How NOT to analyze your golf swing

When I left my job late last year I handed back my work mobile phone. The perfect excuse to buy myself an iPhone! I’d been thinking about getting one for awhile, but couldn’t really justify it while my employer provided me with a phone.

Now that I have one I’ve been trying out some of the apps that are available. There’s an incredible number of iPhone applications to choose from, and with so much competition, prices are generally very low, if not free.

So, I came across an application that allows you to analyze your golf swing…..called iSwing. At US$10 it was pretty expensive far as iPhone apps go, but I was enticed by the opportunity to spot the swing fault that has prevented me from joining the professional ranks all these years…….US$10 would be a small price to pay

A basic description of the application follows:

• Open the application and record yourself swinging a club (ideally get someone else to record you)
• Play the video back at various speeds to assess your swing
• Play the video back frame-by-frame so that you can see your body and club position at various points in your swing
• Use the drawing tool to mark lines on your swing sequence, eg to show spine position at takeaway and finish
• Send yourself (via email) an image of your swing sequence

The strangely silent video below demonstrates most of the functionality better than I’ve just described it, but it’s a long 3 minutes!

Anyway, for the price, I found it a little disappointing:

1. There aren’t enough frames per second. On one frame I’d be starting my downswing and on the next I’d be halfway into my follow through. In a dozen attempts I don’t think it actually captured the moment of impact
2. The drawing tool is pretty rudimentary, with no advice as to what to mark-up
3. No guidelines on how to analyze your swing. It’s quite interesting to see your swing, but then what? Really doesn’t add much to what my video recorder can do

It would seem that the guys who developed iSwing recognize its limitations…….it’s now selling for US$0.99! At that price it’s probably worth a look, but don’t expect too much.

Back to basics…with some advice from an expert

So the iSwing didn’t do it for me, but I’m not giving up. I’ll go back to my trusty video recorder and follow some of the advice offered by Shawn Clement in the videos below. Shawn Clement (Director of the Richmond Hill Golf Learning Centre) has recorded a couple of really useful videos to guide you through an analysis of your golf swing.

Maybe I’ll spot that swing fault that’s been holding me back after all!

How to Analyze Your Golf Swing (with Shawn Clement)

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