See the Golfer, Be the Golfer
I am a visual learner. I like to see the subject laid out in front of me, I draw out ideas even for digital projects, and I am a big fan of pen to paper. The visual aspect along with physical contact makes it much easier for me to absorb information and makes changes.
This is also true when it comes to improving my golf game. Before I started recording my swing it was often hard for me to tell the difference between what I was doing and what I was supposed to do. I could feel the difference between a solid swing and good contact and a not so great attempt, but I struggled with figuring out how to get my body to make the corrections. As a former softball player, I have a hard time with not shifting my weight back and dropping my shoulder (great for drives out to center right field, less than stellar for landing on the fairway). My fiancé would be able to tell me when I fell back, but I had no idea what I looked like when I swung.
Once I started recording my swing, I could see where the flaws in my swing were apparent. I could see myself dropping my shoulder, falling back on my finish, or relying only on my arms as opposed to using my body. By slowing down the video I could even see my over the top approaches and shots where my club face was open at contact. Now being able to see the issues didn’t help me automatically fix them, but at least as I swung or worked on drills I could visualize and concentrate on the specific elements of my swing.
In addition to recording my drills and plenty of my swings, I have been using the 18 Birdies app. My fiancé is a great golfer, but his eyes can’t beat the AI tools in the app or the drills designed to address the specific issues in my swing. Spine angle continues to be my biggest area for improvement, but being able to see the changes and the progress over the last few months is not only helpful, but exciting. The first time I recorded myself down the line my swing scored a 5.2 (ouch). That was back in May. As of August that score is up to a 9.2! That darn spine angle is still killing me, but if you read my last post you know that any improvement on that spine angle is better than feeling like an awkward baby giraffe. In addition to showing me where on my swing the issue exists, the app shows my video against a pro’s swing and gives me 3 drills that are specifically targeted at working on my spine angle. If I had more than one area to work on (based on my latest swing video), the app provides drills for home, the range, and the course to address each area of improvement.
I still have plenty to work on; I’m not letting that 9.2 go to my head, but it is nice to see my efforts pay off, and exciting to see the results on my score card.
With that in mind, I am off to the course tonight!
Until next time,
Fore!
Katherine
Want to check out 18 Birdies for yourself? Click here!
This post originally appeared on The Birds and the Tees
