Artificial intelligence is a fascinating topic that is rapidly infiltrating industries across the planet.
Including the golf industry.
It’s still early in the process – there are many more advances to come – but a lot of progress has already been made, and it’s a topic we cover in a little more detail in this week’s special. AI-themed episode of the Golf IQ podcastwhich you can listen to below.
As Jeehae Lee, CEO of Sportsbox AI and podcast guest, explains, one of the main ways AI helps players and coaches is by helping them quickly measure and identify issues with the golf swing.
To show you how and why AI can be a positive force in your game (and what you can learn from it), I put my own swing under the microscope using Sportsbox AI.
1. Walking away from the ball is good (to a point)
Most golfers have heard that it’s important to get to the edge of the trail. That’s where the power is. But they often forget that weight shift happens much earlier than most golfers realize.
Most pros maximize their weight shift as the club hits the ground on the takeaway. At this point, golfers begin to return to their left side through a process followed by the coaches. call refocusing.
It’s difficult to detect with the naked eye, but Sportsbox’s AI can time this via its “pelvic swing” metric. Most move a few inches away from the ball at this point, before moving back.
2. Arriving on your left side is deviously difficult
And it is because of this refocusing that pros find themselves very far to their left side during the downswing. Using Rory again as an example, an AI-generated model of his swing measured it as ranging from…
- Two inches off the mark on takeaway.
- Return to zero – or center – at the top of the backswing.
- And then five inches towards the target at impact.
I found that I was really struggling to make this big change, which I probably wouldn’t have made without the help of AI.
3. Don’t let your rotation stagnate
One thing the AI noticed pretty instantly was that my body rotation stops during the ball. Notice how my “chest measurement” in the position below is shown in yellow, meaning below average.
I realized it was because I tended to put my arms stuck behind me during the decline, and swing too far from the inside to the outside. My rotation stops because my arms have to catch up, causing my frustration and occasional big hangs or hooks. This provides a good thought: keep your chest moving!
Anyway, all the interesting information with the help of an AI. Again you can watch (or listen) to the full episode on AI below…
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