The SwingTalk Golf Swing Analyzer by Golfzon became the newest swing analyzer available after being introduced to the North American market in January of 2015.
I was skeptical, as I’d been before with previous swing analyzers, if my experience with the SwingTalk would follow that of the other golfers that had posted their respective experiences in different forums or be worth the $149.95 price tag.
The missing element, however, was a video of the SwingTalk being used. This prompted a visit to their their website (www.swingtalkgolf.com). The first video available was the SwingTalk – Golf Swing Analyzer with Voice Feedback.
Although the video provided the features and benefits of the SwingTalk, it didn’t alleviate my skepticism based upon the comments I’d read; they’d felt the same initial excitement about the SwingTalk Golf Swing Analyzer as I had, but each of them commented on their respective pain points which ranged from a mishit that resulted in a broken analyzer to problems with the unit not staying in place.
The first opportunity to see the SwingTalk in use was the official testimonial featuring Robin Symes, which was commented upon as well in the forum as an “endorsed” testimonial:
Whether it’s Mark O’Meara selling you on the Medicus or Jack “Hammer” Hamm screaming after hitting a drive, there’s inevitably an endorsed testimonial with every product.
For me, it was the first opportunity to see both the SwingTalk and App in use which showcased the all-in-one aspect; supporting both iOS and Android, and allowing you to analyze every club in the bag including the putter was a huge plus.
It admittedly eased my skepticism, and pushed me towards seeing the value of this swing analyzer. Prior to purchasing the SwingTalk, which I’d found on Amazon and Ebay, I searched YouTube to see if there was an “unendorsed” review. There were a few choices, but the best result was the below video by Meandmygolf: https://youtu.be/23oWXY2Ayio
As a former PGA of Canada Class A Professional, I appreciated the approach Piers and Andy took to their video to not only speak to the pros and cons of the SwingTalk, but also how you could use the analyzer to make improvements to your swing and/or putting using the data provided.
Both Piers and Andy addressed it in the video but having that instant feedback to allow you to start understanding the changes needed to establish an inside to out path, for example, is well worth the price of the SwingTalk.
Yes, there were some slight inconsistencies in the data when compared against the launch monitor data but the end result was a club that worked inside-to-out versus outside-to-in which will go a long ways towards more consistently being in the fairway.
My Own Testing
I took to testing the SwingTalk with the help of PGA of Canada Class A Professional, Trevor Woynarski at GolfTEC Vancouver. It gave me an opportunity to not only test the analyzer against the Foresight GC2 Launch Monitor (without HMT) but also to use the Motion Measurement and Video Technology offered at GolfTEC.
Now, while we saw similar inconsistencies in the data between the SwingTalk and GC2, it didn’t feel any different than the discrepancies that can be found between data on a GC2 versus data on a Trackman. More importantly, the data from the SwingTalk was consistent in the data it gave us, and mirrored the swings we’d made.
I will say though that throughout our testing the issues experienced with either the SwingTalk coming out of the grip or “incorrect swing” being displayed were minimal. I am interested to see how durable it will be over time, but certainly recommend taking the time to align the SwingTalk prior to every swing, and ensure it’s properly in place. It will serve to provide the most accurate data, and mitigate the chances of damaging the SwingTalk.
It brings up the matter of Support. After seeing the response from their Customer Service Department to a golfer who had a broken SwingTalk, I hope this is an area that improves as they look to grow their presence in the North American market because having to ship the defective and/or broken unit back to Korea or being told to reference the FAQ section of their website will have golfers quickly considering a different swing analyzer from their competition.
I personally think the SwingTalk is a better swing analyzer than a lot of the competing golf swing analyzers, but beyond the support, there are three other improvements that I hope could be provisioned into the next iteration of the App.
The first being a video capability that would allow you to record swings from face on and down the line with the ability to see the 3D data against plane lines, for example. It would also improve the comparison against the Pro swing to see more visually than what’s currently offered.
The second would be the inclusion of drills using the SwingTalk, and the appropriate data in a similar fashion to how Piers and Andy approached using the swing analyzer to help fix slicing the ball. It won’t replace going to see your local PGA Professional as Michael Breed says, but at $149.95, the SwingTalk provides a portable alternative that will appeal to a lot of golfers.
For the golfer who uses this alongside, and WITH, their local PGA Professional, there’s a lot of upside to having this all-in-one device that will allow you to show and hide the data depending upon what he or she wants you to work on.
Final Thoughts
While I remain skeptical about the Support, and the durability. Both Trevor and I agreed that the ability to analyze your swing with every club in your bag with such a portable device would appeal to all levels of golfers and Teaching Professionals alike.
