GOLF GADGET REVIEW! – The PureShot Driver

How Often Do You Hit Pure Shots?

(Written By: GolfSpy Dave)

I think that all of us are aware that our clubs, be they irons or woods, have a sweet spot on the face where the impact feel is buttery smooth and the ball rockets off on the path that you intended. Golf club designers know this as well and try to help the golfer find the sweet spot by making it as large as possible and/or providing cartographical alignment aids on the crown.

For the average golfer though, knowing where the sweet spot is and actually making contact with it on the club can be two very different concepts. We all know the feeling of hitting it pure, just like we know the feeling of hitting off the toe, or driving the ball through the town of El Hosel on the way to Shanksville.

If you are one who struggles to hit the sweet spot on the club, you know that when you do, the ball goes farther than expected. It is like we tapped into some secret ball striking power. It’s not like you hit the gym between your second and third shots on that hole to bulk up. You just hit the right spot on the face…simple as that…right?

What if there was a way to do that more consistently?

ExcitoGolf Says that the PureShot Driver Is the Answer.
Take a minute and watch this video from ExcitoGolf…

Did the video speak to your issues with your golf swing? Whenever I hear about something that can help improve my swing tempo and straighten out my shots, I become very interested. I know that my handicap would take an immediate plunge if I could increase distance off the tee and also straighten out the flight so my second shot would not be labeled “recovery”.

So…can this training driver help a golfer in all these areas, or is it just another ploy to separate a desperate golfer from his or her cash?

THE REVIEW!

The system that I am using to rank this training tool will be based upon the “PGA Guidelines for Teaching Professionals“.

Specifically, these (5) criteria:

• Validity: Is the device designed for something really important to success in the swing or the game?
• Reliability: Does the device provide consistent results when used in the same manner?
• Simplicity: Is the device easy to use and understand by the instructor and the learner?
• Durability: If the teaching aid is used regularly, is it made well enough so that it won’t require early replacement?
• Cost Effectiveness: Are the product’s benefits worth the price?

Validity

Is the device designed for something really important to success in the swing or the game?  Hmmm, let me give this one some thought… Is hitting the ball longer and straighter important to my game of golf? Does tempo play a role in the golf swing? Do I really need to swing from in to out rather than over the top?  I think that it is say that the PureShot Driver addresses some very valid areas.

Validity Score: 20/20

Reliability

Does the device provide consistent results when used in the same manner?  This category is a little more difficult to quantify as it gets into the “does it work?” question. The short answer is “it seems to”. Let me explain how I ran the PureShot Driver through its paces.

First, I hit balls with it. Innovative testing strategy, I know, but after looking at this club, I was not so sure that hitting balls would even be possible. Take a look at the face. Nice and convex, just how we like our drivers.  Basically the only way that you are going to be able to hit a ball straight is to actually hit the middle of the face, the typical location of a driver’s sweet spot.  What I see as the main advantage of the PureShot driver is its immediate feedback regarding where on the face you made contact with the ball.

• When you miss toward the heel or the toe, that ball spins sideways. Not quite strike-the-edge-of-the-range-stall sideways, but definitely sideways.
• Hitting high or low on the face will also cause an exaggerated up or down ball flight.
• Hitting in the flat middle, low and behold, produces a straight flight.

I also noticed that the severity of the bended flight seemed to lessen as one approached the sweet spot. I found this encouraging as I continued hitting balls with it.  So did it help me hit the sweet spot with my driver? Why yes it did.

*Here is a five shot progression with my driver.

Maybe it was just due to the number of balls I had hit at that point, but I think that the improved grouping is more likely a direct result of the PureShot session. I think that the PureShot driver will help you hit the sweet spot on your driver, but you will still need to close the face for straight to happen. Being able to hit the middle of the face better did not come with associated straightness for me.

My main concern with the PureShot Driver is that the characteristics of the shaft are not consistent with my driver shaft. Perhaps this is a contributing factor to the straight issue.

Reliability Score: 16/20

Simplicity

Is the device easy to use and understand by the instructor and the learner?  This is a simple training tool with very simple instructions. Swing at about 80% of your normal driver swing and focus on making contact with the center of the club. If this does not happen, slow down your swing until this contact occurs. Once you can consistently make sweet spot contact, increase your swing speed. If the contact deteriorates, slow down.

It almost seems too simple to me, but I followed these instructions and was eventually able to make solid contact with the PureShot Driver. As you read in the previous section, the sweet spot contact did cross over to my driver. Again though, because of my issues with ball flight, I think that one may need some instruction from a pro to identify issues with your swing that the PureShot does not illuminate.

Just swinging the club to achieve pure contact, better tempo, and straighter shots was about two out of three for me. But I definitely hit the middle of the face more consistently after swinging it.

Simplicity Score: 15/20

Durability

If the teaching aid is used regularly, is it made well enough so that it won’t require early replacement?  The head is titanium. The shaft is, well, a graphite shaft. Seems like standard driver construction to me. It should survive multiple range sessions. I haven’t run it through a thousand balls, and nothing on purpose off the crown, but it seems solid to me. Perhaps the unique face will interact differently than a standard driver’s face. It’s still titanium face vs. plastic ball battle though. Unless internal construction is shoddy, I’ll take the titanium in that fight. Shaft it a bit of an unknown though.

Durability Score: 19/20

Cost Effectiveness

Are the product’s benefits worth the price?  The PureShot Driver’s face makes it unique in the training tool market. Reminds me of the Tour Striker in many ways. Maybe a Tour Striker crossed with an Orange Whip. Those tools address issues similar to the PureShot, but come in at about $100 each rather than $150. Both the Tour Striker and the Orange Whip have loyal followings that would say the $100 is money well spent. Perhaps with more extensive use, the same will be said about the PureShot Driver, but for now, the price seems a touch high.

The video at the beginning of this review says that you can hit your own driver 30 yards longer by hitting the sweet spot. Assuming, of course, you are not already doing so. I would probably pay $149.95 for 30 yards off the tee…

Cost Effectiveness Score: 16/20

Summary

Overall, I think that my research supports the hitting the sweet spot claims of the PureShot, but I don’t think that it is a fix all for every golfer. Spend some time with some impact tape and see where you are hitting the face of your driver. If you are all over the place, I would suggest you think about checking out the PureShot Driver. Perhaps that extra power is already inside of you.

Overall Score: 86/100