Golf is hard!
Golf is very hard!!
The professionals on TV make it look so easy. But it’s really not.
We all want to improve. Practice. Lessons. More practice. How can modern technology help?
Modern golf has become an increasingly data-rich sport. The last few years has seen an explosion of devices that can give players data.
Professional players, coaches, and club fitters now rely on devices known as launch monitors to analyse the precise behaviour of a golf ball and club during a shot. These instruments measure quantities such as ball speed, launch angle, spin rate, clubhead speed, face angle, angle of attack and carry distance, translating what once relied on the trained eye of a teaching professional into quantifiable physical data. The information they provide allows golfers to diagnose, or at least gain some insights, into swing problems, optimise equipment, and understand the physics that governs ball flight. At least that’s the hope!
The development of launch monitors has been gradual and reflects the broader progress of measurement technologies over the past half-century. Systems originally developed for military radar tracking, high-speed photography and motion analysis have migrated into sports science, producing tools capable of capturing the fleeting moment of impact between club and ball.
Today several distinct technologies are used, each with its own advantages and limitations, and the commercial landscape includes several well-known systems used by professionals and amateurs alike. Prices range from several hundred pounds to twenty thousand plus! But how has this evolved and what technologies are used?
Early Attempts to Measure the Golf Shot
Before the digital era, golf instruction relied almost entirely on observation and intuition. Coaches might watch ball flight or use slow-motion film to study swings, but the actual dynamics of impact remained largely hidden. The first attempts to measure the launch of a golf ball appeared late in the twentieth century with systems that combined simple optical sensors and video analysis.
Some early devices placed infrared timing gates just in front of the hitting area. When a ball passed through these beams the system could estimate its initial speed and direction. However, these systems captured only the first moments of motion and could not measure spin or follow the ball through its flight. Much of the trajectory therefore had to be reconstructed mathematically. High-speed video cameras also began to appear in teaching studios, allowing instructors to analyse swing mechanics frame by frame. Yet the ball itself travelled too fast for conventional cameras to capture its rotation or trajectory with precision.
These early tools hinted at what might be possible but they lacked the ability to measure the full physics of a golf shot. That changed dramatically in the early twenty-first century with the introduction of radar-based launch monitors.
Radar and the Tracking of Ball Flight
One of the most influential innovations in golf technology came from an unexpected direction: military radar. Doppler radar, widely used to track aircraft and missiles, can measure the velocity of moving objects by detecting changes in the frequency of reflected radio waves. Engineers realised that the same principle could be applied to golf.
Radar launch monitors are typically placed behind the golfer. They emit microwave signals that reflect off the clubhead and the golf ball. By analysing the frequency shifts in the returning signal, the system determines the ball’s velocity, launch direction and spin characteristics. Because the radar continues to track the ball after impact, it can follow the entire trajectory of the shot from launch to landing.
The best-known example of this technology is the TrackMan 4, produced by the Danish company TrackMan. Widely used on professional tours and at elite practice facilities, the very expensive TrackMan systems track the full ball flight and provide detailed data on both club delivery and ball behaviour. Another major radar-based system is the FlightScope X3 from FlightScope, which similarly measures the ball’s trajectory and offers extensive swing data.
The ability to observe the complete flight of the ball is the central strength of radar systems. They excel outdoors, where the ball can travel its full distance without obstruction. For professional practice ranges and tournament warm-up areas, radar monitors provide extremely accurate measurements of carry distance, apex height and landing angle. Golfers can therefore see precisely how far each club carries and how the ball behaves in the air.
Doppler radar tracks the club and golf ball from impact through flight, measuring speed, launch angle, and spin to reconstruct the ball’s trajectory and predict its full flight.
Yet radar technology has its limitations. The system needs space behind the golfer and in front of the ball to track its motion effectively. Indoors, where the ball may travel only a few metres before striking a screen, radar sometimes has insufficient data to measure spin directly. In such situations it must infer certain variables using aerodynamic models. For this reason radar systems, although highly accurate outdoors, can be less convenient in compact indoor environments.
