If someone told you to hit a 60-yard shot your response would certainly be ‘No Problem’.
But can you hit it 3 times in a row? It is much harder than it seems. Trust us.
If you could do a range session, with someone analyzing your data and providing you with insight on your game wouldn’t that be great? Just imagine getting a detailed report on your shots. It would be a major game-changer.
Thankfully golf and technology have become best friends and now you can track your every swing.
The TrackMan Combine will provide you with exactly that. A test that allows you to, under game-like conditions, hit 10 different shots, identify any specific setbacks in your games and work on them.
Well, the technology is here with computer analysis, launch monitors, high-speed cameras. We see how sports science and bio-mechanics are both contributing to a great swing advance of both ordinary golfers and the elite.
All that new information results in an ever-increasing overflow of instructional material in online courses, magazines, videos and books.
Another thing that is evolving is the equipment available to golfers at all levels. It has changed dramatically.
So let’s get to know these tech advances a little better and see all the ways they can help you push your game level.
First of all, what is it?
All over the globe more than 10,000 combine tests have been taken by golfers of all levels. Starting with amateur golfers with a handicap over 20 and all the way to the world’s top ranked players.
As a standardized test, the TrackMan Combine allows you to identify the advantages and instabilities in your golf game.
All you need is around 30 minutes of your time to take the test. It takes 60 shots to 10 different targets. If you are practicing your distance the 60 shot Combine challenge is the perfect tool for it. Measure your results to your peer group or the best in the world, it’s up to you.
Every shot and target brings you one step closer to having a complete picture of your game.
This is the feedback all participants will receive:
- Combined score test
- Average pin distance
- Dispersion circle for every shot
- Average drive distance
- Percentage rank for each distance and drives
So you might think that we should be seeing a swift decline in average handicaps and scores. When in fact the reality is shown in available statistics and they are showing little if any improvement in playing standards in recent decades.
So the conclusion is simple, the way the game was traditionally being taught and practiced does not seem to be working well for the best part of golfers. And it can also be seen in the everyday very evident rise of interest in alternative ways of learning.
The combine and its limitations
There are some disadvantages to the Combine we should explore more.
The most apparent one is that you need the TrackMan monitor to conduct the test so this automatically limits you to a facility that is equipped with this technology.
Of course you can do your practice on a range without it, but you’ll also be left without the detailed feedback and scoring which the TrackMan offers.
A lot of evidence indicates that this isn’t, in most cases, the most effective way to practice. Some golfers who have been successful in improving their Combine stats find it difficult to reproduce the same results on the golf course.
To discover why this is happening, we should look at a well-known athletic training regime that has proven transferable benefits.
What can you learn from it
The TrackMan Combine shows you the distance on which you need to work more. This insight can be crucial for golfers, providing them with the knowledge on where their weak spots are, so they know what distances to avoid.
Having these tests with a team of players helps create more detailed game plans so everyone can perform at the best level during tournaments or in a round of golf.
Compare the distance you are good at to a player with a similar handicap or a better one. This information is very important to know if you are determined to improve your scores.
Can I try it more than once
You get one attempt for the scheduled combine. Once you begin the test there are no do-overs.
You can certainly schedule multiple combine attempts, but you’ll be paying 4 times more than the first one if you do it in the same calendar year.
In conclusion, it is a good helping tool.
The TrackMan Combine can help you come up with a more detailed development program for each player. A lot of golfers put a lot of time into their practice, so it is important to make that time more efficient.
The ultimate goal is to win, so you should be open to any kind of help you can get.