Endicott, N.Y. – Proving you can teach seasoned golfers new tricks, ZenoLink was a hot topic June 23-27 at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open.
The Champions Tour tournament at En-Joie Golf Club was the first professional golf event ever to offer contestants and pro-am participants complimentary testing by ZenoLink™, a 3-D Motion Analysis Technology that’s the cutting edge in golf swing evaluation and injury prevention.
“People just ate it up,” said Chris Welch, founder and CEO of ZenoLink. More than 70 pros and 300-plus amateur golfers were tested, a process that began with players being videotaped, from two angles, hitting their tee shots on the 11th hole at En-Joie, a 441-yard par 4.
But this wasn’t your standard video analysis of a golf swing. Rather, ZenoLink’s experts in functional movement used the video images to make highly sophisticated, research level biomechanical measurements and turned that data into digital models of each player’s motion. The models were used to assess exactly how each player performed his or her golf swing, their risk of possible injury, and the possibilities for improved performance.
“There’s a great deal of myth and misinformation about cause and effect in the golf swing,” said Welch. “ZenoLink can prove and quantify what’s really happening with an individual’ swing, not what a golfer or golf instructor may guess what’s happening after watching common two-dimensional videos. It speaks volumes about ZenoLink that so many of the Champions Tour pros competing in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open requested their data and engaged us in some pretty deep conversations about what it meant.”
Players who requested their data learned not only what they do during the golf swing, but also why they’re doing it. Those interested in applying that information can subscribe to ZenoLink, at a discounted rate, and receive a personalized ZenoLink Progressive Skills Training program of short motion drills that help athletes reprogram their movement patterns for improved performance.
By introducing contestants and pro-am participants to the world’s most advanced, affordable and user-friendly technology in golf instruction, the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open added a fresh, value-added dimension to the traditional pro-am format. “The ZenoLink team brought some new excitement and energy to the pro-am and the tournament this year,” said John Karedes, tournament director of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open. “We’re looking forward to building on that success with them next year.”
Welch said a partnership with the tournament was only natural since Dick’s Sporting Goods was founded in Endicott (by Richard Stack, father of current CEO Edward Stack, in 1948) and ZenoLink is headquartered there. Both Welch and ZenoLink’s chief operating officer, George Bock, grew up in Endicott. “We’re proud to continue the tradition of technological innovation that’s so important to our home town,” said Welch, referring to Endicott’s legacy as birthplace of IBM.
The ZenoLink marquee was a draw for tournament spectators, as well. “A lot of doors opened up, and not just in golf,” said Bock.
Given that ZenoLink 3-D Motion Analysis has applications for all sports, company representatives fielded queries not only from golfers, but also from athletes, coaches and trainers involved with baseball, lacrosse, hockey, cycling and distance running. ZenoLink’s science even attracted the attention of instructors from the Mechanical Engineering Department at Binghamton University.
“There was an outpouring of really positive energy from the local community,” said Welch. “It was gratifying for ZenoLink to be recognized as the leader in our field.”
About ZenoLink LLC
Founded in 2001 as welch-e technologies, ZenoLInk™ develops and implements software applications for the measurement and analysis of human motion. Applications are designed for use with a 3-D motion capture platform and 3-D motion data. The company’s clients include athletes, trainers and coaches, primarily in golf, baseball, softball, tennis, lacrosse, cycling, running and volleyball. Recent venture capitalization has enabled ZenoLink to pursue its goal of servicing the mass market in sports.
About Chris Welch
Chris Welch, 42, is a biomedical-biomechanical engineer. A graduate of Boston University, Chris has authored numerous scientific papers and frequently is featured as a keynote speaker at symposiums on sport biomechanics and performance analysis. Prior to creating ZenoLink™, Welch was President and CEO of Human Performance Technologies, which pioneered the concept of clinical biomechanics by bringing 3-D motion analysis out of the laboratory and into the arenas of public healthcare, training and coaching. Chris began his career as a researcher with the American Sports Medicine Institute and the Biomotion Foundation.
Contact:
Dave Richards
Resort & Golf Marketing
(248) 642-6420
dave@resortandgolf.com
