Fixed cameras are a powerful tool within a hitting bay. They provide golf instructors with the highest-quality video and meticulously positioned camera angles of a student’s swing, allowing for precise and deep analysis of a player’s mechanics.
They are nonnegotiable in most indoor facilities, but they come with a set of challenges and limitations.
Multi-Cam MAX lets you view video from fixed-cameras directly on your iPad. Designed for single or multi-bay facilities, Multi-Cam MAX works with the Onform app and unlocks a new level of flexibility, efficiency, and ease of use for golf instructors.
Video from your fixed cameras appears on your iPad in seconds. You can easily toggle between up to four camera angels or view all of them at once for a full picture of your students’ swings. The video is saved, stored and assigned to each individual student, keeping everything organized as lessons move to different bays or from indoors to outdoors.
Multi-Cam MAX is designed to work with the leading fixed-camera systems already installed in golf academies and club facilities.
Jeff Smith, the Director of Instruction at The Vintage Club in Indian Wells, California, was an early adopter of Multi-Cam Max. He praises the system for its ease of use, flexibility and efficiency.
“Since we’ve switched to the Multi-Cam Max system, I’m now finding the ease of throwing the videos right from the iPad that it runs from to either television that I’ve got to show people on a big screen,” Smith said. “I can put anything I want on the screen and I can zoom in and zoom out. It’s the easiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Interested in Multi-Cam MAX for your facility?
Multi-Cam MAX is officially available July 1. Join the pre-order list and we’ll be in touch with pricing, availability, and next steps for your club or academy.
A Game-Changer: Using Fixed Cameras with an iPad
Smith has used Onform for five and a half years, but like most instructors, his previous fixed camera setup was tedious and limiting. The quality of the video playback from the cameras was excellent, but the transition from the recording to actual coaching based on the footage was time-consuming and failed to provide the instant visual feedback some of his students were wanting.
With Multi-Cam MAX, Smith is able to replicate the same level of deep analysis and real-time feedback inside the bays at Vintage Club as he does with his outside lessons that he records on his iPad through Onform.
“I’m able to zoom in, grab different cameras, and get everything I want at a moment’s notice,” Smith said of the seamless experience. “I can finally do it indoors in the studio where I couldn’t do that before.”
This has increased efficiency with Smith’s lessons. Now, as soon as a player completes their swing sequence, multiple angles of the swing show up on Smith’s iPad, which is automatically casted to TV displays in the hitting bay.
“It’s so fast that by the time the ball has hit the ground, the video is on the iPad right in front of me and I can talk to the student about it,” he said. “I’m getting more done in a lesson.”
Visual Clarity, Finite Details and Programmable Lighting Adaptability
Smith is used to zooming in on certain elements of a player’s swing, but an iPad or iPhone camera has its limits. With the Multi-Cam MAX setup, he gets a higher frame rate — up to 500 fps — with the instant processing and feedback he’s used to when recording through mobile devices.
This level of stop-motion allows him to see small changes clearly, especially at impact or release.
“Being able to zoom in on any part of the golf swing and actually get no shaft blur, no blur on the hands, and I get to see great imagery and slow-motion of the ball leaving the face so I can see exactly where it hit the face,” he said. “It’s changed my world from coaching indoors immensely.”
Smith also appreciated the system’s programmable, automatic lighting adjustments, which eliminates the need for manual exposure tweaks throughout the day.
“I don’t have to spend time messing around with the cameras anymore, and I don’t have to go over and twist the dial and all that because of the adaptability to the light that’s now programmable,” he said.
The Multi-Cam MAX cameras are connected to Smith’s PC at the Vintage Club, but everything is controllable through his iPad and the Onform app, including exposure and other camera settings and the ability to select which cameras he wants to view — with side angles, a down-the-line view and even an overhead camera.
“That’s a terrific thing, because I can choose what I want to see and what I can show, and it instantly lets me compare one swing to the next from different angles,” Smith said.
Students Appreciate the High-Quality Swing Comparisons and Direct Feedback
Smith uses the Onform app to create groups and collections to compartmentalize his work across different locations, such as Pine Canyon in Flagstaff, Arizona, keeping his coaching organized.
His students appreciate the ability to view high-quality comparisons and receive feedback directly within the Onform app. The threaded Chat feature ensures that lesson conversations remain organized and accessible.
“They really like that everything is going into their Onform timeline, whether we’re practicing inside or outside,” Smith said. “They also like the fact that now, when I’m having a lesson with them, they can ask about that lesson because everything is threaded, so conversations don’t get lost. They love that.”
Smith notes that while golf technology is booming, he prioritizes tools that improve outcomes for both himself and his students, specifically highlighting the value of developers who actively listen to and act upon coach feedback.
“With Onform, everything gets easier, every time,” he said. “We have conversations with the people who run Onform, and they listen, and they make it easier for all the coaches by listening to them and taking that information and making improvements.”