How A Launch Monitor Could Improve Your Game
Golf Monthly technical editor Joel Tadman highlights eight compelling reasons why you need to use a launch monitor if you want to improve your game and lower your scores! He uses the Foresight Sports GCQuad to demonstrate how a launch monitor can improve your driving, chipping, putting and even strategy choices and range time.
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00:00Hello everyone, Joel Tadman here from Golf Monthly and in this video we're going to highlight
00:08some of the reasons why you need to use a launch monitor.
00:12There's an awful lot of technology and innovation in golf recently and a launch monitor is one
00:17of those bits of kit you really shouldn't overlook.
00:21A lot of you are probably wondering what is a launch monitor?
00:23Well it's essentially a bit of kit that measures or tracks what the club is doing into impact
00:30and then what it's doing as it strikes the ball and what the ball is doing after impact
00:34and it kind of quantifies what it's doing into various forms of data that can be then
00:39used for club fittings, lessons and a variety of applications outside of that that we're
00:44going to cover in this video.
00:46Now at this point I need to remind you that if you're new to the Golf Monthly YouTube
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00:57watching.
00:58So I think it's about time we get into the various different reasons why you need to
01:01use a launch monitor, starting with knowing how far you hit your clubs.
01:05It's on the good line but it's come up short and that's the main reason, number one, why
01:27you need to use a launch monitor and it's to work out exactly how far you hit your clubs.
01:32The majority of golfers out there overestimate how far they hit their clubs so if they think
01:37they hit a 7 on 150 yards more often than not they actually hit it at about 130 or 140
01:42yards and that's a really crucial mistake because the majority of hazards on a golf
01:47course are short of the green so that's going to get you into a lot of trouble and it's
01:51going to really affect your scoring.
01:53You really need to avoid these hazards by hitting the appropriate club for this shot
01:57that's in hand and that's where using a really good launch monitor like the Foresight Sports
02:01GC Quad can help you out because it will tell you exactly how far you hit your club,
02:06how far they carry and also how far the total distance is which is really important with
02:10a driver on a hole if you're trying to avoid hazards.
02:12So get yourself on a launch monitor, hit a number of shots with each club in your bag,
02:17make a note of the average distance and keep that with you for safekeeping as a record
02:21if you don't remember it you can refer to it out on the golf course so when you're over
02:24the ball you know how far you've got, these reputable GPS's and laser range finders give
02:30you the distance you need to hit the shot but if you haven't got the club to do it or
02:34you hit the wrong club you're going to get yourself into trouble so use the right club
02:38for the job in hand and you should see a more positive result more often than not.
02:52When working on our game or analysing our own swing we tend to have a pretty good idea
02:57about what the club is doing through the ball based on the ball fight that we see
03:01down the range but we're never 100% sure and that's why you really need to use a launch
03:06monitor to give you that immediate feedback and a camera based launch monitor like the
03:11Foresight Sports GC Quad we've got here is really clever because it uses four high speed
03:16high resolution cameras to measure and capture exactly what the ball is doing just after
03:21impact so it will tell us the ball's launch and spin and speed and then it will use accurate
03:28ball flight models to predict things like the curvature of the flight and the carry
03:33distance and the height of the flight as well so it's really important to give you a clear
03:37picture about what the club and ball are actually doing and the GC Quad can actually also capture
03:43club data because it's positioned in front and on the target side of the golf ball it
03:48has a direct view of that collision between club and ball so it can tell us things like
03:53angle of attack, the path of the club and also the loft and the line and that's also
03:58really important but it measures it independently from what the ball is doing so that's another
04:02key crucial difference between a camera based launch monitor like the GC Quad.
04:07It's really easy to collect that data and interpret it because the GC Quad for example
04:12has inbuilt WiFi so the pairing process whether you're using a laptop or an iPad is really
04:16seamless it's really quick and easy to do but then once you've got all that data it
04:21can be quite confusing there's an awful lot of ball and club data to get your head around
04:25and that's why it's really important to get that data in front of a PJ Pro who can really
04:30then use their knowledge to interpret the data and put you on the best course of action
04:35and if you do that I think you'll be pleasantly surprised about how quick the improvement
04:40is and it basically takes the guesswork out of what you're doing and how you're trying
04:44to change your swing.
04:45There's no point basing your changes on something that you see or that you think is happening
04:50that isn't actually accurate so the fact that it's based on facts should definitely speed
04:55up your improvement.
