Editors' Choice
Best Swing & Game Analyzers
Do you play with an eternally infallible, infinitely knowledgeable caddie every round? Of course not. How about a yardage book GPS-coordinated to that particular day and all its weather conditions and giving you yardages from every conceivable and inconceivable location on the property? No, no you don’t. And we’re guessing you don’t have a round-by-round, comprehensively personalized statistical database that makes the PGA Tour’s ShotLink system look like that 6-year-old learning to ride his first two-wheeler that you just blew by in your M5. You may not have access to Tour-level analyzers, but you can use data to help improve your swing and game over time. With unobtrusive wearables or devices that attach to your clubs, these tech-y devices may be exactly what your game needs this season.
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*Editors' Note: Winners in this category were selected and vetted by our editors in 2021. Under the new standards of Editors' Choice, all products must undergo a more in-depth testing process. Until a fuller review of the product and category is completed, our editors agree that these winners may earn recognition for another year as legacy Editors' Choice Winners.
Best Game Analyzer: Arccos Collection
In this day when data about your game is readily available, you’re putting yourself 2 down on the first tee if you’re not taking advantage of it. The leader in tracking your game, Arccos, is like having a caddie on your phone—and on your bag—complete with a yardage book GPS-coordinated to that particular day and all its weather conditions, giving you yardages from every conceivable and inconceivable location on the property.
Arccos Caddie uses GPS-enabled sensors that either attach unobtrusively to the butt end of your clubs or are embedded in otherwise normal-looking grips to track your round. That’s every shot hit with every club. When you pair it with your phone, it provides club recommendations based on a myriad of metrics. It provides a suite of statistics (yes, the tour standard strokes-gained metrics are in there) so you know everything from how bad your bunker game is to how you’re hitting your 5-iron farther than your 4-iron. In short, it tells you just where in your game (driving, approach, short game, putting) the issues are and how much you need to improve to reach your goal.
Best Swing Analyzer (Body): HackMotion 2
It's never been easier to measure what you're doing with your golf swing. You can connect a sensor to your body, like the HackMotion—which measures the bend in your wrist and how that bend changes through the course of the swing. Or, you can affix the sensor to the club, like the Blast Golf dongle that connects to the shaft of the putter—where it measures swing tempo and consistency and compares it to players around the world.
Best Swing Analyzer (App/Social):
A few years ago, capturing the golf swing in 3D was only possible with bulky equipment worth tens of thousands of dollars. Sportsbox AI has changed that. The artificial intelligence-based swing analysis app was developed in 2020 and uses your smartphone’s camera to generate feedback through 3D motion capture. The app animates your body swinging the club, allowing you to view your own swing from six different angles: face on, down-the-line, behind, from target, above, and below. Then, see accurate measurements for every golf swing and analyze your progress.
Swing Analyzer (Putting): Blast Motion Golf Swing Analyzer
The Blast Motion Golf Swing Analyzer includes a rubber attachment that sits at the end of your golf club and connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth. The putting feature uses a motion sensor to track your stroke’s total time and tempo, as well as the face rotation of the putter head. The Blast Golf app records data from every single putt or shot, allowing you to reference your old training sessions and track your progress. Plus, a playback video feature automatically captures clips of your stroke or swing, making it easy to synchronize metrics with a visual.
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