Summary: I recommend to anyone who wants a portable device to give them instant swing feedback. Useful only for "relative" feedback as I discuss below. I don't use the other watch features such as scoring, testing, etc. Works well if you want a portable device to tell you if your swing is getting faster or slower or if your backswing is longer or shorter. If you want to know how fast you are swinging or your actual tempo you should probably use other devices such as a radar or video - the results will be more accurate than the SUUNTO data. (This review refers to the G6 Personal watch. The professional version costs a bit more and allows you to upload the data into your PC)
When I first heard about this product I was thrilled. I had been using the Tour Tempo system for about 1 year and wanted a way to get more instant feedback on my swing tempo. This product promised that and, to some degree, it has delivered.
The watch contains a bunch of functions that I haven't used and, quite honestly, probably will not. It has the usual time/date/alarm features and the ability to track your scores on each hole once you enter your course information. Other than setting the time and date I haven't used them because the plain old paper scorecard has been working just fine for me.
The real benefit of this watch is that it contains three acceleration sensors which take measurements 200 times/second. After each swing it sends out a little beep with the following data as described on their website....Tempo (T) is the time from club take-off to ball impact. Pro's tempo is between 0.9 and 1.3 seconds. You might be slower because of age or fitness, but tempo also relies on the rhythm of your swing.
Rhythm (R) indicates the duration of the downswing compared to tempo. For example, if the rhythm is 25%, the downswing takes one fourth of the swing. While practicing to reach this tour players ratio Suunto G6 shows the length of the backswing, too.
Length (L) of the backswing measured in degrees affects the rhythm and tempo but is easy to control and to improve using the Suunto G6. If these parameters match well your swing will end up in a higher clubhead Speed (S) and you will get a better feeling for the ball impact.
I use the watch by setting it to "Practice" mode whenever I practice or play. After each shot the watch sends out a tiny "beep" and I can check the stats. The real key data points of interest to me are the Ryhthm and Swing Speed for my long shots and Length of backswing for my wedges.
These watch provides this data – instantly – just as promised. However, the results are useful “relatively” and not “absolutely”. Let me explain better with an example from my own experience.
In this discussion I'm assuming that you are familiar with John Novosel's Tour Tempo approach to swinging the club. If not, you probably want to read about it first, but here is a quick summary.
According to Novosel, the best players in the world swing the golf club with the same tempo: it takes them 3 times as long to make their backswing as to make their downswing. You can actually count this 3-to-1 ratio on each frame if you videotape a player’s swing. The conclusion is that we can become better players if we train to swing at this “Tour Tempo” ratio. I wanted to use the SUUNTO to give me actual feedback on my swing tempo while trying to hit balls at the 3-to-1 ratio.
My initial results with the SUUNTO were quite disappointing. The SUUNTO Tempo times were much slower than I was anticipating. At the time I was trying to swing to Tour Tempo's 24/8 tones, which would put my total swing speed at 1.06 seconds. The SUUNTO told me that my Tempo 1.5 seconds or slower!
Worse yet, my Rhythm results were awful. They were in the 33% range which corresponds to a Tour Tempo ratio of (.67 / .33) = 2-to-1. The 24/8 Tour Tempo ratio corresponds to a downswing speed of .26 seconds and the SUUNTO was telling me that I was swinging down at .37-.42 seconds. The message from the SUUNTO was loud and clear: "your backswing is slow, and your downswing is way, way too slow."
No matter how fast I made my downswing the SUUNTO never told me that my tempo was faster than .35 seconds.
What I have since realized is that the SUUNTO provides – at least for me - good relative results but not good actual results. In other words, the SUUNTO tells me whether or not I am swinging faster but not how fast I am actually swinging.
I am currently attempting to swing at the Tour Tempo 21/7 ratio, which corresponds to a SUUNTO Tempo of .93 seconds. On my best shots the SUUNTO tells me that my backswing takes about .85 seconds and the downswing takes about .35 seconds, or a total SUUNTO Tempo of 1.2 seconds. So if I start swinging badly I usually find that one of these two ratios has slowed down and I try to correct it.
Similarly, the SUUNTO provides instant feedback on how far back you swing your wedges. If you follow the advice in Dave Pelz’s Short Game Bible, you know that consistent, repeatable control of your wedge shots comes from regulating your backswing. Here is what I have roughly observed:
My Pelz 7:30 backswing corresponds to a SUUNTO Length of about 115 - 125 degrees.
My Pelz 9:00 backswing corresponds to a SUUNTO Length of about 135 – 145 degrees.
My Pelz 10:30 backswing corresponds to a SUUNTO Length of about 155 - 165 degrees.
