Golf Swing Analysis Made Easy

One of the best training aids I have found is video swing analysis. I bought a mount that fits on the handle of my golf push/pull cart for my iPod. I capture video at the range or during a casual round and then transfer to an iPad for larger format viewing. An app for the iPad allows me to run the swing in slow motion, pause , and mark and measure angles and positions throughout the swing. I had been slicing my drives and through video analysis I saw I was bending my wrist at the top of the backswing. After correcting to, the slice was gone.

 

For the cart mount, I bought a two piece unit from Bracketron. One part mounts to the cart and the other slides on and snaps in place. It holds the iPod. On the course, I simply position the cart behind or to the side, start the iPod camera and make my swings. It will also hold a GPS when not being used for the iPod.

After the round, I import the video into SwingReader. SwingReader can either import from the iPod video library or it can be used to directly capture the video. Once a video is in SwingReader, the frames can be edited to remove time spent walking to and from the camera. Multiple swings can be extracted from a single video clip, so the camera only needs to be started and stopped once per session.

With SwingReader, the swing can be played back at any speed and paused. Using gestures, the video can be advanced or rewound just by sliding fingers across the screen. At any point in the video, it can be marked up. I like to mark head and shaft positions to see if I raise my head or if my shaft is retracing the plane properly. It's also great to measure angles like wrist cock, supination, spine angle, etc.

SwingReader also has a cloud storage feature. By editing the video frames on the iPod first, I keep the file sizes small. I use the cloud storage feature to upload the videos to my account and then pull them back down to the iPad. SwingReader also has a community aspect where videos can be uploaded for public comment and other member's videos can be viewed. Some users publish tutorials through the cloud feature.

It comes with pro swings preloaded and supports video overlay to compare two swings including pro swings with your own.

With the free SwingReader app and a inexpensive cart mount, you can be doing easy swing video analysis on or off the course. It's very discrete, easy, and does not slow down play. Partners in my foursome have asked me to record them too and email the videos.

"I've spent most of my life golfing. The rest I've just wasted." Anonymous

 

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