The market’s very first and leading brand, PowaKaddy commissioned recently a (in my view) a very controversial and pointless study. The study was conducted by golf physiotherapist Andrew Caldwell, who provides services to clients such as the PGA and England Golf.
What annoys me in the study is that it is so obvious what was the objective of PowaKaddy with it. Namely to come up with a health study that can be used for future PR and marketing campaigns to prove the potential health and performance benefits of using an electric golf trolley. Can't we find an independent medical/health study that can underpin the benefits of electric trolleys? I think we can find here conflicts of interests as well. I do not think that PowaKaddy would need such trick to generate more sales and brand awareness….
Here are the findings of the study:
The literature review suggests that some golfers who choose to carry their clubs could be at a higher risk of certain musculoskeletal injuries and impaired golf performance. Other headline findings included the significant reduction in energy expenditure and heart rate amongst golfers using electric trolleys over those who carried. This reduced metabolic demand of not carrying could help them to perform at their peak level for a longer period of time.
This finding is little bit closer to reality:
There is also meaningful evidence to suggest that carrying could contribute to a 2.5% reduction in clubhead speed experienced over the course of a round of golf, which may result in a loss of up to 10 yards on tee shots.