Affiliations 

  • 1 Universiti Malaysia Pahang
  • 2 Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin
Movement Health & Exercise, 2017;6(1):31-38.
MyJurnal

Abstract

The accurate transfer of information on the athletes’ performance in any sport is
essential in enhancing the performance and overall coaching process. The provision of such
information is favourable only if it is reliable. A cost-effective golf putting monitoring device
namely the Putt.It.In was developed for analysing a golfers’ putting performance. Objectives: This
study aims to investigate the reliability of the instrument in measuring the backswing distance, front
swing distance, clubhead speed, ideal front swing distance and swing angle. Methods: A semiprofessional
golfer (30 years of age ± 5.0 years’ experience) executed four strokes repeatedly from
a distance of 2 m and 1 m using a Ram Zebra Mallet putter on a PGM golf mat. The intra-class
correlation (ICC) coefficient is employed to test the reliability of the device whilst the
Kolmogorov/Smirnov test was utilised to further reaffirm the reliability of the application in
measuring the aforementioned parameters over test re-test between first two strokes of 2 m distance
and the last two strokes of 1 m distance. Results: The ICC reveals 0.98 and 0.96 for both test 1 and
2, as well as a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.99 and 0.96, respectively suggesting excellent consistencies
in the overall observations. Moreover, the Kolmogorov/Smirnov test re-test indicates that there is
no significant difference between the first two 2 m strokes p > 0.05, and subsequent two 1 m strokes
p > 0.05 highlighting its ability to recognise the pattern of the strokes applied in the four successive
strokes. Conclusion: The Putt.It.In monitoring device is found to be reliable in measuring the
backswing distance, front swing distance, clubhead speed, ideal front swing distance and swing
angle. Professional and semi-professional golfers as well coaches could consider Putt.It.In device in
monitoring strokes related parameters to enhance their performance due to its effectiveness in
providing information on putting performance.