Tag: swing

  • Swing Oil – Supplement Science or Clever Marketing?

    Swing Oil – Supplement Science or Clever Marketing?

    Swing Oil“Swing Oil” is a slang term golfers sometimes use referring to a stiff drink or painkillers to help them loosen up to play golf. In my personal experience, when I talk about taking some swing oil it usually means popping three Advil about an hour before teeing off. I have a friend who’s version of swing oil is downing a spicy Bloody Mary before the round. Whatever your definition of swing oil is, the folks at Back 9 Beverages have a new one for us.

    What Is It?

    Officially, Swing Oil is a supplement drink specifically for golfers that promotes flexibility and focus. Going beyond physical skill and endurance, Swing Oil exists to help you with the mental aspects of the game like focus and alertness so you can play your best. How does Swing Oil help golfers? Each 3oz drink pouch provides 7 key ingredients to help you get loose and stay focused for 18 holes.

    What’s In It?

    • GLUCOSAMINE (100mg) & CHONDROITIN (50mg) – Helps you loosen up and stay loose. Found naturally in our joints, bone marrow, shellfish, and fungi. Glucosamine helps rebuild cartilage and many people take it as a supplement to treat arthritis and osteoarthritis.
    • TURMERIC (40mg) – This spice often used in Middle Eastern cuisine is said to have anti-inflammatory properties, although there isn’t much scientific evidence for use of turmeric as a therapy for inflammation.
    • TAURINE (100mg) – Taurine is a type of amino acid found throughout the body, particularly concentrated in the brain, eyes, heart and muscles. It is commonly used in energy drinks as a low calorie energy booster.
    • CITRULLINE MALATE (100mg) – This hot new supplement for body builders is a non-essential amino acid just like Taurine. Citrulline Malate is thought to reduce levels of lactic acid and ammonia which is produced during physical activity. In layman’s terms, Citrulline Malate helps your body recover from a workout faster.
    • GINSENG EXTRACT (100mg) – Ginseng has been used for thousands of years in Chinese traditional medicine. In terms of benefits, ginseng is supposed to help focus and concentration.
    • RHODIOLA ROSEA EXTRACT (50mg) – Rhodiola Rosea – also known as “golden root” – is an adaptogen herb. This group of plants can help your body adapt to physical, chemical and environmental stress, and rhodiola is thought to be one of the most effective in this family.

    In English Please!

    To recap, Swing Oil contains ingredients to help you loosen up before your round, keep you loose all day, give you a boost of energy, help you focus, concentrate and control stress, and help your body recover once the round is over. It’s important to note that the usual disclaimer that comes with any dietary supplement is also applicable for Swing Oil: “These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.” Now that the legal matters are out of the way, we get to the important question.

    Does It Work?

    Does Swing Oil work as advertised? If you ask me it does. Like many people, I normally take 600mg or 800mg of Advil (Ibuprofen) before a round to help me loosen up. I would prefer not to take it, but my game suffers demonstrably when I don’t and maintaining a +1 handicap without much practice is hard enough. To see if Swing Oil really works, instead of taking Advil, for six weeks I drank two 3oz pouches of Swing Oil before playing and one at the turn. In that time I played 11 rounds, including three tournament rounds. 8 of the 11 rounds I played were at par or better, with five rounds in the 60s. In that time my USGA handicap index went from a +0.2 to +1.5. (I’ve since slid back to +0.8 as of 4/15/2017)

    Now, it’s entirely possible that I went on a temporary hot streak like many golfers do, but this hot streak started and ended about the time I started using Swing Oil. Could it be a simple placebo effect? I’ll let you make your own determination. While the effectiveness of any nutritional supplement depends largely on who’s taking it, I think for me it had a positive effect. My testing was obviously not scientific in any way, but my observations can be summarized with the following:

    • Swing Oil alone isn’t as effective as Ibuprofen for use as an anti-inflammatory. This isn’t a surprise, but I think it’s worth noting. If anything Swing Oil is a good complement to Advil, and may reduce the need to take as much as I do to get the desired effect. Perhaps in the future I’ll combine Ibuprofen and Swing Oil to get the benefits of both!
    • While taking Swing Oil, I felt alert and mentally sharp. As advertised, Swing Oil helps you stay alert and focused for 18 holes. This is the single most important benefit of any supplement for me. Eliminating mental errors by staying sharp for 18 holes can save me 3 to 6 strokes. Everyone makes bad swings, but for low handicap golfers and professionals, being patient and making good decisions on the golf course often makes the difference between a round in the mid-70s and one that is under par.
    • Swing Oil tastes pretty good. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Strawberry-Banana flavor, but I enjoyed the Orange flavor. Lemon-Lime was my favorite. Many supplement drinks taste chalky or medicine-like, but Swing Oil just tastes like a sports drink, albeit with a thicker consistency a bit more like a light gel. Swing Oil goes down smooth and tastes great so you won’t dread taking it like those horse pill supplements.
    • Swing Oil is a bit pricey. Like many specialized supplements, they can get a little expensive. A 12-Pack on their website goes for $34.95, which comes out to $2.91 per pouch. If taken as directed, you have one before playing, one during the round and one after for recovery. For a once a week golfer, a 12-pack is therefore a one month supply. Buying in bulk saves you some money however. The 60-pack sells for $159, which comes to $2.65 per pouch. Shipping is free.

