How To Use Technology During the Off-Season To Improve Your Golf Game
(Foresight Golf’s GC3 Launch Monitor)
We have had a player hit 10 shots with the same club (8iron). Let’s take a look at these 10 shots and see how we can use the information from the GC3 to identify opportunities for improvement and how to structure effective practice where appropriate.
Distance Finding –
One of the most basic ways in which you can use the GC3 technology this off-season (or anytime really) to benefit your golf game is to use it to get an accurate assessment of how far you hit each club in your bag.
When finding out your distances it is important to use Carry Distance as the most valuable number instead of Total Distance because on the golf course it is more valuable to know how far your golf ball is going to travel in the air when it comes to landing the ball on the green, carrying bunkers and other hazards. Total distance is much less accurate, because how far the ball is going to roll on the ground is dependent on course conditions and will be much more variable.
In this sample of 10 shots, key numbers that we can pull are:
Average Carry Distance = 144.8 yds
Shortest Carry Distance = 139.1 yds
Longest Carry Distance = 150.9 yds
Range Between Shortest and Longest = 11.8 yds (35.4 ft)
For this player it would be reasonable for them to say that the their 8-iron is their 145yd club. With this information the player is now armed to make better club selection decisions on the golf course. Once on the golf course other factors that will have an effect on carry distance will also have to be taken into consideration by the player, such as wind direction (into the wind, downwind, cross-winds), topography (is the target uphill or downhill), location of hazards etc.
But having the basic information of 145 yds Carry Distance for an 8-iron is an important starting point for this player.
Mistake to avoid: A common error that is made by recreational players is to over estimate the distance they hit each club in their bag. In this particular group of shots we could see a player incorrectly drawing from these numbers that they hit their 8-iron 161 yds (shot 9 – total distance). This would be an over-estimation of 16 yds which would lead to a number of poor club selection choices on the golf course.
One thing to note: When using a small sample size such as 10 shots (this would be a minimum) it may be best to use Median to calculate your Carry Distance. Using Median instead of Average (Mean) won’t allow for you data to be skewed by one or two shots that are too far away from normal/“outliers” either good or bad.
Taking the time to find you Carry Distance for each club in your bag will definitely have a positive effect on your golf game and allow you to make better decisions on the golf course and play with more confidence.
