On Friday evening, I booked a one hour session at ROK Golf here in Austin, TX. ROK Golf is an indoor driving range that utilizes Trackman launch monitors to show you the flight of the golf ball. This was my second time visiting ROK Golf and I am have really enjoyed the experience both times.
In today’s post, I will share with you what I learned about my game and why hitting a few shots on Trackman can be eye opening.
My Trackman Report – Photos
When you complete a Trackman session, you can send yourself a report of all of the shots that you hit during that session. Below are a few photos from my session on Friday.
My Trackman Data – Explained
As you can see, Trackman spits out a ton of data. So much so, that it can become a bit confusing at times. However, if you focus in one specific subsets of data things become clear pretty quickly.
Take a look at the last photo I posted (7 Iron Club Data). In this photo you can see all the information that you need to dissect what is occurring in my golf swing. The bottom row presents all of the distance and speed data. The left section of the photo presents the launch conditions. And the right section presents the data on how the club was moving at impact. The section of the photo I want to cue in on is the section that depicts the Club Path and Face Angle data (right photo).
During this session I learned that my swing dynamics heavily favor a draw ball flight. With my 7 iron, the positive 5.1 degree club path, means that the club is traveling to the right of target at impact. The face angle of positive 3.0 means that my club face was pointed to the right 3 degrees at impact. When you couple at rightward path with a closed clubface relative to that path, you get a ball that starts right and draws back to the left. The ball curving to the left is illustrated by the -3.4 Spin Axis.
When you look at the same data with my driver (photo #2) you see that I swing my driver on a path even further to the right (7.3 degrees).
If my club path is moving to the right at impact then I need to be hitting a draw in order to curve the ball back to the target line.
What does this mean for my game?
The information I gathered from my session at ROK Golf on Friday told me a couple of things about my game.
Number 1: My stock shot is a draw (ball curving to the left). Meaning, on the majority of my shots, I should be aiming to start the ball to the right of my final target.
Number 2: With Driver, I have a tendency to leave the club face too far open at impact. This will lead to push ball flights. I need to work on closing the clubface slightly in order to get the ball to curve back to my target.
Number 3: I struggle with striking my 5 iron and 4 iron consistently.
For me this session was very helpful because I typically like to aim left of my target and curve the ball back to the right. When in reality, my swing isn’t built to do that at the moment. My swing is built to do the exact opposite. Going forward, I am going to stop fighting the draw and just play for it.
Trackman Saved the Day
In today’s golfing landscape, a lot of the guessing work is no longer necessary. There are tools available to get you straight to the root of any problem or issue. On Friday, I learned that first hand by hitting 100 balls on Trackman.
If you are struggling with your game and can’t seem to find the answers, I would highly suggest finding a place that will allow you to hit some shots on Trackman. In about 30 swings, you will know exactly what is happening with your swing. Then comes the fun part…
Figuring out how to fix it. But, that’s a an adventure for another day.
If you would like to learn more about Trackman follow this blue link –> Trackman. And, if you would like to see more from the blog you can follow this link –> https://chasingbirdiesgolf.com/blog/.
Until next time,
Enjoy the chase!