HackMotion’s Sensor-based Golf Swing Analysis
Hack Motion is a golf sensor that measures your wrist angles throughout different checkpoints in the golf swing. The device has two pieces: a wrist sensor and a forearm sensor. The sensor has a minimal footprint and is lightweight enough to go unnoticed while swinging the golf club.
Hack Motion Golf Swing Sensor was created by Hack Motion, a company specializing in wearable sensors for sports and fitness applications. The company has a history of producing quality products with tremendous value for the end user.
How Does The HackMotion Golf Sensor Work?
The ultimate training tool to learn correct wrist mechanics for an improved ball flight. Precise data and feedback after every swing help you accelerate the learning process.
Hackmotion Golf Sensor is a wearable that can detect the golfer’s swing and instantly provide feedback on their game. It tracks the swing and sends real-time data to the golfer’s smartphone, tablet or PC.
Their advertising stated that you open the box, power the device, download their app, and pair. To my surprise, it was genuinely that simple. Once you have the app and device paired, there are a few ways to use this device. One is for your full swing, and the other is for putting. The app offers a few tutorial videos that will help you get your first session underway with ease.
So how does it work? HackMotion will prompt you to calibrate the sensor at the beginning of any session. Calibrating is extremely important as this creates the baseline for everything that follows. With a baseline for the device, it will be able to detect flexion and extension of your wrist with extreme accuracy. The calibration process is very simple, place your hand and arm on a flat surface and press the calibration button in the app. From there, follow the prompt that the app directs and positions to hold your hand. This process takes about 30 seconds if you are taking your time.
After the device is calibrated, you are ready to begin. Grab the club you need depending on what you are attempting to practice, and start swinging your session. The HackMotion sensor detects contact through hand vibrations, so you must hit a ball to collect the data. The sensor will monitor where you are in your swing to track the data for address, top of the swing, and impact. The information is logged after contact for each swing.
The ultimate training tool to learn correct wrist mechanics for an improved ball flight. Precise data and feedback after every swing helps you accelerate the learning process.
Using the calibration metrics above, the sensor creates a measurable zone based on your wrist angle at the address. HackMotion can record if you have correctly positioned your wrists at the top of the takeaway and the moment of impact, then displays that information in an easy-to-read format on the app. Controlling the wrist angles will, in turn, influence the club face and dictate the path and trajectory of your golf ball. The luxury of seeing this information in real-time allows for accelerated growth and understanding with each swing taken.
My Experience Using the HackMotion Sensor and Player App
After getting everything downloaded, connected, and calibrated, I started to make some swings. After each swing, the data popped up on the screen for me to review. I was amazed at the setup’s simplicity and quality.
After hitting about 20 golf balls, I took a break and reviewed the data. Reviewing the data is really where things become beneficial to the user. You have real-time feedback, and the app stores the information for you to review your entire session. Seeing the number on a spreadsheet that is automatically color-coded based on your performance is fantastic. The layout is simple, but you can immediately know whether you have progressed during your practice session. Any golfer would enjoy the visual affirmation that they did better throughout the practice.
Then I took it over to practice some putting to see how that feature worked. Again, great feedback and visuals for the data collected, but with the putter, it included data on the wrist hinge and the turn, with data points around ulnar and radial deviation. You can review this data the same way you view your complete swing data, so there is an equal benefit to the recorded information.
Whether you are swinging a driver or a putter, the app allows you to receive some auditory feedback. This feature works in a few different ways. The default would play a sound following your swing that will alert you if the measurements were within the correct zone, calculated at the address after calibration. Hence the name, After Shot Mode. In this mode, you can select where you would like the data used to determine your success, with hand positions at the top of your swing and impact being options.
The ultimate training tool to learn correct wrist mechanics for an improved ball flight. Precise data and feedback after every swing helps you accelerate the learning process.
You can also use the feature for Immediate Mode to play the sound as soon as the sensor is in a good position. In this mode, the app will continue to play the sound throughout the swing whenever you are in a good wrist position. This one can be slightly annoying, but if you are struggling with your swing, using this feature with some shorter swings to develop a feel could be exactly what your game needs. If you are starting, you can adjust the range to the sound alerts, increasing your margin of error throughout your swing. Over time you can squeeze this range as your hand positions improve. You also can invert this action by changing the audio feedback only to occur when you are out of position. This feature as well can adjust the feedback range.
Overall, my experience with HackMotion was fantastic. The app is highly user-friendly and simplistic, which translates to easy-to-read data. The opportunity for a golfer to get instant feedback with this much precision wherever they can hit a ball is beyond valuable. Whether you are a serious golfer looking to take your game to new heights or the weekend warrior out to make the rounds with your buddies more enjoyable, this product is undoubtedly worth every penny. I have used the device at home, the range, and the golf course during a round, and it has left me with nothing negative to say about it. The HackMotion Player app and sensor were designed to give golfers a more accurate assessment of their golf swing from the points of leverage. I believe it does that perfectly.
Leave a comment if you have questions about the product that I didn’t answer here. Please keep checking the site periodically for updates I may write about new experiences and feedback with HackMotion and the HackMotion Player App.
