There’s a new vocabulary in the clubhouse. Forget about fairways hit, total putts and keeping a nice swing rhythm. In the digital era, golfers concentrate on velocities, angles of ascent and ground forces.
For a growing number of golfers, professionals as well as amateurs, there is no such thing as too much information.
Thanks to advances in computing speeds, satellites and mobile technology, no detail on the driving range, fairway or green is too small to be recorded, measured and played back, all in the hope of gaining an edge. Standard equipment at practice grounds of most PGA Tour and LPGA events is a little black box that the players check after each swing—a so-called launch monitor, capturing the speed, curve and spin of every ball hit. Wearable biometric devices provide 3-D images of hip rotations, shoulder flexes and spine angles. Mats with sensors measure the pressure that your legs and feet are transferring into the ground as you push off with your swing.
If all of that sounds complicated, it’s because it is. But it also can be well worth the complexity. On the PGA Tour, where swing speeds can exceed 130 miles an hour, any tiny difference in angles and body movements can make the difference between winning millions or playing for hotel money.
“With so much money on the line, players are willing to pursue any technical advantage,“ says swing instructor Claude Harmon III, who currently coaches the world No. 1 player, Dustin Johnson. “We’re like a Formula One race-car team, trying to gain half a second,” says Mr. Harmon. “Only in our case, it’s a half a shot per round.“
