It is helpful, obviously, for the golfer to know how far he hits each club in his bag. For those who don't know or aren't sure and want to find out, Ernest Sports has introduced the ES12 Digital Golf Assistant.

It employs Doppler radar to measure ball speed, then based on what club you're hitting calculates the distance that then is relayed via Bluetooth instantly to a smart phone or audibly to a hands-free device. The mobile app will log practice sessions (up to 2,000 shots, in fact) for later analysis.

The question, of course, is accuracy, given that it does not consider ball spin, angle of attack or the variations in loft that might occur between equipment manufacturers' respective irons. "It's proven pretty accurate," said Will Moore, the engineer who designed the device. "There are shots like a thin shot or a 30-yard slice that would be off, but it's pretty accurate on better strikes."

The company provides a spreadsheet comparing distances recorded by the ES12, a laser rangefinder, and a launch monitor.

The app comes with a few other features, including a digital scorecard and stat keeper. It also is capable of showing frame-by-frame video of your swing taken by a smart phone for the purpose of swing analysis.

The ES12 retails for $249.

-- John Strege

Go to any PGA Tour or LPGA event and you'll see players who aren't being paid to do so using a variety of putting aids on the practice green. Their unofficial seal of approval is one way to cut through the clutter in the training aid category.

Among those that has been in use at tour events, including the Masters, in recent months is the Straight Trax, a new introduction from MVP Sports, a company whose core business has been alignment rods.

The Straight Trax was developed by Dwight Hansen of MVP Sport, who saw a rudimentary device in use at the PGA Tour's Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic a few years ago. "A couple of the players had a contraption with an alignment rod and acrylic pieces," Hansen said. Hansen decided to devise one that was better and more versatile and to market it.

The principal benefit of the Straight Trax is to help promote a straight back, straight through putting stroke. Another is stroke height, an area on which instructors are focusing more, Hansen said. "If you take it back inside you're going to hit a rail. If you lift the putter you're going to hit a rail. The way we designed it was to make it intuitive, where you're getting physical feedback."

Its simplicity and affordability ($30) make it an attractive product for anybody, from the tour player to the recreational player. "It's fun to get a product in play with the best players in the world," Hansen said, "but we wanted to make something that really works for anybody. "

The product comes with five rods and two end pieces and breaks down to fit in a side pocket of a golf bag.

-- John Strege

The competitive rangefinder category continues to expand, making it increasingly more difficult for a company to differentiate itself.

GolfBuddy has done so with its latest offering, the GolfBuddy Voice, that with the push of a button audibly provides yardage to the middle of the green (or front or back). It might not be for everyone; the sound of a ringing cell phone is a nuisance on the golf course, so presumably -- for somet -- will be a talking rangefinder. But it does come with volume control.

It is a clever little device (it weighs an ounce and measures 1.7 inches wide). It is multilingual (eight languages), is pre-loaded with more than 35,000 courses internationally, and has automatic course and hole recognition. Its cost is $179.

And for those who would prefer a rangefinder that doesn't speak, GolfBuddy has six other GPS devices from which to choose, including the new full feature GolfBuddy Platinum.

-- John Strege

The number of tee vendors at the PGA Merchandise Show earlier this year -- by some counts more than 20 -- was astonishing, considering the traditional wood tees we've all used since we started playing seem perfectly suited for the task for which they were designed.

Yet companies are attempting to innovate, including the highly-regarded spike manufacturer, CHAMP/MacNeill Engineering Worldwide. The company put out a news release this week that the winner of the Wells Fargo Championship used its Zarma FLYTee -- in blaze orange.

The tees are made of biodegradable materials with a six-prong head and a shallow cup to reduce friction, theoretically allowing the ball to come off the tee faster. It makes sense, though to what degree it makes a difference is anyone's guess. Probably not as much as the subhead on the news release suggests: "Blaze Orange Model Propels Young Star to First PGA Tour Victory."

The young star, of course, is Rickie Fowler (hence the blaze orange), though the company can't use his name, for that would imply an endorsement. That said, Fowler using without remuneration is better than a paid endorsement.

Even disregarding the performance benefits, an environmentally-friendlier tee is a good thing, no? The Zarma tees feature "a bio-agent additive...[that] enables microorganisms to metabolize the plastic into humus, an organic matter which benefits the environment," the company claims. The tees are said to be considerably more durable than wood tees, which results in fewer broken tees littering tee boxes. Also a good thing.

CHAMP, incidentally, has recently introduced the MyHite FLYTee that feature colored bands on them to help the user consistently tee the ball at the same height. That makes sense, too.

