European Tour professional Mark Foster has chosen Foresight Sports technology, making it central to his new practice studio at home.
Foster, 39, is looking to improve on his best European order-of-merit finish of 32nd achieved in 2011 and believes the Game Changer 2 (GC2) and Head Measurement Technology (HMT) he has purchased will, indeed, make him a better player. The GC2 directly measures all essential ball data at launch using ultra-high-speed cameras, while HMT directly measures all critical club data independently, to provide the accurate data.
But the Worksop-born, 2003 Dunhill Championship winner’s patronage comes from the heart and not from the wallet. He explained, “When you’re at the very top of the game you get given everything by the manufacturers – clubs, clothes, and, yes, even launch monitors. But when you’re further down the field there are fewer freebies to be had, so when choosing practice aids you really have to do your research to find out what is the best product, as you’re paying for it yourself and want to ensure your money is being well spent.
“And I’ve bought the Foresight Sports GC2 because it is exactly that – the best product of its kind available on the market. I’ve done my research; I’ve tried all the gear out there and I’ve come to the same conclusion as many of my contemporaries. Indeed, when you look at the Tour pros on the practice range at an event, when they have a choice, they’ll almost always work with a GC2, because they all have faith in the data it provides. But because I’ve paid for the product out of my own pocket and am not contracted to be seen using a rival product I can go on record and praise its performance.”
The two-time English amateur champion commissioned Foresight Sports Europe’s designers to construct a home studio, with GC2 and HMT at its heart, to enable him to practise realistically, 24 hours a day, whatever the weather. He explained, “I decided to do something when it started snowing at Christmas-time. I use the GC2 outdoors as well but, as I speak, it’s raining heavily, so I think I’ll be practising indoors for the next few days. It’s extremely valuable to me as a professional. I looked at other technologies but had much more confidence in the figures the GC2 was giving me. That was what persuaded me really – both the distances I was achieving and what the club was doing at the point of impact. We know how far we hit our clubs as pros and I was getting incredibly accurate figures back from it.
“It gives me great confidence and that’s the feedback I also have from my colleagues on the tour who are using Foresight technology. On a range you tend to be guessing a little bit but the GC2 gives you all the data. I was much happier that the HMT was actually tracking the club and knew what it was doing rather than simply attempting to calculate what it thought it was doing. That’s what I particularly liked about it.
“It’s simple to use and I’ve learned to analyse the data pretty quickly; speed comes with distance and the spin relates to what the ball does. And when I’m working with my coach on it we look at what the club is doing as well. Certainly, the level of my practice since using the GC2 is more professional. You’re looking at every shot, rather than an old-fashioned way of practising when you keep hitting balls, dragging another one across, hitting balls … With this technology you get full feedback with every shot. You possibly hit fewer balls but it’s much more useful. Practice sessions are much more productive.
“My ambition is the same every year, to do as well as I can, as a professional, every year. Purchasing a GC2 is an investment I’ve never made before and I regard it as an investment in myself. I believe it can help improve my consistency – I’m not the longest hitter on tour.
“I’m also going to use it for club-fitting, so I’ve got the clubs working the best I can, and to improve my shot accuracy, which comes from hitting it the correct distance. We get judged every year on our position in the order of merit, so if I can start moving up a few spots that would obviously be a great asset.”
His acquisition paid early dividends recently when Foster aced the 215-yard fourth hole, at PGA Sweden National, during the Nordea Masters.
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