The Architecture of Input vs. The Measurement of Output

In modern golf instruction, a clear distinction must be made between prescriptive models and descriptive tools. Prescriptive models define the how—the geometric and mechanical architecture of the swing. Descriptive tools measure the what—the resulting forces and impact data.

Tighter Golf is a prescriptive model focused entirely on geometric inputs. It defines the initial conditions, kinematic constraints, and mechanical linkages required to build a stable, repeatable swing structure.

This contrasts sharply with popular measurement technologies, which excel at describing outputs.

1. Descriptive Output Tools (e.g., Trackman)

Launch monitors like Trackman are the definitive output measurement systems. They use radar or photometric technology to capture the final results of the swing:

• Ball Data: Ball speed, spin rate, launch angle, and curvature.
• Club Data: Clubhead speed, attack angle, club path, and face angle at impact.

These metrics are the products of the swing. They provide invaluable diagnostic feedback on what happened at the moment of truth, but they offer no information on the underlying how or why—the mechanical structure or force application—that produced those numbers.

2. Descriptive Input Tools (e.g., Swing Catalyst)

Force plates, such as those from Swing Catalyst, move one step earlier in the chain. They measure the kinetic inputs of the swing:

• Ground Reaction Forces (GRF): The vertical, horizontal, and rotational forces the golfer exchanges with the ground.
• Center of Pressure (CoP): The path of the golfer's balance point, which reveals how and when they apply those forces.

While these are indeed "inputs," they are kinetic (force-based) inputs, not geometric ones. They measure the engine's power output but do not define the chassis's design.

3. Tighter Golf: The Prescriptive Geometric Input

Tighter Golf operates at the foundational level: the geometric input. It is the architectural blueprint before the first newton of force is applied.

By defining the swing as a spatial five-bar linkage that is constrained—primarily by a straight lead arm—it is deliberately made to *behave* with the stability of a simpler four-bar linkage during the most critical phases of the stroke. This structural constraint, combined with the closed kinetic chain of the trailing arm and a stable alignment geometry, is what Tighter Golf uses to govern the swing's degrees of freedom.

This architecture is designed to govern how the kinetic inputs from the body (measured by Swing Catalyst) are transformed into kinematic outputs of the club (measured by Trackman).

The Tighter Golf model does not replace these measurement tools; it gives them context. It provides a stable mechanical structure so that when a golfer generates force, that force is channeled efficiently and predictably toward a desired impact condition, rather than being lost to compensatory movements.