Boomgolf Boomerang Putting Professional putting aid REVIEWED!

This post reviews the Boomerang (a.k.a. Boomgolf) putting aid. A tool that could turn your putting liability into an asset through pin point distance control.

You've come to the right place is you want thorough, consistent and comparable putting mat reviews. I know- Pretty specific for a website but it was born out of necessity. I wanted to improve my putting and there wasn't much apart from supplier marketing to compare products available.

Quick Summary ($40 - $75 + delivery)

a great tool to groove a consistent and confident stroke. U get to the point where u can tell straight off the club if it's a good put.
Focus of the aid is on distance control over line. Don't make this your only putting aid.
Aim of the game is to put your first of 2 balls into the cup (a.k.a. lag putt) at the top of the ramp, and release both balls with your second put (a.k.a. matchplay) striking the first ball (see vid below).
putting support and advice from putting guru Alex Moore of Boomerang.
quick green/mat (stimpmeter 11-11.5 for both mat options)
various incentives to hit 'in-a-row' targets including hats, putters and $1000 cash
learning curve is not quick and enjoyable,it's frustrating,challenging but ultimately rewarding!
no scope for break-putting



Basic concept video. Available here or browse other home putting greens/aids. 

Unboxing and first impression: As expected

The boomerang arrived in a standard transport package and when opened revealed 2 items, the boomerang unit itself and the St. Andrews putting mat as below. My first impression was- no real surprises the product was what I was expecting from the information I had seen to date - not tacky and cheap, a well designed and packaged product. The mat was rolled (beats folds/creases) which got me thinking about how well it would flatten out, more on that later.

Quality and aesthetics: An evolved product 

For the price tag I wasn't blown away by the product quality but not disappointed either, and you are actually buying more than just the product, your buying the opportunity to win some coin/prizes and also the support of the putting coach via video feedback and teaching of the boomtech method as part of the boom putting experiment (BPE), (post-review note: Looks like Alex Moore may have started charging for his coaching at the rate of $49.99 for 30 days). 

The boomerang unit has been precisely made (a necessity to allow fine tuning of the device for different settings,surfaces and putting styles.)

The boomerang ramp surface has a quality baize material that feels like a genuine 70s designer couch. The ramp and threaded/adjustable cup are plastic whilst the adjustable legs are steel. It's an interesting looking unit and on its own it's not immediately obvious what it actually is. The mat tends to give it away.

The St. Andrews mat purchased is probably the Lowest quality element of the package (their is a thicker premium offering, the Carnoustie mat, but this wasn't reviewed. It's marketed as the solution to slightly inconsistent surfaces such as hardwood floors ). 

Boomgolf Boomerang Putting Professional putting aid

Upon rolling out the mat for the first time there are some very distinct memory rolls in the mat. This can be remedied by reverse rolling the mat which had pretty immediate results as the mat is quite thin. The mat also had natural curves width wise towards the centre of the mat which tends to keep the ball on track (not ideal if you are trying to work on the line of your puts) and if the mat is upside down the width curve tends to the ball rolling off the mat prematurely (unless you are putting dead straight with robot like precision). I'm told further reverse rolling can rectify this issue.

The product has plenty going for it along with a few faults- Rest assured boomgolf haven't been resting on their laurels - this putting aid has been around since 1997 with various product evolutions/improvement getting it to where it is today. 


Advertised features: Distance over line
The following is the blurb from boomgolf.com:

"Known affectionately as the Boom, this is the golfing world's most challenging skill test. An inch perfect line and distance practice device, master the Boomerang and not only will you have extremely accurate line and distance control, but you'll also have genuine confidence as well.
The Boom is sure a tough test but, if it ever proves too tough, I'd me more than happy to teach you a little BoomTech. There're incentives for you to learn - An Instructor's Cap for five in-a-row and a Boomerang EZ-1 Putter for ten. There's even a $1000 PRIZE for anyone who can beat the eight year old record of 13 in-a-row.
It's not the money, normally, or even the tour quality feedback that gets you hooked on the Boom - it's almost always a competitive urge to beat the machine. Or, at the very least, beat your own personal record on the machine. I defy anyone to walk past a Boom without wanting to test themselves. If you read on you'll see there are plenty of reasons why you should try a Boomerang. Our guarantee is as good as any - Try it for 60 days, love it, or get your money back."

My opinion on the above:

• great for distance control, but the line of your puts tends to be influenced by the St. Andrews mat. Also the thin mat gives you not realistic parallel visual references that aren't available on real courses and greens (bear in my this is the case for most indoor home putting greens. More on puttability in the following section.
• You will not be successfully putting this thing 30 seconds out of the box(despite how easy the videos make it look). This thing takes time, effort and discipline....more below
• As claimed the unit is addictive and rewarding when you do start to get the hang of it (i'm yet to win a free cap but I'm on my way - the putter will be the next target).
• I sent a video away of my technique and sure enough a few days later Alex responded with a stroke-by-stroke analysis with some pointers for improvement.

