Check Go Pro Sweet Spot Finder

I have the original model, which works fine ( not sure what actual improvements they could make to it ). It spins the ball until the heavy spot on the ball moves to the horizontal equator, at which point you mark a line on the ball. Every ball I have ever checked has a heavy spot somewhere, and if that heavy spot is in line with your putting line you have a better chance of a more pure roll. Granted the effect may be very minimal, but it certainly it can't hurt. I think it's worth the investment.

Bought one, my wife loved it, now she has something to do while I play golf!!

I've seen *some* golf balls definitely be very off balanced and could see it effecting my putts. For instance, I could putt with 3 golf balls from the same line and the first two would roll the same way and the third one would roll much differently despite stroking the putt pretty much the same way.

I think *most* of the time the effects are minimal at best, but it doesn't really hurt to have one. I don't use the line on the ball when I'm putting, so I just mark it with a dot.

3JACK

I was given one for Christmas. I use LostGolfBalls AAA grade balls for practice balls on my range and check them with the spinner. If they spin pretty smooth they go in the useable bucket and if they wobble they go in the "hit away" bag. It's probably 3 or 4 percent of wobblers. If you look at the wobblers there's usually a little protuberence somewhere but it's quicker to check them with the spinner than to inspect each one. I stopped putting the line on any.

I am hooked on this, both for putting and I also try pretty consistently to line up the axis on teed or placed balls. When you do this, you just don't see those putts that suddenly take an unexpected swerve one way or the other just as the ball is slowing down that causes misses on putts that slow as they reach the hole. Makes less difference if you are a Pelz 17" guy, of course. The off-balance effect is strongest on putts when they are going slowly, while for full shots it may be the opposite, with high spin shots being affected the most as the ball has a lot of spin that is changing axis and could affect the flight.

You can tell pretty quickly how unbalanced each ball is by how fast it stabilizes and how rock stable the spinning is. The more perfect the ball, the less difference it would make to start it spinning on the correct axis. When you watch the balls rev up, you can see how they re-orient themselves to that same axis every time (even after playing with them except when you damage one). This same thing has got to be happening as the ball spins off your club particularly on lofted clubs with high spin, which seems to indicate that whatever spin you started with is going to be altered as the ball re-orients to its axis. This seems like it should do funky things to the curve and trajectory, although it may be hard to prove.

so once you find this "spot" on the ball is it best to make a dot and then hit the ball there, like with the driver and putt impacting that part of the ball? i dont have one of these check n gos but if it works ill look into getting one.

First off I use a check n Go religiously, but to play devil's advocate for a bit : Some say that once you hit the golf ball many times during a round of golf, the compression of the ball will skew the original axis of the golf ball. I've checked my golf balls that I have used for a couple of rounds and they do come back to the same axis that I originally marked, but a few have not. I'll still continue to spin my golf balls as it eases my mind a bit and also makes me mark my golf balls for identification by dotting the polar axis points.

I also swear by this little gadget, and lots of people will say it's a "gimmick".

All I know is my putting average dropped once I started using it to balance my GOLF balls.

Now....it's a "security blanket" that I can't do without. Does it have merit????? Who knows, in all honesty.

But the theory behind it makes sense to me, and EVERY single ball I have will re-orient itself in the same line no matter how the ball is put into the cradle. That's what sold me when I first saw it, and continues to sell me today.

With no intent to slam any ball's quality, the vast, vast majority do, indeed, have a 'heavy' spot and, conversely, a light spot that normally appears opposite. Any method of identifying and marking said discrepancy, and aligning that axis as the vertical rather than horizontal when teeing off or putting, will decrease the sidespin that might occur due solely to that imbalance.

I use a saturated mixture of epsom salts to "float' the golf balls, mark the light spot (which floats at the top obviously) and away I go. You'd be amazed at how many times, when I arrive at the ball after it comes to rest, that dot is facing up...

If the balls were uniform, each dimple would have a 1/x chance of being face up. Case closed, for me at least. Spin away!

Please allow me to join the chorus praising the Check-Go sweet spot finder. (I have the original model.) It must work, as others have stated, the ball starts changing its axis as begins picking rotational speed. Then, after 5-10 seconds, it begins to stabilize on one axis. If it did not work, it would not keep coming back to the same axis time after time.

