SKLZ Refiner Pro Iron Review

How would you like to have a blue-print to a traditional swing that had no instructions other than to swing a club engineered to give you negative feedback when you are not swinging properly? It seems like an odd concept to mold a golf swing without hours upon hours of instruction and intricate instructions. SKLZ has produced an iron that can help you on your way to a consistent swing in its Refiner Pro training club. From SKLZ.com: Two-way, adjustable hinge 6-iron Golf swing flaws are immediately exposed by a break in the hinge Engineered to hit golf balls and teach a smooth, even-tempo golf swing Promotes better golf ball contact for straighter, longer iron shots Patented see-through grip graphics for ideal hand placement Includes adjustment key/divot tool Black anodized clubhead and dual-colored shaft that guides the proper swing plane Let’s get right to it. How does it look? I'm quite in love with the look of the Refiner. From the see-through grip that has an underlying pattern for the proper positions of your hands to the black finish on the head of the club. The Refiner was clearly built with the intention to leave no questions about grip or alignment. How does it perform? I have become rather ambivalent about the Refiner and what it can do for MY swing. There are some good and some (albeit subjective) bad points to the training club. The Refiner does indeed help you get a feel for timing and tempo while clearly identifying major issues that no golfer should have in their swing (overswinging, over the top, etc.). The adjustability of the hinge is essential in allowing many different levels of golfers the ability to use the Refiner with benefit. However, my biggest downside to the Refiner is that unless you tighten the hinge drastically (thus negating the benefit of the hinge in other parts of the swing), you are forced to open the club-face immediately in the takeaway. Now, I won't claim that this is a "bad practice" as there are so many swing methods that could use this type of takeaway. I will say that it is not beneficial to the swing styles that have a squared face upon takeaway. [video id="UTnxhfgpKl0" type="youtube"] Final Thoughts: I like a lot about the Refiner and I think you will too. The alignment and grip aids in the club provide a lot of great feedback to work on your setup. The functionality of the Refiner is really beneficial if you have a swing similar to what the club is favoring (very inside and open faced takaway) but it is not universal at all to other swing styles. My suggestion is to ask around your circle of golf buddies and see if anyone has one for you to try or even head to a major golf store and check one out before buying. You can find more info at SKLZ.com. The Refiner Pro Iron is priced at $69.99   As always, I'm Bruce McFarlane