Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/366073
It's said that you can't buy a golf game, but through the use of technology, that thinking may be changing. With all sorts of high-tech equip- ment close at hand in golf shops and teaching labs, golfers these days can be custom fit in short order with the best gear, or swing, money can buy in the pursuit of perfecting the game that refuses to be mastered. One of the new- est electronic gizmos for fitting in the marketplace is FlightScope, a radar-based unit that measures everything from a player's swing path to ball flight in a matter of seconds. "FlightScope uses Doppler radar to actually give every single piece of information necessary to fit any golf club a customer is look- ing for, from a driver right down to a wedge," Marc Lalonde, the sales manager at Nevada Bob's ultra- sleek new store in West Edmonton Mall explained. "It just gives a visual concept. Customers can see everything from their launch angle to their spin to clubhead speed." Through the use of this equip- ment Lalonde says "every single customer gets fit properly," in order to hit the ball harder and thus farther. "That way the club works for them and what they've got, not just something straight off the rack." One guy who's been there and done that in the sport is the man heading up the Steve Lawrence Golf Academy in St. Albert, just outside of Edmonton. He's played on pro tours for a decade and now, as a highly certified coach/ instructor, he feels that by using a component like Trackman Performance System technology everyone can become a better player in a shorter time than in the past. Trackman, which also uses Doppler radar, is the go-to tool on the PGA Tour and as such its revelations on swings and ball flight are spot-on, said Lawrence. "It captures the ball flight and club data probably the most accurately in the industry. Doppler radar is just so accurate; accurate to within a foot for every 100 yards of distance. It's just a far superior capture method to lasers or cam- eras," as the PGA players look to fine-tune the full swing aspects of their game. For the average player like the vast majority of us, Trackman takes the guesswork out of why something's gone wrong with your swing and for that matter, your ball flight. "The Trackman system is linked with video so what it does is give you a great visual image of how the data translates to your game. It will take your club path aspect, club face aspect, link it with the video and give you images to take a lot of the terminology out of the instruction," explained Lawrence who added seeing is believing. A system that uses camera- based technology, the proprietary g-Swing that's employed by golfTec Edmonton, is designed to give feedback for improvement through video and motion measurements, Luke McKenzie, the centre man- ager and director of instruction explained. "We use five factors: The proven path to proven results. It's a fact- based diagnosis," he explained. "We use a device to measure the body to see how the shoulders and hips turn, tilt and bend throughout the golf swing to better utilize the body. We've tested it on Tour play- ers so we have their average to compare to (those of) students." At golfTec, students are instruct- ed on how the monitoring equip- ment functions so they can use it on their own during practice time at an indoor bay. "They can go through their swing frame-by- frame by using the button box," McKenzie pointed out. "It's a great tool to see what you're doing and to practice with a purpose." As for how this works in sim- ple terms, McKenzie noted, "We use the Foresight launch monitor that's photogenic as opposed to radar. Foresight is top-of-the-line, cutting-edge equipment, very accu- rate. Our system is continually being tested and improvements are always coming down the line." Based on what and where stu- dents want to improve, golfTec takes that information and bases TECHNOLOGY BY GORD MONTGOMERY Maybe Money Can Buy You A Game 54 INSIDE GOLF