By Tony Bradley, Forbes

 

Holiday Gift Guide: 4 Gadgets For Athletes

 

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday are behind us, so I guess the 2013 holiday shopping season is in full gear. If you made it through the opening weekend with any money left, and you’re still in search of great gift ideas, here are four gadgets or devices to consider buying for your more active or athletic friends or family.

SensoGlove

Golf is a very popular sport. It is an exercise in sadomasochism that can be quite fun and relaxing if you do it right. That’s where the SensoGlove may be able to help.

Many amateur golfers have a natural tendency to want to swing a golf club like it’s a vertical baseball bat—gripping the club as if they’re trying to choke the life out of it and swinging with maximum force as if they’re trying to ring the bell at one of those carnival games. The reality is that proper form yields significantly better results than brute force.

You want to hold the club firmly enough to maintain control and not have it fly out of your hands and go farther down the fairway than your golfball. But, you also want a grip that is not too tense. You have to find a balance between gripping the club lightly, but tightly enough at the same time.

The SensoGlove is a soft cabretta leather golf glove with sensors in the fingertips and a small computer that clips to the glove on the back of your hand. The sensors detect how firmly you’re gripping the club, and the computer provides both visual and audible feedback to let you know if you’re gripping the club too tightly.

The computer operates on CR1620 watch style batteries which you can easily replace. If you wear the actual glove out, you can purchase a replacement glove from SensoGlove, and just snap the computer module onto it. The SensoGlove costs $89 on the website, and replacement gloves without the computer cost $22.48. There is also a value pack that comes with both SensoGloves for both your right and left hands for only $132.94—a significant savings over buying each separately.

Golf-X-Cube

The next gift idea continues to golfing theme, but it’s less of a “gadget” than the other items on this list. The Golf-X-Cube is literally just a block of green plastic. There aren’t any computers or electronics involved at all.

The concept behind the Golf-X-Cube is ingenious in its simplicity. The Golf-X-Cube is dark green on the very top, while the rest of it is a lighter yellow-green. To use it, you simply place it on the ground in front of you while you are practicing.

Just as with the golf grip, the goal of the golf swing is to execute proper form, not swing with every muscle and beat the ball as hard as you can. It’s important to rotate your torso, and shift your weight properly for the correct golf swing, and the Golf-X-Cube helps you achieve that motion.

When you’re in the proper position over the Golf-X-Cube, all you can see is the dark green top. The goal is to maintain that position throughout the swing motion. If you sway back or forward during the swing rather than rotating properly, the lighter green plastic will become visible.

The Golf-X-Cube is small enough to toss in your bag and take with you to the driving range, or try it out on a golf course if you like. It costs $33.95 and comes with a DVD that walks you through proper swing technique and how to use the Golf-X-Cube effectively.

 

The contents of all photos, graphics, and text are protected by copyright
and may not be used or reproduced without prior express written authorization from the publisher.