Something to do while we wait for the snow to melt

[billinga]

While I can afford to get a setup like I see some of the people on this forum have done, getting the CFO (wife) approval for more golf stuff is hard to do. My solution? Tiger Woods 2011 and a chicken stick (from badchicken.com). Now I do not work for either company, but here are my thoughts...

With the chicken stick and TW set to tour swing expert mode this game is hard. I was a 36 handicap when I bought this game and for the first 5 rounds or so I could not break 100. It took me 25 rounds to break an 80 and I have never broken par (though I did shoot par once). Want to make it even more realistic? Create a golfer and make his stats similar to yours. If you only hit a driver 200-220 like me then keep the lowest power levels.

The chicken stick uses golf pride grips and a steel shaft. When you put the remote in it the weight is close to swinging a real club. You get feedback on how square the club is at impact and whether you swing inside/out or outside/in. Is it perfect? No. Is it better than looking at the window waiting for the snow to melt? Certainly.

My buddies and I have played with this game for some time and we put a golf ball on the ground and aim at that ball like we normally would on the course. One of the problems I had on the actual course was keeping my head still and staying down on the ball. When I am not on the course I am working on that at home on the Wii.

Since I started my index has dropped almost 10 points. Is it the Wii/Chickenstick combo? Nah. But I do know that I have had to take a month off of real golf due to  weather and work and I played inside my house with this combo exclusively and then I went out on a relatively cool day (45 degrees) and shot my lowest round ever, a 93.

If you have a Wii it costs a total of $85 for the game and the device. I know that us golf addicts spend more than that on tons of golf related things. Give it a shot, you may like it.

[bkoguy07]

I might have to steal my parents wii..

[billinga]

Originally Posted by bkoguy07

I might have to steal my parents wii..

While I would never recommend stealing (unless it is in baseball or poker) you will have fun with it.

[dougstein]

what's a chicken stick????

[bkoguy07]

google is your friend

[billinga]

Originally Posted by dougstein

what's a chicken stick????

I was worried you guys thought I was a spammer, which I am not. The link is www.badchicken.com

[PockyStick]

You can also get the chicken stick off amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Stick-Wii-Golf-Club-Nintendo/dp/B003UNYWRQ/

[boogielicious]

Thanks for the info!!  I was wishing something like this existed.  Playing TW with the regular remote is awkward.  You should submit a review on the Equipment page.

[Radford Wooly]

Chicken stick looks cool. Might have to pick one up!

[billinga]

Today my club is still closed due to the snow that we had from last week so I plugged in the Wii again. Shot a 69 at Celtic Manor which was the first time I shot a round below par using the expert swing mode. Now if I can get a few days of sun in a row I can take my game back out to the real course.

[boogielicious]

The Chicken Stick Rules!  Just got it today and it made the game so much better.  It takes a few holes to get the hang of it, but it works well.  thanks for the recommendation.

[mtsalmela80]

Totally addicted chicken stick user here. Playing the game on the hardest difficulty really requires you to think of course management. I have barely broken 90.the only thing I dont like about this game is the rough and bunkers seem more difficult than in real life. However, the masters edition is coming out in a couple months.....

[billinga]

I am glad to hear that you guys like it. My son and I love playing with it. Our lowest rounds now are one under par. You really do need to think about course management and figure out good bail out options on some of the holes. Let me know when you beat one under.

[AnthonyGraziano]

I got tiger woods 11 on the PS3 with the sony move and it hasent been working good at all, every single time the ball hooks.

[mtsalmela80]

Does that version give you feedback on swing path and club face angle?

Originally Posted by AnthonyGraziano

I got tiger woods 11 on the PS3 with the sony move and it hasent been working good at all, every single time the ball hooks.

[jamo]

Originally Posted by AnthonyGraziano

I got tiger woods 11 on the PS3 with the sony move and it hasent been working good at all, every single time the ball hooks.

It could be a calibration issue. I know my Wii has magically fallen out of calibration a few times, maybe the Move will too? Or it could just be the user...

Originally Posted by mtsalmela80

Does that version give you feedback on swing path and club face angle?

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnthonyGraziano

I got tiger woods 11 on the PS3 with the sony move and it hasent been working good at all, every single time the ball hooks.

I know that Tiger '11 does take into account swing path and face angle on Wii (with the WiiMotionPlus), but I can't speak to the Move.

[billinga]

I have heard many cool reception to the Move with this game. I think to be fair you need to give it a couple of releases before you expect it to be as good as the Wii version with the swing accuracy. The same could be said for xBox if/when they come out with a Kinect version.

[Todd Ruggere]

I chip balls on a daily basis into my laundry basket