Gurgaon-based sports start-up Upgame built an app for golf players to track their performance metrics in a bid to improve their game.
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We live in a world where more and more sports teams, organisations and even players are focusing on data. It’s becoming more important than ever to keep track of players’ underlying stats. In that sense, Upgame is taking things to a different level.
The Gurgaon-based sports start-up has built an app for golf players to track their performance metrics in a bid to improve their game. It is now being used by both amateur and pro golfers in many parts of the globe.
And, according to Upgame founder Sameer Sawhney, the sky is very much the limit as far as growth for the app is concerned.
“In terms of golf, we have only scratched the surface in terms of the ‘better’ players i.e. those who want to make it as pros,” Sawhney tells SportsLumo in an exclusive interaction.
“As far as expanding, there are two sides we need to cover more. The first is the segment of the market that are recreational golfers. That is the much bigger chunk of the market. It will be a step forward to capture that market.
“Expansion will also come from different geographies. We’ve done well at the top level in Australia and certain European national federations and even some American colleges. But there’s still ground to cover in terms of global academies, coaches, juniors, teams and the like.
“I think we’re just getting started. First of all, people are a lot more aware of data and of measuring themselves. For an athlete it is like keeping accounts in business; you need to know what’s going well and what isn’t.
“Athletes will also get more aware of body metrics, sleep patterns and the like. People will also make more decisions for those based on data. All of this will drive growth.”
But where did the idea of a golf stats tracking app come from? The sport, it is worth noting, isn’t necessarily one that is wildly popular in India. Neither is it extremely accessable, given the costs of partaking in the sport.
For Sawhney, the inspiration came from his own struggles while playing the game. Despite managing to play at a high level, he realised there was no proper way to track his own data. And thus the seeds for Upgame were sown.
“For me, I have come from a golf playing background; I played at a pretty high competitive level in India and abroad as well. Having that experience, I realized how important data was on my journey as an athlete.
“Especially in golf, the way we did it was almost broken. Either the right quality data wasn’t looked at, or the way we collected data was very primitive.
“We used spreadsheets, notebooks and even some clunky software that were available. We wanted to solve the problem of golfers having to keep good quality data. The idea came from having that personal pain point.
“Initially, the focus was very much on solving our personal pain point; this is how most companies actually do start! As we’ve moved forward in golf we realise it’s a problem that athletes around the world face.
“Not just in terms of data but also the whole coaching side of things as well. We see ourselves more as a game improvement solution rather than a hardcore analytics solution.”
However they choose to see themselves, they have been pretty successful thus far. The app has seen a 30X growth in monthly revenues since January 2021. They’ve also seen investment come in from football stars James Milner and Adam Lallana.
The’ve also seen the app get used in a number of markets. And it is of course tempting to wonder if they can achieve similar success by venturing into sports other than golf.
That, of course, would have a dual benefit – not only would it make the app more accessable, but moving on to more popular sports would help them gain whole new user bases.
According to Sawhney himself, that is the eventual plan. But for now, they are focused strongly on the golf market.
“The vision for us is to be that one-stop for any athlete in the world. But to get there it is important to break everything down bit by bit. For now, we have a massive market to cover in golf; we’ve just scratched the surface.
“We want to do a great job in the golf market and own that well first. At the same time, we’ve been looking to do some experimenting on other sports. But the key focus for now is the golf market before moving on to other aspects.”
A cursory glance through the website and/or the app makes it clear that, as far as golf tracking goes, the attention to detail in place is pretty good.
Of course, in a world where digital innovation is the norm, one can never rest on their laurels. Sawhney too believes that there is plenty to explore solely in terms of developing the app.
He further goes on to break things down into four main components that golfers must use to track their game and how the plan is to help facilitate growth in all those facets.
“We’ve got two versions of the app: one is very basic and the other gives in-depth, Moneyball level amounts of analytics. It’s been quite interesting in the way its unfolded.
“The way we see things now, there are four things they need to do. The first is planning, the second is tracking their stats, and based on that they are able to plan and strategize and then the third component is structure and monitor their practice. The fourth which is coming up is centred around connecting with and communicating with coaches.
“This, to us, is the entire holistic solution. We’re also building on other facets around stats; basically, there’s a lot more coming in on the app. There’s constantly work going on in these departments,” he signed off.
