Disclaimer: This article consists of my thoughts and feelings about certain launch monitors I’ve had experience with. Others have thoroughly tested and conducted study after study to compare many launch monitors on the market.
So what is the best launch monitor on the market today? The answer to that is pretty easy (I think). Trackman. And for a smooth $25k it can be yours.
At the High Performance Golf Academy we have been very fortunate to have used several versions of Trackman over the years. The amount of information it spits out is truly amazing and is extremely valuable to players and coaches of any skill level. Can it be information overload? Sure! But this is where a good coach can help a player only focus on the data that matters to them.
More recently, we just acquired a new launch monitor from Bushnell (which recently acquired Foresight), that is called the Launch Pro. To be honest, I am in my infancy with this unit and you can expect much more information on my thoughts in the coming weeks/months. What I can tell you now is that the initial cost of the unit is much lower ($3k) while you can then choose a subscription level that gets you access to more data.
The point of this topic however derives from some social media posts I recently came across. A picture was floating around of Justin Thomas putting in some work on the driving range using a Foresight Launch Monitor (basically the same thing we just acquired). The question was raised as to why Justin Thomas, who seemingly has unlimited funds and shouldn’t have trouble accessing the market’s leading launch monitor (Trackman), was using a less expensive unit (his was probably in the $11k range).
The answers to this question could be many. Here are some quick possibilities:
Maybe he was simply testing the unit
Maybe he has an endorsement to use that unit
Maybe his battery died on his Trackman so he’s using it as a backup
This could go on forever. But maybe, just maybe he was using this unit because it was better. I know, Trackman is the best so how could I possibly say this?
Here is a potential rationale (and where I get to open myself to criticism most likely lol!):
Trackman measures everything the club does as well as the entire flight of the golf ball. Foresight measures what the club does, but only about 6 feet of the ball’s initial flight. Foresight then calculates where the ball would have likely travelled based on that info.
Obviously it’s better to measure something versus have to calculate and guess. But what if the player or coach isn't working on the current ball flight? What if the focus is simply on what the club is doing to the ball? This could be where Foresight has an advantage over Trackman.
Foresight uses a small reflective sticker on the club face to help the base unit detect what the club is doing through impact. Presumably this gives the unit a better capture of what happens. Trackman does not use a sticker, and that’s about all I’m going to say about that.
So if the player/coach is focused more on changing impact geometry, is the Foresight better? After all, do you need a Trackman to tell you where the ball went? You can still watch the ball flight with your eyes right?
Another difference to note is that Foresight will display many pertinent data points directly on the unit, avoiding the need to connect a computer or phone/app.
Anyway… if this seemed like a ramble, it was. The title “Thinking Out Loud” should have been a dead giveaway.
In conclusion, if anyone would like to give me another Trackman to use I’ll take it. That being said, I don’t think we should dismiss the value of what other launch monitors may have to offer. And we certainly shouldn’t make uneducated guesses about why one of the best players in the world may be using a machine not called Trackman.
