Industrial - Bachelor

Making Learning Golf Easier for Beginners

The Form Monitor is a portable and accessible training aid that attaches to the user, reads their form and swing technique, and sends simple and approachable feedback to their phone. The goal is to give beginner golfers coaching like feedback, without the hefty fee of repeated coaching sessions.

Callum Finney

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BACKGROUND

Golf can be difficult for beginners because improvement relies not only on performing the correct swing, but also on understanding why a shot went wrong. Many new golfers can recognise a poor shot, but struggle to identify why it happened, making it difficult to know what to change or practise next. This can lead to repeated mistakes, inconsistent improvement and frustration during the early stages of learning.

RESEARCH

Primary research included nine semi-structured interviews with beginner, intermediate and experienced golfers, as well as a golf coach. Six think/talk-aloud protocols were also conducted, with participants explaining their thoughts while performing golf shots. Swing videos were recorded to compare technique, posture and movement across skill levels.

The research found that beginners commonly struggled with swing technique, inconsistent ball striking, identifying mistakes and knowing what to practise. Equipment and coaching costs and practice facilities were also significant barriers. This led to a key design direction: rather than presenting raw data such as carry distance and ball spin, the product should simplify complex information into clear, practical guidance by identifying likely mistakes and suggesting what the golfer should focus on next.

Existing products

Product benchmarking identified a clear gap for an accessible learning tool that provides clear and actionable feedback, rather than simply enabling more practice. Existing products such as hitting nets and practice balls improve access to practice but offer limited guidance on mistakes or how to correct them. Coaching provides this level of personalised feedback, but cost and location can make it less accessible to beginner golfers.

The form monitor

The Form Monitor is a three-module wearable golf swing feedback system. The modules are compact motion sensors that can be magnetically attached to different parts of the golfer’s clothing using a backing plate positioned inside the clothing. The backing plate also has an opening for a strap to be attached so the user can wear it around their arms or hands. Each unit contains motion-sensing technology that records the movement and rotation of the golfer and club throughout the swing.
Before practising, the golfer attaches the sensors and uses the physical slider on each module to identify where that sensor has been placed. The modules are turned on, connected to the user’s phone through Bluetooth, and the golfer can then begin practising normally. Because the devices are small and do not physically force the golfer into a certain position, they allow the user to perform their natural swing. The golfer then receives clear, actionable feedback and tips straight to their phone that is simple and easy to implement into their game.

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Callum Finney

Callum Finney is an undergraduate Industrial Design student at QUT with an interest in product development, user-centered design and emerging technologies. He strives to produce practical, visually refined solutions and is looking to bring his skills and new ideas into the workforce.

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