What Data Does A Personal Launch Monitor Give?

Personal Launch Monitors have become one of the hottest sectors of the golf market, with manufacturers investing heavily in producing better and more accurate devices at lower price points. This is fantastic news for the golfing public as these kinds of monitors can have an enormous impact of the quality of your practice time. Around the year 1996, Tiger Woods arrived on the scene and over the next twenty years he completely changed the direction the game of golf would take. What was once a balanced sport of power and precision rapidly became about hitting the ball as far as possible, and the naysayers were silenced by overwhelming statistics that proved hitting the ball a long way was the biggest contributing factor to scoring low.

The personal launch monitor is an ideal companion if, like me, you are on a journey to increase your clubhead and ball speed in an attempt to add significant yards to your drives. The single Doppler radar devices such as the PRGR, Voice Caddie units and the Garmin R10 are extremely accurate at tracking the ball speeds you are creating. Using ever improving algorithms, they then work out your club head speed and how far the ball travelled. This is hugely beneficial if distance gains are your number one priority. Launch monitors aren’t just about speed though as they will also give you collated data that tells you how far each club is travelling, allowing you to select the correct club more often when out on the course. They also allow you to optimise your ball-flight, as they record launch angle and the peak height of your shots.

Below is list of the data a personal launch monitor will supply when hitting into your home net or practicing at the range.

Carry Distance – How far your last shot travelled through the air
Total Distance – How far your last shot travelled in total (including estimated roll out)
Clubhead Speed – How fast your club was travelling at impact
Ball Speed – How fast your ball was travelling immediately after impact
Launch Angle – The angle your ball left the club at post impact
Peak Height – The highest point of the flight of the golf ball
Smash Factor – How well you struck the ball
Spin rate – Some launch monitors will tell you the amount of backspin on the ball

If you are lucky enough to watch a tour event in person or if you catch a glimpse of the pro’s practicing on the range on TV, you will notice that virtually every one of them is using a launch monitor. They are dialing in their swings using the data I’ve shown above, validating their practice and increasing their confidence. Using a personal launch monitor doesn’t guarantee you will become a better golfer, but it certainly helps.