James O’Brien — BirdieSense Beta Story

[0:07] Hi everybody, my name is James O'Brien. I'm a PGA advanced professional from the UK. I've been in

[0:13] this industry now for 18 years and technology is playing a huge part in that. I'm sure if

[0:18] you're like me, a very avid golfer, your golf bag is full of launch monitors and your phone

[0:23] has probably got many apps on it for AI, swing analysis, and different coaching platforms.

[0:28] But I've always asked myself, why does practice have to be such a hassle? For example,

[0:33] motion capturing apps don't give you much ball flight data. Why can't we just

[0:38] have everything in one device? That was until I got my hands on this little guy,

[0:42] BirdieSense. We aren't going to go into the cold hard specifications of this device. We're going to

[0:47] look more at my perspective as a golf coach with almost 20 years of experience, looking at how this

[0:53] can revolutionize the game and revolutionize your learning for just a couple of hundred.

[1:08] So before we dive in, there's an industry term which I'd like to explain to you if you're new

[1:12] to the game, which is the launch monitor. This is a device which uses high-speed cameras and

[1:17] radar to pick up every impact vector and club vector when you strike the ball. These

[1:23] are often found in places like simulator rooms or used in very high level coaching because it

[1:29] gives you very accurate and very specific data on things for example like carry, ball spin,

[1:35] club information and pretty much every impact data you can imagine. This data is vital mainly

[1:41] because it acts as an independent referee. There's no more guesswork. It is hard data on every single

[1:48] one of your shots. This means that every shot on the range is not just a waste of energy. You can

[1:52] take quantifiable steps forward in your game of golf. The industry at the moment is in a

[1:58] very tricky spot. These high-level launch monitors are very very expensive. They give a lot of data,

[2:04] but when you compare these to the lower level entry models, which are sometimes

[2:08] inconsistent and don't give you much data, it's very hard to find a middle ground.

[2:12] Whereas BirdieSense steps right into that gap. It gives all the best data using the highest

[2:18] level of AI which allows you to get a lot of vectors which you would not normally be able

[2:23] to find in many lower level launch monitors. For example, things like spin and that gives you all

[2:29] the information that you will need to know to make the best steps forward in your practice.

[2:46] And there it is. So easy to set up, so convenient,

[2:49] giving you so much of the data that you would get from a launch monitor and more.

[2:53] Plus, just for a couple of hundred, meeting every need of your practice.

[3:11] So the golf club creates our ball flights, but we swing our golf club. So how we move our bodies is

[3:17] very, very important. The launch monitors cannot track our bodies. They're only looking at the

[3:22] data of the ball and the golf club. If we're looking to analyze how our body is moving,

[3:26] normally we'll be using things like dual camera analysis on indoor hitting bays or some phone

[3:31] apps. They will analyze your swing frame by frame and look at some normal vectors in body movements

[3:38] such as pelvic tilt, rotation, and things like that. However, they're using a lot of this data to

[3:44] compare against textbook style swings, which as we know there is no standard in golf. You can still

[3:49] hit wonderful shots with what they would call a non-standard technique. And we can't just analyze

[3:54] the quality of shot based on the body movements. This is where BirdieSense really hits the spot.

[4:00] It's using both metrics of the ball flight and also body tracking to make sure that all of the

[4:05] feedback is very, very comprehensive and gives you a clear track forward on developing your practice.

[4:11] The other most beneficial point is that a lot of these other apps will use ongoing subscriptions

[4:16] for these services as well as BirdieSense gives it all to you straight out the box.

[4:22] Most of the vision-based systems are very demanding in terms of setting up whether that's

[4:26] the camera angle or just the space that's required to set them up properly. Whereas BirdieSense

[4:32] utilizes AI so that even if the angle is not perfectly straight, which on driving ranges

[4:38] is very useful, they will still be able to map both your swing and the ball flight,

[4:42] effectively allowing you to find out those little errors in your technique.

[4:50] But let's be honest, a lot of launch monitors give so many vectors and so much information. For

[4:56] newbies, it's very difficult to understand. And even for seasoned players, sometimes can be very,

[5:00] very confusing. So, let's use BirdieSense's AI technology to analyze some of my previous shots.