High-Speed Photometric Systems
A different technological approach emerged with the development of high-speed photometric launch monitors. Instead of tracking the ball through its entire flight, these devices concentrate on the moment of impact itself.
Photometric systems use several extremely fast cameras positioned around the hitting area. These cameras capture a sequence of images within the first few centimetres after the ball leaves the clubface. From this brief window the system can determine the ball’s speed, launch angle and rate of spin. The rotation of the ball is often measured by observing small markings or reflective dots placed on its surface.
The most prominent example of this technology is the GCQuad, produced by Foresight Sports. This device uses four high-speed cameras to capture detailed information about both the club and ball during impact. A related system is the Foresight Sports GC3, a more compact camera-based launch monitor aimed at advanced amateurs and club fitting studios.
Because they analyse impact directly, camera-based systems can measure the details of club delivery with remarkable precision. They can identify the exact location where the ball struck the clubface, determine the orientation of the club at impact, and calculate the angle of attack and swing path. For instructors and club fitters this information is invaluable, since it reveals the mechanical causes behind a particular shot shape.
High-speed cameras capture multiple images of the ball immediately after impact; image analysis of the dimples and motion determines launch angle, speed, and spin, from which the ball’s full flight is calculated.
The limited observation window of photometric systems means that the rest of the ball’s trajectory must be calculated using aerodynamic mathematical models. Nevertheless these models are highly refined and produce very realistic results. Another advantage is that these systems require only a short distance of ball travel, making them ideal for indoor studios and golf simulators.
Optical and Infrared Sensor Systems
A third category of launch monitor uses arrays of optical or infrared sensors embedded in the hitting area. These systems detect the passage of the clubhead and ball through a series of light beams. By measuring the timing of these interruptions they estimate speed, launch direction and sometimes club path.
Such technology is commonly found in simulator systems designed for entertainment venues or home installations. One example is the OptiShot 2 which uses infrared sensors in a hitting mat to track the movement of the clubhead through impact. Another widely used simulator technology is the SkyTrak Launch Monitor from SkyTrak, which combines photometric sensing with simulation software for home golf setups.
Optical and infrared sensing in a golf launch monitor. Arrays of infrared emitters and detectors embedded in the hitting mat create a grid of light beams across the impact area. As the clubhead and ball pass through this grid, they interrupt the beams in a precise sequence, allowing the system to calculate clubhead speed, path and ball launch direction from timing differences. In some systems, a high-speed camera positioned beside the hitting zone captures the ball immediately after impact to determine launch angle and ball speed, while software models then predict the ball’s full flight.
This approach tends to be simpler and less expensive than radar or high-speed camera systems. As a result it has been widely used in commercial golf simulators and recreational environments. While such systems can provide enjoyable and reasonably convincing gameplay, they usually offer fewer measured parameters and somewhat lower precision than high-end radar or photometric monitors.
Hybrid Approaches
As launch monitor technology has matured, manufacturers have increasingly begun combining different sensing methods within a single device. Hybrid systems may use radar to track the overall trajectory of the ball while cameras capture the details of impact. In other designs, overhead camera arrays are paired with infrared sensors embedded in the hitting surface.
Modern consumer devices such as the Garmin Approach R10 illustrate another trend: compact radar-based launch monitors designed for home practice and portable use. Meanwhile high-end systems continue to integrate increasingly sophisticated sensing technologies and data modelling.
These hybrid approaches attempt to exploit the strengths of each technology. Radar can observe the ball throughout its flight, providing highly reliable distance data, while cameras deliver extremely precise measurements of spin and clubface orientation. By integrating these streams of information through sophisticated software models, modern launch monitors can produce an extraordinarily detailed description of every shot.
