#swingbyte

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Getting to know Plane Truth Golf’s Jim Hardy & Chris O’Connell  - The Instructors Behind Virtual Coach.

While the artificial intelligence technology behind Virtual Coach is impressive, it wouldn’t be complete without a systemized instruction methodology to inform its operations. 

That’s where Jim and Chris come in...

About Plane Truth Golf? 

Plane Truth Golf is an instructor training program that boasts over 250 instructors from more than 15 countries, many of whom work with high level players. A half dozen Plane Truth instructors are ranked in Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers list and numerous others are listed as best in their respective states.

Plane Truth Founder, co-founder Jim Hardy, might be the only instructor who has successfully been able to compile and clearly communicate his life’s work in an easy to understand system of faults and corresponding drills. The Plane Truth system of faults and fixes, created in conjunction with Plane Truth co-founder and PGA Tour instructor Chris O’Connell serves as the foundation of their certified instructor program and the knowledge base for Swingbyte Virtual Coach.

About Jim Hardy

Jim Hardy is best known for his original thoughts on the golf swing, theories born from nearly 50 years of golf teaching experience. He was named National PGA Teacher of the Year in 2007, inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame in 2011 and World Teachers Hall of Fame in 2015. He has been on the Golf Magazine Top 100 Teachers list and the Golf Digest top 50 (currently ranked #7) for more than 25 years.

Michael Breed interviews Jim Hardy on the Golf Channel

Jim has authored several books including his best-selling instruction book The Plane Truth for Golfers which spawned a hugely popular DVD series. He has presented as a featured instructor five different times at the annual PGA Teaching Coaching Summit and is a frequent contributor for Golf Magazine, Golf Digest, and has served as color analyst for NBC and ESPN. He currently teaches PGA and Champions Tour professionals Peter Jacobsen, Olin Browne, Stan Utley, Darren Clarke, David Duval and Scott Piercy, among others.

About Chris O’Connell

Chris O’Connell is one of Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Teachers and has been named Golf Digest’s Best Young Teachers since 2010. He’s the Vice President and Co-Founder of The Plane Truth Golf Institute (along with his mentor, Jim Hardy), a business dedicated to training golf instructors and providing instruction to golfers worldwide through innovative teaching tools. He currently coaches PGA Tour player Matt Kuchar and serves as the Director of Instruction for The Plane Truth at The Courses at Watters Creek in Plano, Texas. Chris is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame. For more, check out some of Chris' instruction recently featured on the Golf Channel.

If you're interested in learning more about Plane Truth Golf or finding an instructor in your area please visit www.planetruthgolf.com to learn more.

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A Quick 9 with PGA Instructor, Bill Schmedes III

1. What do you like the most about using Swingbyte?

BS3: I love the feedback it offers. The simple animation and different angles are very helpful for both me and the average golfer who’s going to use Swingbyte on their phone or tablet.

2. How do you typically use Swingbyte when you’re teaching a student?

BS3: I mostly use it with putting.

3. From an instructor’s perspective, why do you like using Swingbyte?

BS3:  It makes my life easier because I can give a player a putting drill and the Swingbyte data will let them know if they’re doing the drill correctly. It validates what I’m saying and helps the student understand the process. When they see the data change as they work on the drill, they get excited to go use it at home.

4. Which data points do you usually focus on?

BS3: For putting, shaft lean, face to address and attack angle are my three key metrics. Then I look at the path the putter is moving on as the fourth key metric. I try to relate everything back to how changes in the student’s setup, forward bend, posture, grip and eye-line will effect the data we’re looking at and ultimately, how the ball rolls on the green.

5. What type of drills do you do with Swingbyte?

BS3: For the average golfer who wants help with putting, I’ll use training aids like a putting track to give them a feel what it’s like to move the putter head through and keep it square. Using a training aid helps to ingrain the feeling of bringing it through square. Then I’ll remove the track, put down a couple alignment sticks and have them make some strokes to see how close they can get to the numbers they were getting with the training aid. It doesn't have to be perfect, just closer. When a golfer can get the face to address close 0 and their shaft lean at impact back to where it started at address, they’re getting better.

