Just like in any other area of our life our customers are expecting personalized products and services. Golf shafts are not exceptions.
We can all agree that for irons and drivers the shaft type and its characteristics can have a significant effect on user experience.
Just think about the flex codes labeled on a shaft (e.g. R, S, X) can adversely influence a fitting.
The idea to develop golf shaft analyzer is not a new thing. Back in 2010, I wrote about Mizuno’s golf shaft analyzer.
Approximately, 6 years ago Mizuno launched its Swing DNA software.
Most recently, Callaway Golf came up with a more practical solution based on wearable technology: Callaway FITS Shaft Analyzer.
Before I would start to explain the features and benefits of Callaway FITS Shaft Analyzer, it is also important to understand the relevant technology and worldwide fitness trends.
In the last couple of years, the entire sports landscape even golf is being revolutionized by advanced analytics.
Here are just few examples:
- Arccos Golf – today it belongs to Cobra Golf, but Callaway Golf was among the first innovation partner and the whole product idea is from Callaway Golf. I am impressed by Cobra Connect‘s features.
- Game Golf
- Microsoft Golf Tile (in cooperation with TaylorMade Golf)
- Zepp Golf
Wearable technology appeared for the first time among ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal’ annual survey of worldwide fitness trends was in 2016.
It was ranked as the #1 trend in 2016, 2017, in 2018 only as the #3 trend. Now it is ranked again as the #1 trend.
The comeback is probably is a result of the improvement in accuracy of the devices.
Gartner thinks that IoT (Internet of Things) user experience depends on 4 key factors:
- sensors,
- algorithms,
- experience architectures
and context, and - socially aware experiences.
They also predict the number of connected things in use will hit 14.2 billion in 2019 and grow to 25 billion by 2021.
Callaway FITS Shaft Analyzer & wearable technology
Callaway Golf has not specified which edition of Bluetooth technology can be found in their Callaway FITS Shaft Analyzer.
If we are lucky then it is Bluetooth 5.0. What I like in this edition of Bluetooth are:
- Data transfer speeds of up to 2 Mbps;
- Devices can also communicate over distances of up to 800 feet (or 240 meters), which is four times the 200 feet (or 60 meters) allowed by Bluetooth 4.2.
- All audio devices communicate over Bluetooth Low Energy.
By the way, Bluetooth 5.0 can be found in iPhone 8, iPhone X, and Samsung Galaxy S8.
Callaway FITS Shaft Analyzer – How it works?
The golfer will need to download a mobile application to be able to customize his/her shaft to his/her game.
After each swing, the app receives 4 category data points based on the applied:
- clubhead speed,
- closure rate,
- peak acceleration, and
- tempo.
Callaway FITS Shaft Analyzer then assigns a value of 1-5 to each category to create a unique swing signature for that player.
Every shaft in Callaway’s extensive library is given a signature based on the individual weight, flex, kick and torque.
The Callaway FITS Shaft Analyzer app then matches up the swing and shaft DNA to recommend the 3 best stock shafts and 5 best aftermarket shafts available for that player.
Although I believe in the importance of golf club shaft optimization, at the same time I have a doubt if people will get excited from this gadget.
I am
They will prefer those mobile apps that can be integrated into their lifestyle and very useful.
Bottom line is…
We don’t buy so frequently shafts for our golf clubs. So why should we store a mobile app that we use once a while???
So, the bottom line is that it was a mistake to sell Arccos Golf to Cobra Golf. Otherwise this shaft analyzer feature could make Arccos Golf even more useful.