Pro aims for slice of good fortune

A PGA pro from Ilford Golf Club has hit on a winner after devising a training aid to eradicate slices and hooks.

Gary Cant’s SliceStoppa device has already sold nearly 200 units mainly through word of mouth and after securing a backer is looking to raise its profile.

The 35 year old was inspired to develop SliceStoppa after interest from some of his pupils including one, Ian Joyce, who provided the backing to get the project off the ground.

“It was a concept I was using in my coaching and I’ve just taken it one step further to turn it into a training aid product,” he explained.

“I’ve been a teaching pro for 15 years and in my experience most golfers cut across the ball so in my lessons I used to use a broken shaft and stick into the ground at the same angle as the club to encourage my pupils to swing on the correct path.

“While giving the lessons I would often get positive feedback but obviously it didn’t work with a broken shaft at the driving range because you couldn’t put the shaft into the ground.

“It sparked an idea one day and I came up with this simple prototype which was portable, easily folded up and could be used anywhere.

“I was telling Ian about it during one of our lessons and he said he was interested in being a backer.”

Cant initially trialled it with Group One where it has sold 170 units and it is also being sold in Scandinavia.

“Some local pros asked if they could retail is so I gave them a box of ten and when they sold them in two weeks I knew it was a seller,” added Cant who has been head pro at Ilford for seven years having previously trained at Wanstead.

Although it is called SliceStoppa the training aid has five or six drills for putting issues, preventing sliding in the swing as well as eliminating slice and hooks.

For more information see www.slicestoppa.co.uk