This AI-powered app revealed major flaws in my golf swing
Striving to improve your game is addictive. If you have the golf bug, all you can do is think about the game.
As a golf addict for 20 years, the feeling is familiar. I’m a guy who practices my swing any chance I get. In the living room. On the subway platform. In the store. Heck, sometimes even a dream with my swing thoughts. What can I say, it’s sick.
Since last summer, I have been striving to improve my swing. I’ve always known how to score, but now my goal is to create a consistent, technically sound swing. That includes practicing two to three days a week, and learning everything I can about how my swing works.
I am fortunate to have many of the top golf coaching ideas that I have, but sometimes, my swing diagnosis comes from other sources. For example, the Sportsbox AI app has become my go-to diagnostic tool.
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How Sportsbox AI helps improve my swing
Sportsbox AI is an app that uses kinetic motion analysis software to turn videos of your game (captured on your smartphone) into 3D models to provide real-time, corrective feedback. The app is backed by some of the brightest coaching minds in the game, and was recently acquired by a team led by Bryson DeChambeau. The two-time major champion himself uses the app to work on his game, if that tells you anything about his swing.
For the past few months, I’ve been using Sportsbox AI to analyze my swing after each practice session – and it’s revealed a few glaring errors in my swing.
Excessive hip rotation
One of the great things about Sportsbox AI is that it provides an acceptable standard range for almost every movement in a turn. One such movement is called “Pelvis Turn,” which measures how much your hips rotate during the swing.
At the beginning of using the Sportsbox, I noticed that my pelvis rotation numbers were always in the red when I reached the top of the backswing. As I continued to observe, it became apparent that my hips were turning much, much earlier in the turn.
Now, a great hip turn may sound like a good thing, but it’s easy to overdo. If you turn your hip too early in the swing, it reaches the end of its range of motion. And if this happens before you finish turning your upper body at the top of the swing, you must raise your arms to complete the backswing.
This is a problem many recreational golfers have – and it was killing my swing. Sportsbox AI flags a problem in my swing every time it happens, letting me know when I need to watch how much I’m turning my hips during backswing.
When I first started using the Sportsbox, my hip-turn number was 51 degrees (negative to turn away from this point). But now, when I’m moving as much as I can, I’m close to -39 degrees, keeping my pelvis numbers green.
Early extension
I’ve always had an early extension in my swing, and the Sportsbox caught it right away. One of the features of the app is its “Swing Flaws” feature that tells you when it catches a common error in your swing.
Another way to monitor early expansion is the “Chest Bend” number. When you bend at the waist and your chest gets closer to the floor, it helps keep your pelvis back and out of the way, reducing premature extension and allowing room for your arms to swing freely.
With my old swing, my chest bend number at the top of the swing was -6 degrees, on the edge of the top of the swing range. After seeing that, I made sure to bend at the waist to start the descent, and my chest bend number is now around +2 degrees.
This number is good for me to look at throughout the swing, as it tells me to extend early on the downswing. In my experience, as long as I keep the chest flex numbers green, I don’t stretch nearly as much.
If you’re looking for a high-quality analysis of your swing, Sportsxbox AI is a great option. The amount of data it throws at you may scare you at first, but once you start piecing together what all the numbers mean, you’ll understand your swing like never before.
