Are you looking to get more out of your golf game? Newbies and experienced golfers can benefit from coaching to improve their swing. Even the pros rely on their coaches to watch their performance and make recommendations for improvement.
However, most golfers can’t afford to hire a pro to follow them around the course. Even hiring a coach for an hour-long session can cost you over $100 in fees. Fortunately, you don’t have to shell over thousands to improve your golf game.
Technology continues to integrate into our daily lives, and now there are apps available to help you record and analyze your golf swing. You get a pocket-sized coach that makes recommendations on tweaking your swing to perfection.
Let’s unpack everything you need to know about using tech to improve your golf game.
Recording Your Swing with Your Phone
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The smartphone changed the game when it comes to communications. As the years went by, smartphones became increasingly powerful. Today, most of the top models have camera technology on par with leading DSLR models.
Having someone record your swing helps you identify key areas of the swing when you need to adjust your form. Are you coming over the top? Then adjust your arm to track your body more. Set up your phone on a tripod and record your session if you’re at the driving range. It’s a great way to analyze your swing, and you’ll learn a lot.
However, if you’re a newcomer to the game, you probably don’t know what you’re looking at, so recording your swing won’t do you much good. Fortunately, several apps for analyzing your swing are available for download to iOS and Android devices.
The apps use AI to identify the swing patch and your body, making suggestions on adjusting your technique. It’s like having a virtual coach in your pocket. Sure, you have to pay a subscription fee or one-off cost for the app. However, it’s going to be more affordable than hiring a coach.
How to Record Your Swing with Your Phone – The Angles
Even if you don’t have access to a swing analysis app, you can benefit from recording your time on the course. Record your swing and compare it to instructional videos on YouTube to find out where you’re making your mistakes.
When you’re recording yourself, set the camera up in the following positions to capture the view of your swing from multiple angles. The more data you have, the more opportunity you have to find ways to improve your swing.
Face-On
Recording the swing from the face-on position allows you to pick up on things you miss with the standard down-the-line recording view. It’s a good way to track the ball movement, your eye-line, and chin movement. You’ll also see if you’re closing your chest in the swing and get more insight into what your hips are doing.
Down-the-Line
The down-the-line recording view comes from behind the player, looking forward to the hole. This angle gives you a picture of the plane of the backswing. You can see where the clubhead is facing at the top of the swing. You also get insight into the curvature of your spine and the movement of your hips, elbows, and shoulders during the swing.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Analyzing Your Golf Swing
Now that you know how to record yourself on the source, it’s time to get out there and start filming. Take your phone to the driving range for practice and film your session. Set the phone camera up and take twenty drives from the down-the-line position and twenty from the face-on position.
When you finish the session, head home and download the footage to a bigger screen to get a better view of your swing. When you’re analyzing the footage, look for the following.
Check Alignment
Most beginners don’t take the time to check their alignment before every shot. Use an alignment stick or club to help your lineup properly. The faster you get into the habit of building this alignment check, not your setup, the better.
Your alignment affects your aim and the quality of your shot. Make sure your shoulders, hips, and feet align with the target. Right-handed players need to ensure they are slightly open to the target.
Aim your shot slightly to the left to get a shallow downswing, and you’ll find you improve your chances of hitting the target. Newbies’ most common mistake is setting up closed and aiming to the right. This posture results in the golfer pulling back to the left and slicing the ball, creating a weak shot.
Analyze Your Posture
What does your posture look like? It takes a while for beginners to fall into the right posture when gripping the club and aiming at the target. Posture is probably the foundation of your setup, and it requires careful analysis to see where you’re going wrong.
When you’re analyzing your posture, start from the ground up. Where are your feet facing? Do you have more weight on your heels or the ball of the foot? Are your knees bent with the right amount of flexion? Is your back straight, and are you thrusting your glutes out?
What are you doing with your chin? Is it high enough to let the shoulders rotate through the backswing? Recording yourself helps you identify and fix these posture issues with your setup and during the swing and follow-through.
Look at Your Grip
A bad grip can ruin your golf game. Look at your grip while you’re analyzing your swing. How are you holding the club? Are your hands too far up or down on the grip? Does your grip look steady and secure? Do you have the right balance in your fingers, and you’re not reliant on your palms when gripping the club?
Look at your forearms to see if there is pressure building in your grip during your swing. If you notice your forearm muscles moving in the video, you’re probably gripping the club too tight. You need a light grip on the club, allowing you to control the club at the top of the backswing and follow-through.
