TrackMan
TrackMan is a Danish family-owned sports technology business. TrackMan develops, manufactures and sells sports measurement solutions for both professionals and amateurs. TrackMan's main business areas are golf, baseball, American football and soccer. TrackMan products follow the ball flight from the moment of impact to the point where the ball lands or hits an object. The resulting data is displayed on the screen of a connected computer, tablet or smartphone. Depending on the sport, TrackMan products can also measure the club, bat, arm or leg used to strike the ball. All TrackMan products are manufactured in-house and sold through the company itself, either via online inquiries or via the global sales organization.
History
TrackMan was founded by brothers Klaus (CEO) and Morten Eldrup-Jorgensen (Chairman of the Board) together with radar engineer Fredrik Tuxen (CTO).
Both talented amateur golfers, brothers Klaus and Morten Eldrup-Jorgensen were convinced that technology could make golf practice more fun and rewarding. They teamed up with leading Doppler radar expert Fredrik Tuxen in 2003 to develop the TrackMan unit. The first five TrackMan units were sold in the US to equipment manufacturers Mizuno, Nike, Ping, Callaway and TaylorMade.
TrackMan data has been credited for revolutionizing golf practice. Golf fan and multi-billionaire investor Charles Schwab made a short documentary film about TrackMan.
Technology
TrackMan is known in the golf world for its accuracy and the company has a range of patents protecting its products. These include OERT (Optically Enhanced Radar Tracking), which syncs the TrackMan 4's inbuilt camera to its Doppler radars in both time and space to improve club and ball speed tracking. All TrackMan technology – both hardware and software – is custom designed in-house.
Timeline
Products (2020):
- TrackMan 3e
- TrackMan 4
- TrackMan Range
- Baseball Stadium
- Baseball B1
- American football
- European football (soccer)
- Other activities
TrackMan 3e launch monitor
Company overview (2020):
- Headquarters in Vedbæk, Denmark
- Offices in United States, Poland, Japan and Korea
- Approximately 400 employees
Use by pro players:
More than 85 out of the world's top 100 players own a TrackMan device. TrackMan does not engage in sponsorship agreements so all TrackMan owners have purchased their units.
TrackMan in Golf
Golf continues to be TrackMan's core business area. The current physical products are: a permanent installation for driving ranges called TrackMan Range, a mobile unit called TrackMan 4, and the TrackMan Simulator. A product called TrackMan 3e is also available. All data captured from real-life shots is stored in the TrackMan Cloud and by mid-2019 the company could draw on a database of over half a billion shots.
TrackMan recently launched Tracy, an AI solution designed to give users one thing to focus on that will improve their game. Tracy is currently part of the TrackMan 4 software package but will be embedded into other TrackMan products in the future.
TrackMan Virtual Golf software powered the 2020 BMW Indoor Invitational tournament, which was a collaboration between The European Tour, BMW and TrackMan. The BMW Indoor Invitational was the first-ever virtual golf competition with players from The European Tour and the PGA Tour.
TV broadcasters like NBC, CBS and The PGA Tour use TrackMan technology to get accurate data that can be displayed on-screen for viewers at home watching golf.
TrackMan in Baseball
TrackMan started its involvement in baseball in 2008 with a system for equipment manufacturers. In 2009 a stadium system was introduced to supply practice data to the Cardinals, the A's and the Padres . By the end of 2011 there was a TrackMan stadium system in all the major league stadiums and the technology was being used in baseball broadcasts from ESPN and Fox . TrackMan and the MLB stopped their collaboration in 2019 but the company still works with the MLB teams. In 2019 TrackMan launched the B1 portable training unit for pitchers and batters. TrackMan currently provides ball data from over 300 stadiums around the world, including more than 80 minor league ballparks in the US, as well as the major stadiums in Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
TrackMan in US Football
In 2018 NBC started using TrackMan technology on their Sunday Night Football broadcasts to deliver accurate ball flight data that could be shown using on-screen graphics. A TrackMan system for evaluating and training field goal kickers was introduced in 2019. Later that year, the Chicago Bears became the first NFL team to use the system.
TrackMan in European Football
TrackMan is currently developing a unit to measure penalties and free kicks in European football. The unit is due to be released in 2021. Adidas used a TrackMan to measure ball flight and performance in the development of the official 2013 World Cup football.
TrackMan in Other Activities
TrackMan technology is also used in other sports as part of the company's R&D activities. Both the US and the New Zealand Olympic shot put teams used TrackMan to train athletes for the 2016 Olympics. Five out of six shot put medals went to athletes who had trained with TrackMan before the event. US sports equipment manufacturer Wilson used a bespoke TrackMan device to develop their Steam 99S and 105S rackets which were designed to increase ball spin effect. The Steam range was introduced in 2013.