 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 | ||||||||
 | ||||||||
|
If you have not heard of the Suunto G6 (or G6 Pro) golf watch, your first reaction might be “what is a golf watch,” and “why do I want one”? The G6 is truly a brand new product category with a unique story to tell.
Although the G6 will keep your score as you go around and show you how many strokes ahead or behind you are of par or your buddy/opponent/mark, that is not the story. The G6 Pro can download the round to your PC and keep your handicap and other stats for you without any ‘data entry’, but that is not the story. You can upload your favorite golf courses to the watch, so you’ll know the distance and par of each hole as you come to it – but that is not the story.
The G6 is a golf training tool. The story of the G6 (and G6 Pro) is about improving your game by improving the core technique of golf – the swing. It is difficult to believe, but if you wear this watch while playing or practicing, it immediately tells you these key stats about every swing you take:
Tempo (total swing time, from takeaway through contact)
Tempo ratio (forward stroke as a percent of total)
Backswing angle (degrees around at the top of your backswing)
Clubhead speed (at contact)
It uses a new technology involving highly sensitive accelerometers oriented to capture the motion of your wrist in three dimensions. It is so sensitive that it detects the striking of the ball as the slight disruption of your swing motion. Measuring backwards in time from the moment of impact (it has stored all of these real-time accelerometer inputs while looking for that impact signature) it recreates the swing and detects the start of your takeaway, the top of your backswing, and the power stroke. From this, it calculates all of the above information before you can even look at the watch.
Sound impossible? I thought so, too.
Tell it which club you are using, and the G6 will compare very closely to the output of a video-based swing analyzer, although you may need to make a calibrating entry for your arm length to see exactly the same values.
Around the course and in the clubhouse this watch performs brilliantly. It’s beautiful to look at and keeps golf scores like a pro for stroke play, match play, or Stableford. But its true genius is revealed only when you use it during your practice sessions. Put it in practice mode, tell it which club you are using, and start hitting. You can check the swing stats after every swing and begin to identify the tempo, degree of rotation and club head speed that feels good and sends the ball soaring off.
If you take the time after each practice shot to mark the swing as good, bad, or just average, then you get extra benefit back home at the computer (with the G6 Pro). The session is displayed in a number of ways with the good, bad and average shots marked, so you can see trends. If you tend to try too hard, beyond your ability to control the club, you’ll see a bunch of red marks (bad shots) at the faster club speed end of the graph. If you are giving up on the shot rather than accelerating through the strike zone, you may see the red marks at the low end of the club speed graph.
The G6 Pro adds computer connectivity to the standard G6. It includes a USB connector that clips onto the side of the watch, and software to go with it, giving you a ton of extra functionality. They charge extra for that, but the extra analysis that you gain makes it well worth the upgrade.
Another type of practice session that is built into the watch is meant to help you achieve that most elusive quality: repeatability. In ‘test’ mode, the objective is to try the same shot at the range 10 times, trying to create a tight grouping of the key swing stats. You can see how well you did after the 10 shots, and again more graphically and analytically back at the computer. As you try this test again week after week, you can begin to zero in, to find a swing that you can make consistent. Odds are good that you will find it to be something less than the all-out cruncher that knocks the skin off the ball. Then again, who knows – try it and see!
One thing I learned in a hurry: as my practice session went along I became more warmed up and more flexible, and as a result my optimal backswing angle increased. This taught me to warm up before I begin the test or recorded practice session at the range. More importantly, it taught me to warm up more thoroughly before my round! No more rushing up ten minutes before my tee time, hitting a few quick shankers and heading for the #1 tee. I think I shaved off about three strokes just from that little lesson.
To get accurate club head speed, you must indicate which club you are using. This can get to be too much during the round, so you may want to let that go and just check on tempo. At the range, it’s not a problem at all. Just select a club from the menu and take a bunch of shots with that club. When you switch clubs, press a couple of buttons to select that club and keep hitting.
As a reviewer, I would be failing your trust if I failed to point out one obvious fact: ignoring functionality for a moment, the G6 Pro is an extremely fine looking timepiece. Suunto is always a cut above in their design and in the quality and sophistication of their watches. With the G6 and G6Pro, this is even more evident. The attention to detail in this product makes me think that somebody very high up at Suunto is crazy in love with golf.
There have been a couple of attempts at watches that will keep your golf score. These have turned out, in my experience, to be more trouble than a simple scorecard. The G6 does this much more fluidly than prior attempts. With the simple interface and minimal button-pushing, you can record your score for a hole faster than you could retrieve a pencil.
But keeping score is just the cherry on top of this fascinating yet serious biofeedback tool. It takes a really good coach to tell when you are hurrying your shots, over- or under-rotating, or just trying too hard. Once you have used the G6 in practice enough to know where your sweet spot is in terms of tempo, rotation and clubhead speed, you can glance at your watch, see what you are doing wrong, and make a correction to get back on your game.
It has definitely helped me. I’m not suddenly ready for a career change, but I can tell you after using the G6 Pro for a few months, that this is not just a golf gadget. Used properly, it can be almost as informative as the swing analyzer in an indoor cage. It won’t keep you from looking up too soon (no accelerometers in your hat), and it won’t keep you from fixating on the water hazard, so there is no guarantee that it will fix your individual game. But I started using it this spring, and after a couple of years stuck at the low hundreds, after three months I’m now shooting low nineties, and without doubt, it is due to better swing mechanics, a more consistent and repeatable swing, and a better feel for my proper tempo.
I’m so impressed that even though I lost my first G6 in a golf wager, I got another one right away. I’m going to work with it for another three months and then ask for a rematch to try to win the first one back. I like my chances. But wait! My opponent now has a G6 Pro, too (mine, of course). If he’s using it a lot, I might end up two G6s down!