Sonic Golf System-1 Solo Edition Review

Sonic Golf System-1 Review

A few months back I was contacted by the people that run Sonic Golf, it seems I had a video of Vijay Singh using their product and I had some incorrect information on the video I had posted on YouTube. Check out the video now.

Vijay Singh Sonic Golf System-1 Used For VJ's Sweet Swing



Of course I corrected my inaccuracies for the video but it also got me thinking as a high handicap golfer could a training device such as this help me out with my tempo. I'd never reviewed or used a training aid before and thought why not? So they were nice enough to send over a unit across the border here to Canada for me to test out. Here's my findings.

The Sonic Golf System-1 was developed by Dr. Robert Grober who's not only a Yale Physicist but a golf enthusiast to boot. Basically he developed a learning device for golf that uses cutting edge technology to convert your swing motion into sound. Slow swings are low pitch, quiet tones. Swing faster and the pitch and volume gets higher. With each swing you hear your rhythm and tempo, backswing/downswing transition, and the timing and speed of your club head release.



The unit came in a great compact hard case easily carried to the range or to your backyard. Any clubs that you plan on using with the System-1 have to be fitted with Sonic Golf's custom Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips. So a bit of re-gripping experience is needed. Even for me with my rookie re-gripping skills, I had no problem with the grips (I re-gripped my 4, 7 and wedge). Once you put on the grips just take off the removable end cap and insert the Sonic Golf shaft insert into the club just make sure it fits level or your Sonic Golf won't work properly. Turn on the transmitter and set the transmission channel (10 total channels) make sure your receiver and transmitter are set to the same channels. Your now set to begin listening to your golf swing, through the included headphones.

When you begin using the System-1 you’ll notice how the tone varies, depending how fast or slow you are moving the club. You’ll hear a high pitch when you move the club very quickly and a low pitch tone for a slower moving club.


In case your wondering the Sonic Golf System-1 shaft insert is very light and strategically placed that it is not noticeable during practice. The shaft insert weighs only a little bit more than a single AA battery and that weight is located under and behind the hands.



So if the Sonic Golf system could help out Charles Barkley with his God awful swing then why not me, right?

For the most part I used the Sonic Golf System-1 in my backyard because lately free time is at a premium with 3 kids. So in the evening I'd break out the unit and give it a go for 20 minutes or so. It was really cool to hear what your swing sounds like I know my swing will never be like Tigers or any Tour professional but this unit really helped me especially before a round in one getting loose and the other just concentrating on a nice even sounding swing. Sometimes I might have a week between rounds of golf, the Sonic Golf System-1 really helped me be a little more consistent.

Because I tend to take the club back only about half, three quarters of the way back in my swing my audio feedback was of course interesting for me to hear. So I just tried to concentrate on having a nice even sound from backswing to downswing with the higher or highest pitch at what would be the impact zone for the swing. Some days were good at getting a good sounding tempo other days took a little more work.

That's the beauty of Sonic Golf instant feedback whether your takeway is to fast or your downswing is to slow you'll hear it with Sonic Golf. When your at the range or in your backyard you're able to tell if your transition is to quick (higher pitch) common for most of us who are high handicappers. Sonic Golf really got you to focus on tempo and trying to have a more fluid sounding swing. Now I think it would be interesting to hear a professionals swing.

Getting this audio feedback of timing, rhythm, and tempo of your golf swing I think would be a great bonus in working in tandem with a certified instructor. The only draw back I could see is the Sonic Golf System-1 Solo Edition Retails for $399 so I guess if your swing is real terrible and you can't hit your driver, just sell your driver and buy the Sonic Golf unit it will help you in the long run. You can always go buy another driver down the road when you get the swing firing on all cylinders.


Sonic Golf System-1 Solo Edition Retails for $399; Pro-Edition is $499 (includes 1 extra receiver (RX-1), 1 extra set of Sony headphones, and 6 custom Golf Pride grips)

Check out Sonic Golf for more details on these systems.