As you may have noticed we have been a little busy in the pro shop building a new facility to help you and your fellow golfers get the most out of your game, no matter what the weather and no matter what time of day (within reason of course!)!
We have just put the finishing touches to the new swing room in the pro shop here at Great Barr Golf Club. The old swing room was a little cramped and needed a bit of TLC so we set to work on improving it. Our aims were simple:
- Create a warm and comfortable environment for you to make use of for lessons or for leisure.
- Invest in you as members and the quality of the golf coaching we are able to offer.
- Offer an alternative to a driving range, you have full access to the driving range function or you can play one of many famous courses such as Pebble Beach or St Andrews and many more.
- Allow you to book a timeslot so you can be in control of when to practice rather than waiting for a bay to become free at your local driving range.
For those golfers who have never heard of GCQuad, this piece of kit is what’s known as a launch monitor. In the modern game, there are all sorts of factors that influence where our golf ball ends up after whatever kind of swing you have put on it!
The GCQuad can measure this in astonishing detail and helps the team to analyse what may be going wrong (or right) and give you the evidence to prove it. This piece of kit combined with the cameras that are strategically placed in the swing room give you a holistic view of your golf swing.
Whilst we make good use out of the swing room for golf lessons, we really want to promote the fact that you can make use of the facility for your own practice. With this in mind, the design of the space has been made to feel comfortable and welcoming, there is air conditioning for those who like it cold and heating for those who want to practice in their T-Shirt in the warmth. With the Great British weather being so unpredictable the swing room can allow you to swing your clubs whatever the weather.
Casual golf facilities such as Top Golf has shown there is an increasing trend in social golf, that’s why we invested in a beer fridge! That’s right a beer fridge! The Swing room allows you to play with friends in a competitive mode on the GCQuad simulator, or just enjoy a social practice session on the range which fits in well with our advice of when you are practising, makes sure you practice smart.
“So what’s the benefit of a launch monitor?” – The technology helps us to give you results faster, it also gives you as a golfer a benchmark to work from so they can monitor your own progress during subsequent sessions.
“But they can’t be that accurate surely?” – The simulator allows you to hit your own golf clubs and your own golf balls (or you can use the real golf balls provided in the swing room, these are not range balls) to see distances and dispersion patters that are accurate to half a yard. Typically, a driving range system would only track the first 10m of the ball flight and make some calculations – they are not able to measure the spin accurately and this is fundamental information to the quality of the strike. Also, range balls are inconsistent and often the technology does a simple +10% to +20% addition to the distance it calculates. This is why GCQuad combined with your own ball and equipment is more accurate.
“Is GCQuad used in the professional game?” – Yes, there are many professionals such as Rickie Fowler who make use of this technology. Quite recently, YouTuber Peter Finch used this to be the best in the world at the FSX Skills Challenge.
“I like to see the flight of my ball at the range” – That is completely understandable, however at the range you very rarely see the interaction of the ball and the ground as it lands. Often, it’s not landing on grass so visually it will be misleading as to how far the ball has gone. The distance and flight of the ball is also considerably different to what you would get on a course, we like to see given the spin implied on the ball how it would stop (often the difference between a birdie and a bounce through double bogey) – the GCQuad measures the spin accurately and therefore gives you a much better view of the quality of your strike and ultimately improves your distance control.
“OK, it sounds good but it also sounds expensive” – We have carefully considered the pricing of swing room. Naturally, if you book a lesson in with the team, we will make use of the facility without charge to yourself (though there is the option of using the driving range just off the 2nd hole of course if you prefer and weather permits). When it comes to leisurely use of the facility, we feel we have priced it competitively in the market:
30 minutes of individual practice – unlimited golf balls – £10
60 minutes of individual practice – unlimited golf balls – £15
Group of 4 – £20 per hour!
Call us on 0121 357 5270 to book your session now or…
