Over the past 5 years, one of the biggest innovations in golf has been the launch monitor. Previously, launch monitor technology could only be found on tour vans or in research and development units of major golf manufacturers, and were only accesible to a few privileged tournament professionals. Nowadays, launch monitor technology is widely accessible to the general golfing public at many golf retail outlets and driving ranges across the globe. These sophisticated technological devices are able to accurately measure or predict the total range of a golf shot and are useful during golf club (especially driver) fitting because they generally provide valid and reliable objective data on ball launch conditions (i.e., ball speed, launch angle, spin rate) and flight.

There are four main launch monitors on the market today: TrackMan™, EDH FlightScope™, Zelocity and the Vector Pro.

TrackMan™ is the industry standard for launch monitor technology. Many companies, organisations, governing bodies and leading golf professionals use TrackMan™ launch monitors including, among others, Ernie Els, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Graeme McDowell, USGA, R&A, Titleist Performance Institute and Leadbetter Golf Academies. TrackMan™ has also featured on the BBC's coverage of the Open Championship and HSBC World Matchplay Championship for the last couple of years and it is being used this season by US television networks during their coverage of the USPGA Tour.

TrackMan™ uses a sophisticated phased array Doppler radar to measure the ball flight. The same technology is used in military applications for the purpose of tracking projectiles and missiles. The radar continuously transmits radio signals that experience a change in frequency, when they bounce off a moving object. This frequency shift is then translated into a velocity. By using multiple receivers the system is able to measure the exact 3D position of the golf ball during it's entire flight.

There are two versions of TrackMan™ currently available:

TrackMan™ Pro, which measures directly important swing, launch and trajectory parameters.

Figure 1. Launch and flight data measured or calculated by TrackMan™ Pro (source: www.trackmangolf.com).

TrackMan™ Launch, which directly measures important swing and launch parameters, and predicts trajectory parameters.

Figure 2. Launch and flight data measured or calculated by TrackMan™ Launch (source: www.trackmangolf.com).

The EDH FlightScope™