Keeping Golf Swing Active Over the Winter
By: Lovell Diggins Jr.
Well golfers, it’s winter and we just happen to get snowed on pretty good this year on top of the arctic cold blast that affected most of the country. If you’re like most of us, you’ve tucked your weapons of mass destruction (your clubs) in a nice cozy location to keep them safe and warm. Mine are in my home office, so I actually see them every day.
During the down time I’ve installed the Arccos 360 sensors to my clubs and purchased the Arccos Caddy Link which will allow me to track my performance whenever I do get back on the links. For those of you who aren’t aware, the Arccos 360 is an analytics system that tracks every shot you hit on a golf course and provides data about all of your rounds. It also has a built in GPS rangefinder, so you can get distances to the front, back, and center to any green.
I’ve used the sensors before, but didn’t really like having to carry my cell phone in my pocket during a round, which was required in order to track your shots, so I put them on the shelf. Arccos has since come out with what they refer to as the Caddy Link of which is much smaller than a cell phone and can clip on your belt or on a pocket. I really cannot wait to try this system because I’m a firm believer that data speaks for itself and is important in efforts to improve your game.
In the meantime, I’ve been frequenting the Quarry Ridge driving range in Ottawa Lake Mi. where they have 10 heated bays with a least 2 mats in each bay, where they can accommodate 20 duffers who get that itch and have to swing em.
The prices are reasonable and you can purchase a range card which provides discounts for those who plan of visiting frequently.
I don’t know about you, but it seems like every spring I’m retraining my body to hit a golf ball and it seems that when I’m hitting balls over the winter, I to some degree minimize the learning curve in the spring. It has a lot to do with waking up those golf muscles and developing muscle memory of which we won’t go into today but is very important in developing a consistent swing.
Another thing I’d like for you to consider purchasing and using while on the range is a swing analyzer. Times and golf technology has truly evolved because 1. There are several swing analyzers to choose from and 2. They’re pretty accurate.
I was actually there at the Quarry Ridge Range before the heavy snow hit and met an Army Vet named Dwight. He and I started up a conversation about golf (of all things) and he showed me his analyzer and allowed me to hit a few balls utilizing it. I was very impressed at the speed in which it processed the information and the accuracy based upon my knowledge of my club distances.
This particular swing analyzer gave me feedback on my distance, swing speed, ball speed, smash factor and launch angle of which is very important to know if you’re interested in improving your game. Another feature this particular analyzer had was the ability to measure your accuracy to a target of which is great for fine tuning your short game.
How frustrating is it to drive a great tee shot right down the middle of the fairway and all you have left is a pitching wedge or 9 iron distance to the flag, and you miss the green. Then you find yourself scrambling to hopefully save par and for me, nothing can be more frustrating, so I can see the value in being able to measure my accuracy to a particular target and the use of an analyzer to help improve that metric.
The Swing Caddie’s are considered to be some of the best analyzers in the game and they have various ones to choose from depending of course on how much you’d like to spend and which design you prefer.
Check out the Amazon link on my page if interested in purchasing these or other golf products.
If a person’s not interested in investing in such technology, but still would like to get some swing analysis data in an effort to fine tune their game over the winter, I would suggest locating a golf dome or range that utilizes Top Tracer Technology.
This is pretty slick stuff, you down load an app on your smart phone, and when bringing up the system at the range, scan the barcode on the screen and it sends the shot data to your smart phone.
The screen shot below shows you the data that’s provided for each club and each swing and all you pay for are the range balls. For me, the closest location is Miles of Golf In Ypsilanti Mi. which is about 46 miles from my home.
I hope this information was helpful to someone even if it was just one. Just keep in mind that your game will not improve on it’s own and aimlessly hitting balls on the driving range is ok, but it is much better when it’s accompanied with feedback data so you can make adjustments and measure the effects of the adjustments.
Hit em Long and Straight.
Lovell Diggins Jr
