PGATour.com recently published a post regarding the top 5 advancements in golf equipment over the past decade. Being a gear junkie, I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. (Doesn’t that make it sound really dramatic and serious?) There wasn’t anything too shocking in the post, but I really liked a point Andrew Tursky made about launch monitors. He points out that launch monitors certainly weren’t invented in the last ten years, but man, have they come a long way.
Trackman, one of the most popular launch monitors, was invented in 2003, but the first iterations cost around $200,000. In the early days, it was equipment manufacturers and club fitters who used the data-gathering systems.
By the early 2010s, however, due to more affordability and portability, PGA TOUR players were using launch monitors in their personal practice sessions and club testing sessions to dial in their swing and golf clubs.
Now, if you’re not using a launch monitor, you’re at a severe disadvantage against whatever competitive field you’re in.
$200,000! Don’t get me wrong, Trackman is still extremely expensive and a serious investment, but ~$30k is a lot cheaper than $200k! To Tursky’s point, you can now get a variety of portable launch monitors for under $1000.
Admittedly there are more features to be had with more expensive models, but valuable data such as club speed, ball speed, spin rate, launch angle, etc can be had at a reasonable price. As mentioned in our FlightScope Mevo review, this enables to players to practice smarter instead of just beating balls down the range.
When I stop and think about it, it’s amazing how much the advancement in launch monitors has changed the golf industry over the past year. Whether it’s for personal use, or basically unlocking the whole commercial club fitting industry, launch monitors are a standard now. It’s also amazing how much tech they can pack into a small device and how good the quality is. Over ten years ago, these devices would have been unfathomable.
Advancements in Other Gear Over the Past Decade
Tursky goes on to discuss other gear like hollow body irons and how much drivers have evolved over the past decade. The adjustability and manipulation of CG has become so easy and a game changer for equipment. Of course, one might argue (as Tursky kind of does), these advancements never happen without the evolution of the launch monitor. Launch monitors have given club engineers and fitters more insight into club performance than ever before. This has enabled the engineers to think differently when designing equipment and translate the design concepts into tangible data for players in real time.
If you want to read more about Tursky’s top 5 advancements from the past decade, check it out here. He also brings up a good point about Nike leaving the hard goods game, but I’ll save that for you to read over there!
