RoboCup Ball Return Robot Review

For those who love to practice their putting but loathe the drudgery of bending over to retrieve their golf balls, the new RoboCup putting aid aims to make their day.

The RoboCup “ball return robot” fits into any practice green cup or standard-sized cup.

When you sink your putt, the RoboCup lifts the ball and shoots it right back to you—saving you effort and, potentially, back pain.

Does the RoboCup ($49.95) earn its price tag and live up to its promise of comfort and convenience? Following is PutterZone.com’s RoboCup ball return robot review.

The Storyline

The RoboCup was invented by Keith Foley, founder of Fine Tune Golf. The idea for the RoboCup came to Foley while he was watching the Golf Channel's "Fore Inventors Only."

Something about one of the inventions on the show triggered Foley's own light bulb moment. Says Foley: "I realized how convenient it would be to have your practice balls come back to you. It took me awhile to get over the fact that no one had discovered this yet."

After considerable research and development, Foley unveiled his invention at the 2009 PGA Merchandise Show, where the RoboCup won the title of “Best New Product.”

The RoboCup is the diameter of a standard cup. It fits snugly into a practice green cup, and can also be bused on a deeper regulation cup by inserting three golf balls into the hole for elevation and setting the RoboCup on top of them. When the ball falls into the hole and onto the RoboCup, it settles onto little button, which triggers a lever that catapults the ball back to you.

The RoboCup will return the ball up to 14 feet, depending on green speed. According to Foley, the RobCup has been tested to deliver more than 175,000 putt returns. The required four AA batteries (not included) deliver 12,000 returns. Foley says that the RoboCup has earned numerous fans on the professional circuits, including Arnold Palmer.

The RoboCup comes with an optional "Caddy Cord," a soft yet weighty cord which can be placed around the hole to funnel missed putts into the RoboCup. The cord costs $14.95, or can be included in a RoboCup bundle for $59.95.

The View from PutterZone.com

I think I’m in love. Robocup, where have you been all my life?

As you can imagine, I spend a lot of time on the practice putting green, which means I spend hours upon hours chasing balls and bending over to retrieve them from the cup. As I get older, however, I get a bit creakier, so I am always happy to find something that can lighten the load on my lower back, not to mention save me some time.

Enter the RoboCup. You putt the ball and—bam!—it shoots it right back to you, just as advertised. What else can I say? It works like a charm: less time retrieving balls, less load on your lower back.

The RoboCup is remarkably easy to use. The design features two notches that enable you to grip the RoboCup with your thumb and forefinger and gently lower it into the hole, at which point you are ready to roll. You can easily change the angle of the ball return—and thus the angle of your incoming putt—by simply twisting the Robocup while it’s still in the hole.

The RoboCup is especially convenient when you are working on your stroke consistency, as it enables you to get into a rhythm while striking the same putt over and over.

Putts that fall short of the hole are all the more maddening when using the RoboCup, because you miss the reward of the ball being returned to you. Since coming up short of the hole is the cardinal sin in most putting situations, the RoboCup reinforces proper distance control by making you retrieve those balls that fail to reach the hole. If you weren’t sufficiently bothered by coming up short before, you will be now.

The velocity of the ball return is just right. It’s fast enough to cover a considerable distance, but it’s not so fast that you can’t stop the ball with your putter head at short distances.

The Robocup comes with a form-fitting zippered case, which fits easily into the pocket of a standard golf bag along with the optional Caddy Cord. The Caddy Cord very helpful in redirecting missed putts into the RoboCup and is pretty much essential if you want to enjoy the full convenience of the RoboCup.

The Bottom Line

The RoboCup is a brilliant invention and a worthy investment for anyone who spends a lot of time on the practice green. In addition to making putting practice more convenient and comfortable, the RoboCup fosters proper distance control and enables to golfer to get into a rewarding rhythm for improved performance.

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Putter Jargon Workshop: Feel

Putter feel is a lot of things, and it means different things to different people. As Stan Utley writes in The Art of Putting, “(Feel is) one of those things that’s really hard to describe, but you know it when you ‘feel’ it.”

Feel is ultimately a combination of audio and tactile feedback—the merging of sound and touch into a single impression.

Sound
It’s easy to overlook the role of sound as a component of feel. As reported in Golf Digest, Phil Mickelson recently swapped out the insert in his Odyssey putter for the sake of audio feedback. He had switched to a softer ball, which he said wasn’t making enough sound at impact. He said: “I switched back to a harder insert to get back that sound I like…It’s impossible to overstate how important sound is to your feel on the green.”

Touch
Like sound, your tactile preferences are also very personal. Some golfers like a really soft or springy putter, others prefer a clicky or firm sensation upon impact. What you want to look for in touch is a sensation that feels rewarding to you when you hit the sweet spot. Does it hit just the right “note” in your hands?

Ultimately, there is no right feel in general, just a right feel for you. The important thing is to not get so dazzled by a putter’s looks or marketing hype that you overlook the importance of feel when purchasing a putter.

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The Fringe: Sumi-G Head Cover Review

The common head cover almost seems intentionally designed to infuriate.

Like a python trying to swallow a pig, you must first yank the sock over the head of your 460cc driver, pulling and tugging until it finally jerks into place. If you’re lucky, it goes on straight. If not, more tugging and aggravation ensue as you curse under your breath.

