Motorised Trolleys - I don't get em ?

[User 105]

Guys, I've been flicking through the mags looking at all the pictures of motorised golf trolleys and thinking.

"Nice bit of kit, be nice to have one."

Then the other side of my brain kicks and and says.

"Why ?"

And I'll be buggered if I can find an answer.

Am I missing something ? How much benefit are they over a normal pull along trolley ? If you can't manage to pull a trolley for 18 holes how can you manage to swing a club ?

With a price tag between £200 at the low end up to £600+, that seems an awful lot of money.

I can understand stand bag vs trolley. But Trolley vs motorised trolley ?

So. Why ? What's the point ? Real use or just another accessory to have ?

 

[captgray]

I bought a hillbilly terrain old style of the net for £120 from a guy who does them up.
Excellent service and it didnt break the bank.
It makes me more relaxed and not pulling up some of the hills on our course I think has improved my game, by being relaxed. All I have to do now is keep my eyes on the ball and not go on the back foot.
G

 

[Imurg]

The twisting that you do when you pull a trolley can, eventually, lead to some serious back problems. And we know that bad backs and golf are uneasy together at the best of times.

Pushing a trolley is better than pulling it but an electric one takes all the strain. Have you ever been walking up the 17th thinking " God. I'm knackered"? Well if you have, after a few rounds with one of these, you wont. You can save your energy for the shot.

I was like you. I couldn't see the point until I heard on here about the injury you can do yourself by pulling and went out and got one. Honestly, I carry in the winter as the trolley messes up the fairways but come the spring it'll be out there every time.

 

[CliveW]

Hi Westy,
You're either young or don't play on a course that's hilly!

If you played here regularly you'd soon get it!

 

[Smiffy]

Hi Westy,
If you played here regularly you'd soon get it!

Is that the 5th at Old Thorns???

If you had knees and ankles like mine (25 years of football twice a week saw them off) then you would understand why an electric trolley is a "must have".
Having said that, I'm 53 now so old age is creeping up on me rapidly. 10 years ago, I would have thought differently.
Horses for courses, if you are happy carrying or pulling/pushing then power to your elbow.
But for me, plugging the old girl in is the first thing I do when I return from the course

 

[User 105]

Thanks Guys. I can understand the injury benefit.

I guess I'm a young 40. I'm pretty fit. I go to the gym 5 days a week so pulling a trolly round for 18 realy doesn't take it out of me, even on a hilly course. I play white hills in Dane End, Herts quite a bit and that seems fine.

I've never actually tried one, so to be fair, I don't have anything to compare it to.

 

[need_my_wedge]

Hi Westy,

I'm only 45, but have suffered with back problems since an accident at 17. Having said that, I've still been carrying my bag twice a week for the last year and a half, since I got back into golf after a 10 year lay off. I like the idea of carrying, makes me feel fit, especially after a playing partner picked up my bag a month or so back and complained of the weight. I also do Aikido twice a week which helps to keep my back flexible, however, I always find the back 9 a struggle, my back starts to stiffen up around the 11th/ 12th, my swing becomes painful and my general game suffers as a result. I decided that it was time to take away the strain and see if it can help improve my golf. If it gets me through a round without suffering the back pain, it's money well invested.

 

[SammmeBee]

Westy I am younger than you and find that they are so much better than carrying your bag - if we're just going for a chop round then I will carry but in competition it's got to be electric everytime....you can put as much as you want in your bag and you find you have so much more energy at the end of the round....I believe since I got mine last June my scores have been lower because of 'improved' energy levels through the whole of the round....

 

[PeterPumpkinEater]

Westy, I'm 36 and run 40miles a week (5x8miles) at the moment and consider myself to be fairly fit, yet I have a PowaKaddy. Simply (and very logically) it is just easier, ok its a luxury which cost me £394 for a PowaKaddy, Luxury Bag and 36 hole battery.
Could I do without it? Yes.
For me its was simple, I could afford it so why not make life a LTTLE bit easier. If you won the lottery would you buy a Fazer Starter Set of clubs from AG?

 

[birdieman]

First thing the Golf Unions do with the talented youngsters they coach is advise motorised trolleys - there is a good reason for it - conservation of energy for where its needed - playing good golf shots.
You are lessening chance of injury by not pulling/carrying clubs and stuff and whilst that may sound rather pathetic for young people, research has proved that the more energy you can retain towards the end of a 4 hour game of golf the better your decision making and execution of the golf shot will be.
For us lesser lights it probably less important and you might think burning the extra calories from carrying/pulling is a good thing but once you go electric you won't go back. I walk behind the trolley, stretching shoulders, checking yardages, eating, drinking etc so by the time I get to the ball I'm ready to play. Having two hands free as you go along is a good thing.

