The Smart2Move analytics provides real-time information for coaches.
WITH a golf coaching product engineered in Switzerland, produced in France, with offices and a business unit in the USA and an earned reputation around the world as leaders in their field, Smart2Move Force Plates are fast becoming an integral part of the modern coaching set up.
In 2015 Frenchman Gregory Lebrat took a prototype from Europe to the US, where it would be implemented and endorsed by the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI), while Smart2Move has continued to evolve, with his vision now a reality and for many a vital piece of coaching technology.
“People call us the force plate company or the Trackman of the feet,” Lebrat told Inside Golf at the PGA Golf Show earlier in the year.
Sam Gowland of Performance Brands Australia, the local partners of Smart2Move, believes they will become a must-have for coaches and instructors.
“It will become an integral part of the technology stack that the coach has in their arsenal,” Gowland began.
“Trackman 15-or-so years ago, hardly anyone had one and people would ask what would you need one for, now find a coach that doesn’t have one.
“Now this technology is also building a groundswell movement. Is it the beginning of the wave? It’s feeling like that and certainly the feedback from early adopters has been very positive,” Gowland said.
The PGA of Australia has run and has more Webinars planned for later this year to help get the message out about Smart2Move to their members, while some of Australia’s leading and emerging instructors are ‘riding the wave’.
Dominic Azzopardi, coach to Lucas Herbert, has the Smart2Move force plates in both of his Queensland coaching academies.
“He’s leaning in, which is fantastic. Coincidently or not, of late, the players Dom is coaching are playing really well and have had some great success,” Gowland said.
Earl McGlinn at his facility at The Lakes in Sydney has also embraced Smart2Move and is enjoying similar success with his clients, both the elite players he coaches and with club golfers looking to improve.
“It helps paint the clearest picture for the players in front of us,” said McGlinn, who uses the 3D Dual Force Plates as a significant part of his coaching set up.
In utilising the Smart2Move force plates, the movement analysis and the data it provides, McGlinn expressed; “We can then put together a plan for what we need to do in order for them to improve and achieve their goals.”
The premise behind Smart2Move is a somewhat simple one, with golfers having two connections, the hands on the club and the feet on the ground. Why not then analyse the movement of the feet, the ‘ground forces’ as termed in modern coaching vernacular, in providing another invaluable tool to complement existing technology.
“Why guess when you can measure,” Gowland continued. “Ground forces are invisible. Even with data points from existing technologies, nothing shows what’s happening with the ground, you can’t see the ground forces. From a diagnostics tool, this shows you the invisible.”
The portability of the 3D force plates allows for Smart2Move to be used indoors and also on the range outdoors.
“You can move them with your player, like you can a Trackman. The ability to have them in multiple locations is one of the key aspects of it,” Gowland said.
In addition to the Smart2Move force plate hardware, comes software designed to support real-world coaching and high-performance analysis. Certifications, seminars and YouTube video content also supports the education process in enabling coaches, and ultimately the golfers they look after, to get the most out of the Smart2Move product.
If your golf coach isn’t using Smart2Move, maybe he should be, and for the instructor looking to take their coaching and business to another level, contact Performance Brands Australia for more information. Email sales@performancebrandsaustralia.com or go to the website at www.performancebrandsaustralia.com.au/
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