The website is loaded with good content from tips on the putting aid setup (more to it than you think) to amateur through to pro demo videos, along with extensive FAQ. There's also plenty of customer reviews proclaiming the benefits of the unit, but as ever take these with a grain of salt and form your own opinion (using review sites like this!). I found the following customer comment helpful:

"I think the boomerang makes you come up with a putting stroke that gives almost perfect distance control, so after working the boomerang for a couple of weeks now, I opened up The Dave Pelz Putting Bible after sitting on my bookshelf for a few of years. He writes about:

1. Stroking v. hitting
2. Straight back straight through v. swinging door
3. Extension of the follow through is the best way to control the putt
4. Lagging is the key to eliminate 3 putts
5. Most telling of of all - distance control is 4 times more important than the line Funny - this is all what the boomerang is all about. Getting hung up on boomerang games is a way to market the product, but to some extent help to learn a stroke that will give you control over distance. I have found that after working with the boomerang that I was able to translate it nicely on the course yesterday (3/13). I didn't even think about 6 - 8 footers just stoked the ball and watched the majority of them drop in. Lag putts were mostly inside of 2 feet... "D C Bogeyman" - 4GEA GolForum 

Puttability: Infuriatingly Challenging 

This home putting aid makes you work at it to even get to point of 1 boomerang(catch-release) in a row. It is rewarding -  if you can resist kicking it out the window in the first hour of use.


THE SETUP
If you don't invest the time to set the unit up correctly your experience it will be made more painful and less rewarding (let alone impeding your ability to win stuff). I won't go into detail here, you can read the detail of the boomgolf website if you go ahead with this aid (sorry fellas you will need to read the instructions). In brief there a few key points to consider:
- The flatter the surface the better feedback you receive on your stroke
- The higher difficulty you choose (via the slots on the back of the unit) for more amplified issues with your stroke will become
- The cup depth is adjustable - this is critical. The deeper the cup the easier your first lag put will be, but the harder the matchplay/release put will be. 


ACTION
The video below shows some of my key observations about this putting mat/aid.
- The green is pretty quick (stimps above 11) so consider this when you consider the courses you play on most.
- Bulk putting! Possible to get 90 puts in a 15 minute session(that's hundreds in an hour). 
- The width curves in the mat tend to keep the ball on track
- It's HARD. It took me a few hours to even get a single catch-release let alone 2 in a row. 
- Having goals to get multiple boomerangs in a row adds an element of pressure that as we know is present in comps or with playing groups.
- You need to have 2 different strokes, the 1st/lag which needs to be inch perfect to stay in the cup, and a 2nd matchplay stroke which is hit firmer to release the 1st ball. This makes it even more challenging as you are constantly alternating between the strokes.

My setup, demo of 2 in a row!

OUT IN THE REAL WORLD
I found that the boomerang helped me with stroke consistency but when playing on the slower greens available in my area i was hitting short consistently and when overcompensating for the slower greens my technique suffered. For this reason I think it's much more suitable for those playing on faster greens. Putting up the ramp at the end of the mat also interfere with your natural judgement of a green (there is a table on the boom golf website to translate the difficulty setting of the boomerang to a real world distance).

By Alex's own admission you shouldn't solely practice on the boomerang. You need to mix it up obviously on real surfaces but with other practice aids. It's great for grooving a consistent stroke, but in terms of real world green judgement there is more to the picture. There are plenty of other putting mats with variable breaks and even green speeds. The boomerang comes into it's own for technique consistency, rapid feedback and the sheer 

number of puts you can cram into a given time.

BOOMGOLF SUPPORT AND BOOMTECH

I fired off the demo video above to Alex at boom golf and promptly received some feedback on my efforts on improving further. Everyone's stroke is different so I won't go into the details but if your serious about improving your putting with a new technique - consider Boomtech through Alex. Try and find that kind of support from any other putting mat/aid provider.

Conclusion: A key part of the putting picture

The big picture is improving your putting.It's gotta be the most critical stroke in your game.

In my opinion this is only one tool in your putting kit-bag in terms of real world green judgement there is more to the picture. You need real world practice and a large home putting mat to work on line and break puts. The boomerang comes into it's own for technique consistency, rapid feedback and the sheer number of puts you can cram into a given time. The coaching support is also a defining feature.

If your serious about improving your game the boomerang will go along way to improving stroke consistency and distance control. 

Available here or browse other home putting greens/aids. 

If you appreciate the value in this review please purchase through the always competitive amazon links as I receive a small commission on these sales that will help me continue to review putting and golf related products. 

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Amazon offers and enforces return guarantees
Highest standard of transaction security.
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