04:56Now one of the common pitfalls golfers fall into is not taking into account the outdoor
05:11conditions when hitting balls on a driving range you can see today maybe from the clouds
05:16there is a bit of a crosswind from right to left but if you don't take that into account
05:20when you're hitting balls obviously you're going to be hitting shots on the range and
05:23the balls are going to be drawing so maybe you go out on the course thinking that for
05:27today you're going to be hitting a draw so maybe you aim slightly to the right to allow
05:31for that but then you hit on the course and actually your ball goes dead straight or even
05:35cuts off to the right and that's because you haven't taken into account what those conditions
05:39are doing down range and that's where using a launch monitor can really help you out especially
05:43one like the Forstner Sports GC Quad because this uses closed data which isn't affected
05:49by down range conditions so basically what you can do is use it's alignment tool here
05:54which I've got here it's just a kind of little fold out stick and it will basically automatically
05:58calibrate to wherever you want it to be pointing to so you can basically pick out that yellow
06:03flag down there and if I line the stick up to where I want it you can see it's already
06:07calibrating it gives you a little beep so there it's targeted now right at that yellow
06:13flag there just a little beep there so then you can take the stick away you know it's
06:16pointing the launch monitor is set up at the target that you want to be hitting to so even
06:22if you do hit a shot and it is affected by the crosswind that won't come out on the data
06:27on the launch monitor so let's hit a shot here at that yellow flag oops move it into
06:35the hitting zone the other good thing about the GC Quad is that it does have a really
06:41a large hitting zone so you can have a full session using it on grass you haven't got
06:45to keep moving it based on where your divots are you can basically hit a full range bucket
06:49on grass and off the mat of course so right let's hit this six iron towards that yellow
06:54flag pretty good shot did drift a little bit on the wind but that won't be reflected in
07:05the data so again gives you a clearer picture of how you're hitting the ball on the day
07:10which should help you then out on the golf course now there are certain types of shot
07:23around the green that we all want to pull off and it's only through experimentation
07:26during practice that we work out exactly the best way to master them but actually using
07:31a launch monitor can really speed up that process for example if you want to play that
07:36low flying high spinning that chip shot that really checks up quickly that Phil Mickelson
07:41plays so well you might adjust your technique in a certain way for example you might decide
07:46to lean the handle forwards as well to get the ball launching really low or you might
07:50move the ball position back there's different things you could try but actually you might
07:54find that hitting shots on the launch monitor you know that immediate feedback telling you
07:57that maybe this shot doesn't actually spin quite as much with that shaft leaning forward
08:02than if you had it in a more neutral position so that process of experimentation is just
08:06sped up significantly so it allows you to kind of master how are you going to play that
08:11shot a bit quicker and gives you that feedback as to how you're going to get the most spin
08:16and the best ball flying result for your game I'm pretty happy with that one so like I said
08:26using a launch monitor can speed up that process of experimentation and help you pull off those
08:30difficult shots around the green. Now wedges are your scoring clubs and a decent launch
08:45monitor can really help you make sure you have even distance gaps between the wedges in your
08:50bag whether you carry two three or four it's really important to have even distance gaps
08:54between those wedges to make sure you're covering up as many distances as you can
08:58but where a launch monitors can also help you out is on those really awkward kind of half swing or
09:03three-quarter swing wedge shots you know if you've hit a good drive on a short par four or maybe
09:07you're close to the green on a par five you really need to make the most of those opportunities you
09:13know maybe even make a par or even a birdie and by mastering those different distances
09:17it's really going to help you out and launch monitors going to help you do that there are a
09:20number of methods out there to help you so there are some teachers and golfers out there that
09:25recommend so you have three different wedges you then have three different swings with each of
09:29those wedges so for example you could have all your hands go to waist height chest height and
09:35shoulder height and so therefore you've got nine different distances across all your different
09:39wedges covered off but it's only by using a launch monitor you would then know exactly how far each
09:45of those shots go so for example I've got my 54 degree wedge here and we're going to do a chest
09:50high swing with the wedge and the launch monitor is telling us that goes 62 yards so you get again
09:59immediate feedback from the launch monitor to tell you how far you're hitting those shots
10:04and that should certainly help your scoring around the greens
10:07so you might be surprised to hear that it's not just your long game where a decent launch monitor
10:20can help you out no there are some out there that can provide an analysis of your putting
10:25one of those is the Foresight Sports GC Quad and that's really important if you're maybe going
10:29through a putter fitting or simply want to know that the putter you're currently using
