Feature World of Golf Performance Centre

The World of Golf at New Malden isn’t just your run of the mill driving range, in fact it’s not like any driving range I’ve ever been too. That’s because it’s Europe’s busiest range that improved even more last October when it opened the most advanced golfing facility in the UK, which helps golfers of all ability reach their potential using all the latest in game-improvement technology.

The World of Golf’s Performance Centre which is open to the public every day features everything you would want as a golfer and a teaching professional alike. It’s the only UK facility that boasts the GC2 Launch Monitor with HMT, Trackman, Flightscope, Science and Motion (SAM) putting lab and the latest Swing Catalyst technologies all under the one roof and it’s very, very impressive.

Opened by former Ryder Cup winning Captain Bernhard Gallacher, the Performance Centre is part of a £750,000 investment which includes nine PGA-qualified professionals, three of which are in the UK’s Top-100 golf tutors.

One of those professionals Duncan Woolger, who was one of the driving forces behind the upgrade say’s the Performance Centre is a unique golfing experience:

“The centre is open to golfers of all abilities and we wanted it to be a warm and welcoming place for them to come and test out all our latest technology.

“The clear windows were put in for us to be visible as we want to encourage golfers who are using one of the bays here at New Malden to come down and have a look at the upgrade and after that come in and see the new technology and what I and the other professionals can help them with.

“The centre is always staffed if they want to come in and enquire what is best for them and we’re also here to recommend how we can help them with their game”.

Each lesson no matter what technology you use will be filmed and then emailed to you with a voice over from one of the qualified coaches to ensure you understand the technical analysis that was discussed during the lesson, along with what you need to work on.

Swing Catalyst

I’ve used Trackman and Flightscope a few times in the last year, so I was excited and intrigued as to how the Swing Catalyst would differ. On the flip side of that I hadn’t had an actual golf lesson for many years so with the two combined I wondered how the morning would pan out.

I knew I was in good hands straight away as I was greeted by Duncan who was brilliant throughout. His teaching style is relaxed, informative and simple to understand which combined, works fantastically. I can see how after years in the business and with his experience he is in the Top-100 of UK golf tutors.

We chatted before I started swinging about how the Swing Catalyst works and how it would help me develop my game. Duncan also wanted to know about my game, what are my good shots? Where is my big miss? And what I would want to work and improve on if possible.

The Swing Catalyst records and streams live video images from a range of high-stream cameras to provide more than 200 frames per second. This allows you, the golfer to see straight away what the one swing looked like.

After hitting seven or eight shots when fully warmed up, Duncan brings you over to the main computer where you watch some of your best shots and gather the all-important numbers.

With what looks like a complicated system, he explains how it all works and what numbers relate to what in the swing, impact position, launch angle and so on. Fully trained on the system Duncan draws parallel lines to where the swing plane should be and what I should work on. Hitting more shots under his watchful eye and going over to the computer happens a few times more to see what, if any improvements have been made. I was astonished to see in just 20 minutes working with him my swing plane had improved and I had gained seven yards over a series of irons shots I hit.

Duncan compared my swing side-by-side from the start and end of his lesson to see where I had changed and what I needed to keep working on which was then emailed to me in a short video clip.

Praised by coaches around the world for its user-friendly system I can see why top players have now taken to it as well. As well as all the information it give in regards to the swing that I’ve spoken about the Swing Catalyst Balance Plates adds a new and impressive dimension to golf tuition allowing both coach and player to see what’s happening to the swing on screen that can’t be seen by the naked eye.

The Balance Plate, consisting of more than 2000 high-resolution pressure sensors, provides detailed foot pressure data, accurate pressure distribution, real time centre of pressure (CoP) and CoP patterns. The results are then synced with the images and data also collected by the hi-tech system to produce a sort of MRI scan of the golf swing. The heat sensors on the screens tell an instructor where - if any - power is being lost and where a possible bad shot will occur.

There is also a Swing Catalyst app that allows you to capture and analyse swings from anywhere along with comparing your swing to tour professionals and share the swings with your Swing Catalyst instructor directly from the app.

Other benefits of Swing Catalyst:

• View your swing on the 42-inch screen,
• Features the GC2 launch monitor with high-speed stereoscopic camera to measure what’s happening at the moment the club impacts the ball and provides feedback on ball speed, back and side spin and launch angle,
• Floor monitor to instantly view your swing without moving,
• A Huxley Premier tee mate that allows you to use your own tees and your own height.

On the rise

The year couldn’t have started better for World of Golf as on New Year’s Eve they celebrated 14 million balls being hit in 2014 confirming their status as the busiest range in Europe.

Being in a great location, just off London’s A3 is one of the reasons it’s been so popular to date, but the other reason for the increase in visitors last year (+4% from 2013) is the great incentive of the free of charge beginners programme. Golf is apparently in decline in this country but that can certainly be argued when you hear of the figures from World of Golf.

More than 3,000 beginner and junior classes were conducted at World of Golf in 2014, headed up by PGA South Coach of the Year Jon Woodroffe. Over 150,000 buckets of balls were hit and the increase in cars going in and out hit three million in a year, a record for the facility.

To make the World of Golf stand out even more, they have Protracer technology in 20 of its 60 floodlit bays. You can simply sync your smart phone or tablet device to the exclusive Wi-Fi to trace your ball flight which is the same as you see on the golf coverage on TV.

Free of charge, golfers can see how far they’ve hit the shot in terms of carry and total distance along with the competition mode that’s available that rewards each shot depending on how close they finish to the flag sticks out on the range.

Depending on whether you want to hit a few balls or you want to have your golf game looked at, the World of Golf and in particular the new Performance Centre is the perfect place.

To find about more visit www.worldofgolf.co.uk

At the moment World of Golf have an ongoing offer of a free 15 minute Swing Catalyst session with a Pro that is available at the time. 

Should you want longer the prices are as follows:

Master Teaching Professional: £38 - half hour / £65 – hour
Senior Teaching Professional: £32 / £54
Teaching Professional: £25 / £44