I'm a little late getting day two in - ended up spending half the day in bed with a poorly timed cold.  Always a fun thing to have on a trip to Florida.  At any rate, I did come across a few goodies to be on the lookout for, and a few to test your ability to keep a straight face.

On the good side, let's start with The Orange Whip Trainer.  This is a weighted training device that teaches tempo, timing, and release.  I've always had a fondness for aids with whippy shafts.  If you can time one of those, you will build a lot of smoothness into your swing.  The Orange Whip has a counterweight at the handle end that forces a nice release coming through the hitting area.   This won't be out until April sometime, but keep www.orangewhiptrainer.com in mind.

Since most of the country is either under a snow drift, or in some just plain old nasty winter weather, here's a toy that will hook up to PlayStation, PC, or Mac, is small enough to fit in just about any area where you can swing a 7 or 8 iron, and lets you make a real golf swing.  EA Sports has partnered with Electricspin.com for the Golf Launchpad.  This simulator hooks into your system through a hitting mat with sensors on the mat and in the ball.  The sensors pick up contact, direction, and a bit of the spin put on the ball.  You choose the club with a remote, and you can play a number of courses in the EA Sports Tiger Woods golf game.  VERY cool.  

Another fun little toy for indoor play is the Sfear golf ball.  This is a golf ball sized version of the rubber tenticled relaxation ball you find in stores all over the place.  The Sfear is soft enough to whack around indoors and not break windows or fragile decorations, and it actually reacts similar to a golf ball with spin off of the clubface.

How about a couple of toys that probably won't make the cut in the long run, in my opinion at least.

In the electronics area, the At Your Feet training aid actually sounded like a decent idea at first glance...until I saw it in action.  This little jewel straps around the toe area of one of your shoes, and the LCD screen attached with a magnet.  The idea is that you connect it to your computer and type in up to 18 swing thoughts or instructions, then take the device to the range to help remind you of what you are supposed to be working on.  The thoughts or instructions have to be kept to a small handful of words, otherwise you won't be able to see the type at your feet.  To change from one thought to the next, all you do is tap your foot to move forward through your set of thoughts.  In this age of multiple gigabyte storage, limiting the storage to 18 commands seems too limited, and there were no real plans to expand the unit to play video of your swing or instruction or anything visual other than words.

Another goodie for the range is The Ground.  This is a chopped off golf shaft with a plastic ball on top, a plastic spike at the bottom to set into the ground, and a swing out arm that to rest up to six golf clubs at the range or maybe out on the fairway.  Maybe not a terrible idea for someone who has to have every golf toy in the world - but at $30, I'll just use my bag or the bag stand on the range, or a tee in the fairway to keep my grips dry.

Here's one that I can't really figure out if it is on the good or bad list.  The Gyro Swing is a driver looking gizmo with a battery driven gyroscope in the head.  Gyroscopes can be very good training tools because they provide resistance when turned in a way they don't want to go, add stability when moved along a specific line, and can turn quickly along a circular path - which can be a good thing in golf if you need to teach someone to rotate the clubhead over through impact.  However, the Gyro Swing only spins at one speed, and that speed can overpower hands, wrists, and even forearms - forcing the club snap over and even spin around in your hands.  Once again, this can be a good or bad thing.  Golfers need strong hands to control the club at higher swing speeds, so the Gyro Swing can help build those muscles.  Then again, having your hands and wrists jerked around by the gyroscope can hurt a bit if done wrong.  A teaching pro friend down here liked it and could probably use it to help a student, but I don't think I would want someone feeling the clubhead snapping over as much as this training aid forces when not on the correct path.

Ok - I feel a sneezing fit coming on - and it's time to head back down to the floor for some more exploring.  More tonight.