I mark the circumference very lightly with the black marker provided with the unit. I then take one of those crescent-shaped ball marker templates and put two 1/2" long blue lines end-to-end with a 1/8" long gap between them) with a Sharpie marker. That way, I have a very obvious mark on the ball as well as something to help me line up putts. Plus, occasionally I like to let the blue stripes help me line-up tee shots. Next to a rangefinder, this is one of the most helpful golf devices I have found.

so once you find this "spot" on the ball is it best to make a dot and then hit the ball there, like with the driver and putt impacting that part of the ball? i dont have one of these check n gos but if it works ill look into getting one.

The Check-Go spins the ball fast enough that the heavy side faces out. Then you stick a pen in the side (they come with a pen or you can use a sharpie or even a pencil if you don't want to see a full circle) and than makes a circle on the outside of the ball. Then you can proceed to mark how you like. From that you still can't determine which part of the circle is the heavy side. For that you need the Epsom salt water floating technique. But you're pretty well guaranteed that the c.g. of the ball is in the plane defined by the circle. Then if spun or rolled that way it should roll straighter than it would otherwise.

I go real light with the circle, then put on a line-em-up and sharpie in the line real heavy on one half of the ball. I then use the line to line up putts and tee shots (I like having the line even if the ball isn't balanced).

I've got the Check-Go Pro. It works fine for balancing most balls. Results are a who knows, but at least that question mark is removed. I've had a few balls be so far out the want to hop off the platter, so those go in the kid's bag. I also had a problem balancing Tour IX balls. The covers are real tacky, so I could feel they didn't want to slide properly on the platter. Also, they've got the six deep dimples to center the core better, so they could be better than average as far as balancing. I sprayed some lubricant on the platter to get around the sticky cover problem and was able to balance a couple of them.

Personally I think having the line on my ball improved my game as much as the balancing, but at least I don't worry about it any more. :D

so once you find this "spot" on the ball is it best to make a dot and then hit the ball there, like with the driver and putt impacting that part of the ball? i dont have one of these check n gos but if it works ill look into getting one.

 

The Check-Go spins the ball fast enough that the heavy side faces out. Then you stick a pen in the side (they come with a pen or you can use a sharpie or even a pencil if you don't want to see a full circle) and than makes a circle on the outside of the ball. Then you can proceed to mark how you like. From that you still can't determine which part of the circle is the heavy side. For that you need the Epsom salt water floating technique. But you're pretty well guaranteed that the c.g. of the ball is in the plane defined by the circle. Then if spun or rolled that way it should roll straighter than it would otherwise.

 

I go real light with the circle, then put on a line-em-up and sharpie in the line real heavy on one half of the ball. I then use the line to line up putts and tee shots (I like having the line even if the ball isn't balanced).

 

I've got the Check-Go Pro. It works fine for balancing most balls. Results are a who knows, but at least that question mark is removed. I've had a few balls be so far out the want to hop off the platter, so those go in the kid's bag. I also had a problem balancing Tour IX balls. The covers are real tacky, so I could feel they didn't want to slide properly on the platter. Also, they've got the six deep dimples to center the core better, so they could be better than average as far as balancing. I sprayed some lubricant on the platter to get around the sticky cover problem and was able to balance a couple of them.

 

Personally I think having the line on my ball improved my game as much as the balancing, but at least I don't worry about it any more. :D

thank YOU for answering my question. i will probably look into getting one of these since they have gotten such high regards from fellow wrx'ers

I have the CheckGo and have found it does a good job of finding the heavy spot as the others mentioned.

Usually in a dozen balls there is one or two that wobbles more than the others. I usually leave these for practice rounds.

Likewise there is usually a few balls in a dozen that have almost no heavy spot or wobble. I leave these for serious rounds and tournaments.

Hope that helps.

What's the difference between the normal and the pro version? Is it worth the extra $10?

What's the difference between the normal and the pro version? Is it worth the extra $10?

The "pro version" has an LED which flashes, then is on solid once the ball is considered "stable".

I have the "pro" version - because I lost my original one - and I think the LED is gimmicky...I personally put a ball in, spin it for 30 seconds (according to my watch) and insert the pen to mark the axis.

The LED does seem to come on sooner/later on different balls, so there may be some merit behind it, but I don't pay attention to the LED, TBH. I figured fresh AAs and 30 secs. gets the job done!