-- John Strege

A growing category in rangefinders is the GPS device resembling a wristwatch. The latest to join the fray is Bushnell, a leading player in the rangefinder market, both GPS and laser (and even a hybrid). Bushnell has introduced the Neo+ Golf GPS Watch.

It comes pre-loaded with 25,000 courses and provides yardages to the front, center and back of greens. It automatically recognizes the course and the hole on which the consumer is playing. It includes a watch and an odometer and has a battery life in GPS mode of more than 14 hours.

The price is $200.

Garmin and Expresso Satellite Navigation also have introduced GPS devices worn on the wrist.

-- John Strege

There are probably thousands of training aids available, some of them even useful. One such device might be the CentreCup, a contraption designed to build muscle memory into your stroke.

It came to our attention through Don Hurter, the head pro at Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Rock, Colo. Hurter is a former U.S. Junior Amateur champion who has been ranked on Golf Digest's list of America's 50 Best Teachers.

"I found this at the PGA Merchandise Show [in January]," he said of the CentreCup. "It's a putting device that you get into and it shows you what your stroke is or should be. It doesn't need any supervision. Once you put it on and stroke it, it automatically puts you into the correct postiion.

"It looked intriguing. I've been in other machines that never felt quite right. This one takes your hands out of the stroke...and makes sure your shoulders are square."

Hurter ordered one and is shown above demonstrating it. CentreCup was developed by a European teaching pro, Ian Melville. He is a proponent of the straight-back, straight-through method of putting, and the CentreCup was designed to replicate that movement.
He advises using it 10 minutes a day to build muscle memory."

Incidentally, there is a CentreCup Pro available, that can be inclined to accommodate the inside-to-square-to-inside stroke that many tour players use.

The CentreCup is not cheap and no doubt not for everyone. It sells for about $1,100 and can be purchased here.

-- John Strege

Danish shoe manufacturer Ecco has taken its popular Golf Street Premier and applied it to the junior golf market with the introduction of the Golf Street Junior line of hybrid golf/street shoes.

The Golf Street Junior line, for boys and girls, comes in lime green, fanta orange, royal blue, purple or candy outsoles and feature the same ribbed traction elements on the soles that come on the Golf Street Premier line worn by Fred Couples, among others.

The Golf Street Junior sells for $100.

-- John Strege

Expresso Satellite Navigation has taken its GPS expertise and applied it to a rangefinder that provides yardages at your fingertips, or near them at least. It has introduced the WR62, a watch-like device worn on your wrist.

It isn't the first to do so. Garmin has its Approach S1. But the ESN WR62 advances the technology to include distances to hazards and bunkers in addition to yardages to the front, center and back of greens, and includes a function that will measure shot distance, too.

It comes pre-loaded with U.S. courses that the device automatically recognizes, and there is no fee beyond the purchase price of $179.99.

It is more than a rangefinder, however. It also has an odometer app to track running or walking distances, as well as a stopwatch, an alarm and a clock.

ESN is "the world's first maker of portable GPS Navigation devices created specifically for the 'active lifestyle' consumer,'" the company says.

-- John Strege

SKLZ calls itself "the premier developer and marketer of athletic performance and skill development training products for serious athletes of all ages." A cursory check of its website would make it tough to argue otherwise.

Among the sports to which it caters (beyond the obvious: football, basketball and baseball) are lacrosse, volleyball, and fast-pitch softball. There also is golf, a category that continues to grow.

SKLZ's latest golf offerings are the TrainerMat (shown above) and TrainerBall, each of which has golf-specific exercises printed on them.

The 24 exercises printed on the mat address core stability and torque. The 16 exercises printed on the stability ball are designed to optimize core strength and flexibility.

Each has a suggested retail price of $29.99. A hand pump is included in the cost of the stability ball.

-- John Strege

When the brands Apple and Microsoft are invoked, it tends to get one's attention, as it has in the case of GolfSense, a 3D swing analysis device that attaches to a golfer's glove and provides instant feedback to an iPhone or iPad.

GolfSense is the brainchild of Robin Han, who once worked on software and sensors for Microsoft Research Asia and has a PhD in aeronautics and astronautics from Bejing University. The device, which retails for $129.99, is now available at all Apple stores in the U.S. and Canada.

The information it provides includes clubhead speed, estimated carry distance, swing path, swing plane, tempo and even tips on how to fix what might be wrong with your swing.

"We've been working with a couple different professionals, one of them Brett Taylor in the Sacramento area," said Jason Fass, CEO of the company. "We view our role in this relationship as providing you with the data and high-level tips: 'We notice this, you should look at the following things.'"

The device weighs only 17 grams and attaches to the back of the golf glove. It is equipped with four motion sensors that relay information via a bluetooth connection to an iPhone or iPad that has the free app installed on it.

-- John Strege