By: Jim Hackenberg, PGA ~ Owner and Developer of the Orange Whip
If you’re on our website, you’ve probably heard of the Orange Whip Trainer, but here’s an interesting story about how I came up with the name “Orange Whip.” Who would have known it would come with a little help from John Candy and The Blue Brothers.
It All Started With a Simple Goal
My goal was to create a golf swing trainer that helped players feel a correct, athletic golf swing motion instead of focusing on technical positions.
My original design for the whip included a very flexible driver-length shaft, a weighted ball on the clubhead end, a counterweight on the grip end, and a standard golf grip.
What made it unique compared to other training aids was that it was perfectly balanced. When supported in the middle, it stayed level—proving the weight distribution on each side was dialed in.
That balance naturally teaches golfers to stay on plane, improves balance, and develops smooth, repeatable tempo and rhythm.
This physics-driven design became the foundation for a patented golf training aid that works with your swing—not against it.
The Look Needed to Stand Out
Next came the visual side.
The ball at the end is what you see when you swing, so it needed to pop. The goal was to create a visual tracer effect so golfers could track their swing path. A few colors I considered for the clubhead ball were the following:
- Yellow
- Lime Green
- Orange
You already know which one won.
Naming It Was the Hardest Part
While the product was coming together, the name was still missing. Early ideas leaning toward the technical side included:
- Spherix
- The Swing Planer
They made sense, but they weren’t great, and they weren’t doing it for me. I knew that we needed something better to make the name more memorable.
Building the First Swing Trainers
When I started building the original Orange Whips, they consisted of a fiberglass shaft, a billiard ball for the counterweight, and a golf grip. The clubhead end was the part that became the hardest to source.
It needed something bigger and easy to see. That’s when I came up with the idea of an orange lacrosse ball. It had the perfect look, but it needed more weight. I originally had to drill out a portion of the lacrosse ball and add additional weight to achieve the perfect balance.
At this point I was convinced that the Whip was ready, but I still needed a name.
Then It Happened
Late in the summer of 2007, after a long day of building trainers, it was time to relax.
I stumbled across The Blues Brothers playing on TV. There is a scene near the end of the movie where John Candy’s character, along with two other cops, is sitting in a bar as they’re getting ready to arrest The Blues Brothers. A server approaches the table and asks them if they want a drink.
John Candy points to the first cop and asks, “Orange Whip?”
Then he points to the second cop and asks, “Orange Whip?”
He looks back at the server and says, “Three Orange Whips!”
And just like that, it clicked. I knew instantly that the name of this swing trainer I developed would be the “Orange Whip.” You could say the Orange Whip was born as the new name and philosophy came together that day.
From Idea to Trusted Training Aid
Today, golfers of all levels around the world use the Orange Whip Trainer to improve the following:
- Tempo and rhythm
- Balance and coordination
- Swing consistency
- Swing Plane
It’s simple, effective, and built on the idea that the best swings are learned through feel.
And the name?
That came from a movie moment no one could have planned.
Jim Hackenber, PGA