STANDARD AND EXPRESS SHIPPING WORLDWIDE!
STANDARD AND EXPRESS SHIPPING WORLDWIDE!
October 15, 2021 4 min read
Special thanks for Koray Safak for his assistance in capturing and interpreting data. Koray is an elite level coach based in Bangkok, Thailand. You can check out his academy website here.
Instantaneous improvements in club head speed and quality of contact are rare, let alone at the same time, and especially in elite players. But that is exactly what we recently witnessed when conducting testing on the GSuit.
The summary below provides a snap-shot of the testing scenario and outcome, with the longer form description further down.
Venue: Twin Waters Golf Club, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
Participant : Dylan Gardner - Queensland Academy of Sport, +3 Handicap
Measuring Equipment : Foresight sports GCQuad launch monitor.
The Aim :To establish whether the GSuit, with its ability to automatically activate and strengthen the deep muscle system, has an effect on the performance outcomes of the golf swing.
Method :
Phase 1 - Capture data from 5 shots with driver.
Phase 2 - Put on GSuit, perform 5 minute postural activation routine, hit 5 shots with driver.
Phase 3 - Remove GSuit and capture data from 5 shots with driver.
Results :
Increase of 1.5 mph club head speed
Improvement of 9mm more centred impact
Improved closing rate (reduced by 358 dps)
Improved club efficiency of 0.02
* ball data and impact efficiency not taken into account due to varying condition of driving range quality.
Background
First Up - What is the GSuit anyway? - It’s essentially a wearable training tool, that delivers GSI TechnologyTM to the body via axial loading stimulus, woven into the garment. This causes automatic activation of your deep muscles around the core, spine and major joints. Applying GSI to the body sends a particular type of neural stimulus to the brain, re-establishing a strong neural connection to the deep muscles to tolerate the load being applied. The more GSI, the stronger and durable that brain to muscle connection becomes, eventually leading to automatic stability, balance and control.
How is this relevant to golf? -In theory, a more active and stronger deep muscle system should lead to better postural control and more stability in the golf swing. Which in turn should facilitate more speed and more accurate ball striking. As we all know, in golf it’s often hard to draw a straight line between theoretical benefits and actual performance outcomes. So we thought it would be a good idea to test the theory.
Previous Results - GravityFit’s preliminary performance testing has demonstrated clear results in vertical jump and sprinting performance, and now they are turning their attention to testing in more sports specific contexts. In their first foray into testing with golfers, the results were very encouraging.
What’s Dylan’s Story?One of Australia’s best amateurs - Dylan has a lot of game and driving the ball is one of his strengths. Something he is always looking to improve is the lack of depth of hip rotation in his backswing. This can result in early extension through impact resulting in predominantly toe hits and increased rate of club face closure.
The Testing
Phase 1: As per GravityFit’s prior performance testing, they began by capturing regular performance data. After a standardised warm up, Dylan hit 5 drivers whilst his club data was tracked by the GCQuad launch monitor. As you can see in the images below, Dylan is no slouch - moving the club head at 122 mph! He did however have a tendency toward toe strikes and a relatively high club face closure rate at impact.
Phase 2: Dylan then donned the GSuit and performed a very simple postural activation routine - just 5 minutes of walking whilst pressing his arms against the resistance built into the GSuit. This was followed by hitting another 5 drivers with the GSuit (with remarkably good outcomes, considering the load that Dylan was under from the GSuit!
Phase 3 :We then asked Dylan to take the suit off, perform the same standardised warm up and then hit more 5 drivers, from which we captured data. Note the improvements in practically every category, along with the bullseye centred strikes!
The Results
The positive changes from Phase 1 to Phase 3 far exceeded our expectations, with an increase of 1.5 mph club head speed, an improvement of 9mm more centred impact, reduced club face closing rate of 358 dps and overall improved club efficiency of 0.02.
The following comments from Dylan help support the positive performance data; “I felt much more dynamic and athletic in my setup position, which gave me the feeling I could activate my core on the backswing and stay in the shot for longer through impact “. After wearing the GSuit I found it much easier to find middle of the club face. Actually I didn’t really have to find it, it just came out good!”
Witnessing these results in such a short period of time, with a player of Dylan’s calibre has very encouraging implications for the future of the GSuit being a very effective training tool for golfers. Not least because it’s something can be worn whilst practicing and playing - activating and strengthening the deep muscle system for the multi benefit combination of better posture, more stability, increased speed and more centred strike!
It would be remiss not to mention the very small sample size, which has obvious limitations. But we look forward to rolling out more golf performance testing in the near future and bringing you the results.
If you are interested in exploring how the GSuit could help your body and golf game, please click here for more info.
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