Download - INNOVATION SPECIAL - REALiTEE
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SAMSUNG IOFIT
$189; iofit.com
You’ve heard of smart watches and bands. Now you can get a smart shoe.
Yep, Samsung spinoff IOFIT offers wearable technology that provides
swing feedback based on your balance during the motion. The information is gathered by pressure sensors placed in the interior of the shoes’ soles and
transmitted to your iOS or Android device via Bluetooth. Once your swing
is analyzed, IOFIT’s swing library lets you compare your motion to the pros’. There’s also a swing-comparison stat function and the ability to send your
data to your personal coach for further analysis. The shoes themselves come
in two styles, “classic” and “sport,” and feature lightweight midsoles, a
breathable lining for all-season comfort and multiple outsole traction elements.
Battery life is about five days.
CHAMP PIVIX
$14.99 (18 spikes); champspikes.com
The latest and greatest from Champ is the PiviX, and its unique spring-flex technology has made
it Jordan Spieth’s spike of choice. The ergonomic design that feeds the spike into the turf provides
optimum traction as you swing and walk. And because of its extremely low profile and light weight, you’ll get closer to the turf than you could with past models, improving stability, balance and feel throughout the swing. The
patented wear-indicator at the bottom of the spike turns solid when it’s time to replace
the PiviX—although they’re so durable that you may wear out before they do.
VOICE CADDIE B1
$169.99; voicecaddie.com
Weighing in at just 29 grams, the B1 GPS band from Voice Caddie is about as slim and light as any
wearable rangefinder. Preloaded with more than 30,000 courses, the B1 yields distances to the front, middle and
back of greens, while a high-visibility display makes it easy to read in all conditions. Other key numbers, like driving distance and yardage to the hole, let you brag to your buds about your prodigious clout off the tee and accurately size up approach shots. B1 features include an ergonomic design that won’t interfere with your swing, 10 hours (or two 18-hole rounds) of battery life and glove-friendly tap sensors that
make changing functions fast and easy.
SUPERSTROKE WITH
COUNTERCORE$34.99; superstrokeusa.com
Watch any Tour event and you’re sure to see a lot of one thing on the
greens: SuperStroke’s oversized putter grips. The design sweeping
golf in recent years is aimed at quieting the small muscles in the hands and wrists and engaging
the bigger arm, shoulder and back muscles during the putting stroke.
The result? More consistency— and a farewell to the yips.
SuperStroke’s newest innovation is called CounterCore. A 50g weight
in the butt of the grip produces a slightly counterweighted feel. You can adjust the weight, depending
on preference, or remove it completely. For tinkerers, 25g
and 75g weights are also available.
––TECHIEST–– “SMART” SHOE
––TECHIEST–– GOLF SPIKE
––TECHIEST–– WEARABLE RANGEFINDER
––TECHIEST–– PUTTER GRIP
BIOMECH GOLF APP AND
PUTTING SENSOR$49.99 for sensor, $99 per year for app, $199 per
year for instructor version; biomechsports.com
Designed to analyze the putting stroke in real time and provide interactive drills and instruction from PGA teaching
pros, BioMech’s sensor-and-app combo is a difference-maker on the greens. The snap-on sensor (which can be used with any putter) captures everything your body and putter do during the stroke. The iOS app shares tons of
vital information, including face and loft angle, path, detailed timing to 1/1,000 of a second, target-line length, 2D and
3D isolated views of the path of the putterhead, and more. To show you exactly what you’re doing wrong or right,
the optional video component can be played back in sync with data captured by the sensor. All this info is saved in a cloud-based storage system for easy access, and the
sensor and app can be used indoors and outdoors.
REALITEE $40 for 18 holes; realiteegolf.com
REALiTEE is taking the golf-simulator experience to a new level, with the addition of (among other features) live-play short-game areas. Imagine: You enter a two-acre indoor course
with 12 simulators and 18 flagsticks, and you play a full round on some of the greatest courses in the world, such as Pebble Beach and St. Andrews. After you hit your full shots on a given
hole, you move to an actual greens complex, where you chip, pitch and/or putt on a synthetic surface. The entire REALiTEE experience will be interactive, utilizing smart watches that allow
you to brag to your friends on social media. Look for the first location to debut in Boston in 2017.
––TECHIEST–– GOLF APP
––TECHIEST–– HANDICAPPER
––TECHIEST–– SIMULATOR
ECONOMIST EAGLEFree; economist.com/eagle
Want to destroy your buddies in the next Masters office pool? Check out EAGLE (Economist Advantage in Golf Likelihood
Estimator), the Economist’s new handicapping system. By combining a player’s World Golf Ranking and the par and length of his remaining holes in a given major, EAGLE can, more or less, predict his chances
of victory. While not an exact science (EAGLE made Jason Day the favorite to win this year’s British Open and PGA), it’s fun—
and provocative. EAGLE assesses the 10 worst major collapses since 2001, and ranks the best performances of all time. The greatest week ever? No shocker: Tiger at the 2000
U.S. Open, which he won by 15 strokes.
This artist’s rendering of REALiTEE checks all the boxes for high-tech practice-range fun.SuperStroke has
pumped new thinking, and a counterweight, into its popular grip.
Samsung’s new IOFIT footwear and app are a window to the sole—and to your swing.
Tapping into the B1’s range of data is easy and a game-changer for gauging distances.
Champ’s new spin on the spike has Spieth hooked.