V1 GOLF Video Analysis: What to Look for in Your Own Swing

Written by Brendon Elliott

One of the cornerstones of my coaching philosophy is to help make my students “Students of the Game.” In that, I am committed to the idea that they learn as much about the golf swing as possible from me, as well as through their own research. 

Simply listening to a coach and doing what they tell you without having a full understanding of it sets golfers up for future failures. A coach is not often with you at two of the most critical points during the ongoing development of your game…when you practice and when you play. The coach is there during their sessions with you, and perhaps through occasional exchanges of videos and questions back and forth through text or a coaching/student app. 

In short, to become the best version of the golfer you want to be, you must understand the fundamentals of the game as well as what your personal tendencies are. When you have a good handle on those, you can really start to get to work on improving your game, and by using the V1 GOLF app, you can really make some strides in the right direction. 

What to Know First

There are a few things you need to know first before you can dive into looking at your swing and breaking it down using the V1 GOLF app. Let’s take a look at those items. 

Camera Angles

First things first, in order to properly analyze your swing, you need to know how to film it correctly. Filming your swing incorrectly can lend itself to giving you inaccurate information when you analyze. There are two primary camera views that are the most beneficial in golf swing video analysis. 

Face-On: The face-on view is the camera looking directly at you from the side as you address the ball and swing. Three of the most important things to remember with this view include:

• The camera, or your phone in most cases, should be held at the height of your hands in setup.
• Your body, as well as the club, should remain in full frame throughout the swing. 
• Try to have the video recorder be as steady as possible. Better yet, get some sort of tripod to help you record yourself.

Face On

Down-The-Line: The down-the-line camera view is pretty much as it sounds; you will be viewing the swing from directly behind the target line. Three of the most important things to remember with this view include:

• The camera, or your phone in most cases, should be held at the height of your hands in setup.
• Your body, as well as the club, should remain in full frame throughout the swing.
• Try to have the video recorder be as steady as possible. Better yet, get some sort of tripod to help you record yourself.

Down the Line

For more information how to film your swing, check out this blog post.

Need a tripod to help film your swing? We love this one from Golfpod!

V1 Golf App Drawing Tools and Functionality 

Exploring the V1 GOLF app drawing tools and other swing analysis functionality is the next step in being able to start being a pro analyzer of your own swing. Here are some of the main features that the app offers:

Key Editing and Drawing Tools

• Side-By-Side Comparison: This is a highly powerful tool. You can compare your favorite professional’s swing side-by-side with yours. Additionally, you can compare your swing before and after a swing change.
• Flip: You can flip the video from right-handed to left. Let’s say you are a fan of 2023 Open Championship winner Brian Harmon, but you are a right-handed player…simply flip his swing in the app with this feature.
• Overlay: You can overlay a professional’s swing or an older swing of yours on top of your swing video.
• Key Drawing Tools: Use lines, circles, and boxes with a choice of six different colors.

What to Look for in Your Own Swing During V1 GOLF Video Analysis

With the idea in mind of learning to be a “Student of the Game,” you might be asking yourself, “What should I be looking for when I analyze my swing?” That is exactly what I will help you with today.

Your Setup at Address

Now that you have a better understanding of the necessary camera angles let’s get into what you should start looking for when you analyze your swing. The first thing to look at is how well you are set up in address. 

Things to Look For: The most important things to look for in setup are your posture, grip, and alignment. Let’s break that down a little further

Posture: When we talk about posture or how your body is positioned as you address the ball, we are looking for a few things:

• The Width of your Stance. This is something that will vary some by the club. In general, we reference stance width in terms of your shoulder width. This is best seen from the face-on view.
• Your Primary Spine Angle: This is the amount of forward bend you have with your upper body from the hip joints. This is best seen from the down-the-line view.
• Your Secondary Spine Angle: This is the amount of side bend you have with your spine as you address the ball. Your lead hip bumps toward the target, and your spine sets slightly back of being straight up and down. This is best seen from the face-on view.
• Hand Position in Relation to the Body: How far your hands are away from the body as you set up. This is best seen from the down-the-line view.
• Hands and Club Shaft in Relation to the Ball: Where your hands and club shaft are set in relation to the ball. This is seen from the face-on view.
• Ball Position: Where the golf ball is in relation to your lead and trail foot at setup. Although this is not necessarily a “posture” item, this is something I check when looking at posture. This is seen from the face-on view.

