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How Trackman can help you feel more and think less

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Though the age old adage “drive for show, putt for dough” may be true on some level, we golfers know better. There may be no greater fear in golf than standing on the tee with the wind in your face and knowing you have to hit a fairway with out of bounds on one or… (gulp!) both sides. So while our skill with the flat-stick is certainly one of the key determiners of our success, scoring always starts with a well placed tee-ball. And when we struggle with the driver, golf becomes much more difficult.

Thankfully, help is around the corner. New technology is now making it possible to understand exactly what you do in your swing that makes the ball behave in certain ways. Armed with this knowledge, you can then learn how to feel a swing that gets the ball to travel on the lines you intend.

Enter Trackman

Trackman is a doppler-based radar that can measure, among other things, your swing path in relation to your target and the angle of your club face in relation to your swing path. Arguably, it is these two factors that have the greatest impact on the starting direction of your golf ball, and where it ultimately ends up.

What can Trackman do, and what do the numbers mean?

TrackMan provides accurate, real-time data and graphics on your ball’s launch conditions, flight, and landing. It can measure (among a whole host of other things) swing speed, club path, face angle, launch angle, spin and distance. For the purposes of this article, I am going to focus mainly on club path and face angle.

trackman data

Club path refers to the direction the club head is moving at impact. Face angle refers to the direction your club face is pointing at impact. Ideally, we want the ratio of club path to face angle to be 2:1 for a driver. So in the example above, we have a club path of 6 (meaning 6 degrees to the right), and face angle of 3.5 degrees open (right). This shot started 3.5 degrees right of the target and drew back toward the center, stopping 4.6 feet right of the target line.

This is good news for you and me. It means that we don’t have to be perfect. We just need to use our own unique swing and work to get the ratios in line.

How Trackman saved my driver

Though I’m a decent player, I struggled with my driver for a long time. I could hit a hit snap hook way to the left as easily as I could hit a big push or slice way to the right, so it was difficult to be confident in choosing the right target. In fact, I was so unpredictable, that during last year’s club championships I benched my driver in favor of a 3-wood for two of the three rounds. As you can imagine, I gave up yards to the top players, and didn’t fare as well as I had hoped.

The call for help

This past winter, I sought out Mark Elliott, the Track-Man of my club, and together we set out to save my driver (and my sanity!). 

The Starting Point, May 2014

Trackman article image 2

The Treatment Plan

Over our first few sessions, we determined that I had a fairly consistent inside path, but it was a lack of control with the club face that was causing my troubles off the tee.

Progress, November 2015

Trackman article image 3

How I used the data to think less and feel more

What I needed to do was to not think in terms of numbers, but instead learn the different feels. After I’d hit a shot, Mark would get me to predict the result and ask me how I made this conclusion. What we were doing was making cognitive connections. By predicting the face angle and/or path, I had to connect the feel of the swing to the result. I would then confirm what I felt with the data from Trackman.

The premise was that if I could learn to associate a certain feel to each result, I would be well on my way to making authentic improvement. Each session, we would work off the results. If the data showed my face was closed to the path, Mark might ask me to open the face a little. Of course, opening the face a little has no numerical value. It’s a feel and I would simply have to figure out how I could accomplish this request. It’s amazing how your mind uses logic to problem solve. Simple manipulations in ball position and stance can also make a big difference in path and face angles, and as you start to understand what happens when you change a variable (because Trackman gives you the freedom to experiment) you become very powerful. You learn how to manipulate path and face, and yet still make a similar swing.

When Mark asked me to open the face a little, I turned the grip to the right a tiny bit at address and then moved the ball back slightly in my stance. Then I made the exact same swing… and voila. The face to path ratio was 2:1 and the ball started just right of the target and drew back to center.

Progress, January 2015

Trackman article image 4

Progress, February 2015

Trackman article image 5

Progress, March 2015

Trackman article image 6

There is no doubt in my mind that Trackman can help average golfers, as well as low-handicap golfers. Most people think that by using data like this, they are complicating the game, but I would disagree. For me, Trackman actually made improving simpler, because I no longer had to stand on the range and make assumptions about why my shots went where they did. I knew. By training with Trackman, you will learn how an open face or an inside path feels, for example, and you’ll know what you need to work on.