But now you have a more enlightened alternative, one that won’t force you to swallow a pig or wash your mouth out with soap: the inventive head cover by a new company called Sumi-G.

Under The Hood

The name Sumi-G is a play on the Asian art form of black ink painting, which emphasizes clean, elegant lines and focused serenity. According to the company, “Sumi-G translates the spirit of the Sumi-E art form as inspiration for stylish and smart golf products…Our philosophy is uncomplicated: create simple, useful, and elegant products for the avid golfer.” The head cover features a mechanical closure that embraces the head and snaps onto the shaft.

-Unique mechanical closure

-Rigid exoskeleton protects both club and shaft

-Easy to pick up from ground with club

-Convenient one-handed operation

-$28, $32 or $38 suggested retail price (per hybrid, fairway wood and driver models)

Why It Rocks

The Sumi-G is like the iPod of head covers, a triumph of form as well as function. It literally reinvents the head cover category with admirable inventiveness and artful execution.

Let’s start with function. Hard shell shaft protection—check. Hard shell head protection—check. Ease of use—double check. You can literally snap this thing onto your driver in one second flat. No joke.

If you’re so inclined, you can even leave the cover on the ground, hit your shot, and then slip it back on by simply reinserting the club head mid-stride as you walk back toward your bag.

The active ingredient is a little swivel pocket that hugs the club head. When you remove the club, the pocket swivels upward for easy extraction. When you slip the club back into the pocket, it swivels back down to nestle the head within the outer hard shell.

The Sumi-G head cover is an aesthetic achievement as well, offering clean lines, crisp logo embroidery and a stylish metal Sumi-G emblem that adds just the right amount of flash to the presentation.

The Final Word

Wow! Sumi-G sets the new standard in hard-shell head covers, combining ingenious construction with remarkable ease of use.

About The Fringe

The Fringe is where PutterZone.com roams "beyond the green" in search of golf's hottest new gear. This bi-weekly series is reserved for products that truly earn the spotlight by demonstrating superior quality and ingenuity.

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New Bettinardi Putters Aim for Next Level

The stunning news yesterday of the mutual parting of Mizuno Golf and putter designer Robert Bettinardi is no cause for mourning, as PutterZone.com has learned that Bettinardi is already teeing up a new line of putters for release on November 15.

The new line is the Bettinardi BB Series, which will feature five models at a retail price of $275 (BB8 model pictured here). The BB Series will feature two earlier BB designs, as well as three new creations. Two of the models will be available in left-handed versions.

PutterZone.com spoke with Bettinardi today to get the inside scoop on the Mizuno decision, and to inquire about what to expect next from Bettinardi Golf.

As you may recall, Bettinardi and Mizuno teamed up to create three series of putters in recent years: the A Series, the C Series and the Black Carbon Series. The Black Carbon putters have been particularly successful and have earned high marks from PutterZone.com.

Bettinardi reiterated that his parting from Mizuno was entirely mutual. He has a four-year contract with Mizuno that ends in 2009, and he and Mizuno simply decided to go their separate ways instead of renewing the contract.

“It was a great relationship,” Bettinardi said. “I have nothing but respect and admiration for the people at Mizuno. For me, it was a matter of wanting to take my company to the next level, to have more independence in terms of design as well as sales and marketing. I have a lot of dreams. I’m 48 years old. I don’t want to be 68 years old and wonder why I didn’t pursue them.”

In addition to the BB Series, Bettinardi will also re-introduce his famed Studio B Series putters for $375. The BB Series putters will be available at pro shops and via club fitters. The Studio B Series will be available on the Bettinardi Golf web site, which will soon be undergoing a substantial makeover, Bettinardi said.

Don’t expect Mizuno to ride off into the putter sunset, either. With its T.P. Mills-designed putters and later with its Bettinardi-designed putters, Mizuno has released some of golf’s most compelling broad-market putters over the past decade. Mizuno has proven to be very deliberate in its putter releases, with a clear focus on quality over quantity, and it will be interesting to see where they go from here.

As for Bettinardi, he says he’ll miss working with his friends at Mizuno, but that he’s also pumped up about the future of Bettinardi Golf.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s a total restart,” he said.

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Drill Bits: Let Go to Putt Better

To get a grip on your putting stroke, sometimes you just need to let go. Such is the message behind the following putting drill shared by Pat O'Brien.

Pat is a familiar face here at PutterZone.com as well as on the PGA Tour, where he is the putting instructor to Masters champion Zach Johnson, as well as several other pros. He is also a consultant to the SeeMore Putter Company.

According to Pat, "putting is all set-up based." In other words, if you take the right grip, and you address the ball correctly, the stroke will take care of itself. Pat's blog features tips on each of these fronts.

But once you are in your proper setup, with the right grip, what should the stroke feel like? In the following drill shared exclusively with PutterZone.com, Pat reveals one of his simple methods for teaching stroke feel and distance control:

"One of my favorite things for students is to have them grip the putter in the fingers of both hands. Keep the heel or back pads of hands connected to the grip, but take the thumbs off. Relax the hands and let the weight of the putter swing. Now stroke some 20 to 30 footers and see how close you can get to the hole. This is a good way to develop a sense of what a pendulum stroke feels like. I believe you have to give up control of the putter by removing tension to actually gain control of your speed. Remember, it is a weight on a stick and it will accelerate through gravity and not force when you allow it to swing."

Thank you, Pat! For more information, ready PutterZone.com's interview with Pat O'Brien.

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