GOLF GADGET REVIEW! – The “Momentus Speed Whoosh”

Introduction

(Written By: GolfSpy Matt) Anybody out there want to hit the ball shorter off the tee? Didn’t think so. Distance is the major objective behind the Momentus Speed Whoosh trainer. Momentus Golf claims that the Speed Whoosh will add 21-30 yards to your tee shots immediately, and, with use over time, will add even more distance. Snake oil or the path towards embarrassing your friends on the tee box? Keep reading, spies…

Ease of Use

Set up required: None. Gotta like that.

There are two different drills that Momentus suggests that you do with the Speed Whoosh, but the explanations total only a few pictures and a handful of words. I like that, too.

• Drill 1: Put the magnetic ball at the end of the shaft and swing the Speed Whoosh as hard as you can 6 times. Now pick up your driver and hit the ball farther.
• Drill 2: Put the magnetic ball at the grip end of the shaft and swing. If the ball releases before “impact,” you know that you released the club too soon. Similarly, if it doesn’t hit the end of the shaft until after “impact,” you held on too long.

82 words. Not bad for not using pictures. This thing is very simple to use.

Score: 20/20

Effectiveness

Very excited, I took the Speed Whoosh to the range to see if I was going to start ripping it 300 yards. As per the instructions, I put the ball on the end of the shaft and swung the club as hard as I could six times. The club is very light and you will definitely feel yourself swinging it faster. Then I picked up my driver and….WHOA! After swinging the Speed Whoosh, my driver felt like a brick on a stick. (***NOTE: The Speed Whoosh weighs the same as a standard driver.) I could not get over how heavy the driver felt. Doing my best to ignore this and make a good swing, I hit a few shots. Were they 20 yards longer than anything I’d ever hit before? No. I can say, however, that I was immediately at the high end of my swing speed range (I was hitting on a launch monitor). Repeated testing on other days showed similar results.

One concern that I have is that the golfer needs to understand the difference between swinging hard and swinging fast. The Speed Whoosh will not tell you the difference; you can make the “whoosh” sound swinging it either way. I fear that in the hands of some, using this tool will only further ingrain some bad habits (over the top, swinging with your arms, swinging at 110%, etc).

So Will This Make You Hit Longer Drives?

So, will this help you hit it further? Drumroll please………maybe.  I used the Speed Whoosh every day for a week. Sure enough, as the week went on I saw higher clubhead speeds. Generally I top out around 100MPH, but lately I have been consistently over 100MPH and topping out closer to 107-108MPH (Update: topped out at 112MPH recently, woohoo!). So why did I say maybe? Much as I would like to, I have not been using the Speed Whoosh in a vacuum. While I have been testing the Speed Whoosh, I have been taking lessons with a PGA Professional at GolfTEC and working on my strength and flexibility. As a result, it’s impossible for me to say definitively, “The Speed Whoosh is responsible for my gains in clubhead speed.” Do I think it played a role? Yes. Do I want you to walk away thinking that I am guaranteeing you an additional 8MPH of clubhead speed if you use the Speed Whoosh? No.

With regard to the release drill, I am a little bit lukewarm. I think that it is fairly effective at identifying a major issue, but is less effective for those who are trying to dial in their release more precisely. For one, it is difficult to tell exactly when the ball hits the bottom of the shaft, and moreover, I’m uncertain if I want the ball to get to the bottom of the shaft at “impact” or if I want it to start moving at that point.

I will end this section with something unconditionally positive: this is the best warm-up tool I’ve ever used. After eight to ten hours on the sales floor, I’m usually pretty stiff and sore. Unfortunately, the end of the day is when I have time to hit balls. The usual result is a bunch of poor shots, my body feeling like junk, and me being annoyed. With the Speed Whoosh, I can walk to the range and, in literally 30 seconds, feel loose and ready to hit good shots. In the past I’ve used heavy clubs, light clubs, multiple clubs, but nothing compares to the Speed Whoosh for getting ready to play quickly.

Score: 18/20

Longevity

On the question of longevity, I am torn. On one hand, the Speed Whoosh has stayed in my bag because I have found that it’s the quickest way to get ready to play or practice. On the other hand, I have not continued my regular use of the Speed Whoosh to try to gain more clubhead speed. There isn’t a particular reason that I’ve quit using it regularly (as I mentioned, I did see results), but I don’t feel a burning desire to pick it up either. I am inclined to score the Speed Whoosh a bit more favorably because while I’m not using it as a training device that much, it does still serve a very important function whereas other training aids would be gathering dust.

Score: 15/20

Value

The Speed Whoosh costs $79.99 $69.99. This is in the middle tier of training aids, in my estimation. Whether or not this is a good value depends, as always, entirely on the consumer. It really comes down to two questions.

• One: what does the golfer want most? For someone like my dad, who possesses a reasonable golf swing and just wants to regain some distance, this might be a pretty good buy. For a golfer in his 20’s or 30’s who hits the ball far enough already, there are probably training aids that they would derive more benefit from.
• Two: how much is another 8-10 yards worth? I think that 8-10 yards is a reasonable, if possibly conservative, estimate of what someone can expect to gain with regular use of the Speed Whoosh. If 10 yards is the difference between 290 and 300, $80 seems hard to justify, in my opinion. If 10 yards is the difference between 200 and 210, perhaps the value is seen differently.

Ultimately, I think that the Speed Whoosh delivers slightly above average value. As I mentioned earlier, it does serve an important function (warm up tool) outside of its purpose as a training aid, and it does deliver on the promise of improving clubhead speed over time. At $40-50 I think this is a slam dunk, at $80 I think it’s solid but not great.

Score: 16/20

The Peanut Gallery

I don’t know if it was the bright colors or something else entirely, but the Peanut Gallery was drawn to the Speed Whoosh like moths to a flame. It was actually snatched right out of my hands the first time I brought it into the store by one of our PGA Professionals. Our longest hitting PGA Pro immediately ran into a launch monitor bay to test it. His first reaction after six hard swings was the same as mine, “My driver feels really heavy now.” That said, he also saw swing speeds near the top of his range after using it.

That same pro also saw the use of the release drill, so much so that he used it in two lessons that same day. His one concern was the same as mine – it’s hard to know precisely when you released the club. It worked in his lessons, however, because his students were releasing really early and this helped them to see that.

Overall, the Peanut Gallery’s response was similar to mine: they really loved it as a warm-up tool and saw their swing speeds jump to the top of their personal range after use. They were a little suspicious of the release drill, but overall had good things to say about the Speed Whoosh. That said, there wasn’t anyone in the group who said that he would be likely to purchase one for $80.

Score: 16/20

Final Thoughts

I will admit to being very skeptical about any device that promises huge distance gains, but I am quite pleased with the Speed Whoosh. I think that for the “drive to the course and walk to the first tee” crowd, the Speed Whoosh should be on the must-buy list: it is the best tool I’ve ever used for getting ready to play in 15 seconds. Furthermore, I do think that if you use it consistently over time you can expect to see some gains in clubhead speed. While I think that some of the claims made in the ads are a bit over the top, I do believe that the Speed Whoosh is a worthy training tool.

Score: 85/100

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