6. Which Swingbyte features do you find most helpful in your teaching?

BS3: The data points I mentioned above [shaft lean, face to address and attack angle] and the 3D animation-- being able to view the swing from any angle is very helpful. I also really like the fact that it’s affordable and easy to use. It allows my students to continue to practice at home.

7. What is the most common challenge amateur golfers face?

BS3: Most people don’t have a lot of time to work on their game. So if I can help them understand what they need to do and assign them the proper drills, Swingbyte can help back it up and give them ability to work on their own. All this helps them improve faster. 

8. What advice do you have for anyone looking to take his or her golf game to the next level?

BS3: The first thing I’ll do with a new student is talk with them about their game and where they want to improve. 90% of people I talk to say, “I’m a pretty good putter and chipper but i need to work on my ball striking.”  What I see is that the average golfer needs a lot of help improving around the greens but they often don’t want to put the time into practicing because it seems easier when compared to full swing. If the hole’s only a few yards away from you, it may seem less intimidating but in reality, if you’re not doing something correctly, there’s a lot that can go wrong and that’s where you waste a lot of strokes. I like to put a lot of emphasis on practicing the short game and putting.

9. Any parting thoughts for our readers?

BS3: Work on short game and putting. And if you’re on the fence about Swingbyte, get one. It’s a simple, affordable way to make sure you’re working on the correct things, whether it’s full swing or putting. You’re going to get immediate feedback right there on your phone-- with the data and 3D angles Swingbyte gives you I think it can help any golfer looking to improve.

About Bill: 

Bill Schmedes III is a PGA Class A member and the Director of Instruction at Fiddler's Elbow CC in Bedminster, NJ. He has spent time learning under many of the greats in the game including Gary Gilchrist and Patti McGowan.

Bill has been fortunate enough to be able to work with all ages and abilities. He loves working with the beginner golfer just as much as he does a tour player! His players have won on the local, state, junior, and national levels. www.bs3golf.com 

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Are you Changing Your Swing Enough to Improve?

If you play golf, chances are good that you’ve heard more than your fair share of “quick fixes” from coaches and other players. This advice, while sometimes helpful, can often leave you more confused and potentially worse off then you were before you heard it.

The reality is, if you’ve struggled with a certain part of your game for years, you’re most likely going to have to try something that seems very different in order to make a meaningful and lasting swing change. 

Adding to this dynamic, is the fact that we’ve become accustomed to getting the things we want faster and with less effort than ever before. Yes, there are some great training resources out there, but all the technology and training aids in the world won’t help unless you have the right mindset, dedication, and information to go along with it.

With all the information out there, how do we develop a realistic understanding of what’s required to actually improve? 

For help, we asked a few Plane Truth Golf Instructors, “When working on a swing change, what’s important for a golfer keep in mind?”

Here’s what they had to say: 

Chris O’Connell, Director of Instruction, The Plane Truth at The Courses at Watters Creek: In order to make a significant swing change and really improve your golf game, you need to get out of the box. Most golfers plateau because they think they’re making a swing change but they’re really not. They get to a point hitting thin hooks and they die 30 years later hitting thin hooks. You either need a device like Swingbyte or an instructor giving you factual information vs. what you think you are doing.

Jake Sandusky, Lead Instructor, The Plane Truth at The Courses at Watters Creek: When making a change in your swing you should expect an improvement in your hitting relatively quickly, you should never expect to get worse before you get better. If you are fixing the proper element of your swing your most predominant miss will begin disappearing and your ball flight will improve. If your ball fight begins to get worse you are unfortunately working on the wrong element and/or in the wrong segment of your swing. The Swingbyte device can help you identify the most important elements to focus on in order to begin seeing an improvement in your ball flight sooner rather than later.

