Using a Weighted Donut Between Shots

[Papa Steve 55 121]

This weekend we had a very slow round. One of the guys in my group has back issues and was putting a swing donut on his driver to try and stay loose while waiting on the tee. Another in the group said it was a rules violation. I looked on my phone but the closest thing I found was he could not take a shot with any kind of training aid, but nothing mentioned using them during down time in a round. Did I miss something or was it ok?

[iacas 9,470]

If he made swings with them, and didn't use the donut for general stretching, I believe it's a breach of 4.3:

Quote

(6) Stretching Devices and Training or Swing Aids.

• Allowed.

  • Using any equipment for general stretching (other than in making a practice swing), whether the equipment is designed for stretching, for use in golf (such as an alignment rod placed across the shoulders) or for any purpose unrelated to golf (such as rubber tubing or a section of pipe).

• Not Allowed.

  • Using any type of golf training or swing aid (such as an alignment rod or a weighted headcover or “donut”) or a non-conforming club to make a practice swing or in any other way that creates a potential advantage by helping the player in preparing for or making a stroke (such as help with swing plane, grip, alignment, ball position or posture).

[Whiner 1]

Swinging a club with its headcover on is perfectly legal.  There are some with zippers which stay on!  I've asked USGA.  

[Mr22putt 88]

I was at this event in Portland in 2010.....Juli Inkster was DQ'd for putting on a weighted donut for practice swings to keep limber after a long wait on a tee block....as a LPGA veteran, she should have known better.

But the big story that week was Dina Ammacapane shaming a small kid who sign up to loop and was assigned Dina by the caddie master.

https://www.eastoregonian.com/sports/inkster-dq-d-miyazato-leads-safeway-classic/article_c2e79d22-8251-5904-b5cf-15670b0c6c4d.html

https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/2010/08/canzano_lpga_golfers_short_fus.html

 

 

[Papa Steve 55 121]

So he was using it to aleve back stiffness, which in turn helped his swing. But he also used it with his driver on par threes, where he was hitting a short iron. The rule seems to punitive. For us with this guy, if it came down to he can't play w/o doing this, we would rather have him play. 

Thanks for the replies.

[Vinsk 1,779]

58 minutes ago, Mr22putt said:

I was at this event in Portland in 2010.....Juli Inkster was DQ'd for putting on a weighted donut for practice swings to keep limber after a long wait on a tee block....as a LPGA veteran, she should have known better.

But the big story that week was Dina Ammacapane shaming a small kid who sign up to loop and was assigned Dina by the caddie master.

https://www.eastoregonian.com/sports/inkster-dq-d-miyazato-leads-safeway-classic/article_c2e79d22-8251-5904-b5cf-15670b0c6c4d.html

https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/2010/08/canzano_lpga_golfers_short_fus.html

 

 

If that’s how she really handled it she’s an ass. ‘ Hey little buddy...you sure you can carry this bag?’ Quietly to him. That simple. I hope she shot a solid 80.

[iacas 9,470]

59 minutes ago, Papa Steve 55 said:

The rule seems to punitive. For us with this guy, if it came down to he can't play w/o doing this, we would rather have him play.

Hard disagree.

He can stretch his back out a number of legal ways.

[Vinsk 1,779]

13 minutes ago, iacas said:

Hard disagree.

He can stretch his back out a number of legal ways.

Totally agree. 

[Carl3 91]

What about these dingbats who carry the Orange Whip in their bag? Fortunately I have never had to play with one of these guys, but I occasionally see them on the first tee swinging away. Not sure if they are swinging it throughout their round or not. Seems like an adult security blanket or pacifier.

[Rulesman 276]

18 hours ago, Papa Steve 55 said:

This weekend we had a very slow round. One of the guys in my group has back issues and was putting a swing donut on his driver to try and stay loose while waiting on the tee. Another in the group said it was a rules violation. I looked on my phone but the closest thing I found was he could not take a shot with any kind of training aid, but nothing mentioned using them during down time in a round. Did I miss something or was it ok?

Not Allowed.

• Using any type of golf training or swing aid (such as an alignment rod or a weighted headcover or “donut”) or a non-conforming club to make a practice swing or in any other way that creates a potential advantage by helping the player in preparing for or making a stroke (such as help with swing plane, grip, alignment, ball position or posture).

[DaveP043 2,281]

18 hours ago, Papa Steve 55 said:

So he was using it to aleve back stiffness, which in turn helped his swing. But he also used it with his driver on par threes, where he was hitting a short iron. The rule seems to punitive. For us with this guy, if it came down to he can't play w/o doing this, we would rather have him play. 

Thanks for the replies.

If he needs to keep loose, he could swing two golf clubs for the added weight, and do so within the rules.

[ncates00 227]

19 hours ago, Papa Steve 55 said:

So he was using it to aleve back stiffness

Lots of ways to do this legally.

 

19 hours ago, Papa Steve 55 said:

which in turn helped his swing.

Exactly, which is why the rule is in place.

[CarlSpackler 621]

[fredf 36]

18 hours ago, Carl3 said:

What about these dingbats who carry the Orange Whip in their bag? Fortunately I have never had to play with one of these guys, but I occasionally see them on the first tee swinging away. Not sure if they are swinging it throughout their round or not. Seems like an adult security blanket or pacifier.

On the practice fairway or first tee is fine..... but once the round commences it's a penalty - see the first sentence of Rule 4.3.

[ChetlovesMer 553]

22 hours ago, Whiner said:

Swinging a club with its headcover on is perfectly legal.  There are some with zippers which stay on!  I've asked USGA.  

 

19 hours ago, iacas said:

He can stretch his back out a number of legal ways.

I remember a guy I used to play with occasionally back in the 90's who had a heavy headcover. The head cover looked completely normal, but if you picked it up you realized that it weighed way more than a normal head cover. His had a Velcro closure so it stayed on very well. He would swing it really hard and I never saw it fly off. I'm guessing that he had turned it inside out and sewn a bag of lead shot into the top of the cover, but not really sure. He used it for exactly the purpose of keeping his back loose. At the time he said it was legal and none of us ever really gave it much thought. Looking back it seems kind of shady now. 

[DrvFrShow 329]

On 9/28/2020 at 4:39 AM, DaveP043 said:

If he needs to keep loose, he could swing two golf clubs for the added weight, and do so within the rules.

Or if he has one iron that he never uses (like a 3 iron for example) he can put a lot of lead tape on it to make it extra heavy because grabbing two clubs can be awkward.