Tired of ending up in the water, off the fairway, or in sand bunkers? Who isn’t!? Every golfer knows that the key to a successful round of golf depends not so much in the equipment, as it does in the technique. But the perfect swing feels like an elusive creature that’s always hiding just around the bend.
Manufacturers of golf equipment or general sporting equipment have produced an impressive array of products aimed at helping you improve your golf swing. But not all gadgets are equal. Which ones will actually make a difference to your game and help you enjoy your time on the course more? which ones are just making a hole in your wallet? In this article, we’ll examine the 3Bays GSA (Golf Swing Analyzer) and give you all the information you need to decide if this is the right digital device to reduce your golf score.
Get The 3Bays on Amazon
[toc]
How Does the 3Bays Golf Swing Analyzer Work?
Different analyzers attach to your club in various ways. For the 3Bays GSA, it comes with a rod that slides directly into the end of your golf club. No matter what club you use, you can easily switch the analyzer and record readings for every different club.
Internally, this model is equipped with an advanced motion tracking engine which uses a 3 axis accelerometer and gyroscope sensors to track the full motion of your swing. With every swing, the analyzer will record up to 10,000 different data points and then convert those readings into statistics.
Once you’ve positioned the analyzer on the end of your club, just one press of the button and it will sync to your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth. You can stop between swings to check your statistics, or record any number of swings to analyze later. It is fully compatible with both Android and Apple devices. It’s that easy.
And the 3Bays GSA is so light (less than one ounce) that it will probably be impossible to tell it’s even on your club. This keeps the device from interfering with your swing so that you get accurate results.
And you don’t even have to hit a ball for the analyzer to track your swings. This makes it great to use at home or at the office when you have some spare time. Just sync up the device and swing away.
What Kinds of Statistics does the 3Bays GSA Track?
This is where having a digital swing analyzer really comes in handy. Once your smartphone has all the data points it will convert your swing into a 3D image so that you can visualize your swing from different angles. This gives you a perspective on your swing that you could not get otherwise. Often we can look at another player and see what they are doing wrong, but because we lack the same objectivity in our swings, we need something that will help us see ourselves the way others can.
And with the 3Bays GSA, you’ll get almost every measurement possible. Amongst the metrics that your analyzer will track are consistency, tempo, shaft lean, back swing time, swing path, club head speed, and much more! If there is a factor to your swing, the 3Bays GSA will measure it. It will probably even tell you some factors you didn’t even know existed!
This is actually an amazing amount of data. A few years ago, you would have to have equipment costing in the tens of thousands (and probably be near the top of the money list on the pga tour) to get access to this sort of information. Go back a few more years, and this simply didn’t exist. You would rely on the eye of a teaching pro. whilst this is still an invaluable resource, the human eye isn’t capable of seeing things like face to path angle (which makes a huge difference) when the club is moving at almost one hundred miles an hour.
To the naked eye a swing can appear perfect but there may be all sorts of details which van be recorded, worked on and improved. A slight adjustment of a couple of degrees can improve everything from center contact on the face to ball speed. Suddenly those weak slices have become piercing draws. Who doesn’t want that?
Will the 3Bays GSA Improve My Swing?
This will largely be up to you and how much practice you are willing to put in. Doing the wrong thing over and over again will just reinforce bad habits; habits that can be extremely difficult to break. If you use the GSA golf analyzer you can start to see these habits as you track your swings over time.
The real key is that you will no what you should be working on. You may have heard that feel isn’t real. This is true. It can be very dangerous to change something because you feel it isn’t quite right. Getting the actual figures helps to get past this. Of course, feel is a useful thing. Working on a feel can be a great way to improve, provided that you know this feel is really taking you in the right direction.
You will want to do some further research on where these different metrics should be, and the 3Bays can help you do that too. Some people love the idea of knowing every single detail about their swing, but it is also good to focus on just one metric and try to improve it. For example, a common fault with handicap golfers is not hitting up enough on their driver. a negative angle of attack at average club head speed is a recipe for losing distance. 3Bays helps you to increase this one part of the driver swing which should translate into greater carry down the fairway without swinging faster.
One of the ways many players use their 3Bays device is to record several sessions over the course of a few weeks and send that data to their golf coach. Few people can afford to hire a professional coach on a full-time basis, or have enough time to commit to full-time training. With this device, your golf pro will be able to look at what you are doing while you practice and give you feedback more consistently.
A coach who has regular access to your swing data is far more use than someone who only sees you when you are struggling. How does this compare with your normal swing? what has changed? Data logged over time and interpreted carefully will tell you this.
This gives them a bigger picture of your golf swing over time. This should greatly enhance any one-on-one coaching time that you have. You can easily send all your data to your coach who can look it over and prepare a tailor made lesson for when you meet.
But if you prefer to go it alone, the 3Bays GSA will give you everything you need to know. It’s simply a matter of putting the information into practice and following through with improvements. You have a coach with you almost everywhere you go. It is just a matter of putting it to good use.
Will the 3Bays GSA Help My Putting?
Because a putt is so much different that a regular golf swing, 3Bays makes a separate Golf Putt Analyzer. And what’s the use of improving your swing if it still takes you 4 putts to make it in the hole?
Find the Putt analyzer on Amazon Here
With the 3Bays GSA Putt Analyzer, you can track all the important factors of the perfect putt. The device attaches to the end of your putter just like the standard analyzer. Sync it to your mobile device, and putt away!
The GSA Putt Analyzer will record your face and attack angle, your consistency, your impact speed, tempo, and much more. The device will display each of your swings in a 2D display to help you visualize these metrics and get a clear picture for where you putt goes wrong.
With this little device, you should be able to improve your putts with the right practice.
What is the Warranty on 3Bays GSA Devices?
All 3Bays devices come with a 1-year limited liability warranty. If there is any failure of the device due to manufacturer or component error, 3Bays will replace the device.
Conclusion
With the 3Bays, GSA and Putt analyzer make you into a golf pro? Maybe, maybe not. But if you leave your swing and putting up to chance, you can guarantee that you won’t be improving your score. “Practice makes perfect” only works if you practice the right way. With these devices from 3Bays, you get all the information you need to ensure that your practice is right and consistent.
Both the GSA and the Putt analyzer come with a leather carrying case and a USB cable for easy recharging. If you want to see your swings from a whole new angle, 3Bays can help you do it!
A 3 bays swing analyzer was given to me but I forgot to ask for PIN number to pair it with my iPhone
Hi Derrick,
Sorry for the slow reply. If you get in touch with the manufacturer, they should be able to sort you out easily I would have thought. It is a good tool to learn more about your own game, for sure.
Nick