From smart clubs to gloves to the greens themselves, various IoT applications and data analytics are achieving unprecedented levels of transformation for the sport.

IoT applications already exist in all sectors and in all facets of daily life; In addition, hundreds of industries are being transformed by the new innovations that allow this type of device. 

Sport is one of them. The possibility of relating the environment of the athlete, their performance and the indicators of the functioning of their own organism are generating a true revolution for this industry.

Golf in particular can be a frustrating game to learn: it takes countless hours of practice to get close to the perfect swing. In most cases, it is necessary to have an experienced player who can accompany and transmit the knowledge as well as correct and guide the player's posture and movements.

IoT and wearables are bringing a solution to this. For example, there are already golf clubs that use machine learning to analyze and improve their swing: an accelerometer mounted on the shaft of the club detects the exact movement and uses a machine learning algorithm to see how closely it matches a golf club's swing. professional. The device is fed with swing data from an instructor or from an instructable. In some cases, features like an LED mounted on the head of these clubs indicate with colors if the shot was bad or good. 

Zepp Golf per case offers a smart training system powered by IoT. A small sensor attached to the golfer's glove measures and analyzes their swing to identify areas where the player can improve, such as how to adjust club speed, plane, tempo or backswing length. The chip instantly sends personalized feedback via the mobile app and offers training programs and video tutorials that are tailored to the player's ability.

For example, Bryson DeChambeau, a professional golfer nicknamed "the scientist" by his peers, has improved his game thanks to this type of device and exhaustive analysis of the shaft length of his clubs. Smart Grip detects your grip position and pressure levels. It also monitors your golf shots on different clubs and transmits data in real time to a cloud computing system. With this data, the player can optimize their grip, giving them a clear advantage over those who rely strictly on feel.

Alternatively, arcos offers a suite of connected golf club sensors (linked to a mobile app) that allows consumers to track the distances each club has reached, ideally helping golfers improve their swing accuracy and scoring general.

In another case, the company topgolf uses data delivered from RFID chips inside each golf ball to drive competition between players: after a player hits the smart golf ball, the internal chip provides real-time data on how far the ball has traveled and rates how he compares himself to his other players.

IoT is also used to automatically analyze and optimize the putting green for players. There are already sensors that are installed under the golf course, which allow temperature, humidity and acidity to be measured through a development based on predictive algorithms and which can transmit this information to the organizers of the matches as well as the players. The players can, in this way, adjust or adapt their game according to the circumstance and those in charge of the fields carry out the necessary tasks to provide the best possible environment for the participants.

Through a robust data management strategy and detailed indicator monitoring, IoT can become a much more accurate, professional and competitive game for experts and professionals, but it is also a way for the sports industry to provide added value to the entire ecosystem. Likewise, these new technologies can once again “gamify” golf, making it more attractive to the new generations.

See you on the tee.

Julio Cesar Blanco – March 15, 2023