Shane LeBaron, Director of Instruction, Knollwood Golf Club:  What's correct for you may be disaster for someone else and vice versa. Instead of trying to swing like the pros, look at your impact and ball flight for feedback as to where the issue is. Swingbyte can help you identify and track your good and bad swings. With the help of an outstanding instructor and technology like Swingbyte, your improvement will not be accidental. 

John King, Director of Instruction, Golf Performance Studio of Auburn: Two things that help a player improve are confirmation and commitment. A good instructor and Swingbyte will give the player solid information that confirms what is going on in his or her swing. They also help prioritize areas that need improvement and track progress over time. Players who understand the diagnosis and game plan, become more mentally committed to the process which helps them reach their goals in a shorter period of time. 

Mike Crisanti, Plane Truth Golf When making a swing change, an inch feels like a mile. This is very common. If it doesn't feel dramatically different, you probably aren't making the change you need to make. You need to have the courage to make a significant change. Swingbyte allows people to see the change and track progress, but trusting the process is hard on your own. This is where a good golf instructor can really help.

So do some research, spend some time at the range and figure out the method that works best for you. If you have a story about how you’ve used Swingbyte to improve your swing, please share it with us by emailing [email protected]! 

*Image above from the hit movie Caddyshack. Na-na-na-na-na. 

[ubersenseblog]

Top 5 Coolest Golf Products from the PGA Show

The annual PGA Merchandise Show is a massive gathering of PGA Professionals and members of the golf industry. It's a place to showcase the latest and greatest golf products, merchandise and apparel. While there are hundreds of cool and unique booths and products on display, we've decided to focus on 5 of the coolest ones we saw while in Orlando.

Cam Caddy Pro

Cam Caddy Pro is a tool for golfers that helps them record their swing using their phone. It comes with an adjustable stand and a holder to fit any smart phone. GolfWrx recently honored Cam Caddy with the 'Best New Product' award. Cam Caddy also was showing off a new iPad stand that will be available this Spring.

Trackman

Trackman is the leading ball flight analysis program and they did not disappoint during the show. Trackman is used by nearly all of the Top 100 PGA Tour Pros and their coaches for trajectory and swing analysis as well as club fitting. The software is also able to be viewed wirelessly on their iPad app.

Swingbyte

Swingbyte announced version 2.0 of their 3-D swing analysis program. Swingbyte sells a clip that is attached to a golf club and sends a bluetooth reading to the app that displays 3-D swing path, plane and other swing statistics and measures. A very cool product for the savvy golfer or instructor who wants to gain an in-depth understanding of the swing.

Swinguru

Swinguru is a 3-D swing analysis system that helps to diagnose your swing flaws. During the show, participants could step into the simulator and swing in front of the Swing Guru software system. The program would then show a 3-D model of the swing and illustrate what the golfer was doing wrong.

SkyCaddie

SkyCaddie is known as 'The #1 Rangefinder in Golf", helping golfers accurately track distances while on the course. They also unveiled a new product at the PGA Show, SkyPro. SkyPro is similar to Swingbyte in that it is a club clip attachment that wirelessly sends 3-D and other swing data to your app. The interface allows you to view multiple angles and even offers alerts when something may be wrong with the swing. Download the FREE Ubersense Golf app for Swing Analysis today!

[ale3ehf9do-blog]

Zoe's (Golf Swing Academy) Feeling: Poor Tim had a lot of struggles with these gadgets that he told me, "I'm so frustrated that I might not permit a close friend buy any of such." The strap about the SwingByte broke, GolfSense didn't hold a charge, and apparently he got a lemon unit from SwingSmart. Undesirable luck across the board. The testing that she had been able to accomplish led Tim to say that they liked the GolfSense sensor the best (we all did), but he felt like the lack of numbers was a severe dilemma. Tim felt that he got some fantastic points in the SwingByte, but, by his own admission, he has restricted experience with Flightscope or Trackman. He was not able to get considerably of a feel for SwingSmart due on the trouble with the sensor, but he did say the way that it hooked up into the shaft was an upgrade over the SwingByte.