Does TGL Have a Tech Problem? Let's Look at Some Numbers.

We are five weeks into the inaugural TGL season and after a start that included a couple of blowout matches it feels as if the new league is starting to find its footing with fans. Yes, ratings have been inconsistent but the broadcast product continues to improve match after match, and that's a great thing moving forward.

But it hasn't been perfect, and after weeks of discourse, around the accuracy of the technology, this past week felt like it came to a head thanks to the league's first misread - which occurred during a Tommy Fleetwood short iron that allowed for a mulligan, and one drive by Rory McIlroy where the numbers didn't quite seem to add up.

So, with so much discussion around the numbers we are seeing during TGL matches as well as some disguised player remarks during play, I decided to dig into some numbers to find out what might be going on. Just to be clear these are all alleged issues.

But before we dive in, let’s make a few notes - numbers are based on the data I can access and are limited by models provided by external sources. And, the three main contributors to overall shot distance and trajectory are: Ball Speed, Launch Angle, and Spin Rate.

This past week in the TGL during the Boston vs. Los Angeles match, I noticed a couple of shots that seemed to be slightly off - not to mention the Collin Morikawa tee shot that stopped on an 85-degree slope but still allowed the team to advance the next shot with a full fairway wood from a perfectly flat lie, but that's another story.

Now beyond Tommy's misread, the one shot that seemed to stand out - especially after the driving week he had at Pebble Beach was a drive hit by Rory McIlroy on the 13th hole that seemed to fall very short of the expected distance. (Even with the displayed curve)

To put that shot into perspective (even with the apparent mishit) here are Rory’s numbers from Hole 4 “The Spear” earlier in the match as supplied by TGL during the broadcast.

Ball Speed- 188mph Flight Apex- 133 feet Carry Distance- 311 yards

So back to Hole 13.

After his drive, Rory clearly showed some dissatisfaction with the shot he hit but here's where the numbers don't quite add up especially when it comes to the carry distance.

Ball Speed- 185mph Flight Apex- 162 feet Carry Distance- 288 yards

So I ran some numbers…

Using Flighscopes Trajectory Optimizer (which like many other ball flight models can’t take individual golf ball aerodynamics into account) I kept launch and ball speed constant and tested various spin rates until I got a carry distance that closely resembled Rory’s 288 yards.

As a fun sidebar for any golfer curious about golf ball design, aerodynamics, and how to find the best golf ball for your game - you NEED to check out Ping's Ballnamic fitting tool at: BallFitting.com

The Results

With ball speed set to 185mph and launch angle (Vertical Launch) set to 12-degrees - The Flightscope model required a backspin value of 5000 rpm to get to the approximate 288-yard carry number that we saw during Rory's drive on the 13th hole.

Now I'm not saying that it's impossible to generate 5000 rpm off a driver, but to generate that much spin and still have 185 mph ball speed would require a VERY unusual mishit with a modern driver - or a miscalculation.

What makes this kind of miscalculation the prime suspect for the distance discrepancy - of all the numbers the TGL displays during the broadcast and in-stadium, spin is NOT included, even though the technology would have to capture/estimate it to create the ball flight model in the system.

The inverse spin relationship occurs on shorter shots where spin is under-calculated causing “fliers” and shots that go much longer than expected. One of the most highlighted examples of this possibly happening was during Tiger Woods' TGL debut where he hit a short iron over a green.

As for a technology solution, I’m not quite sure.

I find the gameplay has been fun to watch and matches have been mostly engaging, but the TGL needs to solve the problem of inaccurate numbers to ensure that the results in "the game" match the real-life physics as close as possible