Grip: When we talk about posture or how your body is positioned as you address the ball, this is what you should look for: 

• Hand Positioning: The main thing with the grip that you will be looking at on video is how your hands are positioned and of they are working together. You will be looking to see if the “V’s” on both hands, which are created by your pointer finger and thumb, are running parallel to each other and generally pointing to your trail shoulder. This can vary from golfer to golfer. This is seen from the face-on view.
  

Alignment: A critical component in setup is alignment. When we reference alignment, we are looking at both your target line and body lines. Here are some checkpoints:

• Target Line: In general, your target line is an imaginary line that starts behind your golf ball, runs through it, and continues on toward your target. Keep in mind that this is the line you want your golf ball to start on, and that may not always be the flag itself. This is seen from the down-the-line view.
• Body Lines: Your body lines consist of your toes, knees, hips, and shoulders. In general, those should stack up on top of each other and run in the same direction. This, too, is seen from the down-the-line view.
• Parallel Lines: Your target line and body lines should, for the most part, be running parallel to each other. To check this, you will look from the down-the-line view.

In Swing Checkpoints

There are countless things you may want to hone in on when analyzing your own swing. Every golfer, based on their own tendencies, will have different things to look for. 

These are the 5 most common key things you may want to look for as you analyze your swing on the V1 GOLF app:

1. No Unnecessary Horizontal or Vertical Head Movement: A steady head is a big key in making good swing and solid contact at impact. This is best seen from the face-on view.
2. No Unnecessary Horizontal Body and Hip Movement: Swaying and Sliding…You have certainly heard the terms, but seeing is believing when watching a playback on the V1 GOLF app of your swing. This is best seen from the face-on view.
3. Are You Rotating Sufficiently on the Backswing: Make sure you are rotating your hips and upper body properly in the backswing. This can be evaluated very well from both the face-on and down-the-line views. 
4. Is Your Swing in Sequence on the Downswing: A proper swing sequence from the top consists of: a slight pre-load or shift into the lead foot → hips start to unwind and clear → upper torso unwinds next, right behind hips and lower body → hands → shaft → club face into the ball at impact. This is best seen from the face-on view.
5. Swing Path: How’s your swing path as you go back and transfer into the downswing? This is best seen from the down-the-line view. 

Wrapping Things Up

As mentioned, there are countless things that you can look for as you look at your swing on the V1 GOLF app. That said, it is important to remember that you should never take on too much at any one time as you analyze and work on your swing. 

One of my most essential pieces of advice, beyond your becoming a “student of the game,” is to get used to sharing your swings and practice sessions with your coach. The best thing is you can do just that right in the V1 GOLF app. Sharing your sessions as you practice independently is one of the best things you can do to help improve your swing much more quickly.

PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is a multiple award-winning Golf Professional based in Central Florida. He is the 2017 PGA of America’s National Youth Player Development Award Winner and is the recipient of more than 25 other industry awards with a focus on Coaching & Education. He is considered by his peers as an industry expert on topics ranging from Jr. Golf Development to Operations to Industry Sustainability. He is the founder of the Little Linksters Golf Academies and the Little Linksters Association for Junior Golf Development, a 501c3 nonprofit also based out of Central Florida. Brendon is also a freelance golf writer for PGA.com, Golf Range Magazine and several other golf websites and blogs. He is a member of the Golf Writers Association of America. You can learn more about Brendon at BrendonElliott.com and Little Linksters at littlelinksters.com.