Golfing Like a Robot

A robotic training device for putting, chipping, and pitching golf strokes.

Few sports can frustrate a person more than golf, especially the part of the game known as “the short game.” You may be able to drive the ball with the best of them, but putting, pitching, and chipping can humble even those who send that little white ball for a 300-yard ride.

RoboPutt attempts to change that. Invented by a mechanical engineer, it tries to improve on what many assess as a flaw in instruction. “When people teach putting, for example, they might tell you what to do,” says Yaron Gabbai, co-founder and vice president of research and development for Robo Innovations, the San Diego-based company that puts out RoboPutt. “Not so helpful. Or, they might show you what to do. That’s at least somewhat better. RoboPutt has that audio and visual but also the machine is taking you through the motion physically.”

A Feel for the Game

The club is connected to a five-motor machine. With the player gripping, RoboPutt literally moves the club in the motion it feels you should follow for success. Muscle memory has been a hot phrase for a long time in sports. This attempts to use that to hopefully get your short game on track by feeling a superior stroke again and again. A rotary motion mechanism is utilized for oscillating the shaft club holder.

“We have several motors [ranging from 5-20 amps] in full motion, along with a driver,” he says. “We have two axes controlling the plane and radius when it comes to the putting stroke.”

In addition, the computer can adjust to what kind of style you want to embrace. “For example, some prefer having more arc, but there are better ways to go about it," Gabbai says. "RoboPutt can actually show you a better strategy.”

There are multiple algorithms utilized within the software architecture, he says, and lessons can employ both headphones and a correlating screen: hear, see, feel.

At the 2014 Merchandise PGA Show, RoboPutt co-founder Yaron Gabbai helps a junior golfer master his stroke.