When it comes to having a personal swing coach, sadly many of us will only ever have video cameras, ourselves and that annoying friend who thinks he can fix everyone’s swing but yet still holds a +15 handicap of his own.  Simply put, most recreational golfers have never taken golf lessons and the vast majority never will.  The Swingbyte swing analysis allows anyone to get their own personal swing analysis and gives you the tools to find what works with your swing and (even more importantly) what doesn’t.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Swingbyte, it is a small device that attaches to any club (Driver through putter) and pairs to your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth.  If that last sentence blows your mind then join the club! We gave the Swingbyte to our team and told them to hit the range and report back with their findings.  While the Swingbyte is no Butch Harmon, we did find our golfers staying at the range longer than usual and hesitant to return to the device.  They kept swinging and swinging and then sitting down to analyze their swing.  The most common adjective from our golfers about the Swingbyte? Addicting! Now, let’s get on to the details…

Swingbyte Key Features:

• A full 360 degree view of your swing
• Displays club head speed and acceleration
• Shows your club’s true plane from address to impact
• Club face angle relative to swing path
• Static and dynamic loft and lie at address and impact
• Share swing data with your pro and on Facebook
• Full swing history, trends and development areas
• Video instruction and Tour data
• Recharges via USB port
• Weighs less than one ounce
• Pairs to your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth
• Fits any club
• 4-hour rechargeable battery

– Swingbyte Review –

DESIGN/DURABILITY: 

Upon first glance of the Swingbyte the design appears to very simple.  The developers saved the good stuff for the inside.  Weighing less than an ounce the Swingbyte wraps around the shaft of your club, just below the bottom of the grip and is secured with a spring-loaded latch.  The Swingbyte is built to transfer easily to every club in your bag and stay nice and snug.  We hit our clubs from a variety of locations on the range, including the rough and the sand.  We wanted to make sure that no matter the conditions the Swingbyte would stay tight on our clubs.  Through our testing we were impressed with the stability.  A few of our golfers did have it slip on them during some very aggressive shots that took some nice sized divots.  Overall, this seemed to happen on a limited basis but enough that it should be noted.   We did find that most issues occurred with our golfers who had very fast club head speed.  Overall the Swingbyte was transferred through the clubs of 5 different golfers, logged over 700 swings and we found no signs of wear.  We occasionally had issues with Bluetooth connectivity but this was easily fixed.  The device still seems to be recording swings accurately.

MOBILE APPS/DASHBOARD: 

Whew, where do we begin?!? The Swingbyte, while small and lightweight looks very unassuming.  That is until you download the mobile and/or tablet apps.  This is where things get really interesting.   The apps which are synced wirelessly through Bluetooth are very easy to navigate.  Before swinging you will need to enter some data on what club you are using, lie, loft, etc.  The more information you enter the better as it helps the application provide stunningly accurate data. While both apps provide a ton of information, we found the mobile app to be easier to use while at the range and then the tablet app easier to use when really analyzing data.  Both work beautifully and we recommend downloading both.  We found ourselves pouring over the informating and playing with all the different ways to view our swings.  The mobile apps have a lot of information and turned in to a real time-suck for us, but hey, we are trying to improve our golf game.  Overall, the apps were very robust and have a ton of information to help you with your swing.

      

SWING ANALYSIS: 

After you have taken a swing you will return to the app and find information about your last swing and you will be surprised at how quickly it analyzes your swing and how accurate it is.  You will be able to see your club head speed, loft, lie angle, face-to-path at impact, attack angle, shaft lean and tempo.  That is a lot of information at one time and some are intimidated as some of these terms are not common to the weekend golfer.  That’s okay! Swingbyte has you covered with a glossary of terms that explains each of these and details exactly what each one does to your swing.  Swingbyte has designed a device to give every golfer access to the analysis that a pro would get, but with no where near the cost. In addition to the quick summary of your swing statistics there is also a 3-D video which allows you to see a full 360 degree view of your swing. This means looking at your swing from every didn’t angle.   In addition to all of this you can actually record video from your Swyingbyte app on your smartphone or tablet and watch the video next to the 3D swing information.  This is where our team really started to get addicted.  With the ability to slow the video down and analyze your swing at every angle and see the actual video of it was really where we got the most value.  We can’t say the app made us better golfers in the short term, it did make us more aware.  As you start to look over the data it became easier to feel why we mishit.  If you put enough swings in you begin to see what your swing looks like during a great shot and what it looks like on a terrible shot.  This really helps with muscle memory.

EASE OF USE: 

VALUE: 

Golf lessons with a club pro will range from $75-$200 per hour.  The Swingbyte retails at $149, so the value speaks for itself.  In comparison to its competitors it is priced well.  There are more expensive options out there but with the Swingbyte you get a lot of bang for your buck.  With a durable design and technology that we could spend days talking about, this is well worth the price.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

The Swingbyte is a great device for anyone looking to learn more about their swing and try to apply that knowledge to the course.  The best part of the device is not that it is guaranteed to make you a better golfer, but to give you access to information that you never had before.  Many people golf years without knowing what their club head speed is or what their tempo is, these are just buzz words to the regular golfer.  Now the Swingbyte allows you to see what your bad shots look like and makes you more aware of your swing.  You will begin to feel what happened on your bad shots and your good shots to help you either correct or repeat those swings.  The Swingbyte can be used by golfers of any skill level and nobody should hesitate to add this device to their arsenal of golf supplies.

Buy Now: $149