INDOOR SWING TRAINER Peter Olsen in Australia has posted some YouTube videos (7nyurl.com/ croquetswingtrainer) using an inexpensive laser level as the basis for a simple swing trainer for use, primarily indoors, at home or at your club. By Andy Dibben allows you to observe the straightness of the full swing. A polycarbonate (unbreakable plas7c) mirror is
recommended over a tradi7onal glass one if you are going to hit balls whilst prac7sing your swing! The low power of the laser means that it is not useable outside in bright sunlight – but in the evening or on a dull day the laser line should be reasonably visible. A more elaborate set‐up (see fig. 4) can be constructed for use as a coaching aid in your clubhouse (or prac7ce at home if you have the space and permission to do so!). In this case the laser is mounted on a pole on top of a bridge (about 15cm high) that allows a ball to pass underneath. It is placed on a strip of ar7ficial grass (carpet is an alterna7ve) to protect the floor and has a cushioned backstop to protect the wall and to stop the ball ricoche7ng around the room. Ar7ficial grass tends to come in 2m & 4m widths – A 1m offcut from a 4m wide roll gives a usable 4m by 1m strip. Get the shortest pile possible – mine is only 6mm. In my set‐up, the pole is just a strip of wood with a steel mending plate screwed on at the top which the laser’s magne7c mount a8aches to. Three pieces of tape on the mat (see fig. 5) mark the target ball, and if any part of the ball passes over the central red strip when standing at the other end of the 4m strip then it should contact a ball 8‐9m away – not bad if you can do it consistently!
fig. 1
The laser level is a small ba8ery powered device that projects a horizontal and/or ver7cal laser line used by DIY’ers to accurately align shelves, hang wallpaper etc. (see fig. 1) They are readily available online from around £25. They can have red or green laser light but green seems to be accepted as providing a clearer/ brighter line. Ensure you get one that is self‐levelling to guarantee a true ver7cal line. It is also worth spending a bit extra for the flexibility of having one that has: rechargeable ba8eries, a tripod mount, a magne7c clamp a8achment and where the horizontal line (which is not needed) can be switched off. One that has all of these features is made by Funguard – about £30 from Amazon. In its simplest form, all you need to do is to place it on a flat level surface, about table height (70‐80cm off the ground) and put a piece of tape over part of the laser window to cut off the laser light at mallet height when you are standing about 2 metres away ‐ i.e. at a distance where you will not hit it at full swing and the laser does not shine in your eyes (see fig. 2). You will see that the laser light shines along the mallet’s sight line and all the way up the sha'. As you look down to where the ball would be and swing the mallet you can check whether you are holding your mallet truly ver7cally and whether the mallet is twis7ng as you swing. Looking down at the ball posi7on as you swing (which you should be when you actually hit the ball) prevents you from seeing how much your mallet may be moving out of line during the full extent of the swing. Pu9ng a mirror in front of the laser (see fig. 3)
fig. 2
fig. 3
fig. 4
fig. 5
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