Golf TEC

Who knows John Brenkus? He hosts the television show Sport Science. On Sport Science they view different athletes, hook them up to machines, and show some fancy numbers to show how amazing they are. Over the weekend I had a near identical experience. For one, I didn't get to meet Brenkus or get on national TV. Instead I met PGA professional Chris Young and got a chance to really break down my swing.

From the outside of the building you would see a dilapidated Mexican restaurant and a nail salon that looks rather shady. But once you get inside, it's a golfer's paradise. A putting green to the right with different lies, and if you walk back a little further there are four rooms with nets, turf, and an extensive amount of equipment.

Three camera angles to film my swing and help me visually see where it is going wrong. Not only did I get to re-watch my swing but Chris Young broke down my swing analyzing every bit of it while comparing me to Ernie Ells and Anthony Kim. In the above image it shows two different angles of my swing. If you're wondering what those packs are on my hips and shoulders they are battery powered swing monitors. They help calculate shoulder turn, shoulder tilt, hip bend, and more. If the number is highlighted red it needs work and is off from what is necessary. If it is yellow it is moderate but still needs a little fixing. Finally, the numbers in green are all good. That is what I already do correctly and do not need any help with.

Mr. Young focused on three main things to help me improve my golf game. The first is the hip bend. As you can see my hip bend is very low. The B next to the 1 stands for back. My hips are too far back and need to be tilted in a downward fashion. The hip bend calculated for the most accurate and proper swing is somewhere around 16. Chris Young gave me a tip to help me remember how much hip bend to have. He said to point the head of my buckle directly at the ball. That increases the hip bend and makes for a more accurate shot.




The below images help to show the next aspect Chris Young worked on with me. If you are not familiar with the side and behind angles of professional golfers, the top image is Ernie Ells (left) and the bottom image is Anthony Kim (right). My shoulder turn is rather lame. I have about a 53 closed shoulder turn and Ells who is a freak has about 105 closed. I need to boost this to at least an eighty, so that the tork can help create power. Young gave me a drill to help with not just lifting my arms straight up but instead, taking them back in more of a sweeping motion. This helps overall with the shoulder turn. The drill is setup with a piece of plywood and your golf club. Set up at the ball and take your golf club back pushing the wood backwards and then lift. This will also help to increase my hip turn.

I had a very successful week progressing greatly to reach my goal. I now can visually see where I can improve and what I need to do to help it. I have a follow up meeting with Chris Young in twelve days to see my improvement and give me more footage of what I need to work on.

I recently received the news that I will be down in North Carolina at the end of March and I will be playing a few rounds of golf. I will be playing at Hasentree and my dad is trying to pull connections to get into Pinehurst #2. Thus wrapping up this week's blog post.