Thanks. I tried looking up their site but they don't have any comparisons to the differences between the 2. All it says is that the pro spins the ball up to 10K rpm, but it doesn't say that the normal version doesn't spin the ball that fast either.

I use the Check Go Pro and am hooked. I spin every ball and align on the tee and putting surface. Just learned here about the epsom salt technique and am intrigued.

Once you spin them to find the C of G, and then identify the light side in the epsom salt bath what do you do with that info? Do you attempt to strike the light spot on the axis or the heavy spot?

It seems as if not using a line with the Check-Go would undermine its functionality... If you only mark the axis (or "heavy spot") with a dot you would have to put that dot perpendicular to the initial roll of your putt... This is a lot harder to than you would imagine... if it is off by a few degrees and the product works the ball would try to re-orient itself according to its CG or mass bias- much like a bowling ball... Also if there is a such thing as the balance axis then marking it with a dot is completely useless because then you may be striking the ball against the plane at which it would be balanced...

I really would like to see a some lab tests with some mid-premium balls (and a robot) to see what kind of effect this really has. If I were to guess for most players marking the line on their ball has a much more positive impact on their putting than balancing the ball... Really there is no reason not to mark your ball with a line (besides psychological ones), because it will let you know how you struck the ball- if it starts end over end then you hit it correctly- if it doesnt you will become more aware of push-pull tendencies or alignment issues... Just my two cents... That said I am intrigued by the product (perhaps a bit skeptical), I dont know if my putting is so great and consistent that I would achieve any perceptible results.

I purchased a Check-Go Pro about a year ago.
When I first used it, I liked the confidence it gave me when using the equator line to line my ball up on the tee and my putting line on the greens.
I felt like it helped me out a stroke or maybe two each round.
After playing for a half year or so with the Check-Go Pro equator marked on my ball, I decided that it was starting to distract me when I was putting.
I would attempt to point the equator line directly down my putting line.
It is almost impossible to get it exactly lined up on your first attempt.
If it's not perfect, you can either mark your ball on the green again and correct the line up of the equator mark or you can go ahead and putt knowing that you want to aim just right or just left of where the equator mark is lined up.
This became a pain in the butt and very distracting.
I found that I focused too much on the line on my ball and I should have been concentrating on the speed I want to hit the putt and the direction/line I want to start my putt on.
I haven't been using my Check-Go Pro lately.
I have actually started putting a lot better with out the distraction of thinking about the line on my ball.
It is also less distraction off the tee, because the same imperfect alignment problems are the same as on the greens.
You also don't walk up to your ball in the fairway and see that you have to hit your next shot when the line you marked on the ball is not oriented in the correct direction of your intended shot.
It's sort of like "Don't think about the pink elephant in the room" or "Don't think about the line you drew on your ball."
I think the Check-Go Pro might help a golfer who is having severe alignment problems weather on the green and or off the tee, but for golfers that don't have alignment problems, the line marked on your ball can be a distraction.
The line on your ball might also help to discover some flaws in your putting stroke.
I saw the post above that addresses the uselessness of just marking the equator with a single dot. That is correct.
You would need to mark a couple dots or dimples on the equator near each other to take advantage of the Check-Go Pro.
One dot or dimple marked would not provide you enough information to line up the equator of the ball with your intended line.
It wouldn't be any more helpful that just putting a random dot somewhere on your ball.
So the Check-Go Pro or any ball spinning device is not worthless, but focusing on the line on your ball might be distracting enough to harm your game.

I just use the ball-float method in salt water. If a different spot of the ball comes to the top after a couple of spins in the water, it doesn't make any difference - the ball is balanced enough to roll true. If the ball floats with a consistent point coming to the top after a little spin, a small dot on the top indicates the lightest spot. By putting with the light spot up (heavy spot down) the ball should roll more true than if you had the heavy spot on the side, wanting to roll down. No pointing the line necessary, but still making the best use of ball balance.

I am going to get one for the sole purpose of efficiently and quickly putting a Sharpie line around my practice balls. Similar to range balls. I have had a hard time telling the difference between my balls and anyone else on the chipping-pitching green. As far as the real purpose for the unit; I have played golf this long without it so I should be okay. Where is the cheapest place to get one?