Most golfers have seen videos about the Medicus driver, usually featuring Tour pros like Mark O'Meara, Camilo Villegas, or other golf celebrities, including Hank Haney, swing coach for Tiger Woods. I've always wondered if that crazy looking thing actually worked. The curiosity built to the point where I gave it a try.

The First Swings Cause Concern

The first sensation is that the club head is quite heavy. I didn't expect this and it felt funny, but since this is a practice-only club, what's the difference? I was a little afraid to take my first practice swing. I was sure the club would break somewhere during the swing, and since the thing is pretty heavy, I thought I might lose balance and fall over or something. And with that heavy driver head flopping around, I didn't want to accidentally hit myself. Much to my surprise, however, the club did not break when I swung it. With increased confidence I took a few more practice swings and then teed up a real golf ball. As any golfer knows, it is one thing to take a practice swing and another to address a ball and hit it. Again, the club did not break down and become unhinged, and the shot felt surprisingly good. I managed to hit about a dozen balls or so, and feeling pretty good about things, I picked out a few regular demo drivers and gave those a try. After swinging the Medicus driver, these clubs felt light and very easy to swing. The heaviness of the Medicus driver club head proved to be an asset.

The Medicus Driver is Designed to Break Down at Six Different Parts of the Swing

The first place the Medicus driver will break down is on the initial take-away. This may be the best lesson the Medicus driver will teach to a golfer. Instead of yanking the club back or immediately breaking your wrists, the Medicus forces you to take the club back slowly and with a good tempo. As one of the pros said in a Medicus video, "take it back low and slow". This is really excellent advice. If a golfer doesn't start his swing properly, the chances of him hitting a solid drive are pretty slim. The golfer also needs to take the golf club back with his arms and shoulders together in one piece. If this does not occur, the Medicus driver will break down.

Medicus Driver Break Points Two - Six

Break point number two for the Medicus is during the backswing when the club is about waist high. At this point the toe of the club should be pointing upwards, and if it is over too far to the front or to the rear, the club will become unhinged. Break point number three is at the top of the backswing, and here the club needs to be square. If the wrists are rolled over too much to the front or back, the Medicus driver will break. Break point four is at the beginning of the downswing. If the player snaps his wrists as if casting a fishing rod, the Medicus will detect the fault and break. Another common swing flaw here for high handicappers is moving the arms outward instead of keeping them in close to the body. A sudden movement of the arms to the rear will cause the Medicus trainer club to break. Break point five is at impact. The swing fault here is having too much body weight behind the ball. If a golfer is leaning too far back at impact he is unlikely to hit a very solid shot. Most likely he or she will have the driver face too far open or closed at impact resulting in poor shots that are hit weakly and off line. The last break point for the Medicus driver is during the follow-through. If the driver stays on plane, everything is fine. But if the follow-through is made as if the golfer were swinging a baseball bat, the Medicus will break down.

The Medicus Driver Training Club Can Make a Big Difference to Many Golfers

The Medicus driver is the largest selling golf training aid ever. Over one million units have been sold, and that pretty much says it all. Having a training device that gives immediate feedback is necessary if a player wants to improve. Most serious golfers go out and practice hitting balls for hours and never really make any improvement. That is because although they think they know what mistakes they are making, they really don't. And all those hours of practice really accomplish is to ingrain the mistakes they are making into their muscle memory, so the chances of making serious improvement, even with professional instruction, are lower and lower. The Medicus driver is worth a shot for golfers who are looking to hit longer and more consistent drives.

One last word about the Medicus driver training aid: the break sensitivity of the club is adjustable, so you can make it more sensitive and see where your swing might be marginal even if the club does not break down the first times you try it.