Running amateurgolf.com means my rounds of golf tend to come in bunches, and I think that's true for a lot of "working amateurs."

During the Two Man Links Championship at Bandon Dunes, or leading up to a major tournament or club championship I may compress a month's worth of golf into a week. But then it stops. If I'm feeling motivated I'll hit balls and practice my short game during the downtime, but I recently found myself in one of those two week lulls in which I hadn't done a single thing.

The good news - prior to the layoff I had been playing well at tough courses like Torrey Pines and was newly in possession of a SKLZ "Gold Flex" training and warm up device that I wanted to test. Here are some thoughts:

WARM-UP - DOUBLE DUTY

Before my round at Aviara Golf Club (one sweet golf course you should play in Carlsbad, by the way) I had time to warm up and before swinging any regular clubs or hitting balls I took out the Gold Flex. It's immediately apparent that to swing this long, heavy and extremely flexible device without hurting yourself or those around you, it's crucial to lead with the big muscles and "wait" for things to flow in the right sequence. I've swung flexible practice clubs before so this didn't surprise me. But getting loose in the process was an added bonus I hadn't counted on.

When I picked up a regular club and took a practice swing, it felt light as would be expected. I usually either lay the sod over my first practice ball or thin it, but this time I hit a smooth, flowing 8-iron, channeling my inner Ernie Els.

ON COURSE - MUSCLE MEMORY IS THE BEST KIND

I took some more swings with the Gold Flex, went through the longer clubs, then headed for the first tee where I hit a nice draw into the fairway. The Gold Flex is tough to swing properly with an arm swing or by "picking up" the club, so it naturally promotes a draw.

Besides hitting the first few fairways, I found that every once in a while later in the round I would subconsciously "visualize" swinging the Gold Flex. The end result is subjective, if I had to put a finger on it I would say that I could feel the clubhead throughout the swing a little better because of this, and I would guess my backswing was slower. (Trust me, that's a good thing for me.)

SUMMARY

The SKLZ Gold Flex combines a warm-up and even a workout level training club with a product that naturally promotes several important components of the golf swing -- most importantly the proper swing plane and sequence. It's legal to carry a Gold Flex in your bag, and at 48" it will fit in most golf travel bags.

At just $69.99, you can purchase the Gold Flex for a fraction of competitive products. Find out more and watch a short video on the SKLZ website by clicking here>