Swing Analysis

[Kanoito]

So I got V1 Golf on my Android phone... it's an app that let's you record your swing, draw lines and compare it side by side with pros.

 

My question is: how do you exactly analyze a swing?

I know it sounds like a stupid question... I recorded myself and now I can draw those colorful lines and circles...

 

I read you can draw a line from your shoulder to the ball and this will tell you if it's an inside-out or outside-in swing.

 

Or draw 2 vertical lines on each side of your shoulder to see if you are swaying back and forth.

 

Which other details do you look for? They recommend sending the videos to a golf pro, but let's say you want to analyze your own swing... what else should you be paying attention to?

[Shambles]

You need to be an astronomer to fully appreciate pictures of distant stars and galaxies. If you aren't, they are just pretty pictures.

 

 

Shambles

[Kanoito]

You need to be an astronomer to fully appreciate pictures of distant stars and galaxies. If you aren't, they are just pretty pictures.

 

 

Shambles

 

Haha I love your analogy and it's 100% true!

 

But I just imagined... millions of downloads for such apps... they can't possibly all be golf pros, so how does the simple hacker improve his own swing if doesn't have the knowledge to?

[Shambles]

Haha I love your analogy and it's 100% true!

 

But I just imagined... millions of downloads for such apps... they can't possibly all be golf pros, so how does the simple hacker improve his own swing if doesn't have the knowledge to?

 

Buy a good book, read it several times and never lend it out.

 

I like Manuel de La Torre's " Understanding The Golf Swing ". You can look up the chapters that concern your problems or just read it for fun. It's discursive and therefore easy reading and not a text book. In fair time, you will make your own theories and form your own ideas and be wrong many times. However, it will be a better beginning than magazine or internet blurbs.

 

Good understanding helps you develop solutions even on the fly.

 

 

Shambles

[Kanoito]

Thanks Shambles. I will certainly look into this title.

This is one one of the most fun things about golf (besides playing) you never stop learning!

[Shambles]

Thanks Shambles. I will certainly look into this title.

This is one one of the most fun things about golf (besides playing) you never stop learning!

 

Even lessons already learned sometimes need re learning. Unfortunately, I am very skilled at making mistakes.

 

Learning the swing can be much faster with an instructor but they don't always explain things very well and many are given to being pedantic.

 

 

Shambles

[Kanoito]

I totally agree, sometimes you feel you got the fix for something (a slice for instance) and a month later you go back to do the same mistakes.

 

When I started fighting my slice, the first thing I did was go to a golf pro, didn't work out that well. I gave up because it was expensive and wasn't bringing the results. Sometimes it felt like the instructor was busier texting on his phone and watching me hit ball after ball than explaining what I was doing wrong.

 

Then I joined MGS, got some useful feedback here, read some articles, internet, videos and started testing things on my own and I got rid of the slice (most of the time).

 

Being an astronomer is not my goal, but I could certainly learn some basics to enjoy looking at the pretty stars in the sky!

[jamo]

It's not hard as long as you know what you're looking for. That part, I guess, can be tricky.

[Shambles]

Self teaching, if done with the proper attention, can be beneficial as there is much learning for the sake of discovering the solution that works.

 

It's well understood by even the not so experienced that the slice is caused by an out to in swing motion against the ball. Unfortunately, there are any number of things that cause us to swing out to in. or it's counterfeit with the same result, a slightly open club face, or a combination of both.

 

One cause of a slice is an overly aggressive right hand which takes over the stroke in your effort to hit the ball farther. The common solution is to actively force your left hand to do more of the work either by strength exercise, a stronger left grip or a combination of both. It can also be caused by an open stance, and that is a subtle error that is sometimes corrected by squaring the stance. Sometimes we cause a slice by, again in the course of trying to hit the ball farther, shifting left way ahead of impact. This leaves the club head behind and reduces the time the club head needs to square up at or just before impact, again causing a side spin we often see as a slice, albeit at a slightly different part of the balls flight.

 

The thing about knowing what can cause a slice is you can use this knowledge to identify what you are doing that causes your slice problem. Once you have identified the culprit, you can also devise your own solution. If you learn how to stop slicing, you next need to learn to slice on command, after which you also learn to slice at the right part of the balls flight, whatever part that might be. The shot might be needed at an important moment.

 

You then need to learn the hook because the hook will come easily. It's the twin of the slice but prefers the opposite side of the bed.

 

This is a lot of time, effort and expense, depending on how well and quickly you learn and retain the learning.

 

Do you really want to fix that slice and be confronted by all the time, effort and expense ?

 

 

Shambles

[Kanoito]

In my case, 2 things were causing the slice:

 

1. outside-in swing path when I tried to really hit it hard

2. not releasing my wrists (leaving the club face open at impact)

 

In order to fix those I slowed down a little bit... maintaining my balance after the drive and exaggerating the wrist release (sometimes going to a snap hook). Going back to the middle of the bed is easier when you've slept on both sides

 

To answer your question: YES! I had to fix that slice... it was causing way too many OB's and lost balls. Time and effort are well worth it. Expense... only if you put time = money.

 

Besides correcting a slice, there are many thing I want to learn/improve, such as increasing distance with irons, hitting that nice draw as the natural ball flight, etc.

 

For those of you who are also interested in self teaching, I found this small tutorial

 

http://www.allsportsystems.com/how-to-analyze-golf-swing.htm

 

I hope it does more help than harm!

[Shambles]

Some swing problems can be fixed by the simple expedient of trying to actually SEE the club strike through the ball and only looking at where the ball went after. Your eyes serves as the anchor of your swing platform and changes in perspective should alert you to other problems such as a bobbing head, falling behind of, or getting ahead of your swing. It might even help you to see that you sometimes strike the ball a little high or are striking that teeny tiny bit behind.

 

Unfortunately you really can hit the ball very well this way and still lose it if you play without a caddy, or a loyal friend who really looks to see where the ball went, and tells you. That's obviously because you don't get to see the ball until after it has gone flying off so you can really miss seeing it fly sometimes, and therefore lose it. You can solo fix most of this by doing a lot of practice on a real range, not one of those net constructions. With patience you learn to let the follow through pull you up and out, letting the head naturally see where the ball went. The trick is to actually let this happen naturally and not by force. Not so easy when you are on a budget and under time pressure or being hectored by some people who want a conversation.

 

 

Shambles