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Medicus Swing Speed PowerMeter Comments

ShotScope
J

jnug

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Has anybody tried that Medicus Swing Speed device as yet? I think they call it the PowerMeter. I would really be interested in buying one if it works. If they are really not very accurate then I would likely pass. Any thoughts from people that have given it a try.
 
Tried it for 3 swings. Its kind of accurate in that it was within a few MPHs. I guess I am not really sure how it is that beneficial to golfers though. Sure SS is important, but there is so much more to finding the right shaft in my opinion.

I think it has great marketing and commercials behind it, just as their other products have that make golfers believe how useful they are.

But again, that is strictly my opinion.
 
I guess that from what I have seen on the commercial, I took the purpose of this tool as a numerical display (via clubhead speed) to show you if you are accelerating through the ball and if you are lagging the clubhead properly. Kind of like a game...what can I tweak swing-wise or effort-wise to maximize clubhead speed.

I didn't really take it as primarily a shaft selector tool.

Seems expensive to me though for what it is at $80.
 
I agree JB. I am interested because it is impossible for me to get an accurate reading indoors. If the numbers are really quite different it may swing me over to having to make sure that all my fitting is done outdoors regardless of the fact that I will probably have to schedule any additional fittings I have planned around when the local fitter is preparing to have an "outdoor" fitting day. I would never use it as opposed to actually going through the fitting process.I may have to do that anyway. So, maybe the tool won't be worthwhile in my case whether it is accurate or not.

I suppose if it can actually tell you how or where you are accilerating through the shot that might be interesting but I did not think it could actually do that.
 
I bought one on ebay a few weeks ago. Practice swings were giving me readings comparable to a recent fitting, but when actually hitting the ball my SS was increasing 10+ mph (124ish compared to 110ish with the practice swings)
 
Maybe thats my problem with my driving accuracy... I need to yell GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
 
I know that you really can't make club or shaft choices based on swing speed alone. However my ability to swing in an indoor cage is so bad. I simply end up with all arm swings and we can all guess what a mess they are. I would love it if these worked just to be able to understand my real swing speed.
 
Medicus power Meter

Medicus power Meter

Anyone see this? How accurate is it? if it is good, I may pick one up.
 
Merged with another thread.
 
Kind of an old thread, but I thought I'd post here before starting a new one.

I've ordered a Medicus Powermeter (because I needed a new toy, I guess). I intend to use it, if it works, to find the best combination of speed, accuracy and repeatability. I have a variety of swing variations that I tinker with--I can see which ones are accurate and repeatable, but it's harder to tell which generate the most club-head speed. I hope to avoid hitting buckets of balls just spinning myself into the ground trying to get the fastest speed possible, but I guess we'll see how disciplined I can be :)

I'm not overly concerned about how accurate the device is, as long as the relative readings are accurate. If I can tell that one swing is slower or faster than another, and by approximately how much, that would be useful.

Which leads me to an actual question--does this device assume a certain amount of release when calculating club-head speed? It attaches to the shaft just below the grip and does some math to calculate club-head speed. If I hit a dead-handed shot with no release, does it know that? If I lay the club way off at the top and put in a big wrist snap at the bottom, can it tell that from the dead-handed swing?

Since release is a huge factor in club-head speed at impact, I'm assuming that it must be factored in somehow. The only way I can think it could do this is to have two accelerometers; one at each end of the device. From this it could do a differential on the speed of the shaft at those two points and extrapolate for the clubhead length. For dead-handed swings, there would be less difference, and for big late releases there would be more difference. If it only has one internal speed reading, then I'm not sure how it can account for different amounts of release.

I don't suppose anyone could confirm that this meter can tell dead-handed from full release and take that into account? It's on its way, so I will try to do some experiments to see if I can tell.
 
OK, perhaps I was a little brain-addled when I thought up my last post. It has occurred to me that a single accelerometer could measure the force exerted down the length of the club by the rotation. This would be measuring, I believe, reactive centrifugal force--the force that might push a water drop down the length of the club shaft during a swing.

If this is the case, dead-handed swings could be properly read. Such a device could actually be quite accurate if the club length were properly entered and the device was attached at the correct spot.

The only thing I can think that it wouldn't be able to gauge is toe-release on the club-head. It seems like it would basically be measuring the speed of the heal of the club-head.

Felt the need to add this, even though I think I'm talking to myself :violin: :D
 
ThinkRationally said:
Felt the need to add this, even though I think I'm talking to myself :violin: :D
Click to expand...

No there are others listening! I've thought about summarizing my experience with the PowerMeter, but you've captured my thoughts pretty well -- I'm not concerned about accuracy of the reported swing speed, just what can increase my swing speed. The Medicus Powermeter did that for me, wonderfully well. In my backyard, without a ball, I just took swings with a variety of changes, concentrating on different mental "keys" and how those affect the results --- changes to grip pressure, amount of shoulder rotation, leading downswing with hips vs. arms, weight transfer, etc.

I found significant increases in swing speed when I loosened my right hand grip (I now keep my index finger and thumb off the club at address), and let my arms naturally "drop" into the slot when rotating my hips, rather than my ingrained casting move. I increased my average drive length from ~200yards to 230yards (GPS certified!) by making these changes -- all of them starting with no ball, in the back yard. (I believe the tight right hand was restricting release, and of course casting is never a good idea.) No big surprise, but it's a lot easier to spend 10 minutes a day trying to adjust swing, than 30 minutes at the range worrying about how many balls I'm going through. Lastly, I know that I can get my average drive up to 250+, if I had the discipline to ingrain the changes I find. Right now I'm just savoring the +30yards (and every bit as straight -- in fact, fewer fades).

The oddest thing about the meter is that when I actually hit a ball at the driving range, the reported swing speed increases by 10-20% over practice swings. But the relative increase is the same, so I don't care. Doesn't matter to me if the meter reads 80mph, if I get a 250yard drive as a result. And finally, just tracking the relative increase, rather than the accuracy, means I don't have to adjust the club length every time I change a club!
 
I don't know. I followed the instructions to a tee but i don't find this power meter to be accurate at all. I compared it to Golf Galaxy's simulator and it was way off. It shows a club head speed a lot higher than it really is. It was showing 112mph and the simulator was 98mph with 254 yds of carry. Does anyone else find this to be true? If you are showing 120mph i would check it against something else. But now that i know the difference i can just subtract i guess. Does anyone know why mine is off so far?
 
joey0676 said:
I don't know. I followed the instructions to a tee but i don't find this power meter to be accurate at all. I compared it to Golf Galaxy's simulator and it was way off. It shows a club head speed a lot higher than it really is. It was showing 112mph and the simulator was 98mph with 254 yds of carry. Does anyone else find this to be true? If you are showing 120mph i would check it against something else. But now that i know the difference i can just subtract i guess. Does anyone know why mine is off so far?
Click to expand...

I know this is an old thread but.... You can't carry 254yrds with only 98mph. Average tour measurements show that Senior Tour carries 255yrds average with a 106mph speed. Interestingly enough for another 7mph of driver speed you only get and extra...14yrds of carry. That's right folks, 113mph of driver swing speed only gets you 269yrds of carry; and that's with a much higher Smash Factor (1.45-1.47). You could have 118mph driver swing speed, but if your smash factor is only 1.39 - 1.40 you won't even carry 269yrds. That's just one of the reasons why distance can be misleading as a direct relational factor to swing speed. Also, using simulators to determine SS and Distance is usually suspect as well. Of course no one is probably going to ever see this. LOL
 
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