How Important Is a Straight Left Arm?

[iacas]

Thanks for posting those videos. I know that early on in GEARS it had some issues with the joints. Depending on the exact placement of the markers, it could measure joints as very different than what they were. It did a good job, of course, of measuring changes but the rendering of the "golfer" and the actual measurements were a bit suspect.

16.5°+ seems like a lot for a good player. That's not to say it is a lot for any ONE player, though. I suspect the average is below 10, though.

It's not something I've ever looked to study much because… it doesn't matter too much.

Re: the second video, duh, yeah. But it's still "in front of." Nobody is saying "directly in front of" and meaning "the same place in front." That's just the fourth accumulator, there.

[iacas]

 

[JetFan1983]

14 minutes ago, iacas said:

 

Wow. Really interesting stuff. Pretty cool. 

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, JetFan1983 said:

Wow. Really interesting stuff. Pretty cool. 

I don't like the title of the video: it's not "pros vs. ams." It's PRO vs. AM. One of each.

Talk about a small sample size.

[JetFan1983]

5 minutes ago, iacas said:

I don't like the title of the video: it's not "pros vs. ams." It's PRO vs. AM. One of each.

Talk about a small sample size.

Yea, true. I was going to ask the sample size. Thanks for assuming that flew over my head because it did haha. 

Hopefully they get more players involved. I guess we can't really draw any conclusions beyond the simple fact that this one pro has different bending rates relative to this random 2.0 handicap. But it is interesting to see how the bend changes throughout this anonymous pros swing, if nothing else. I never really thought about it much. 

[nevets88]

4 hours ago, iacas said:

Thanks for posting those videos. I know that early on in GEARS it had some issues with the joints. Depending on the exact placement of the markers, it could measure joints as very different than what they were. It did a good job, of course, of measuring changes but the rendering of the "golfer" and the actual measurements were a bit suspect.

16.5°+ seems like a lot for a good player. That's not to say it is a lot for any ONE player, though. I suspect the average is below 10, though.

It's not something I've ever looked to study much because… it doesn't matter too much.

Re: the second video, duh, yeah. But it's still "in front of." Nobody is saying "directly in front of" and meaning "the same place in front." That's just the fourth accumulator, there.

I was worried those videos, there would be something egregiously wrong with them. My take on these 3D devices is that maybe they're not super accurate, but it's a start, perhaps they'll get more accurate and it's better than arguing back and forth with 2D pictures and video.

What seems to be the pattern from watching a bunch of these Gears videos is that it's not a binary straight or not straight, but it's straighter at certain points in the swing and with a larger sample size maybe we'll be able to say for this type of swing or body type, we see good players emitting this/that pattern.

[Lime Shark]

On 12/7/2017 at 6:31 PM, iacas said:

I don't like the title of the video: it's not "pros vs. ams." It's PRO vs. AM. One of each.

Talk about a small sample size.

They need to have a more typical amateur as well. The amateur in this video is a 2.0 handicap. The USGA average handicap for amateurs is 15.0.

There's a big difference between a 2.0 and 15.0 handicap player.

On 12/7/2017 at 6:42 PM, JetFan1983 said:

I guess we can't really draw any conclusions beyond the simple fact that this one pro has different bending rates relative to this random 2.0 handicap. But it is interesting to see how the bend changes throughout this anonymous pros swing, if nothing else. I never really thought about it much. 

One thing I noticed is the pro seems to work to keep his arm straight on the backswing (even hyperextending at setup) and then allows his arm to bend on the downswing.

The amateur seems to have more bend in the arm on the backswing, then actively tries to keep his arm straight on the downswing (till he gets to the end where he chicken wings).

Lesson I would take from it? Focus on keeping your arm straight till the top of the backswing, then relax the arm. 

It would be interesting to see if these players described themselves as "hitters" or "swingers". If I had to guess, the amateur actively uses his arms in the downswing (hitter) and the pro relaxes and his arms and lets his body rotation square up the club (swinger).

Not saying either way is right or wrong. Just that there are multiple swing styles. Comparing a hitter to a swinger is like comparing a diesel engine to a gasoline engine. They look similar, but the details of how they work are different.

 

[Hacker James]

51 minutes ago, Lime Shark said:

. Just that there are multiple swing styles. Comparing a hitter to a swinger is like comparing a diesel engine to a gasoline engine. They look similar, but the details of how they work are different.

 

I guess that makes me a hybrid then.  Call me "Prius".

[GolfLug]

In my limited experience there's very minimal difference between slight bend and fully straight (straighter the better) BUTTT only as long as the forearm and upper arm remain reasonably soft and the elbow joint is not locked in an effort to hyper extend at takeaway. 

It makes a night and day difference in my ball striking and scores when I manage to play a round without locking my left elbow. It is important work piece for me and honestly hard to execute consistently since the locked elbow is like a unconscious security blanket I gravitate towards. 

 

[Hacker James]

Maintain the radius.