanced thing. For those who don't know, it's a machine that allows you to check the balance of a ball and then draw a line around the ball.

Construction

Pretty basic, not sure what it costs to manufacture one of these but I think it's probably a little overpriced for what it is. The quality is good though.

How it works (in theory)

In principle, the idea is that you can check whether a ball is perfectly balance. It spins the ball, and in theory, if it's unbalanced, you should see the ball return to the same position every time. The idea is to make a small dot, move the ball and see if the dot returns to the same spot. If it does, it's unbalanced, if it doesn't, then it's a balanced ball.

What to do with balanced and unbalanced balls.

Balanced balls

I've seen some reviews on Amazon, confused on how this works beyond this point, so I'll go a step further. If it doesn't return to the same spot and you have a balanced ball, use the marking point around the equator. The motion of the ball will make the mark so continue letting it spin while you let the marker lightly touch it.

Note: Balanced balls will not return to this position again so don't get confused if you spin it again and it doesn't return to this position. The ball is balanced so it will always return to a random position. 

Unbalanced balls.

If it returns to the same point, it shows the ball is unbalanced. Obviously, the idea is not to use these balls, but if you're anything like me, you're not a professional and don't care too much, you just want to get the best out of a bad ball. In this case, don't use the equator point to mark the ball while spinning. Wait until it stops, ensure the dot is at the top and use the line around the top to make the mark. This will  ensure that imbalance is top to bottom, so less likely to impact the ball turning left or right.

Issues/Problems

• The instructions aren't very clear, and it doesn't seem to offer a website with clear instructions. This causes a bit of confusion around how to use it. 
• The friction for the lid is a little light, so you have to hold the lid in place

Does it make a difference?

It's hard to say. Technically, it should make a difference, but whether it makes a real difference is hard to establish. 

Some interesting things I discovered in my tests

They say you get what you pay for and its pretty clear here. When I tested new titleist balls, I didn't find any balance issues on Pro V1 and AVX. With Kirkland balls that I use for chipping practice, I had 4 out of 6 show balance issues. These were all new balls. Obviously the Titleist are premium balls but it shows the money does make a difference.

[cksurfdude]

You could also test balls in a large glass or a bowl filled with an Epsom salt solution - make it thick enough so the ball floats - the process is similar to what was described above to check for Balanced vs Unbalanced.

MaxFli has done this with their Tour CG line during manufacturing; supposedly the alignment line is painted around the equator containing the balance point.

[Aim490]

I remember having and using a Check-Go around 15-20 yrs ago.  I stopped using it after a year or 2.  It sat in a box of misc. golf stuff and finally got tossed when we moved to a new house.

#1 - It’s nice to have a stripe on the ball to use for alignment, but almost all balls (at least the ones I play) come with decent alignment marks now, so I don’t need to add that.

#2 - I didn’t feel like it added anything to my game, but it DID give me a chance to spend almost an hour spinning and marking per dozen balls - time that would have been much better spent practicing my swing.

#3 - My fade/slice tendencies (with a few other oddities thrown in for good measure) remained and Check-Go did not make any noticeable difference in my game.  A fat or thinned shot or hitting with an open club face or misreading green break (which is the combo platter of ills where most of my extra strokes come from) has nothing to do with ball balance.  I stopped using it when the specially-fit marking pen went dry.

Overall, after giving it a good long chance to prove its worth, I felt it was waste of time, money, and false expectations that it could improve my game.  It may have some value for those golfers with near-perfect swings, but the average golfer is unlikely to benefit in any way, IMHO.