Equipment

Korean Gadget Report, Pt. 2: Ficor Band – the best golfer’s elbow treatment?

Published

6 years ago

Dec 11, 2020

Many things can keep a golfer from enjoying a great round of golf, be it the driving wind or torrential rain. But for me, only one thing is worse than any foul weather condition and causes me to cringe at the mere thought of it. I am talking about every golfers’ nightmare–the dreaded golfer’s elbow. And if you haven’t experienced it yet, trust that if you happen to, you will be eagerly seeking out the best golfer’s elbow treatment.

According to the Mayo Clinic website:

“Golfer’s elbow is a condition that causes pain where the tendons of your forearm muscles attach to the bony bump on the inside of your elbow. The pain might spread into your forearm and wrist.

“Golfer’s elbow is similar to a tennis elbow, which occurs on the outside of the elbow. It’s not limited to golfers. Tennis players and others who repeatedly use their wrists or clench their fingers also can develop golfer’s elbow.”

1. Push your hands together lightly. 2. Maintain position for about 1 minute. If you feel tingling or pain in the wrist, it may be a sign of Carpal tunnel syndrome.

The site also mentions that with rest and appropriate treatment, one doesn’t need to stop playing golf. Now, I’m not saying the world-famous Mayo Clinic may be wrong, but this time last year, I was wincing in pain just trying to lift a club with my right hand. The shooting elbow pain not only kept me off the course for months, but it was affecting my regular routine like brushing my teeth and lifting a bottle of Coke. It was hellish, and most people I consulted told me to simply stop all activity and rest the arm.

I wasn’t eager to give up golf during peak season, but my options were running thin. I’d tried everything from steroid shots to acupuncture, bandages to hot wrist wraps but nothing got me back into the swing of things. That is, until I met a surgeon who loved this game of golf, perhaps more than me.

Behold the Ficor Band, Korea’s latest and greatest news for golfers suffering from wrist and elbow pain everywhere. Ficor Band is an innovative new wrist protector invented by Dr. Sang-jin Lee, a self-described golf maniac who was tired of suffering from wrist and elbow pains that interfered with his enjoyment of golf.

So what was an orthopedic surgeon to do? He set out to make a device that would be more effective than any conventional taping or cumbersome protectors, backed up by medical facts and scientific research.

That was almost 8 years ago.

FICOR BAND: THE BEST GOLFER’S ELBOW TREATMENT?

The wrist consists of two pillar bones called the ulna and radius. When these two bones are used excessively, the nerves surrounding the bones are irritated, which causes pain. This can negatively affect the muscles in the forearm, which in turn can lead to golfer’s elbow.

The concept of Ficor Band is to minimize the pain by stabilizing these two pillar bones in their correct natural position. It’s the same principle as compression taping, but simple taping can restrict blood circulation, and may cause numbness or skin problems if worn for a long time.

Ficor Band is designed to compress and stabilize only the radius and ulna while allowing blood to circulate unimpeded. As a result, the device can be worn for long periods to give the wrist bones the time it needs to heal while protecting them from further damage.

It is also very easy to use. It goes on like a wristwatch and tightens in micrometer units by rotating a round disc on top. Also, the eco-friendly TPE (Thermo Plastic Elastomer) band provides both comfort and style without irritating the skin. Oh, and did I mention that a paper on it has been published in the Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology?

IS IT EFFECTIVE?

By the summer of 2019, my golfer’s elbow was in full bloom. I could hardly lift a cup full of water with my right hand, and daily activities became a chore in holding back a pained gasp.

When I first heard about Ficor from a friend who was suffering similar pains a couple of months earlier, I initially scoffed at the idea. Honestly, how would a wrist brace help the pain in my elbow? As expected, when I strapped it on my wrist, I didn’t notice any difference, and the pain was still there. But on his insistence, I wore the band for three days until the next time we were to meet.

The first time I noticed the effect of the product was at lunch the next day. As I unconsciously lifted a jug to pour some water, an immediate tingling sensation came to my right elbow. I braced for the pain to shoot through the arm…but what’s this? It felt less painful than usual. I lifted the jug of water again to confirm, and yes, it definitely hurt less than the day before.