    Team Swing Oil

    PGA Tour player and former world #1 Jason Day endorses Swing Oil, and several players on PGA Tour Champions are using it. That’s gotta be worth something, right? Kenny Perry gave Swing Oil a fantastic endorsement recently during the 3M Championship, and his colleague Gene Sauers claims he hasn’t taken Advil before playing since switching to Swing Oil.

    If you need something to help loosen up and stay sharp on the course, you may want to try Swing Oil. The price may be a bit steep for some, but if it works you’ll probably make that money back from your buddies anyway!

  • 8 Christmas Gift Ideas For Last Minute Shoppers

    Christmas is almost here, and if you are like me, you still haven’t done your shopping yet. Shipping cutoffs are approaching fast and the stores are packed with last minute shoppers. If there is a golfer on your gift list, here are a few suggestions that you may be interested in…

    • HIRZL Gloves – There are several things Switzerland is famous for making well. A few products that come to mind are chocolate, watches, Swiss army knives and golf gloves. Wait, what? Hirzl gloves are the real deal. They are a premium golf glove that provides superior grip in all conditions and durability that surpasses all other gloves on the market. Made with a mix of Kangaroo and Cabretta leather, they are worth every penny. Street price: $25 – Visit their website for more information. 
    • IJP Designs Apparel – Most everyone that follows the professional tours knows Ian Poulter. Americans know him mostly as the guy that wears flashy pants and keeps kicking their asses at the Ryder Cup. His apparel company has made great inroads in the US market, and IJP offers a complete line of shirts, pants (or trousers if you prefer the Queen’s English), shorts, belts and more. The line features classic designs along side the more darling paterns, and there should be something for just about everyone. Visit ijpdesign.com for more.
    • Slammin’ Sam Beer – A new venture, Slammin’ Sam Beer Company holds an exclusive, worldwide license with the estate of Sam Snead. Slammin’ Sam is a craft-brewed American lager with a refreshing taste and balanced finish that is inspired by the legendary all-time PGA Tour wins leader. Developed using a proprietary recipe developed by Ray Klimovitz, recipient of the 2011 Distinguished Life Service Award from the Master Brewers Association of the Americas, Slammin’ Sam will be offered at renowned resorts, golf courses, restaurants, bars and everywhere beer is sold.
    • TaylorMade Ghost Spider S Putter – TaylorMade’s newest putter was released just in time for the holiday season. The next generation of the Ghost Spider makes it easier for players to square the face at impact to start the ball on its intended line and delivers tremendous twist-resistance on the backswing and off-center hits. Its Tour-designed crown flows smoothly into the outer frame for less distraction, while the black and white frame and single white center-line promotes focus, accurate aim and stroke awareness. TaylorMade’s PureRoll Surlyn insert promotes incredibly soft-yet-solid feel and smooth roll off the face. Available 11/1. MSRP $179 – taylormadegolf.com.
    • adidas Golf Adipure Motion Shoes – One of golf’s great classic shoes, the adipure motion is 5 ounces less and 23% lighter than the previous adipure model. A state-of-the-art outsole construction frees the foot and body to move in a way it was inherently meant to – from the ground up to the shoulders. The adipure motion features a 7-spike, ultra-light exoskeleton outsole with puremotion technology designed to provide dynamic movement and ultimate flexibility. Available 12/1. MSRP $220; adidasgolf.com
    • 2012 Miura Wedges – Miura has been making some of the most beautiful and playable forged irons and wedges in the game for years. The New Wedge Series from Miura, the world’s preeminent maker of quality forged golf clubs, preserves the eternal elements of the “old” Series and adds refinements that make the clubs a pleasure to look at and a joy to play. Now in odd-numbered lofts from 51 degrees through 59, the New Series features redesigned bounce angles that work well with the way thinking players like to play golf.
    • Switch Belts – Made of thermoplastic resin, Switch Belts won’t stretch, fade, warp or wear out. You cut them to fit, can clean them in the dish washer and walk through metal detectors as they contain no metal. What I’m trying to say is, Switch Belts are not just good for golf, but for any outfit. In fact, there are 196 possible belt and buckle color combinations to match every outfit in your closet. Belts go for about $30. www.switchbelt.com
    • SwingTip – In a market flooded with useless swing aids and devices that make you look idiotic on the practice tee, it’s refreshing to see a device that is neither. The SwingTip is a device that attaches below the grip on your club and transmits information about your golf swing to your iPhone, iPad or Android device for analysis. It will give you a graphical display of your swing path along with information like club head speed, club face angle, swing path, impact zone and tempo. You can also review your swing and/or practice session info later online. MSRP $129 – www.swingtip.com

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