Examine the Ball Position
When you’re recording from the face-on position, you have the chance to watch the ball position during your setup and swing. This data gives you valuable insight into how the clubface is contacting the ball. Ensure you follow these guidelines when placing the ball.
- Your driver should be off to the front of your lead foot, directly below the right ear.
- Set up the fairway wood directly below the brand logo on the left side of the chest.
- Set up the short irons directly below the buttons on your shirt.
- All other clubs are between fairway woods and short irons on standard lies.
Can a Launch Monitor App Help?
Use a launch monitor to track your swing if you want to step up your analysis to the next level. The launch monitor app records the angle of attack on the ball, the spin rate, ball speed, and much more. You’ll know what’s holding you back from generating more ball speed off the tee and on the fairway.
Evaluate the Following with Your Launch Monitor
When you’re setting up the phone with the launch monitor app, you’re getting a better look at what’s happening during your swing. The more data you have on hand, the easier it is to figure out where you’re going wrong with your swing.
Here are the components of your swing to study with your launch monitor.
Backswing
It’s crucial for you to examine the details of your backswing. The backswing leads into the downswing, uncoiling the energy generated in the backswing and positioning for the downswing. So, studying your backswing helps you understand the right path to take to set up an effective downswing.
The launch monitor helps you identify the clubhead direction at the peak of the backswing, helping you understand more about how you hold the club and the rotational forces in your shoulders and hips during the movement.
Swing Tempo
The launch monitor also helps you analyze your swing tempo through the backswing, downswing, and follow-through. Study the tempo and compare yourself against the pros.
Ensure that you have the right tempo throughout the entire movement and that you’re not pulling punches on any part of the movement.
Backswing Path
After unpacking the tempo of your swing, it’s time to analyze whether it’s outside, inside, or straight back. If your swing is too far on the inside, it’s easy to push it to the right if you find yourself getting stuck. If it’s too far to the inside, start the backswing using your upper body, and you’ll produce a pull cut.
If the swing is too far to the inside on the backswing, it’s easy for you to end up pulling the ball or snap a hook shot. The key is to look at how your shoulders pivot during the movement. By analyzing your posture in the setup and during the swing and comparing it to the pros, you’ll find out what you need to improve.
Where is the Top of Your Swing?
When reviewing your recording of you using the driver, check to see if you’re parallel at the top of the swing. It’s also important to do this exercise with your wedges and irons.
If you see you’re extending beyond parallel, it will be challenging for you to hit the fairway. If you’re not parallel, you’ll find your consistency at hitting the fairway drops, and your timing gets thrown off balance. Try to set up a little short of parallel with your driver, woods, irons, and wedges.
Track the Downswing
The downswing is a huge contributor to the execution and quality of the shot. The top of the backswing determines the path for the downswing. Check and see if you’re pausing at the top of the backswing or if you’re rushing into starting the downswing.
The longer the delay at the top of the swing, the more chance you can build power into the shot. Look to see if you’re rushing the shot because that leads to a loss of speed on the downswing.
Observe the path of your downswing and watch the club’s movement as you start the downswing. Are you using your upper or lower body during the movement? Ensure you’re coming in slightly shallow, and you’ll find you drop the club in the right spot.
Check Your Follow-Through
Finally, use the launch monitor to analyze your follow-through. How are you finishing after contacting the ball? Check your balance and foot movement during the follow-through. Where does the club stop, and how are you controlling the club in the follow-through?
Where does your head finish, and where is your chin pointing? Analyze your form and compare it to the top pros to find where you’re making mistakes.
Tips for Fixing Problems with Your Golf Swing
- The biggest problem for newcomers to golf is that they try to fix too many things all at once.
- Golf is a game of patience, and it’s going to take time to build the right posture and setup for your shots.
- Trying to do too much at once will leave you overthinking your shots, leading to performance anxiety.
- Take your analysis and improvement strategy one step at a time.
- Start with the setup and learn how to position yourself and hold the club.
- Ensure you’re square with your target.
- Work on your backswing since it’s the defining factor for setting up your downswing.
- Study the transition to your downswing and follow-through.
Wrapping Up – Take Advantage of Technology
A launch monitor and golfing app can totally change your golfing experience. You drastically shorten the learning curve when you know what you’re doing wrong and how to fix it.
With tech guiding you in your swing analysis, you’ll find yourself with a good handicap in no time. Follow the tips in this guide, and you’ll have a swing that’s the envy of all your friends.
