Zen and Swing Catalyst join forces, bringing gravity to golf coaching
16 January 2025 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Pictured: Zen Green Stage with Swing Catalyst Dual Motion Plates
CLEARWATER, USA – – Today’s announcement of the hardware integration between Swing Catalyst force plates and the Zen Swing Stage moving platform paves the way for a new era of golf coaching.
Gravity pulls a golfer down towards the ground, but what happens when the ground is uneven?
Now, golf coaches can teach real-world balance and weight transfer by recreating the fairway slopes found on an undulating golf course with the Swing Stage, and showing how key swing parameters change with Swing Catalyst’s force and pressure plates underfoot while the ground moves.
Never has the phrase ‘join forces’ been more appropriate, with the robust and accurate Swing Stage now providing stable gradients of up to 12% enabling Swing Catalyst technology to calculate ground reaction forces through a golfer’s feet on adjustable slopes.
“People always ask me: how can I change the forces from the ground, to change the numbers in the swing?” said Dr. Scott Lynn, Research Director for Swing Catalyst and biomechanics consultant to players and coaches on the PGA Tour.
“Of all the tools I’ve previously used, nothing changes the numbers like the Zen Swing Stage does in one single shot. The way that it can create changes in golf swings, I think, is really special and kind of untapped.”
Golf coaches can now use the Swing Catalyst / Zen Swing Stage combination, which is available immediately, to tilt the playing surface in 0.1% increments while the player stands on Swing Catalyst plates on the Stage. Sidehill lies from flat to 10% are possible, with uphill/downhill gradients up to 12% activated by the Zen’s powerful but silent technology.
“Using Zen Swing Stage to understand how players adapt to different slopes, we can identify why some players thrive under pressure, and why others struggle” said Liam Mucklow, Swing Catalyst Director of Education. “This insight is key to unlocking pure potential on the golf course.”
Mucklow and Lynn, who are both Swing Catalyst Global Ambassadors, have also joined the new Zen Masters program, a group of prominent golf coaches who are using Zen’s mastery of gradient to develop new techniques in golf instruction.
The Zen Swing Stage / Swing Catalyst combination was first trialled at Zen’s UK research facility in 2023, and the hardware integration has been in test at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club since January 2024 under the guidance of the facility’s Head of Coaching and Zen Master ambassador, Daniel Gray.
“In over 20 years of coaching, we just couldn’t help golfers with the timing of force out on the slopes of a golf course” said Gray. “But with the combination of Zen and Swing Catalyst, I can now create an environment which truly helps golfers understand and improve the timing of their force.”
Nick Middleton, Zen founder and CEO said: “We have always known that key data such as a golfer’s swing path, plane, direction and angle of attack will change when you move a Zen underneath their feet. Now, in collaboration with Swing Catalyst, coaches can show how the combination of both pressure and force can give greater insight into player kinetics on the flat and also on precisely-controllable gradients.
“And Zen Masters such as Scott and Liam are blazing the trail towards a new era of coaching by using the more representative training environments which Zen can now provide.”
The Zen Swing Stage moving platform can be used to help create valuable new data for Swing Catalyst’s full range of products, including its Dual Pressure Plates, Portable Force Plates, Motion Plates and Dual Motion Plates, as well as its Camera and Motion Capture systems.
“The Zen Swing Stage solves a problem” said Carl Christian Hansen, Swing Catalyst CSO. “Traditional coaching has been on flat surfaces, until now. Adding Swing Catalyst to the equation enables you to quantify what you are doing and make better decisions, especially if you add the Zen’s slopes.
“We learn by sensation” he said, “so Zen’s ability to safely move the ground prepares players to be battle-ready for the golf course. Zen Golf is a perfect fit for Swing Catalyst technology.”
During PGA Show week in Orlando later this month, Swing Catalyst will demonstrate its new Motion Capture camera technology along with other Swing Catalyst products on Zen Swing Stages at both Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, and on the Zen Golf booth #ETC13 in the exhibition hall. The full Swing Catalyst range is also on show on the brand’s main booth #2965, and in hitting bay #ETC33 on the indoor range in the West Hall of the Orange County Convention Center, along with golf’s other major equipment and technology brands.
“We are proud to join forces with Swing Catalyst” said Nick Middleton. “350 years ago Sir Isaac Newton published the laws of gravity and motion, and Zen and Swing Catalyst have now combined to help golfers adapt to those laws as they swing a golf club.”
On its PGA Show booth Zen is also showing new technology for its Green Stage adjustable putting green, pushing the limits of what is possible for ‘flat-stick coaching’, and demonstrating new integrations with elite putting technologies such as Quintic Overhead Putt Tracker and SAM PuttStudio.
For all Zen details see www.zen.golf or call +44 (0)1226 781000, or follow @zengreenstage on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube.
For Swing Catalyst information see www.swingcatalyst.com or follow @swingcatalyst on social media.
Ends.
Contact Zen Golf
Andy Hiseman | www.zen.golf | +44 (0)1226 781000 | [email protected]
Zen Studio, 1 Europa View, Sheffield Business Park, S9 1XH, United Kingdom
ABOUT ZEN GOLF
www.zen.golf | @zengreenstage | #golfsmovingfloor
Zen Green Stage and Zen Swing Stage are golf’s most accurate and reliable moving platforms with the best playing surfaces and the widest range of movement – ideal for capturing new performance data suitable for elite training, or for recreating the golf course indoors for a more enjoyable golf sim experience. Golf’s leading launch monitors and simulators, putting technologies and force / balance plate systems are brought to life on Zen’s precisely-adjustable gradients. Our customers in 25 countries include the PGAs of America, GB & Ireland, Australia and Germany; many leading major venues and universities; PGA Tour and DP World Tour players and their coaches; national governing bodies; serious golfers with home studios; and a wide range of different golf clubs, golf equipment companies including PING, golf academies, golf coaching facilities and commercial entertainment venues. The company is based in Sheffield, UK, with a network of Zen Certified Installers worldwide.
ABOUT SWING CATALYST
www.swingcatalyst.com | @swingcatalyst
Are you tired of guesswork and trying to understand complex data? Measure, Don’t Guess, and simplify your golf coaching with Swing Catalyst. Praised by coaches and players around the world, Swing Catalyst provides the most powerful and user-friendly video analysis software in golf. Capture live video from a range of cameras, including high-speed cameras or import videos straight from your smartphone. Analyze your swings with all imaginable drawing tools, slow-motion playback, video overlay and side by side comparison. Integrate with our sensor plates to see and influence the invisible forces at work in every swing.