If you’ve ever watched the Golf Channel – heck, if you’ve ever watched TV – you’ve no doubt seen informercials for Medicus.
According to their website, the Medicus Dual-Hinge Driver is the best selling golf training aid of all time. So while there is no doubt they are great at marketing, we wanted to find out if the product lived up to the hype.
In case you haven’t seen the Medicus, it’s an ordinary golf club designed with a “sticky” hinge near the end of the shaft. You then take swings trying to keep the hinge from breaking. According to Medicus, once you can do this you are swinging in tempo and on plane.
Sounds simple enough if a little gimmicky.
We tested it out and here’s what we found:
Speed of Results
The Medicus comes with a DVD but the instruction from this training aid is primarily from the feedback you get when using it. On this front the quality of instruction is mixed.
On the positive side, we found it to be very effective at teaching a smooth and slow takeaway. It was also effective at teaching tempo. Simply put, if you have a jerky swing the Medicus hinge will break.
On the negative side, we found it to be unreliable at teaching the proper plane. For example, after a few tries we were able to grossly swing over the top without breaking the hinge. We were able to do the same while swinging with a severe reverse pivot.
Overall the Medicus definitely encourages some positive swing habits but is not a cure-all for every golfing flaw.
Easy to Learn
The Medicus is very easy to use… you simply swing it until the hinge doesn’t break.
It can get a bit frustrating when it continuously breaks, but we found 9 times out of 10 the solution was to swing slower and focus on tempo.
Customer Reviews
With so many units sold (it’s been running relentlessly on infomercials for years) it’s no surprise there are a ton of customer reviews out there. And this is where it gets really interesting… because the Medicus has gotten a lot of great reviews but also a lot of terrible reviews. In fact it probably has the most polarizing reviews of any product we have seen.
One complaint that came up frequently in the negative reviews was that customer service is very poor. There are many complaints out there about billing mistakes that the company would not correct in a timely manner (or at all). There were also quite a few complaints of broken products that the company does not fix.
Value
The Medicus Dual-Hinge Driver sells for $159.80 (4 payments of $39.95). One of the more expensive options for a training aid that only addresses plane and tempo.
The Bottom Line
The Medicus is good for training tempo and helpful with some plane issues, but it leaves many aspects of the swing unaddressed… Then again, did you really expect a single club to be a cure all for your golf game? If you do decide to give it a try, remember you are dealing with a typical infomercial company and be careful you understand what you are going to be billed for.
To learn more about the Medicus or make a purchase, visit their website here.
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I was all over the place with mu drives long or short (but in the fairway). and didn’t know exactly which side of the fairway the drive land. The Medicus changed all of that. It is a great club to warm up with, it is a great club to practice a good back swing, a good down swing, and a good follow through. My warm ups include hitting the Medicus prior to hitting my other clubs. What a precursor to hitting good shots. Now I feel more comfortable about attacking long holes with gaping hazards off the tee. No videos (Haney:Essentials Set, Leadbetter:the Swing, Butch Harmon (snoozers), and all of the Stack and Tilt (5DVDs), and many more.. none were better than the Medicus Driver. it doesn’t criticize your swing, only your swing mechanics.
Be very cautious in dealing with this company. Several months I got conned into buying some instructional dvds which were a big waste of money. Hidden in their terms of agreement was a monthly charge for ongoing instructional dvds. It took me months to get out of this agreement and get a refund for the unapproved charges.
Be cautious and make sure you read their agreement closely.
Dont waste your time and money, I ordered this and knew right away it was a joke. Sent it back. For this club to work (breakdown) your swing would have to be so far out of whack its almost impossible. Also you would have to stop in the middle of your swing,who does that?
I used the medicus with the help of a golf instructor. It actually worked pretty well. It took me from taking the club back to far to the inside which stopped me from coming over the top. I think it is a great tool when combined with lessons.
Can’t say enough about how much the medicus hinged 5 iron has improved my game. I swing it at home for about 5-10 minutes at a time about twice a week and as a warm-up club before playing. It has seriously improved my tempo, swing plane and wrist cocking. Now when I hit my irons on the course I think “medicus swing” and go into automatic—no doubts, overthinking or anything. You have to be a little careful to remember to coil or do a full shoulder turn. I was so impressed I went and bought the hinged driver. It is heavy and in addition to wrist cocking and keeping on plane it also forces you to stay balanced especially on follow through. Feedback on both clubs is instant. Before I had trouble just swinging the clubs…now I can actually hit balls with them. I am 70 and and after being a 24 handicapper for years after 2years of easy practise with both hinged medicus clubs my handicap is down to 17 and still dropping! Before I had trouble breaking 90… Now I can see the day when I might break or hit 80. Now if they could only fix my putting. :-(. By the way this is no bull and I am NOT some flash paid to tout this product…it’s just a good product.
Six years later (after top spies golf, rotary golf,) I am
Still using the Medicus. It is still the best training aid I have ever used, and it really does work.
Correction: 8 years later and it stills works just fine. It really does improve your swing, distance and accuracy.