For over 25 years, video has been one of the primary methods I’ve used to show golfers what was happening in their swing motions. But through the advent of newer swing measurement technologies like FlightScope, we now know that video analysis alone can be misleading. We cannot rely totally on video because what we see with our eyes might not be what is actually happening with the golf club through impact. The FlightScope produces precise results of impact conditions as well as ball flight results. FlightScope also provides exact carry and roll yardages, spin rates, launch angle, and club and ball speeds. This helps the golfer gain an understanding of how swing changes are affecting the flight of the golf ball. Anytime a swing change is made, the FlightScope lets you see immediately what effect it had on the ball flight. The real-time feedback that FlightScope provides on the ball flight takes all the guesswork out of swing analysis. Swing changes can be made with confidence which makes learning much more effective. The golfer can control the clubface angle and delivery path of the clubhead more precisely, which is the bottom line goal.

Since introducing the FlightScope ball and club tracking device to my instruction program, I have been able to provide students with the ability to learn golf at a much faster rate than ever before. The data produced by the FlightScope adds a new layer to previous methods of learning golf. Here are a couple scenarios I encountered where the FlightScope has made a tremendous difference:

Generally, lower handicap golfers will often come for help with a hook. For many years this golfer has been trying to swing inside-out and compensates with a closed face producing a pull hook. Many times these shots are not pulls. A typical pull hook from a good golfer might have a path slightly on the inside, but the face is several degrees closed. The ball starts left due to the closed clubface and then continues hooking further left.

The golfer or even the instructor might think that a more in to out swing path would correct the hook. But actually this would make it worse. Old ball flight laws stated that the ball would start in the direction of the path of the clubhead and spin would be based on the clubface. Science has proven that it is the exact opposite. FlightScope has demonstrated that clubface provides 80-85% of the influence of not only the shot’s eventual direction, but its starting direction too. Path accounts for the remaining 15-20%.

Another example is a push slice. Most golfers might feel that they have gotten under plane. In reality it is most likely a clubface issue again, as FlightScope eventually proves to them. The push is probably the result of an open clubface and not an overly inside to out path. It is even possible that the golfer’s path is outside in a little, and the ball still starts to the right immediately.

FlightScope has revolutionized my instruction program. As a teaching tool, FlightScope’s instant club and ball data has helped my students gain a feel from the numbers thus leading to a more learning rich experience.