Golf Swing Analyzers: How To Use These Devices To Get The Most Out Of Your Golf Swing
Golf swing analyzers could not have been invented without modern electronics and computer technology. They attach miniature sensors to your golf club, which transmit information about your golf swing for analysis by an advanced computer program. This program compares your swing against their database of the perfect golf swing, then spits out an analysis of your flaws and suggestions on how to correct them.
In their simplest application, golf shops use them to help you in getting the correct golf club. They analyze the speed of your swing, as well as the flex and torque of your golf club shaft. With these information, they determine the best golf club length, best shaft flex and stiffness and even the best club head weight for you. The problem is that even the most sophisticated golf swing analyzers cannot perfectly analyze your swing. You need to treat the process of buying your new clubs in the same way you would buy a new pair of spectacles.
When you go to an optometrist, he uses an analyzer to get an idea of how powerful a lense you need for your spectacles. After that, he tests your eyesight using a few different lenses around that power. The final prescription uses the lense which gives you the clearest vision. You need to buy your new golf clubs the same way. Once the machine spits out your specifications, you need to try out many different clubs which fit that specification. Do not let the salesman shoehorn you into his idea of the best club. This will only lead you into buying the most expensive golf club.
Golf swing analyzers also exist for personal use, costing anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. They claim to help you achieve the perfect golf swing by analyzing your golf swing mechanics. There is a fundamental problem with this. What is their baseline for the perfect golf swing? None of the top golf professionals swing their clubs the same way. At best, you can classify them into two camps of golf swing techniques – Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh swing in one plane, while Jack Nicklaus swings in two planes.
Before you can use these analyzers, you need to know which camp your golf swing techniques fall into. You also need to know which camp the analyzer follows. Golf swing analyzers normally model a single player. You need to be comfortable swinging your golf club the same way as this model player. Ideally, the closer your physique is to him, the more effective the device will be in helping you. For example, very few golfers in the forties or fifties match Tiger Woods’ physical build and fitness, so a golf swing analyzer which models him is useless to them. If you are 5 ft 6 in, an analyzer which models Ernie Els (6 ft 3 in) will not help you much.
Frankly, for the same amount of money, you are better off buying more balls and time on the driving range to practice your swing. Face it, golf is still more art than science, and the best way to improve is to do what the best players do – hit more balls on the golf course.