Properly gripping a golf club is the first lesson taught to a budding golfer. It is also one of the most difficult techniques for golfers to master because of the lack of associated visuals indicating the need for correction. With so many physical properties involved with each golf swing, it’s very difficult and time-consuming to try to isolate a single reason for an inaccurate shot by viewing the flight path of the ball or feeling your own motion. As Arnold Palmer has said, “a thing about feel is, if you make a change in your grip, it takes time for your brain to adapt.”
Complex biomechanics change when the body goes from a static position prior to the swing to a dynamic one in order to transfer kinetic energy to the ball. While the following analysis of Adam Scott’s swing is very detailed, the video recording must be stopped and replayed several times to act as a teaching tool.
The Sensoglove is a golf product that produces live, quantitative feedback to the player regarding the most important characteristic of his or her swing that can not be measured or studied through common analytic tools: the pressure of the grip on the club. In an interview with Golf magazine, Adam Scott said that “a neutral grip [in terms of pressure] avoids the need to make compensations.”
The Sensoglove is designed to produce reliable data in real-time based on a golfer’s specific input by receiving pressure readings from four sensors sewn into the glove. Players can be lining up to hit the exact same shot but could receive different outputs from the built-in computer in the Sensoglove. The output data is shown as which specific fingers need to have their pressure corrected and at what magnitude.
Not only does the device work as an instant feedback mechanism but it also provides an audio alarm in addition to the visual data during all phases of the shot, beginning with the approach, through the backswing and finally during the forward motion of the stroke until the point of contact.
The readout appears on an easy to read screen on your off-hand so that it is easily visible on the approach and heard on the backswing. It can also be used during any type of shot along the course and at the driving range, making it golf’s first biometric device for swing-development that can be used universally throughout each aspect of swing-development.
The Sensoglove is crafted from cabretta leather and when the grips start to wear, only the glove portion needs to be replaced, not the built-in computer.