[5:06] It doesn't just automatically interpret the data and movements. It automatically connects

[5:11] cause and effect. Within seconds of your shot, it acts like a virtual assistant coach, helping you

[5:16] analyze your data, posture, and everything that you'd need to know. This is far more

[5:22] efficient than traditional non-realtime online coaching. Well, just a click away from the deep

[5:27] summary button will generate an easy to understand in-depth explanation based on all that data. Let's

[5:34] take a little look at some of the shots that I've just hit and analyze them. Compared to web-based

[5:39] chatbots like ChatGPT, BirdieSense has a much deeper understanding of how to analyze golf data.

[5:45] Because it's right there with you in the practice environment, it can deliver far more comprehensive

[5:49] advice to improve your game. For beginners, this feature is an absolute godsend. It saves you so

[5:55] much time on deciphering technical jargon. You don't even need to look up terms and study complex

[6:01] charts. You can just focus on hitting and it takes care of all the explaining. This significantly

[6:07] lowers the barrier to entry, allowing beginners to step into the world of golf with a relaxed and

[6:12] confident mindset. As a coach, BirdieSense can be a huge help to my students as it will allow them

[6:18] to create a more efficient practice environment. So, if we look at the marketplace at the moment,

[6:23] there are almost no other products which cross over quite like this between both launch monitor

[6:28] and body tracking. If we were going to get each device to cover each of these, it would be very,

[6:33] very expensive. Whereas BirdieSense has brought it all together into one product. And to my

[6:39] knowledge at the moment, there is nothing on the market which does it quite like this.

[6:47] BirdieSense doesn't just help you with your game, it helps you with your social game.

[6:51] We've all seen on social media those really cool videos where the ball is being tracked

[6:55] on the golf course and naturally we want to kind of create our own. Those normally

[6:59] require extra programs with extra subscriptions and frame by frame editing which is a massive

[7:06] headache. BirdieSense completely eradicates that. What's especially cool about this is

[7:11] the integrated AI social media software. So you might have 100 shots saved from your analysis.

[7:17] What BirdieSense will do is it will go through all of them, find the best shot based on the metrics,

[7:23] get rid of all that old dead footage, and then set it up ready to be posted out on social media.

[7:28] It will edit it. It will add rich data fields. It will do ball tracking, and it will get it all set,

[7:33] ready to go in just one tap out onto your social media. A really cool addition.

[7:41] Talking of video editing, the BirdieSense team has just told me about their brand new on-course mode.

[7:47] Picture this. You've just finished your best round of golf and you've already got a highlight reel

[7:52] prepared, ready to post out. The beauty of this, it's light, it's compact, it can be used across

[7:59] any environment, whether you're on course, on the driving range, indoor simulators, absolutely

[8:04] anywhere. And with fantastic battery life, you've got up to 3 hours of practice or 36 holes of golf.

[8:10] Perfect if you're looking to get those little highlight reels posted out on your social media.

[8:16] So, the best thing of all about this is not just the single shot tracking, but is all the

[8:20] data that's generated from all of your practice. These points can then be used on the golf course.

[8:26] And BirdieSense can provide lots of additional features of this, including course strategy,

[8:32] club selection, recommending everything based off the data that was generated from your practice.

[8:38] This is absolutely vital on the course for helping you score lower. Basically, the full loop from

[8:45] driving range to golf course, planning your next practice session. BirdieSense covers all of it.

[8:52] So, as a PGA professional, I want to be objective. No one product is perfect. Regardless of price

[8:59] point or regardless of what it's actually going to measure, BirdieSense positions itself to be the

[9:05] best assistant for every level of golfer. Whether you are a new beginner or a seasoned player,

[9:10] you can all benefit from the insights that it will give you on the range and on the course. For me,

[9:15] with my students, I want them to have the most efficient practice possible. So,

[9:20] having these machines can really assist them to get the best results

[9:24] on the driving range. I'm James O'Brien. Grab your BirdieSense. I'll see you on the range.