It’s almost like having your own superhero, rocketing in from the future to save you from the evil “Dr. Hook.” Never fear, Trackman is here!

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Golfers may be the most obsessive group of sportsmen and women on the planet. We live and die with every drive, chip and putt we make. Chris is the founder of Thirteen Under Golf apparel, a 2-handicap, and an emerging author who understands the highs and lows of golf. As an eternal student of the game, (and an admitted Trackman junkie), he is constantly searching for ways to improve. Using his experience - both success and failure - Chris is will share his knowledge with the GolfWRX community to entertain, inspire and motivate you to playing your best golf.

25 Comments

25 Comments

  1. OldGolfer

    May 21, 2016 at 5:28 pm

    Trackman is a good ball tracker, but it CAN NOT measure anything associated with the face… it does not measure face angle.

  2. DB

    May 18, 2016 at 4:50 pm

    See what trackman does to normal golfers? Now people are arguing about the numbers on a clock face! Hahahaha. All joking aside, trackman is a useful tool! No one in their right mind would argue that, from a coaching perspective, it it a great tool to show a golfer some key data that’s causing shot shape or distance outcome . Try not to get too caught up in the numbers. The greats of the game all believed that golf was more mental than physical.

    • Joshuaplaysgolf

      May 19, 2016 at 1:19 pm

      LOL!! Seriously. What in the world is happening that people are arguing over clock faces? That’s an awful lot of thinking going on down there…for an article about feeling rather than thinking.

  3. Steve

    May 18, 2016 at 8:53 am

    Does Golfwrx get a check every time the word “Trackman” is used in an article?

  4. Durotan

    May 18, 2016 at 6:23 am

    Last week I was at this Demoday and to that event there was, of course, a TrackMan too.

    I tried my own driver in the TrackMan and got following numbers:

    Swingspeed = 117 mph.
    AOA = +0.5
    Smash = 1.42
    Carry = 260 yards

    And guess what? Because of my low smash factor the guy at the Demoday wanted to change my setup, and I asked why? His answer was so I could gain more distance.

    I was like. WTF? I don’t need more distance and I don’t need to change anything.
    I like the feel of my shafts.
    I like my ball flight.
    I like the gapping of my clubs.
    I like the dispersion.
    I am satisfied with my driving distance with my driver.
    I am satisfied with the distance with the irons.
    Basicly. I like it all. I like what my eyes see. I like what I feel.

    My point. IF you like what you SEE and FEEL, don’t try to play TrackMan, go out and play golf instead.

    • Durotan

      May 18, 2016 at 6:25 am

      Sorry: 284 yards carry*

    • Jack

      May 19, 2016 at 5:05 am

      With that CHS you should be arguing it well over 300 yards with half decent launch conditions

    • Jmike

      May 19, 2016 at 7:58 am

      Your smash factor is terrible tho,, I do fittings and Demos. Anyone with a 117mph club head speed should be carrying the ball alot further than 260yds

    • anthony

      May 19, 2016 at 9:30 am

      if you like your setup so much, what are you doing at a demo day in the first place?

  5. GEICO

    May 17, 2016 at 9:17 pm

    A: “Trackman is good.”
    B: “Yep, everybody knows that.”
    A: “Well, do you know that it costs you 50 grants?”
    B: “What?…”

    GEICO: “15 minutes on trackman won’t save you 15 strokes.”

  6. tom stickney

    May 17, 2016 at 2:44 pm

    Auditing your practice routine with Trackman is a good way to practice if you have access to one for sure, but be careful not to get too wrapped up in the numbers. Always use trackman with adult supervision I always say! 🙂

    • Tom

      May 18, 2016 at 8:22 pm

      Or know your numbers and if/when they go bonkers stop and go get help.

