Videos- What To Look For When You Film Your Swing

Many golfers' want to film their swing so they can see what they may be doing right or wrong. Without understanding exactly what you are looking for then this can be dangerous. Learn what you really need to pay attention to with this article.

Step 1: Try to align the camera in somewhat of a direct line to the hands from a down the line view. This tends to give the best possible view of alignment, hand path and the angle the shaft and clubhead move on.

The first thing we want to pay attention to is the shaft angle at address compared to impact. Does the shaft stay reasonably close at ball strike to where it started at the address position? This tells us the swing plane has been more around and down rather than up and down. An around and down release encourages a better 4:30 entry path. A shaft that stands up will show a more vertical swing plane that throws the right arm into extension and straightening. The lower body will tend to push downwards for longer also and avoid early extension or stand up of the body and legs.

The second thing to look for is the path of the hands. Once the video is in the exact end of backswing position- draw a line from the golf ball up to the end of the grip (see left pic). As the transition and downswing begins we want to see the end of the grip stay on that line for close to 18 inches-24 inches. Brendon Todd does an excellent job of this here. This is very much in tune with my video "Out is Down", where the hands will actually feel like they move outwards on the downswing. The reality is they actually come down in a straight line back towards the ball. Notice how the shaft begins to lay down or shallow from this move. This is due to using the ground and the right leg in transition and slightly increasing (or at least maintaining) the forearm rotation. This is taught directly through the Drill 4 and Drill 5 on my lesson series.

Another thing to look for is how well the takeaway and the entry match up. Brendon does a terrific job here of taking the shaft away on plane. He keeps the clubhead right on the green line (address shaft angle). His hands go pretty directly away from the target line. To many this may feel like the club is staying "outside" the hands on the move away. Coming down at the 4:30 entry point BT is on the money!! The hands are just slightly above or over the takeaway route and the shaft has switched to being below the green line. Forearm rotation allows the wrists to remain cocked so the clubhead sits up higher. The angle or downward hit is in place. The club is coming from "around & down". 

Another cool thing to bear witness too is when looking at the yellow line (reminder this is from end of grip to ball at top of swing) ... the yellow line is dissecting the right shoulder in the same position on the backswing as it is on the entry point. This would equate to having external rotation in the shoulder- NOT coming over the top or spinning the upper body out. External shoulder rotation is just a byproduct of maintaining the forearm rotation on the downswing. 

Finally, we should look for where the shaft exits the body on the through swing and pay attention to what the clubface looks like.

Brendon is exiting the shaft nicely below the left shoulder in an almost corresponding angle to the green line (address and impact shaft angle). The clubface is not rolled over by overactive hand rotation or flipping. This shows the post impact body action IS overtaking the full release of the club into impact.

In a perfect world I would love to see Brendon's shoulder a little more level in the right pic where if we drew a line on there it would be closer to his GC Quad than the ball. His hip flexibility is slightly limited so not much of a big deal for him until we get more hip firing to occur into and through impact. But with such an in-tune clubface at this point it's not a desperation move to find a specific look because the ball usually spits out very straight to his intended target.

EG: This would be a more level shoulder rotation beyond impact where the shoulders tend to match the hip rotation. Greg Norman more level than Tiger Woods in the shoulder motion beyond the strike.