(Qschool) ( Tips from the Pros Seeing is Believing Use a video camera for great feedback on your swing instruction. By Chris Foley | Photos by Matt Seefeldt V ideotaping your swing is a great way to see if you are on track with what you're working on with your golf instructor. All you need is a video camera and a couple of refl ector rods. Use two angles to get a true picture of what's happening in your swing: down the line and face on. Place the camera on a tripod at the height of the player's hands. In the down-the-line position, focus the camera on the hands, parallel to the target line. In the face-on position, point the camera at the center of the body. When the video is played back, the refl ector rods act like the graphics in a swing analysis program. What to look for from the down-the-line position s 0OSTURE AND DISTANCE FROM THE BALL s )N THE TAKE AWAY ARE THE HANDS ON PLANE1 )S THE CLUB ON PLANE1 s 7HEN THE LEFT ARM IS LEVEL WITH THE GROUND IS IT POINTING DOWN THE TARGET LINE1 )S THE CLUB ON PLANE1 s )N TRANSITION HOW ARE THE ARMS HANDS AND CLUB MOVING DOWN PLANE1 s !T IMPACT IS THE CLUB ANGLING DOWN THE TARGET LINE TO THE RIGHT OR LEFT1 What to look for from the face-on position s )S THE BODY hSTACKEDvWITH THE SHOULDERS OVER THE HIPS1 s 7HERE IS THE BALL POSITIONED1 s 7HAT ARE THE SHOULDERS ARMS WRISTS AND CLUB DOING IN THE TAKE AWAY1 s !RE THE WRISTS FULLY COCKED BY THE TIME THEY REACH THE TOP OF THE SWING1 s !T THE TOP IS THE LOWER BODY BRACED AND THE SPINE TILTED AWAY FROM THE TARGET1 s !RE THE HANDS IN FRONT OF THE CLUB FACE AT IMPACT1 s )S THE lNISH IN BALANCE WITH THE MOMENTUM OF THE SWING1 #ONSULT YOUR 0'! 0ROFESSIONAL TO BECOME MORE EFlCIENT IN THESE AREAS of your swing. By monitoring your progress on video, improvement will be much more rapid. Chris Foley is a Class A member of the PGA of America. 8 MINNESOTAGOLFER Fall 2010 www.mngolf.orghttp://www.mngolf.org