I thought swing force analysis, strategic maps of courses and listing your strong and weak clubs was something that only happened in simulation games or PGA level competitions. This teaches me never to underestimate a group of enthusiastic ex-Nokia engineers who love golf.
The idea is fairly simple I guess, but the math behind it is something I wouldn’t dare to even take a look at. Basically, the CaddieON package will contain a set of club tags, or sensors if you will, that are attached to to the tip of the clubs (above the grip), and a wrist device. Now the reason the sensors are called club “tags” stems from the tagging the player needs to do before each swing. Touching the the sensor with the wrist device sort of connects the club with the calculator, so that there are no mix ups with the clubs information later on.
So the tags separate the clubs from each other and the wrist device collects hard data on your swing based on motion detection and keeps track of your course locations with the help of a GPS. That’s more than a happy golfer could hope for, but where’s the fun if you can only enjoy it by yourself?
I think its hard to deny that the Oulu based start-up has come up with a great idea, but the question is does it actually work like a charm?
Well, for now, we cannot tell. Their first products are expected to reach customers only next May. But regardless of this, they have gathered a good deal of positive attention around them. Last summer they received the Northern Startup fund investment from Butterfly Venture and a retail deal with Solledos guarantees some visibility in the Finnish markets when the product finally launches.
Tuomo Lalli, CEO of CaddieON, who went to the Orlando golf fair last January came back with a message I can only agree with: the products potential is undeniable, but proof of its efficiency is still required.
So until next May arrives, we’ll have to enjoy ourselves with good old-fashioned and most of all, regular golf.