I immediately tracked down Dr. Lee for an interview about his new take on wrist injury prevention. He was kind enough to diagnose my arm and properly fitted me to a band that was more my size (XS, S, M, M+, L, XL, XXL).

After wearing it religiously for about a month, I felt my elbow pain decrease by about 70 percent. This was a huge improvement over my first run-in with the elbow years before when I had to suffer through 5~6 months before I was able to play pain-free golf.

This time, my elbow pain disappeared within 8 weeks, but I still wear it daily, almost like a fashion accessory.

For my two cents, I thought it would be even better if it could tell time or perhaps have a health monitoring function like a heartbeat scanner. Even now, my friends mistake it for a watch all the time, but for those who have ever experienced a golfer’s elbow, this medical device is worth its weight in gold, and it very well may be the best golfer’s elbow treatment.

Dr. Lee, who treats many professional athletes, is a firm believer that the most effective treatment is preventing injury in the first place. Currently, dozens of the KLPGA pros wear it, but it’s not limited only to golf. Dr. Lee was quick to add that his product is essential for all manner of folks who use their wrists often in everyday life, such as programmers and new mothers caring for their child.

For me, I find that it helps to relieve my wrist from all the time on my computer and phone, as well as from playing countless rounds of virtual screen golf on unyielding golf mats.

So if your home course is strewn with deep rough and/or hardpan lies, something like the Ficor band may be just the thing to help prevent wrist and elbow injury before it happens.

Whats in the Bag

Christiaan Maas WITB 2026 (June)

Published

7 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D LS (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7TW (5-PW)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold X100

Wedges: TaylorMade Prototype (50-SB09), TaylorMade MG5 (56-HB12, 60-LV07)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400

Putter: TaylorMade TP Juno

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

Check out more in-hand photos of Christiaan Maas’ clubs here.

Equipment

TaylorMade MySpider Tour and Tour X: More customizable build options now available

Published

7 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

TaylorMade Golf’s MySpider program underwent a substantial overhaul over the last month. Firstly, the company launched the option to customize the Spider ZT model, and now the program has returned with the MySpider Tour and MySpider Tour X.

The revamped page now gives golfers complete control over every visual and functional detail of their putter on the popular Tour and Tour X head, with every cosmetic idea thought of. In MySpider Tour, golfers can choose from four head finishes, 16 paint fill colors, nine Surlyn face insert colors, three aluminum insert options, six sightline configurations, and four hosel options — L-neck, small slant, double bend, center shaft. Six sightline options are available in MySpider Tour, including the optically engineered True Path alignment system. MySpider Tour X gives builders the option of four head finishes, four hosel configurations, and five sightline options, also including True Path alignment.

One of the more interesting features of the new MySpider program is the availability of three distinct face insert options. Along with the usual Surlyn Pure Roll insert trusted by Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, which can be customized from nine colors, golfers can now also select firmer options. Two are offered with the black aluminum Pure Roll insert, slightly firmer than the traditional insert, or for the firmest feel, golfers can choose from two colors of milled aluminum inserts.

Another fun addition to the MySpider Tour is the ability to use the “Tommy Sightline.” The custom alignment aid design, which was first drawn onto Tommy Fleetwood’s putter by PGA Tour Rep James Holley, is based on the milled sightline on his Spider ZT head. There are five shorter lines on the left and right of a longer central line serving as the traditional short line alignment aid.

See below for the full specifications sheet for MySpider Tour and Tour X:

MySpider Tour

MySpider Tour X

Equipment

Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory

Published

10 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

In Rory McIlroy’s first appearance at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, he crushed the record books to earn his 16th PGA Tour title in dominating fashion, winning by seven shots over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson.

McIlroy’s score of 22-under-par 258 is the lowest 72-hole score to date at the Canadian Open, and his closing 61 is also the best final-round score in the history of one of golf’s oldest tournaments. Finally, with his win in 2019, McIlroy became only the sixth player to win the career Triple Crown, adding to his victories at the U.S. Open in 2011 and The Open Championship in 2014, joining Tommy Armour, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods in a coveted list.

