You will see pics below where impact doesn’t look that good, but then look how perfect the Flightscope numbers and results are. I hit 15 balls with that swing and 14 were nearly identical in flight and numbers.
The problem is I can only make this swing work on the range and a hook is imminent on the course because I will hit hooks if I don’t like the hole or line up poorly.
Now people will look at that impact and scoff and call me names (goat humper) and say I early extend. I got that look because I was chasing the magical 5 up angle of attack. So on two fronts it’s all bad. You can’t search for a perfect look and you can give yourself a swing issue searching for perfect numbers. So with one fell swoop of a 350 yard drive, I dispelled two big problems in golf instruction.
1. Criticizing a swing because it doesn’t look right…even though the LM numbers were perfect across the board, as were the ball flights.
2. Getting that poor look trying to chase a perfect number.
I hit up 5 on that drive and had to get into that funny looking spot to create the 5 up. When I hit between 1 down to 2 up, I get equally good numbers, but don’t thrust and raise the handle so much, so I am less prone to steer it as it feels better to my body.
FEELS GOOD AND PRODUCES GOOD RESULTS TRUMPS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE AND WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY.
Now don’t get me wrong, some 25 handicap whose swing looks like Medusa on a bad hair day and has a path of 15* left saying, “It feels good and works for me,” i the middle of shooting 112, is not correct either. That is the other extreme.
In order.
1. Results
2. Feels good
3. Good numbers
4. Looks good
I had a client the other day who has only been golfing a year. He came to me quite skilled and I am only providing some direction. He was puring a 6-iron while I had my Flightscope on.
I walked away to get us some water. When I returned he was in a panic as he had shanked 4 in a row,
“My path is 6* to the right and my AoA is 5* down. I read 6* to the right can produce a hook and 5* is steeper than the tour average for a 6 iron”
So he tried to swing more left while hitting up on the ball….Drop the right shoulder to be less steep, yank the hands left to move the pah less right. Shank city.
This is why I don’t let people see their entire spread of numbers. Only 1-2 relevant ones to what they are working on.
Don’t chase numbers. Make good swings and use the numbers to either identify the issue with a poor ball flight, or as a measure of improvement in the swing.
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