But I still can’t get a clear picture of “what” is driving these forces to improve and how the body is “making” it happen. It would be really nice to look inside the golfer and better understand how he is MOVING his body in order to make the changes that we have determined are better for the player. So, what physiologically is actually changing?
Personally, I don’t know why it’s taken so long for this to happen, perhaps because this technology was expensive when it first came out, but now it’s the same as buying a Trackman or Swing Catalyst. But that’s for another article. For the first time we can now integrate Video, Trackman, Swing Catalyst, and GEARS together in a “super-system” that will show the instructor anything and everything they need to know about the kinetics and kinematics of the player as they move. It’s power like we’ve never had before!
Now let’s go back to our thought from earlier- we have seen something we needed to change based on the golfer’s desires, audited Trackman and Swing Catalyst and figured out that we want to change the production of “X” force somewhere in the swing. The golfer does so, we see a dramatic improvement, but we don’t know what the golfer actually did differently so we ask them. “How or what did you do?” Their reply was I felt that my lead hip rotated more or slid more but I’m not sure. Now with GEARS we can actually “see and understand” how they altered their motion with the data between two different swings!
Ah yes, here it is…you DID rotate your hip more from swing one to swing two, so let’s continue to test that “move” to see if it stands up to further testing and how it plays out on the golf course under pressure.
Now we have the data to back up the change so we actually KNOW what went into the golfer changing one pattern for another. There is no guesswork about how, the only grey area is what is the best change for the golfer and that comes from the instructor’s experience, understanding of the problem, knowing the physiology of the body, and auditing their mechanics (with technology) to make a more informed decision as to what direction they should go. At least now we have things like Swing Catalyst to show us forces and torques and GEARS to show us sequencing and numbers so we can compare swings quantitively for a change.
If you are a Dustin Johnson-type of swinger then I would spend time in the gym working on my flexibility- specifically figuring out how to gain more shoulder turn in a way that does not allow the arms to break down at the top
Now it is up to the golf professionals to use all of this in an easily understood and non-technical manner for players of any level. Knowledge is power but it can be a dangerous thing, so tread lightly…
22 Comments
As a PGA pro that has taught more lessons then rounds of golf you have played in your life. I have to step in and tell you how stupid and wrong you are. The only way to hit a snap hook is have a closed face in relation to your path. Its all about the face when it comes to the snap hook. It doesn’t matter how fast you swing the club. If you have a fast crappy swing Matchbox opisy and you slow it down what do you get? A slow crappy swing. Your grip does not hit the golf ball, the face hits the golf ball. PGA Golf Professional
Hope Tom ran all this information by Observate before he posted it… I’d hate it if he got something wrong and misinformed the masses
Coupling a huge shoulder turn with arms that are for the most part “straight” will give you more leverage and keep the club in the air longer. These two things together help you to have time to generate more clubhead speed.
What I LOVE about the Swing Catalyst and its abilities as a tool is that I can now see “how” a golfer is using the ground, what forces are being used, and when I couple that with what problems the golfer has described, I now have more information to rely on to make a decision. A better educated decision, because I couple this information with the video and Trackman data and I get a much “fuller” picture of where the power leak is coming from and to what degree. Coupling this with the ability to see before and after swings- their forces, club speeds, and ball reactions on Trackman I now am using technology in the best way possible.