So, with that, why not compare his current setup to the clubs he used to break all the records?

Driver

2019: TaylorMade M5 (9 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees @8), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7X (45 5/8 inches)

McIroy led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in 2019; he’s doing the same in 2026. Between now and then, McIlroy has switched from the Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX (a shaft with slightly more feeling in the tip) to the original Fujikura Ventus Black 7X, having just made the change to the heavier version from playing the 60X.

What’s interesting about McIlroy’s 2019 setup is that the weighting on his driver is actually set in the high-draw setting, using the T-Track weighting system, whereas in the Qi4D, he’s currently using a heavily rear-weighted setup. (Two 13-gram weights in the rear and only two 4-gram front weights.)

The TaylorMade M5 driver he played in during his Canadian Open win was the company’s first head that they claimed to design to initially exceed the USGA’s COR limit, and then injected with tuning resin to bring it back in bounds.

Fairway woods

2019: TaylorMade M6 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX; TaylorMade M5 5-wood (19 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 90 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X; TaylorMade Qi4D 5-wood (18 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9X

The TaylorMade M6 fairway wood that McIlroy was using during the 2019 season is still in the bag of some of the best golfers on Tour in 2026. Just check out Justin Rose’s winning setup from the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. This year, though, McIlroy has still been searching for his top-end-of-the-bag setup, having played both the new Qi4D and the Qi10, which he won the Masters with.

The same shaft swap can be seen in the fairway woods as the driver, along with slightly less loft on the 5-wood.

Irons

2019: TaylorMade P750 (4) Buy here, TaylorMade P730 (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
2026: TaylorMade P760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0

The biggest difference between McIlroy’s custom set and the stock P730s is the groove design. While the P730s were constructed with 14 MX-9 grooves on their milled faces, McIlroy’s proto heads instead use the higher-spinning, 16-groove layout of the TW2 grooves. Other big differences between the sets are that McIlroy’s 7- and 8-irons have thinner toplines, are 1 degree stronger in loft, and are 1/4 inch longer than the original P730 builds.

With McIlroy’s 4-iron, the switch from P750 to P760 sees a transition to a two-piece construction with Speed Foam in it, which allows McIlroy to launch the ball slightly higher, with more workability.

Wedges

2019: TaylorMade Milled Grind (48-09SB), TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09SB, 56-09SB, 60-LB09), Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
2026: TaylorMade MG5 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB, 60-08LB @61), Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)

Between 2019 and 2026, McIlroy’s focus on his short game has been much more apparent. It was the reason why he switched back to the TP5 golf ball, to help with launch, spin and control with his wedges leading up to his career Grand Slam victory in 2025. The most apparent changes to McIlroy’s wedge setup are his lofts and bounce. He’s slowly delofted his pitching to a sand wedge, but has increased the loft on the lob wedge, bending his current 60-degree to 61. With that, adding more loft to his lob wedge also slightly increases the bounce and leading-edge sit point, so, as a result, he plays a lower-bounce lob wedge compared to 2019. The MG5 wedges are also softer than the first Milled Grind option from 2019. McIlroy also no longer plays the full-face grooves found on the Hi-Toe.

Putter

2019: TaylorMade Spider X
2026: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Notice anything similar. Yes, the copper finish on Rory McIlroy’s Spider X putter in 2019 is a slightly more reflective finish than the recently released torched PVD finish. McIlroy was using the True Path alignment system, but now uses only a single white sightline.

Ball

2019: 2019 TaylorMade TP5 (#22)
2026: 2025 TaylorMade TP5 (RORS)

As mentioned above, McIlroy had transitioned from the TP5 to TP5x golf ball since his victory in Canada in 2019, but now is black with the same style of golf ball as his victory at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

Grips

2019: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
2026: Golf Pride MCC

Interesting, McIlroy actually used Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Cord grips during his victory in 2019 (it was during a 2+ year switch to the corded TV) as opposed to his usual MCC grips, which he has played for most of his career.