Upgrading To TrackMan

Switching to another brand is never easy; new investments, new technology, new relationships, and perhaps also the realization that sometimes you cannot compromise on quality.

Mike Wright, Director of Golf at Ben Hogan’s home club, Shady Oaks Country Club in Fort Worth, TX, recently switched to a TrackMan for some very specific reasons.

“When we compared the performance of the two launch monitors, it became obvious that TrackMan was more dependable and more accurate, so we lost our confidence in the one we had at the time.”

After using another brand for about two years, Mike Wright, Director of Golf at Shady Oaks Golf Club in Fort Worth, TX, traded it in for a TrackMan 4. The 55-year-old, who got promoted to become the head professional with the support of Ben Hogan himself when he was just 23, admits that when he bought his previous launch monitor, he simply assumed it provided the same information and data quality as a TrackMan. He, therefore, couldn’t see a valid reason for the additional cost.

But after numerous visits from equipment manufacturer representatives, who all brought their TrackMan to the fitting sessions, Mike noticed that the data measurements his launch monitor produced didn’t match those of TrackMan. Slowly, Mike started to lose confidence in his launch monitor’s capability to capture reliable data.

By the beginning of 2017, Mike decided to trade his old launch monitor for a TrackMan 4.
Today, the TrackMan helps Mike in ways he always imagined a launch monitor should assist him in his training sessions.

“It’s twofold; the information the TrackMan provides, confirms or contradicts what I believe I’m seeing, and at the same time, it helps the students to gain knowledge of facts related to their swing.”

During his career, Mike has witnessed the numerous changes in teaching sparked by technology. “Learning facts about the geometry and physics of what the golf club is doing to the ball, is one of the most valuable takeaways when teaching with a TrackMan. It simply leaves no room for misinterpretation.”

The confidence in his new training tool also didn’t go unnoticed by his players, who regarded the change as the ultimate commitment to excellence. Not only does the TrackMan give Mike the proof that his instructions lead to the desired effect; it also provides his players with numerical goals to work with, such as controlling swing speeds or distance control. “The more proof of success a student has with a specific swing change, the more likely it will stick.”

“It can seem overwhelming in the beginning as there is so much information, but like any other learning curve, it takes a little time and experience to grasp the concepts.”

Today, Mike barely gives a lesson without his TrackMan.

Looking forward to the winter months with some more time on his hands, Mike is planning to study the free material on TrackMan University as well as all the different features of TrackMan’s performance enhancing software. Although the ambitious golf professional plans on spending much more time on mastering his TrackMan 4, the switch from his former launch monitor has been fairly easy with a gradual learning curve. Coupled with a responsive, dedicated, local sales representative and the TrackMan University at hand, Mike has access to all necessary resources to get familiar with his new teaching tool.

“If a person is committed to becoming the best teacher or club fitter they can be, they absolutely need to have a TrackMan.”

For Mike, it is only natural that young professionals question whether the investment delivers an adequate return. He does not doubt, however, that anyone who is committed and serious about enhancing their knowledge, as well as helping their students to be the very best they can, will reach their objectives with a TrackMan. His piece of advice: “For a young aspiring coach and club fitter, the first step is to associate her- or himself with top-level teachers and fitters, but if they aren’t using the best equipment they can possibly afford, then they aren’t the people to gravitate towards.”, concludes Mike Wright.

Soon, Shady Oaks Golf Club will add a TrackMan Simulator to its facility, capitalizing on the indoor and outdoor capabilities of the TrackMan 4. For Mike, the commitment to his trade-in decision had a positive impact on his business: “After all these experiences, I realized that if we don’t have TrackMan, we don’t have the best equipment and hence also not the best training environment for our customers.”