【Practicing with a selfie】I tried the 3COINS "tracking smartphone holder," and I found myself wanting to increase the number of swings to check my swing form.

I purchased the 3COINS tracking smartphone holder. I wanted to film my golf swings in the garden, and while I thought, "Wouldn't fixed shooting be sufficient?" I tried it out, and the sensor followed the movement of the club.

Can a follow smartphone holder capture a golf swing!?

Recently, I have been practicing golf by swinging in my backyard more often. Practicing at home allows me to swing whenever I think of it without worrying about time, rather than going to a driving range. However, as I continued to practice my swings, I became curious about “what my form looks like.” Even though I thought I understood it through feel, I had hardly ever seen it on video.

I have tried placing my smartphone on the ground to capture from the side, but the club sometimes goes off-screen during the swing. When I tried placing it a bit further away, my body ended up looking too small, making it hard to see the finer details of my form. It might be resolved if someone could hold it, but then I wouldn’t be able to practice when I think of it. So, while searching for a solution...

Since the price was reasonable, I decided to give it a try

When I saw the "Follow Smartphone Holder" from 3COINS, my initial impression was, “It looks interesting, but can’t I take a shot with a fixed camera?” It seems there's a mechanism to track people with a sensor, but I felt that for checking my swings, I could just fix my smartphone on a tripod.

Since I had the issue of things going off-frame in mind, I decided to just give it a try. The price was reasonable, so I was thinking of testing it for golf purposes.

Moreover, rather than expecting much from the tracking feature, I may have been more inclined to confirm “the difference from being fixed.”

The sensor recognizes people and turns automatically

The main unit is compact and feels lighter than expected. When you set your smartphone, the front hemisphere section acts as a sensor that detects human movement and rotates accordingly. Tracking starts just by turning on the power, so there is no hassle with app settings or pairing.

I thought a bit about where to place it. Since the detectable distance is fixed between 0.5 to 3 meters, placing it too close or too far might result in poor tracking, so I placed the holder at the edge of the garden to ensure height. The setup itself took less than a minute.

I tried walking in front of the holder. It gradually changes direction according to my walking pace. When I stop, it stops; when I change direction, it changes direction. Before my swings, this simple action made it somewhat interesting.

When I swung in the garden, the camera followed with every movement of the club.

I placed the holder at the edge of the garden and entered the address from a little distance. As I began my swing, I noticed the holder slowly changed its direction, following the motion of the club. It felt a bit strange, as if the machine was watching me.

During the first few swings, my movements became awkward as I was overly aware of the camera tracking me. However, after swinging a few times, I started to forget about it. When I confirmed that the camera was keeping up with me as I transitioned from the top of my backswing to the downswing, I began to think, “This might be useful.”

Casually thinking “I just want to check a little,” my number of practice swings increased.

When I reviewed the footage, I noticed that my timing during the transition was a bit quick. Although I felt like I was transitioning slowly, the video made it look like I was rushing down with the swing. It was almost my first experience checking my form on video, so I found it interesting to see the differences between my perceived swing and the actual footage.

Trying to confirm the parts that caught my attention, I naturally swung again. Since there was no hassle from setup to start recording, I could easily use it for a casual “I just want to check a little.” As a result, the number of my practice swings increased. For someone who wants to practice easily on their own, the “tracking smartphone holder” may be a good fit.

Product name / Tracking Smartphone Holder
Price / 3300 yen
Contents / Tracking smartphone holder main body x1, Instruction manual and warranty x1
Automatic movement range / 360° rotation left and right
Sensor detection distance / approximately 0.5 to 3 m, approximately 0.5 to 1.5 m
Battery capacity / Lithium-ion battery / 1200mAh
Continuous tracking time / approximately 3.5 hours
Standby time / approximately 8 hours
Charging time / approximately 2 hours
Charging port / Equipped with USB Type-C port
● Pal

Article and text / SYURI

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