Skip to main content

Australian child golf prodigy takes down drone with a single swing of her club

8 Year old girl smashes drone
Eight-year-old Ruby Kavanagh has a swing that rivals golfers five times her age. Her swing is so good that the junior golfer was able to knock a Yuneec Typhoon H hexacopter drone out of the sky with a single drive. Not surprisingly, the video of her killer shot went viral, with people both congratulating and criticizing her effort.

The stunt is simple enough. Kavanagh steps up to the tee, while the drone records footage of her lining up her shot. The next thing you know, she hits the ball with a perfect swing, and we see the ball flying toward the drone for a direct hit. The ball clips the landing gear, causing the drone to plummet to the ground and, alas, never fly again.

Why the criticism of this video showing the skills of Australia’s top-ranked child golfer? Many have concluded that the Yuneec Typhoon H hexacopter remained operational after impact, and that there was no apparent reason for the drone to plummet to the ground.

Looking closely at the video, it is apparent that the drone’s blades are still spinning after it was hit by the golf ball. If the blades are operational, why did the helicopter fall? Other critics point out that the aircraft hovered slightly after impact and then flew off to the side, a motion that may be consistent with an operator responding to the impact and then intentionally grounding the drone. Lastly, some question whether the grainy video was recorded by the 4K-capable camera on the drone. Wouldn’t a $1,900 drone be capable of recording higher-quality footage?

Whether you believe it was staged or a legitimate takedown, the video has remained popular, accruing more than a half million views. Kavanagh is using the video to push her crowdfunding GoFundMe campaign that is raising funds to support her fledgling career.

Editors' Recommendations

The OnCore smart golf ball can take your game to the next level
OnCore Genius smart golf ball

Few athletes are more obsessed with their sport than golfers. They are constantly tinkering with their game, finding new ways to improve both their driving and putting, and are constantly on the lookout for the best new gear to give them an edge out on the course. The latest product to do that might be the Genius golf ball from OnCore, a smart device capable of tracking a plethora of stats that can help just about any golfer take strokes off of his or her score.

The Genius is the result of a successful crowdfunding campaign that raised more than $117,000 in 2017. The breakthrough with this ball isn't necessarily the high-tech sensors and accelerometers that are found within, but the protective coating that surrounds them instead. Other manufacturers have tried to make smart golf balls in the past, but most couldn't find a way to protect the delicate electronics inside, which are subjected to massive g-forces when driven off the tee. OnCore felt that a ball that is used just during putting wasn't quite so useful, so it found a way to safeguard the circuitry within its ball. The result is a device that can track just about every aspect of your golf game.

Read more
Casey Neistat built a giant drone that can tow him around on a snowboard, lift him into the air
human flying drone santa neistat 1

YouTube filmmaker Casey Neistat has won Christmas with an epic holiday-themed video that features him as snowboarding Santa who ditches the sleigh and replaces it with a human-flying drone. The footage was shot in Finland at a small village and ski area that looks like it pulled straight from your grandmothers Christmas card. It's worth a few minutes of your time to watch Neistat and his high-flying holiday madness.

HUMAN FLYING DRONE

Read more
Improve your swing with these smart golf grips from Microsoft
microsoft smart golf grip pad tags 13

Golf is a game of impossibilities. Whack the golf ball into the hole from hundreds of yards away. It shouldn't be possible, and yet people can be really good at it. For the rest of us, we need a little more training. Thanks to Microsoft, that training just got a little bit easier.

One of the most important aspects of a golf swing is the grip. Grip too tightly, and the ball likely won't travel as far. Grip too loosely, and you'll have to retrieve your club, too. More important than that though is consistency. By maintaining your grip, there is one less variable to your perfect swing. Many golfers are inconsistent in their grip throughout the course of a game or tournament.

Read more