There is no debate with this, if you want to play your best golf get one, if you want to burn as many calories as you can and treat golf as just exercise then pull/carry.

 

[USER1999]

The other benfit over a pull trolley, is that you can do things as you walk, like mark the card, clean your club, put head covers on, eat a bacon sarnie, roll a fag, what ever. Pulling a trolley, all you can do is pull a trolley. I have found recently (since getting a hillbilly terrain), that playing partners with pull trolleys are slower, (especially if the player has a tendancy to be slow too), as things take longer to do.

I used to carry, which I prefer, but this is no longer a viable option, unless I have to, when I will take a few clubs out.

A pull trolley to me, is the worst of the three options. You are loading your back with a very uneven load, possibly while twisted, for about 3 hours. If you talk to a physio, he will tell you this is not how backs are designed to work.

 

[Robobum]

Birdieman is spot on, I started to play the County order of merit stuff and on my first couple of outings I was with two 17 year olds and another who was only 16. They all had power trolleys.

They are 36 hole events and I was beating them all the way round both 18s until about the 14th in the afternoon. Then whilst I was dropping shots like they were going out of fashion they were catching me up and then going out in front of me.

Needless to say my next purchase was a Powwakaddy. It's 1st outing saw me pick up my first ranking points in the County order of merit. I still carry in the winter (to save 6 mile excursions around the greens!!) but it's leccy trolley all day long once the season starts.

 

[Macster]

Quite simply, if the Pro's have a Caddy to carry their bags for every round, just how/why would it ever be an advantage to us mere mortals to either carry or pull ????

I got one for exactly the same reasons as said above, feeling tired late in a round, game going off etc, and simply because my left knee just cant cope with carrying anymore.

I know lots of Juniors who have powakaddy's already, and judging by the rate their H/Caps fall, they are feeling the benefits too .

Try it, you might like it

 

[User 105]

Guys, thanks for this. I can see the reasoning now. Makes sense.

As I say, I've never used one and although I could see there would be less effort involved, didn't believe it was that great a deal tbh.

But I stand corrected.

Look out for my next post. What Power Trolley to get

 

[Barney]

Guys, thanks for this. I can see the reasoning now. Makes sense.

As I say, I've never used one and although I could see there would be less effort involved, didn't believe it was that great a deal tbh.

But I stand corrected.

Look out for my next post. What Power Trolley to get

Ill help you out there. Get yourself a Motocaddy S3.I have one and love it. You may find the price of them tumbles soon too as they are about to release a latest model the S5.

 

[Imurg]

Go-kart seems to be the forum fave but I've got the HillBilly Terrain - good bit of kit.

Some clubs hire them out - you may be able to try before you buy

 

[TWM]

Westy,
You have no need for a motorised trolley so save your money.
I have a GoKart but this is because I was recovering from illness and could not pull for more than nine holes last year.
The pull trolley is easier and simpler to handle but my body prefers the GoKart for a full round.

 

[Leftie]

If you value your back either carry with a double strap bag, use a push trolley if you must, or get a power trolley. Avoid pull trolleys.

 

[Herbie]

Im not against motor trolleys, just their use sometimes along with the arguments against pull trolleys.

Myself, I dont twist under normal use of one, on a hilly course I push it as often as I pull and the amount of energy and physical application I use is far far less than carrying the bag. Carrying a heavy weight for 4 hrs or more on uneven terrain with a start stop. pick up/put down workload is far more risky to the human frame than pulling a trolley especially when you have to traverse a bank or clamber up a slope with one, very very risky on the body, especially if you stumble as is occasionally seen.

Motor trolleyss are great, they carry all your stuff for you, the negatives to this is their use and all the stuff that goes with them like.....
The cost.
Charging the battery.
Breaking your back recovering a broken down one(that disrupts a game)
Putting many of the models togeather before use.
Finding space in the car for it all.(Once saw 3 chaps who intended going in one car to another club and ended up going in two cars, 3 trolleys and 3 players with kit struggle to fit into many makes of car)
On wet soft surface, above all other trolleys and golfer use and abuse, its motorised trolleys that do the greater damage on wet courses (no owner admits to) Self drive requires traction and its the self generated traction that does this and in doing so leads to ALL trolley bans earlier than would be necessary, if in fact needed.

Push trolleys are probably the best for physical use but pushing creates different forces on the ground than pulling.

 

[GolfPunk]

I have a GoKart and I love it. I am 36 but have a dodgy back - the Gokart really helps for the last few holes!