Trackman & Video

Hello All,

I havent used the forum nor the site for a while, mostly due to lack of playing golf. It was my birthday last week so I went to Tour x in warrington and was treated to a fitting and a new driver by my other half. She tells me "its ok" to play more golf, we recently got a window cleaner and a gardener, both tasks tend to be completed in the time im out playing so I figure she must really love me and is doing all of this for my good, ive got a good one there.....anyway

I feel I must share, for those of you that have never experienced it, my first involvement with trackman. Trackman was on during my fitting, due to my slightly erratic driver swing I didnt learn too much during this process. Impressed with the capability of the device i went back for a lesson last night.

The lesson I had from the pro Adrian wasnt a lesson, he didnt give me his opinion, didnt change what i did, he just told me things, knowledge is power (and distance and accuracy), the club strikes down at the ball trackman said, comes slightly accross trackman said, is your poor shot an aggressive fade? I was asked before the fitting and explained it was.. It was like cluedo without rooms and weapons. not believing exactly what trackman nor he said, im not naive pah, I went to the range following the fitting, I recognised that the face was going down as I struck the ball so made adjustments moved it forward, I recognised that my swing was coming accross so made minimal adjustments, from the video seeing hands at impact I tried to push more and from the video I changed my weight distribution to not be too forward and "over it". I hit balls, first 10 ok, next 25 better than i can remember hitting since i started the game, then it tailed off as the demons riding the horses of "think you ve mastered it" thundered mentally through my practice session.

I write this not because I beleive I am instantly a better golfer nor because i had a relatively good range session after my lesson. What trackman and the pro did was educate me on faults that were causing what was happening, stats supported this, nothing was changed, just try this, what do you think of this and the information was given about what happens in different scenarios and where I fitted.

It was different to any other lesson ive had, I wonder what peoples views of this are? Have you had a lesson with trackman? I felt it less intrusive and far more useful as I could interpret what I was told and change it myself...worked far better for me seeing it and the stats and ball distribution clearly showing me the difference.

Hi Gavin, great to hear you found technology useful. These types of systems are now becoming more popular with pros and there are even systems aimed at home Users as this tech has now become realistic in price. I own a company called golf tech systems where we have golf technology aids and simulators available at home user prices. We only run three types of product as we feel these are the most beneficial and value for money. We have a Demo centre so you can try the different systems before committing to purchase. Please find a golfshake review here http://www.golfshake.com/news/view/5776/Golf_Technology_at_your_Fingertips.html and contact me if you have any questions. All the best, Steve

I had my monthly lesson last week and for the first time we got my driver out. This was at my request because I have been losing it right recently (a slight push with a slight fade). First we looked at the video and my coach couldn't see anything wrong. He actually said "I love that swing you're making"; most unusual as I'm used to being scolded! He put the trackman on and straight away we could see the problem.

I thought I was swinging a little out-to-in and cutting the ball. Trackman showed is was actually 4 to 6* in-to-out. The problem was I wasn't squaring the club face fully, leaving it 7 to 9* open. Nett result was a a slight push-fade. A new drill with an upright alignment stick 10 yards in front of me (start the ball right of it, finish it left - a draw around the stick) is what I need to do in practice to fix the issue. Not that I can do it....

Point is I was certain my swing path was wrong and I was getting frustrated trying to fix something that wasn't broken and not the real cause. Five minutes on trackman and we identified the real problem and had devised the best way to fix it

Technology can really help you to correct issues if you use it properly. Quite often in golf whatever you think you are doing is totally different to what you are actually doing. Things like trackman help you to see what's really going on so you can make the right corrections

My coach put me on his Trackman type machine in my last lesson as like Chris i was letting my drives fade a bit too much for my liking.

Anyhow the readings showed my swing to be out to in and also too steep an attack angle.

So my coach changed my swing path to be more around my body, we practised the take away on a practice board for about 5mins and then went back on the machine.

Wow the instant feedback was amazing, the readings were completely different. Attack angle was much reduced and swing was much much less out to in. Also the ball flight was either straight or slight draw.

This was about 4 weeks ago. Yes it has taken me about 3 weeks for my brain to accept the new swing and for it become more automatic - but the difference in my ball striking, flight of ball and distance obtained is staggering from one slight change.

If you get a chance to go on one of these machines then take up the opportunity!!