A clear technological pattern emerges when comparing these systems. At the highest end, radar systems such as TrackMan and FlightScope dominate professional golf. Their ability to follow the ball throughout its entire flight makes them particularly valuable on outdoor practice ranges and tour events. Photometric camera systems, represented by GCQuad and GC3, dominate indoor coaching studios and simulator environments because they measure spin and club delivery extremely precisely even when ball flight is short. At the consumer end of the market, portable radar devices like the Garmin R10 and Mevo+ have dramatically reduced costs. These systems sacrifice some precision but provide enough data to help recreational golfers understand launch conditions and shot shape. Finally, several modern devices—including SkyTrak+ and Rapsodo MLM2PRO—combine radar with camera imaging, illustrating the broader technological trend toward hybrid sensing systems. Note: I used Chat GPT to create this table
The Physics of Golf Ball Flight
The usefulness of launch monitors ultimately depends on the physics that governs the motion of a golf ball through the air. Several key physical principles determine how a shot behaves after impact.
Aerodynamics of a golf ball. At impact the club imparts ball speed, launch angle and backspin, establishing the initial launch conditions. As the spinning ball moves through the air, the Magnus effect generates an upward lift force, helping the ball remain airborne and producing its characteristic curved trajectory. The ball’s dimples create a thin turbulent boundary layer that reduces aerodynamic drag, allowing the ball to travel significantly farther than a smooth sphere.
The most fundamental variable is ball speed. When the club strikes the ball, energy is transferred from the moving clubhead into the ball’s motion. Higher ball speeds generally produce longer shots, but speed alone does not determine distance. The angle at which the ball leaves the clubface—the launch angle—also plays a critical role. A shot launched too low may travel fast but will descend quickly, while a shot launched too high may climb steeply and lose forward momentum.
Equally important is spin. A spinning golf ball interacts with the air through the Magnus effect. As the ball rotates, differences in air pressure develop around its surface, producing a force that can either lift the ball or cause it to curve sideways. Backspin generates upward lift, allowing the ball to remain airborne longer and travel farther. Side-spin or tilted spin axes create the familiar draw and fade shapes that golfers intentionally—or sometimes unintentionally—produce.
The dimples on a golf ball also contribute to this aerodynamic behaviour. By creating a thin turbulent boundary layer around the ball, the dimples reduce drag and help stabilise the lift forces produced by spin. The interplay between speed, launch angle, spin rate and aerodynamic drag ultimately determines the trajectory of every shot.
Launch monitors measure these initial conditions with high precision. Once the ball’s speed, direction and rotation are known, the rest of the trajectory can be predicted using well-understood aerodynamic equations. In this sense, launch monitors do not merely observe a golf shot; they capture the essential physical parameters that define its entire flight.
Conclusion
The evolution of golf launch monitors reflects a broader story about the application of advanced measurement technologies to sport. What began as simple optical sensors and slow-motion cameras has evolved into a sophisticated fusion of radar tracking, high-speed imaging and computational modelling. Radar systems follow the entire ball flight, while camera-based systems like the GCQuad reveal the subtle mechanics of the club-ball collision with remarkable clarity. Simpler optical simulators and portable consumer devices have brought similar ideas into the homes of recreational golfers.
For golfers and coaches alike, these technologies have transformed the way the game is practised and understood. The fleeting instant when club meets ball—once invisible to the human eye—can now be measured, analysed and visualised in extraordinary detail. Behind every modern launch monitor lies a convergence of physics, engineering and computational science, all focused on revealing the subtle dynamics that send a small white ball soaring across a fairway.
Whether they really help the amateur golfer is a moot point. Interpreting the output is not trivial and expertise and knowledge is needed. Experience matters. As one teaching professional said to me “ how the club contacts the ball and watching the ball flight tells you most of what you need to know!” If you’ve some idea of carry distances you have most of the core information.
On the other the hand numbers, carefully interpreted, can be hugely valuable. In addition, with improving software the monitors can create valuable games for the amateur to play and get valuable feedback. I’ve no doubt that carefully deployed modern monitors, some of which are now quite inexpensive (in relative terms), could be really valuable to the enthusiastic amateur. Indeed a whole new area of swing analytics is growing and may unlock our playing potential.
Golf is still really hard though 🤦♂️🤷🏻♂️🙄
Note: the author has no commercial or other links to any business that makes or sells launch monitors.
If you’ve found this post of interest please share it with others and subscribe to Craigavad golf
You may also be interested in Craigavad miscellany where I gently dive into mathematics, science, the natural world and other areas of interest.
Craigavad golf 