I’m old enough to remember when golf instructors began using video on a regular basis to help students understand their swing. Video-based instruction is still huge today. However, new technologies offer fascinating learning opportunities. The deWiz swing analyzer ($699), a wrist-based wearable, provides detailed data and analysis on every swing. To get started, simply download the deWiz app, answer a few questions about your game and swing away. Immediate readouts appear on your smartphone for tempo, transition, and backswing length on full or partial swings. Besides recording real-time numerical data (in inches, degrees, seconds, and miles per hour), the app enables players to hear the information, see their swings [in animation] from three different angles, and even review the findings at a later time.
“A lot of people say the deWiz is like a launch monitor. But, it’s not,” said Markus Westerberg, a PGA of Sweden teaching pro and co-founder of deWiz. “This new wearable reports the actual swing’s DNA, whereas a launch monitor delivers data focused on impact and ball flight.”
In short, players get a crystal-clear picture of what needs to improve in order to hit shots longer, straighter and closer to the hole. “Once you set some benchmarks, you can start working on various aspects of your game,” said Westerberg, who also competed on the European Tour. If the goal is to increase power and distance, then focus on improving two numbers: backswing length and the time it takes from the start of your backswing to impact. By contrast, directional control boils down to other numbers: tempo and transition (which compares differences in swing plane between the backswing and downswing).
When the swing exceeds the parameters that you can set up within the app (i.e., shorter backswing than the minimum baseline measurement), the deWiz will transmit a quick electrical impulse to the wrist. “The Learning Stimuli helps rewire your brain and leads to new movements through improved motor skills,” said Westerberg. Make sure to set the jolt—1 (lowest intensity) to 7 (highest)—at a comfortable level. A word of caution: It’s recommended that people with medical devices (i.e., pacemakers or insulin pumps) or certain conditions (i.e., heart problems or pregnant) should not use the device with the Learning Stimuli enabled. You can still use deWiz and get audio feedback.
The app features three different learning modes. In the “Discovery” setting, players receive detailed numerical data for the aforementioned categories (tempo, transition and backswing length) plus backswing width, hand speed and path, backswing plane, and more. In the “Practice and Learn” mode, golfers get the added benefit of instantaneous sensory feedback with the Learning Stimuli turned “on.” With the “Challenge” mode, golfers can play fun short-game contests. Participants score points, compete against friends, etc. Here’s one example: Make 10 swings with the wedge and try to match a randomly predetermined backswing length. The key, of course, is that players begin to learn the exact backswing length and corresponding distance output on each shot. The payoff is they’ll soon be able to dial in precise yardages without relying solely on feel.
For what it’s worth, the brand’s assembled an impressive list of global ambassadors, including Annika Sorenstam, Bryson DeChambeau, Henrik Stenson, Vijay Singh, and Yuka Saso. Another ambassador, the world-class instructor, Martin Hall, sums it up this way: “The deWiz puts real and feel together.”
Isn’t it time you put real and feel together, too?