Trackman for the masses

[nevets88]

I know Trackman has been out for awhile, but wow, hitting balls having a Trackman at your disposal is pretty cool. When do you suppose video camera and computer technology will become good and cheap enough for this to get to the mass market? Fast forward 5 or whatever years from now and if there was a Trackman for the iPhone, where you place your phone behind you (assuming someone doesn't steal it ) and your phone yells out "face angle 2 degrees ....", I would buy it. Actually, it would be great on an iPad like device, with the extra screen real estate. Looks like the future of golf is going more and more video. I play with people who just don't see the benefits and I totally disagree with them.

[joepro23]

I just went on their website and they have such a small market now that their customer list is side-scrolling on the top of the page. http://www.trackman.dk/Home.aspx It's probably not an exclusive list, but by scanning it I guess they are selling to golf associations, college teams, tour pros, country clubs/resorts, and a few randoms. I guess in the past few years the indoor version of it has come down in price though from $25k to $15k. http://www.golftodaymagazine.com/view.php?I=180

Obviously, the price needs to come down a lot more for the average golfer who's working on their game to look into it. That will most likely take several years, but it is not out of the question. I think there is a market for it when the price comes down and even now I bet driving ranges could make a lot of money off this if they charge a premium to use a trackman-equipped stall.

[iacas]

Looks like the future of golf is going more and more video.

To be clear, Trackman is radar. It has a camera to help you sight the target, but that's it (I think).

Obviously, the price needs to come down a lot more for the average golfer who's working on their game to look into it. That will most likely take several years, but it is not out of the question. I think there is a market for it when the price comes down and even now I bet driving ranges could make a lot of money off this if they charge a premium to use a trackman-equipped stall.

Dave and I are looking at getting a Flightscope and putting it through its paces here shortly. Those units are under $10k and are close to the functionality of a Trackman. How close we'll determine, but they're going to interview with us shortly too, so look for those.

[nevets88]

To be clear, Trackman is radar. It has a camera to help you sight the target, but that's it (I think).

Yes, I guess I also meant by that was more and more high tech than it is now, given all the stats tracked by Trackman, but video being a major enabler.

I was thinking about the future of golf, say 10, 15, 25 years from now and with video getting cheaper, smaller, with better resolution. I would imagine pretty much all instructors using some micro sized video gadget, obviously, but ubiquitous cameras on courses so they can make some money off a package of your televised personal round or hole in one and multiple cameras on one person (which we have now, but for the masses). I would even guess golf telecasts could be cheaper with drones flying around the course rather than expensive, hard to manage cranes. That would make for a great thread - what do you see happening to golf 20 years from now? One downer might be more limited resources changing how golf courses are managed. Looking forward to reading about Flightscope.

[tm22721]

Anything worth doing takes 10,000 hours to master and no sales gimmicks can improve that. The reason is that feel can't be taught can't be learned it must be EARNED through experimentation, trial and error.

[iacas]

Anything worth doing takes 10,000 hours to master and no sales gimmicks can improve that.

Yes, most of us have read that book. It's also complete hogwash, but that's just an opinion (mine). Besides, nobody's looking for mastery here in this thread, and "improvement" is an entirely different beast with different requirements.

The reason is that feel can't be taught can't be learned it must be EARNED through experimentation, trial and error.

So we shouldn't use any tools at all to help speed up the process? What kind of comment is that? We should use every tool available to us and within our reach and means to get better - video, trackman, the best instruction, the best training aids, the best equipment... the works.

[kfowler]

The reason is that feel can't be taught can't be learned it must be EARNED through experimentation, trial and error.

Yes and feel also lies. When ever something feels natural means I'm probably doing something wrong.

We're fortunate enough to have a local range with Trackman stalls. They're really cool but expensive. It'll be interesting to see what the future holds.

[nevets88]

So we shouldn't use any tools at all to help speed up the process? What kind of comment is that? We should use every tool available to us and within our reach and means to get better - video, trackman, the best instruction, the best training aids, the best equipment... the works.

I play with someone who said uploading videos to the internet for instructors and others to see and analyze is crazy. I unintentionally caught his swing on tape and he had a very flippy impact position, clubface leading the hands.

I was very tactful in broaching the subject and he was in full denial mode. I guess some people just aren't keen on new ideas or techniques. I sent him the Charlie Rose video of S&T.; Said it was pure hogwash.

We're fortunate enough to have a local range with Trackman stalls. They're really cool but expensive. It'll be interesting to see what the future holds.

How much does it cost to use them?