By nature, I am very cynical; I always want to see proof. So when golf companies claim to create game-changing technologies, I am always keen to test them.

This weekend I had the chance and the perfect participant; my father, the “original” Rory. Dad is a young 70, handsome (runs in the family) and loves golf. He plays hundreds of rounds per year and carries a handicap in the middle teens. In a lot of ways, he is your typical weekend warrior; his dream in life is to break 80.

When given the opportunity to get some feedback on his game from my friend and K-Vest expert Dr. Robert Neal, my Dad was pumped. Rob has a doctorate in biomechanics and is a world-renowned instructor. He offered to help us understand how “Next,” K-Vest’s new software platform for dynamic motion training, helps players improve.

My Dad, Rory.

Rob got down to business with his assessment when he met us in his teaching bay. After some careful measurements, he announced his first finding; Dad wasn’t setting up correctly for his long torso and short arms and legs. Based on his body type, Rob told Dad what he needed to do to improve. Rob took about a minute to suit up Dad in the K-Player, which has two sensors connected wirelessly to a computer that runs the Next software.

With Dad on the hitting mat, Rob opened software called “Advanced Posture” and calibrated the program with a mouse click. He positioned Dad, making some adjustments to his shoulders. With Dad standing still, Rob pressed a button marked “set live” on the computer screen. In less than two minutes, Rob had created Dad’s custom setup program.

First, without a club, and then with a club, my Dad worked to achieve the same positions as the avatar on the screen. When he got in the right spot, the software played pleasant music. As Dad got better at setting up, Rob increased the amount of time he needed to hold the position before the music played. When he found that position, Rob had him hit the ball at the tone. The proof was in the results; the ball was travelling farther than ever before for him.

“For the first time, I understand what people mean when they say swinging a club is like jumping from the back foot to the front foot,” Dad said. “I have a far better sense of where my hands are.”

Next, Rob helped fix the top of my Dad’s backswing, adjusting him to stand taller with more side tilt. When Rob got him in the position he wanted, he pressed “set live” again. The two then went through the same process as they did with setup.

To tie the two movements together, Rob adjusted the program to “NEXTify,” which linked Dad’s setup and backswing into one dynamic motion. Rob had him practice the motion without a golf ball until he mastered it, and after a little practice Dad improved and got more comfortable. Then, the moment of truth; time to hit the ball.

Dad learning to get all aspects into “green.”

Dad set up, and as instructed he held the position for 0.1 seconds. When he heard the “ding” he knew it was time for him to swing to the top, a position he was told to hold for 2 seconds. Then he hit the ball. Crack! Dad’s first bullet was beautiful draw.

“It felt almost effortless,” he told me later. “Like dancing.”

Dad hit a bunch more balls. Setup. Ding. Swing to the top. Wait briefly. Smash!

Dr. Robert Neal and Martin Hall, presented for K-Vest at the 2017 PGA Show.

“But let me show you one more thing,” Rob said. “This is where we are going.”

“Going?” Dad asked, confused.

Rob had programmed a full golf swing into Next. It was my Dad’s “future” swing, which he quite wasn’t ready for yet… but soon will be.

“Just follow the avatar,” he told Dad.

A very special thanks to my friend Rob Neal of Golf BioDynamics for his time.