Christmas shopping for the golfer on your list

Whether you are looking for stocking stuffers or high-end golf equipment, discount sales should be plentiful, but if you are looking to buy golf clubs, consider getting a gift certificate instead

With Christmas rapidly approaching, and you can’t figure out what to get that special golfer on your list, let the Inside Golf Santa help you out with a few suggestions that might make your shopping life a little easier.

A good place to start is golf balls. There are plenty of good ones on the market. Look for deals this time of year. You might find out what brand your golfer likes to play.

If your player is a walker, a good pushcart is always welcome – we suggest the BigMax cart that is the newest entry into collapsible push carts.

Nearly everyone can use a new golf bag or travel bag, keep your eyes out for discounts and try to get carry-bags with club separation partitions and a bag- stand. Travel bags are a must if your golfer takes golf trips.

Golf shoes are another good idea. There should be several bargains this time of year, but since this is winter, boots like Oregon Mudders would be a welcome addition.

For clothes, again, there should be discount sales in process nearly everywhere–nearly every golfer likes vests or rain gear for our cool spring and fall weather. The Pacific Northwest’s own Cutter and Buck, NIKE or Forester all offering top quality stuff. Shirts, wind shirts, rain tops – just about anything you can think of is a good idea.

Everyone needs another putter. There are so many new and different putters on the market today you would be wise to give your recipient a gift certificate and let them select their own. The same goes for hybrid clubs and drivers, both are always in demand by golfers.

Novelties and small golf accessories like ball markers, repair tools, etc. are great stocking stuffers.

Consider golf lessons for that special golfer, he or she will be thrilled – be advised that lessons should be purchased in series to get maximum benefit. Check with the pro where your golfer regularly plays. If your budget allows, a golf vacation is a home run for sure, and, you might be able to go with them so it’s a win win.

And one last thought, shop early while inventories are high and discounts are big.

SensoGlove: The only golf glove that measures grip pressure
Introducing the SensoGlove. The SensoGlove is the first and only golf glove with built-in sensors that constantly read the pressure of your grip. We’ve heard the teaching professionals say to grip the club lightly to achieve the optimum swing with maximum distance. A lighter grip delivers distance and power with your driver, accuracy from the fairway and the soft touch needed to sink the hardest putts!

The problem comes when you try to figure out what is a light grip and what is a tight grip. For someone who normally has a death grip on the club, a light grip will be far different from someone who uses a lighter grip. So, how do you know what is the right grip for you?

Proper grip pressure has long been a difficult technique to master. Every magazine article and golf instructor explains how important it is to maintain a light grip. One quote that’s been around for a while comes from Sam Snead: “Grip the club as if you were holding a baby bird.”

The SensoGlove is a high quality cabretta leather glove with a removable digital computer attached to the back. All of the fingers (no thumb) have built-in small sensors that relay information to the attached computer.

How it works:
The SensoGlove computer is a small, lightweight, sweat-proof monitor that analyzes pressure settings from four tiny sensors sewn right into the glove. Other than the computer plug in socket, the SensoGlove works just like any other glove, so you can use it during a practice round on the course.

The SensoGlove computer is incredibly easy to use. Simply dial in your pressure on a scale of 1-to-18 and swing with any club. The SensoGlove reads and displays your pressure and warns you if you exceed your target level. The SensoGlove even shows you what finger is gripping too tight, so you can adjust your grip accordingly.

Best of all, the SensoGlove reads your grip pressure during your address AND swing. Many golfers start out with a light pressure only to grip tighter at take-away and through the backswing and downswing. Using the built-in audio warning, golfers will know if they are gripping too tight exactly when it happens during their swing.

Take the SensoGlove to the driving range to test various pressure settings until you find the setting that gives you a perfect swing. You can store that setting in memory and the SensoGlove will constantly monitor your grip pressure throughout your swing.

Learning the right amount of pressure leads to a natural, effortless swing that a golfer can repeat every time – for more power, lower scores and a more enjoyable round of golf!

SensoGlove is available for right or left hand.

For more information about the SensoGlove, please visit www.sensoglove.com. Retail cost is $89.

Affordable polarized clip-on sunglasses
If you wear prescription glasses then you know how maddening it is when you are driving in a car and the transition or photo chromic lenses won’t darken and you are blinded by the bright sunlight through the windshield.

The good news, there is something you can do about it and it only cost’s about 20 bucks.

The company is called Solar Shield and it has polarized scratch-resistant clip-on lenses that can be slipped on quickly and fit snugly over your prescription glasses. Each pair of clip-ons is made to fit your particular glasses, which enable the lenses to maintain the polarization axis. The clip-ons are quite unique in that they have an adjustable spring-loaded bridge that allows you to pull laterally to slip on or off quickly.

They come with stainless steel frames around each lens and offer 100% UVA/UVB protection. Polarized lenses reduce glare like nothing else – great for golf. When was the last time you checked to see what polarized lenses cost? Not 20 bucks for sure!

Solar Shield also offers a variety of sunglasses including some that can be warn over your regular prescription glasses. They have driving glasses as fit-over style or clip-on style, priced from $12.95 to $24.95.

For more information about Solar Shield sun glasses, check out their website at www.solarshield.com

The Aiming: Take the guesswork out of alignment
Achieving the correct alignment is extremely important in golf and we don’t have to go further than to look at the LPGA player’s use of their caddies to see how difficult it is. If professional golfers struggle with getting their alignment right, with all of their experience and practice, the rest of us without caddies, surely could use some help.

Good news. Help has arrived!

The product is called The Aiming. It is a small wearable device that clips on your waist and works for any club, including lining up putts. Mostionscape makes three models of The Aiming: the Sound Version, the Vibration Version and the Sound & Vibration Version. We tested the Vibration Version.

How to use: just clip it anywhere on your waist and line up behind your ball picking a target line and push the button on the dive, then take your stance. If your alignment is too far right the unit will vibrate with fast vibrations, if too far left it will give a slow vibration. When the alignment is perfect, there will be a long vibration (Some units have sound as well as vibrate). The device shuts off after you have achieved the correct alignment or after one minute. It has a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that can last over 10 rounds between charging. A charging cable is included.

The Aiming has an embedded motion sensor and was developed with an algorithm that has a patent pending. The Aiming was developed by Motionscape, Inc. in Korea and has been extensively tested. Website is www.theaiming.com.