Of course the actual degrees are meaningless, but if I’m attempting to hit my lob wedge with a 7:30 backswing and my SUUNTO length shows 145 degrees I have usually hit the ball long.
Some other quick tidbits about the SUUNTO:
When I first heard about this product I was thrilled. I had been using the Tour Tempo system for about 1 year and wanted a way to get more instant feedback on my swing tempo. This product promised that and, to some degree, it has delivered.
The watch contains a bunch of functions that I haven't used and, quite honestly, probably will not. It has the usual time/date/alarm features and the ability to track your scores on each hole once you enter your course information. Other than setting the time and date I haven't used them because the plain old paper scorecard has been working just fine for me.
The real benefit of this watch is that it contains three acceleration sensors which take measurements 200 times/second. After each swing it sends out a little beep with the following data as described on their website....Tempo (T) is the time from club take-off to ball impact. Pro's tempo is between 0.9 and 1.3 seconds. You might be slower because of age or fitness, but tempo also relies on the rhythm of your swing.
Rhythm (R) indicates the duration of the downswing compared to tempo. For example, if the rhythm is 25%, the downswing takes one fourth of the swing. While practicing to reach this tour players ratio Suunto G6 shows the length of the backswing, too.
Length (L) of the backswing measured in degrees affects the rhythm and tempo but is easy to control and to improve using the Suunto G6. If these parameters match well your swing will end up in a higher clubhead Speed (S) and you will get a better feeling for the ball impact.
I use the watch by setting it to "Practice" mode whenever I practice or play. After each shot the watch sends out a tiny "beep" and I can check the stats. The real key data points of interest to me are the Ryhthm and Swing Speed for my long shots and Length of backswing for my wedges.
These watch provides this data – instantly – just as promised. However, the results are useful “relatively” and not “absolutely”. Let me explain better with an example from my own experience.
In this discussion I'm assuming that you are familiar with John Novosel's Tour Tempo approach to swinging the club. If not, you probably want to read about it first, but here is a quick summary.
According to Novosel, the best players in the world swing the golf club with the same tempo: it takes them 3 times as long to make their backswing as to make their downswing. You can actually count this 3-to-1 ratio on each frame if you videotape a player’s swing. The conclusion is that we can become better players if we train to swing at this “Tour Tempo” ratio. I wanted to use the SUUNTO to give me actual feedback on my swing tempo while trying to hit balls at the 3-to-1 ratio.
My initial results with the SUUNTO were quite disappointing. The SUUNTO Tempo times were much slower than I was anticipating. At the time I was trying to swing to Tour Tempo's 24/8 tones, which would put my total swing speed at 1.06 seconds. The SUUNTO told me that my Tempo 1.5 seconds or slower!
Worse yet, my Rhythm results were awful. They were in the 33% range which corresponds to a Tour Tempo ratio of (.67 / .33) = 2-to-1. The 24/8 Tour Tempo ratio corresponds to a downswing speed of .26 seconds and the SUUNTO was telling me that I was swinging down at .37-.42 seconds. The message from the SUUNTO was loud and clear: "your backswing is slow, and your downswing is way, way too slow."
No matter how fast I made my downswing the SUUNTO never told me that my tempo was faster than .35 seconds.
What I have since realized is that the SUUNTO provides – at least for me - good relative results but not good actual results. In other words, the SUUNTO tells me whether or not I am swinging faster but not how fast I am actually swinging.
I am currently attempting to swing at the Tour Tempo 21/7 ratio, which corresponds to a SUUNTO Tempo of .93 seconds. On my best shots the SUUNTO tells me that my backswing takes about .85 seconds and the downswing takes about .35 seconds, or a total SUUNTO Tempo of 1.2 seconds. So if I start swinging badly I usually find that one of these two ratios has slowed down and I try to correct it.
Similarly, the SUUNTO provides instant feedback on how far back you swing your wedges. If you follow the advice in Dave Pelz’s Short Game Bible, you know that consistent, repeatable control of your wedge shots comes from regulating your backswing. Here is what I have roughly observed:
My Pelz 7:30 backswing corresponds to a SUUNTO Length of about 115 - 125 degrees.
My Pelz 9:00 backswing corresponds to a SUUNTO Length of about 135 – 145 degrees.
My Pelz 10:30 backswing corresponds to a SUUNTO Length of about 155 - 165 degrees.
Of course the actual degrees are meaningless, but if I’m attempting to hit my lob wedge with a 7:30 backswing and my SUUNTO length shows 145 degrees I have usually hit the ball long.
Some other quick tidbits about the SUUNTO:
- The watch quality is great and is very durable. Controls are easy to use.
- It holds 100 swings at a time. More than enough for me.