10:33is giving you the best performance and there are a couple of key areas of performance you're
10:38looking at with putter most notably the launch angle but also how well it's rolling so we're
10:44looking at things like skid and the distance from when you strike it to when the ball is
10:49achieving true roll so when it's rolling end over end and obviously the shorter the better
10:53the more likely it is to stay on line if it's got a shorter skid distance and the GC Quad will give
10:59you that skid distance with its putting analysis so you know for example if i just hit a putt here
11:05hopefully hold it for you there we go and we can see on the screen here it's got a variety of
11:12numbers but like i mentioned the launch and the skid and distance to roll are the most important
11:17so if you're looking to change your putter or just want to kind of see if your putter is performing
11:21as well as it should do get on a launch monitor and hopefully those numbers will really help you out
11:34now just because it's raining freezing cold or pitch black outside doesn't mean
11:39you can't work on your game if you have a launch monitor that's right you can practice in total
11:44comfort when others can't giving you that competitive edge and you don't need a room
11:49like this to do it in really all you need is a mat a net and some sort of compatible device like a
11:55laptop or ipad to work with the launch monitor to give you all the relevant numbers and ball
12:00flights so whether you just want to hit various shots on a virtual range or maybe you want to
12:05compare two different demo clubs that you're thinking of buying to see which one works best
12:09you can do that with a setup like this and if you're lucky enough to have foresight's
12:13FSX software that kind of takes it one step further and provides a lot of different skills
12:18challenges for you to really hone in certain areas of your game there's a short game one
12:22where you can chip and pitch to under six feet challenge there's nearest the pin challenges
12:27there's online long drive championships where you can compete with other online users so that's a
12:32fantastic way to really keep playing when the weather's bad outside and you can't hit balls
12:36outside you can come inside work on your game and hopefully improve ready for the start of next
12:42season and that's the benefit of using a camera based launch monitor like the foresight sports
12:47GC quad it captures shots within some relatively small space and basically all you need is a room
12:52that's big enough to swing a club in and you're good to go now using a launch monitor doesn't
13:06always have to be about the serious process of improving your game it can also be about having
13:11fun and there are various software packages out there if you have a setup similar to this with a
13:16screen you can undertake various different games for example foresight have a really good
13:21software package where you can go through various different fairground games they're really really
13:26fun to do we've done some bullseye challenges on dartboard we've done some putting challenges
13:31with temping bowling and we've also done a shooting range as well we're trying to kind of
13:36punch targets and knock them down it's a really really fun thing to do and it can also get
13:41different people into the game that maybe hadn't considered playing golf before because they thought
13:45it was too boring you get them along into a similar setup like this you know socialize together
13:50and get them playing these games and i'm pretty confident they'll really enjoy the experience and
13:54potentially get them hooked on golf and get them keen to play proper golf out on the golf course
14:00another thing you can do is also play some of the world's best courses from the comfort of your own
14:05home and you can see here we've got the 18th hole at the famous Wentworth West course second shot
14:11into this par five i'm 225 yards away and i'm going to have a go at trying to hit the green
14:16and it's a great thing you can do with your friends get them all round play around together
14:21on a famous course have a few drinks it's a lot of fun and really put them under pressure like i
14:26feel like i'm i'm under pressure now so 225 yards into this par five let's see if we can hit the green
14:32oh it was a good strike it's gotta go oh it was wet unfortunately that's so annoying but as you can
14:48see it's a lot of fun to play courses like this and i think you'll agree it's really going to
14:54bring people together so hopefully you'll agree we've highlighted some pretty compelling reasons
14:58as to why you need to get yourself on a launch monitor in this video and yes it's true that the
15:04best launch monitors on the market do come in at a very premium price there are some options out
15:09there that make them easily accessible to you for example on the foresight sports website you can
15:14click on their venue finder feature type in your postcode and it'll give you a rundown of all the
15:18pj pros in your area that own a launch monitor there are also a variety of finance options
15:24available so through foresight you can own a gc2 which is a slightly uh older version of their top
15:30quality launch monitor for just four pound a day so you can own a launch monitor there are affordable
15:35ways you can do that guys i'd love to hear from you so make sure you come on this video tell me
15:40have you used a launch monitor and what do you think of it and if you haven't used the launch
15:44monitor has this video convinced you to go and use one whether on the driving range or maybe even out
15:48on the golf course with your local professional i'd love to hear from you so whether it is club
15:53fittings lessons whatever it might be hopefully you'll agree that getting on a launch monitor
15:57is the perfect starting point for improving your game