  7. Bassackwards

    May 17, 2016 at 1:24 pm

    You are the exact contradiction in terms of not understanding your own senses that millions of amateurs go through. You are actually thinking more about how you feel you should be applying your senses to the data given, not the other way around as you describe! It’s the validation of your thoughts with data that is supplementing your sense of feel that is making you understand what your club face doing, which you couldn’t do with feel before you started the Trackman sessions that provided you with the correct information necessary to make you THINK more about HOW it’s all being applied.

    That is why this worked for you, because you had it completely backwards and upside down in your understanding of your own senses, you needed the data so you can SEE what was going on.

    Now you know how hard it is for teachers to teach some students who have this backwards-sense problem.

  8. Spin

    May 17, 2016 at 1:14 pm

    Just get a new shaft and add get a more forgiving head. You’re trying to hit it too straight, which is what happens to everybody when they get on this type of analysis. If you can’t move the ball in any direction you want at will, then you have the wrong driver. Period. No need for Trackman.

  9. Chris Stinson

    May 17, 2016 at 1:02 pm

    Very well written article Mr billingsly. Looks like I better get on track and sort my swing out.

  10. Eric

    May 17, 2016 at 11:36 am

    Good write up. I’m thinking of taking trackman lessons to start dialing in some numbers, but it sounds like a good way to identify some swing issues as well.

    BTW – Each minute on the clock is 2 degrees. Not busting your B@!!$, just don’t want you getting into the weeds based on some bad math.

    • Shank

      May 17, 2016 at 2:16 pm

      2 degrees?? Don’t you mean 6 or am I missing something?

      360 degrees divided by 60 = 6 degrees.

    • Joe

      May 18, 2016 at 5:56 am

      6*60 = 360

    • Eric

      May 18, 2016 at 12:08 pm

      I see what you’re saying. I guess it depends how you look at a clock.

      12 hours with 60 minutes each – 12×60= 720 minutes 720 minutes/360 degrees = 2

      • TR1PTIK

        May 18, 2016 at 12:46 pm

        There are only 60 “minute” marks on a clock. Not 720. Each minute on the CLOCK is 6 degrees. I understand how you came to your conclusion, but you’re thinking in terms of time instead of positions on a clock face.

        • Eric

          May 18, 2016 at 12:56 pm

          Yep. Like I said, depends on how you look at a clock. No worries!

      • DW

        May 19, 2016 at 12:55 am

        If you take it that way then it would be 360 degrees / 720 minutes which is actually 0.5 degrees per minute. Taken in reverse, 0.5 degrees x 720 minutes = 360 degrees. By the way, where can I get a clock that shows 720 minutes?

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Instruction

The Wedge Guy: The easiest-to-learn golf basic

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My golf learning began with this simple fact – if you don’t have a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, it is practically impossible for your body to execute a fundamentally sound golf swing. I’m still a big believer that the golf swing is much easier to execute if you begin with the proper hold on the club.

As you might imagine, I come into contact with hundreds of golfers of all skill levels. And it is very rare to see a good player with a bad hold on the golf club. There are some exceptions, for sure, but they are very few and very far between, and they typically have beat so many balls with their poor grip that they’ve found a way to work around it.

The reality of biophysics is that the body moves only in certain ways – and the particulars of the way you hold the golf club can totally prevent a sound swing motion that allows the club to release properly through the impact zone. The wonderful thing is that anyone can learn how to put a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, and you can practice it anywhere your hands are not otherwise engaged, like watching TV or just sitting and relaxing.

Whether you prefer an overlap, interlock or full-finger (not baseball!) grip on the club, the same fundamentals apply.  Here are the major grip faults I see most often, in the order of the frequency:

Mis-aligned hands

By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.

The position of the grip in the upper/left hand

I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean.  Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.

To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.

Too much lower (right) hand on the club

It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.

Gripping too tightly

Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.

So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.

More from the Wedge Guy

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Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

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Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?

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How a towel can fix your golf swing

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This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.

For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.

Setup

You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.

While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.

Get a Better Shoulder Turn

Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.

In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.

Stay Better Connected in the Backswing

When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.

Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.

Conclusion

I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.

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