The Golf Swing Monitor

The police use a speed gun to check the speed of approaching vehicles and a similar one is used in baseball to clock the speed of the pitch. Not to be left behind, golf has the “golf swing launch monitor” to study the art of the swing.

The golf swing monitor is designed to tell a golfer a host of information which include: club speed, angle of launch, face impact position, ball speed, flight time, distance carried and yards off line. The information gathered can help the novice and even the avid golfer study the physics of his swing, correct the errors that he s committing and get the proper golf swing.

The machine analyses more than a hundred swings of the golfer to give its results. Both amateurs and professional can use this contraption to better their swing.

These machines are produced by a number of companies and you can get one at the nearest sports goods store.

Now that you have your golf swing monitor machine and the results of its analysis, what exactly does the information convey? Just numbers? No. If properly understood it can tell you whether your ball speed is proportionate to your club head speed. If not, then it means that you are not striking the ball dead centre with the flat face of the club. A ratio of 1:1.5 would be an ideal one. Simply stated, a club head speed of 100 mph. should make the ball travel at a speed of 150 mph.

You might think that getting this ratio is easy. Think again. Most professionals get nearer the ratio of 1:1.4. If yours are far off, you need, not only more practice but also a change in basic technique.

The next thing that you could watch out is the lunch angle. The higher the better, as this parameter determines the travel distance of the ball. Your backspin should be less. You may achieve a launch angle near the optimal angle of 12 degrees but if your backspin spins near the 5000-rpm (revolutions per minute) mark, what you are going to get is a pop-up. Tiger Woods launches at more than 11 degrees with a backspin rate of around 2,200 rpm.

The more costly the machine the more number of parameters it will measure and analyse. It also depends on the software that is doing the analysis of the data gathered by the machine. If you can hook it up to your PC or your laptop, all the better.

Achieving the right launch and angle requires technique. Supplement the results of the analysis by the golf swing monitor with good advice from a seasoned coach, practice in front of a mirror or take a video recording of your swing and watch it to be on your way to get the proper golf swing.

Will the golf swing monitor help improve your game? If used properly, a definite yes. So you can think of getting one if all other golf swing instructions fail to improve your game.

Years ago there was no hardware or software to analyse your golf swing. We should be glad that such training aids are now available to improve your game and attain the proper golf swing. There is no more guessing involved, everything is down in numbers and numbers speak volumes.