After more than 150 years in business, Continental Tire knows a thing or four about the importance of the connection with the ground. But instead of the rubber meeting the road, its Bal.On tech-driven golf shoe insole is all about the foundation between the foot and the ground.
The Bal.On Smart Kit gives golfers instant and detailed feedback on ground interaction to help build the foundation for a fast, repeatable swing. First introduced in the European market in 2023 – with professional endorsers including Alex Fitzpatrick, Matti Schmid and Esther Henseleit, the women’s silver medalist at the Paris Olympics – the Bal-On wearable pressure-analysis system with a coaching app made a splash at the 2024 PGA Show and is now available in the United States.
“We have proven the success of the Bal.On Smart Kit in Europe, but this move into the U.S. is a significant milestone for our company,” said Felix Lindner, founder and head of Bal.On, a division of Continental Tire. “[It] is designed to offer instant, data-driven insights, enabling players of all levels to make real-time adjustments. We believe this innovation has the potential to fundamentally change the way golfers in the U.S. approach their training.”
The Smart Kit ($599) training aid consists of a pair of 2-millimeter-thin pressure-sensitive insoles (in sizes, S, M, L and XL), Smart Pods and a smartphone app – capturing two sources of data from sensor data of the soles as well as video data from a smartphone. The 18 force-sensing resistors in the soles cause a change in electrical resistance when pressure is applied on them, sending a signal via the smart pods to the app. It provides golfers with instant actionable data on the ground force they generate, helping to deliver greater clubhead speed, power and consistency – capturing information invisible to human eyes. A built-in AI coach provides guidance on what to work on first – and how.
The Smart Kit provides highly intuitive visuals in the form of a heatmap, multiple line graphs and seven easily understandable metrics to give even more detail into a player's movements. These metrics – including basic pressure distribution during address, backswing and impact as well as advanced feedback on transition timing, vertical timing, max vertical and rhythm – are based on data from thousands of shots, including many from the world’s top men’s and women’s professional tours. With the addition of information from usage in the U.S., Bal.On will be able to provide even deeper insights on how every golfer can improve in the most efficient way.
“The Bal.On Smart Kit has been a great addition to my training, showing my team subtle changes that can have a meaningful impact on my game,” said Germany’s Henseleit, who played in the recent Solheim Cup. “With the insoles not being confined to a swing bay, they show us real-world data from on the course and in various different situations.”
Bal.On’s instant and finely detailed feedback helps a golfer train his or her feel like a muscle in the body to pilot the wearer through the complex and refined motions that are characteristic for golf from driving through putting. The smart training device helps golfers and coaches visualize the ground-reaction forces during the golf swing – specifically, precisely how and when they are shifting their weight. By understanding, analyzing and targeting these forces, golfers can work specifically on improving their clubhead speed and therefore improve their overall performance.
Bal.On will also launch a premium subscription service, which will include a “Traceline Drill” feature, video library, goals for raw data values and will soon have available model swings and custom targets for chosen metrics. Users will get the first three months free before a $5.99 per-month fee.
PHOTOS COURTESY BAL.ON