Each shot has a number of columns, or metrics. Typical columns are the Club Type, the Total Distance, the Back Spin, and so on. Which columns are available depends on the device you use. Check out the list of all built-in columns. But in Golf Shot Analytics you can add your own columns that are computed based on the other columns. Also you can change the way the columns are shown in the tables. 

Note that we make a distinction between built-in columns, that are provided by the device, and user-defined columns that you can define yourself. Built-in columns you cannot directly change, but you can change the way they are shown. User-define columns you can change in any way you like.

To change the columns, select Define columns from the settings menu. The following dialog will show:

At the left there is the list of columns. Default only the user-defined columns are shown, which are in bold. By clicking on the checkmark Show the built-in columns you will also see the built-in columns. There is a huge number of these. Below the list there are buttons to add a new column, delete a user-defined column, and change the order of the columns. The order is important as this is the order in which the columns are shown when selecting columns in components. It is also the order in which the user-defined columns are computed.

Settings

When you select a column in the list at the left, some settings are shown and can be changed. For default columns, you cannot change certain settings.

• Name The name of the column.  You cannot change this for built-in columns. 
• Short name This is the name used in column headers and other places where there is little room. When you leave this empty, the name is used. Note that you can also use this to change the way built-in columns are named in your tables.
• Show in column selection When you are not interested in certain columns you can switch this off. The column is then no longer shown in dialogs for components where you select metric(s). You can also use this when you define your own columns with partial results that are used again in other column definitions.
• Data type The type of data in the column. This can be a float (number), string, or Boolean value (true or false). You cannot change this for the built-in columns. When the data type is float you have some more options, that influence how the value is shown in the components.
• Measure What measure is used for the value. This can be a generic value, distance (yds, m), short distance (in, cm), speed (mph, km/h), height (yds, m, ft), angle, or percentage. The measure is sometimes shown in the column header. Also, for angles and percentages, a symbol is added to the value. Note the special role of distance, short distance, speed, and height. The choice only affects the way the value is displayed. No conversion takes place when the user changes units. But, of course, when the column uses values in a built-in column with the same measure, that column will be converted, and hence your column will. So normally, this is not something you need to be aware of.
• Decimals The number of decimals shown (0-3).
• Can be made absolute  Whether setting the absolute property in components changes this value to positive. For certain columns this does not make sense.
• Use L/R notation Whether to use L/R notation for negative/positive values. This is typically used for metric that represent a deviation to the left or right. 
• Consider zero values as missing data When the value for a metric is not measure by the launch monitor a 0 value is used. When you check this option (default) such values are ignored when computing averages and showing charts, and in tables they are displayed as a dash (-). You can change that by removing the checkmark. For more information see the help on missing data.

Defining your own columns

When you add a new column, at the right, there is a formula editor. Here you type in the formula that computes the column value, based on the other columns. You can refer to the other columns using their (long) name, without the spaces. You can also use the button below the formula to add a particular column name.

For example, if you want to define a column that shows the relative deviation distance, as a percentage, you could use the formula: 100*TotalDeviationDistance/TotalDistance. You then best also indicate that the measure is a percentage. You can also refer to the average value in a column or their minimum, maximum, median, etc. For example, the PEI (Percent Error Index) is defined as follows: sqrt((TotalDistance-TotalDistance.club_median())**2 + TotalDeviationDistance**2 / TotalDistance.club_median(). For more information, see the help on formulas.

As another example, say we want to create a column that indicates whether a shot is great. You give this column a string data type and then use as a formula: "Great" if TotalDistance > 200 and TotalDeviationDistance < 10 else "Poor". The possibilities are endless.

Your new columns can refer to other columns you defined, but only to those that are above it in the list, because the columns are computed in that order.

Advanced example

As a final, more advanced example, assume you want practice with different swing speeds. You want to do a full swing, 3/4 swing, 1/2 swing and 1/4 swing with your clubs. To see the distinction in Golf Shot Analytics, you can add a columns named Club Swing. As formula use something like:

test(ClubHeadSpeed < 0.4 * ClubHeadSpeed.club_maximum(), "1/4 Swing",

ClubHeadSpeed < 0.6 * ClubHeadSpeed.club_maximum(), "1/2 Swing",

ClubHeadSpeed < 0.8 * ClubHeadSpeed.club_maximum(), "3/4 Swing",

"Full Swing")

Change the numbers the way you like. This works as follows. The test function first tests the first conditions, which checks whether the club head speed is less than 40% of the maximum club head speed for the club. If so, it fills in the string "1/4 Swing". If not, it checks the next condition, and so on. If none are satisfied, the string "Full Swing" is used. You can now make selections based on the value of your new column. (You can even use something similar to override the Club Name column.)

Formula editor

Note that while you type in a formula, a pop-up menu will appear with possible auto-completions. This includes all column names you can use, functions, and so on. Also note that the formula will have color coding. The following colors are used:

• Blue: column names and constants.
• Yellow: function names.
• Orange: strings.
• Green: macro names, that is, defined formulas

This will help you avoid errors. Below the formula there is a Test button. This will run the formula on all shot and reports the result. When there is an error in the formula, this is also reported. Best always test your formulas.

Redefining built-in columns

Even though you cannot directly change the built-in columns, you have some possibilities to change them. To this end, add a new column, but give it the same name as an existing column. You will be warned that you are overriding a built-in column. For some columns, like Date and Time, this is not allowed and you get an error message. 

Because built-in column names are used internally, you better not change the data type or measure. (For example, the Total Distance is used in the shot visuals component where it is assumed to be a distance.)

Now you can type in a formula. You can even use the old value of the column. For example, if you think your distances for drivers are 10% too short, you could override the Total Distance column with formula TotalDistance*1.1 if ClubType == "Driver" else TotalDistance.