People don’t just look at a ball flight and assess it with their eyes anymore. Launch monitor technology that can measure club delivery at impact and ball flight data has created enormous value for the golf industry. These features and the advances of golf simulation have improved coaching, instruction and custom club fitting experiences.
Taking game improvement a step further, I have always felt that being able to know the precise difference between a swing that produced a great golf shot and one that produced a bad one is THE HOLY GRAIL for any golfer at any level. However, I noticed an industry-wide void in this area. I would go through a stretch of good golf or believed I was in a really good spot with my swing after a lesson, but then the next day, week or month (at any given moment), I could “lose” my swing and I would have no idea what I was doing differently to hit it so poorly. That would lead to the tinkering process to try to find it again, which could take weeks or months. It would frustrate me to no end that there wasn’t a more scientific way to get to the bottom of it.
With Sportsbox AI, I believe that being able to measure the WHY behind the club delivery and ball flight is the next frontier. I founded Sportsbox AI in 2020 as an AI-powered technology company. We develop AI coaching applications for athletes across multiple sports and fitness activities. Through our unique technology, we can capture, measure and analyze complex athletic motions in 3D. By marrying those capabilities with the knowledge and experience of the world’s leading instructors in each sport, Sportsbox AI provides real-time corrective feedback to help users achieve their goals in sports and fitness. We provide user-friendly services by enabling athletes and coaches to use our platform on their mobile phones at a fraction of the cost of existing 3D Motion Capture Systems.
“Everyone expects Trackman or Foresight when they go to an indoor facility. But it’s Sportsbox that really sells our facility.” - Evan Twombly, GM at Studio Golf Scottsdale.
As we explain on our website, “Proprietary 2D and 3D models use over 30 key points on the body, club and ball, which allows us to accurately detect comprehensive joints and body segments in motion from a single video without any markers. Based on these highly accurate and robust 2D and 3D models, we’re able to animate the body motion in full 3D, which can be viewed from six different angles - Face-On, Down-the-Line, Behind, From Target, Above and Below.”
Sportsbox is being used by fitness professionals and golf facilities that offer fitness in their programs. The body-swing connection is important, but our coaches and fitness trainers have gone beyond that by connecting the dots between body-swing-outcome. Ultimately, their clients want to hit the ball better, longer and straighter. The trainer’s physical assessment and training program has to tie it together - from their motion in the actual golf swing to the desired outcome - and they must consider the general physical limitations and abilities of the golfer. Feedback tells us that they love starting by measuring the movement in the swing and setting a measurable goal that they can improve upon through the physical training.
“I started working with a coach who uses Sportsbox, and I’ve made more progress in the last five weeks working with him and using the product in my practice than I had in the last 15 years of taking lessons with other coaches.” - Golf student of a Sportsbox AI coach
As this facet of player development has grown in recent years, so too has our company. We’ve had amazing growth among coaches, trainers and the everyday golfer. We’re the only product in our category being utilized by tour players on every tour, including Bryson DeChambeau. The technology is powering our partners in broadcast TV, in retail for club fitting and at golf facilities worldwide. We have app users in 124 countries and paying subscribers in 53 countries.
Jeehae Lee is a former LPGA Tour Professional and executive in the sports media entertainment industry. As the Founder & CEO of Sportsbox AI, Jeehae is building products using 3D motion analysis technology that will transform the way people learn and improve skills in sports, starting with golf. Prior to founding Sportsbox, she led strategy and new business development for various divisions at Topgolf, including Toptracer. Jeehae has a BA in Economics from Yale University and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.