Now Available at Golf Evolution - Smart2Move 3D Dual Force Plates

[iacas]

Smart2Move

https://www.smart2move.com/devices/3d-dual-force-plates

I now have a set of the Smart2Move 3D Dual Force Plates. These measure forces and torques in all three dimensions, and are portable (somewhat — each plate weighs about 12 pounds) and run wirelessly to an iPad. I've already used them for a session or two, and often I would just AirPlay my screen to the TV in my hitting station. It worked really well in early testing, and I'm excited to continue to work with Smart2Move and these plates.

@david_wedzik were among the first people in the world to own a SwingCatalyst. We have a BodiTrak as well. I'm on record as saying a few things regarding these things:

1. You can "see" what golfers are doing with your eyes, even if it's not really measured.
2. They were kind of a pain to set up and use.
3. Students are bad at understanding forces and torques.
4. Everyone has semi-decent nGRF; what you can gain from using them is somewhat limited, and instructors make too much out of GRF these days.
5. ROI?

In order…

1. You can see what golfers are doing with your eyes, even if it's not truly measured. They say "force precedes motion" and that's true. And I can see what golfers are doing - where they're applying forces, torques, etc. I don't know exactly how much, but my estimates would be pretty close. I don't necessarily need force plates to help golfers, or to see what they're doing, but… they do. Like I've found with GEARS, and my GCQuadMAX… golfers are more willing to make changes when they do something and I say "no, you didn't do it" when as I say that, I'm pointing to proof that they didn't do it. It carries more weight than just me saying "you didn't do it" based on what I saw. 😄 

2. They were kind of a pain to set up and use. They were; that's still true. These S2M plates are not. They connect to an iPad, not an entire PC with a dedicated, wired camera that has a hard time getting a good frame rate. The iPad gives 240 FPS video.

3. Students are bad at understanding forces and torques. They still are. You tell someone to add pressure to their left foot, and they'll push with their right foot to shift their weight left… thus adding force to their right foot. But, that's where I come in — I can explain what we're trying to do, and narrow their focus to one graph or one number.

4. Everyone has semi-decent GRF; what you can gain from using them is somewhat limited, and instructors make too much out of GRF these days. To be honest, I still think this is mostly true, but… I'm seeing enough people these days who shift their weight into their trail side toes instead of back toward the heel a bit, or who are super late getting forward, or who don't do some other things pretty easily seen on a graph, that I think I can narrow their focus to just the one thing, explain that thing, and make good progress. Plus, for better players, sometimes this timing — or the amount that they do it — can lead to a noticeable change, even if it takes them from a +1 to a +1.4, or a 110 MPH driver swing to 114.

5. No, at $14k, there would be no good ROI argument to be made. 😛 Erie is a "thrifty" town, after all.

I'm excited to have these again. Like I said, the old systems were a pain to use, and these are much easier, and need only an iPad. I'll be using them in "regular" lessons as well as in GEARS lessons.

Any questions?

[Ty_Webb]

Good points all. My coach has something similar to these, but not these ones specifically. He was telling me they are bespoke made for him by a scientist he works with. He showed me my pressure info and compared it with Padraig Harrington's. Mine looks pretty similar to his in directions and timing and so on, but my max GRF is something like 130% of my bodyweight, while his is something like 180% of his bodyweight. So while I'm doing it sort of right, I'm not doing it enough. That was pretty eye opening for me and helped me understand what I need to do. They don't get used all the time by any stretch, but if there's something that he wants me to work on and it'll show up on the force plates, then we break them out. I think that basically mirrors your point 4 exactly.

Regarding point 3, yes I think they are. You can say "you want that arrow to be pointing up, back and right", but until I can stand on the plate and move around until I get the line where I need it to be, I don't really know what that means or how to get it there. Sometimes you get yourself in a spot where it's simply impossible to get the line to move there without falling over, but it's very useful to understand why that happens and what you need to do to fix it. 

[iacas]

They look great! 😄