Why You Need to Film Your Golf Swing (5 Proven Benefits)
If you want to play your best golf ever, you need to practice like the pros.
One way to practice like the best players in the world is to regularly film your golf swing. Otherwise, you risk repeating the same bad swing habits that make it difficult to improve and shoot lower scores.
When you film your swing, you begin to understand your game at a level that few players do and can make adjustments quickly. Not to mention, filming will allow you to improve your short game quickly and still score well, even during “off” days. Regular filming will also lead to more efficient practice sessions and likely lower scores on the golf course.
But there’s an art to filming your golf swing and most players get in wrong (which could actually make your swing worse). Don’t worry though, we're here to help.
In this post, we’ll share the five most important reasons to film your golf swing and some best practices to get started.
Film Golf Swing - 5 Reasons to Start Now
Cell phones have changed the game of golf forever as they make it easy to film your golf swing so you can improve much faster than ever before. Whether you’re working with a golf coach or teaching yourself, recording your swing is crucial to speeding up the learning curve.
You might be thinking, why should I film my golf swing?
Here are five compelling reasons why it’s so important to regularly capture videos of your swing.
1. Document Your Golf Journey
Golf is such a great sport because the quest for greatness never ends.
From the moment you catch the golf bug, chances are you will want to play (and likely improve) until the day you retire your set of clubs. Now that cell phones are part of our daily lives, it’s important to document the journey and enjoy the process of improvement.
Regularly filming your swing is also a great way to see your progress over time and acknowledge your wins along the way. Because here’s the thing… when you start playing, you will likely see changes quickly but eventually plateau.
During those stagnant times, it’s always great to look back on how far you’ve come and remind yourself that you can keep getting better. It’s also fun to have videos of your swing when you take golf trips to new courses to capture fun moments. Plus, you never know, sometimes you might hit one of your best shots on camera and have that memory for life.
2. Practice with Purpose
The second reason to film your swing regularly is to identify your swing issues and make changes quickly. Yet, only a small percentage of golfers regularly capture their swing on video. Think about it, if you go to the driving range you will notice the majority of golfers don’t take videos of their swing, then wonder why they aren’t improving.
The truth is, a lot of golfers, especially visual learners, need to see their changes to make them part of their new swing. When you only go off of feel and ball flight, it might skew your results and think you’re making corrections, when in reality, you are not.
When you have tons of videos of your golf swing, you can also easily send them to a coach and get feedback. It will make their job much easier and ensure that you are making the changes that are identified during lessons.
For example, if you’re constantly coming over the top (one of the most common mistakes for amateur golfers), filming your swing will help your coach spot the issue quickly. They can review your swing using a golf swing analyzer app, then give you drills to fix it, before it becomes a bad habit.
Filming your swing will guarantee you’re making progress and not just mindlessly hitting balls on the driving range. Plus, if you’re ever in a slump and can’t fix an issue, it’s very convenient to have videos that you can send to online instructors to get advice and to start playing better.
3. Film Your Pre-Shot Routine
The third benefit to film your swing is something most everyday golfers don’t think about enough - understanding your pre-shot routine. This is arguably one of the most important components of playing better golf, yet the average golfer doesn’t create or practice a pre-shot routine.
If you talk to any high-level golf coach or read a popular golf book, they regularly stress the importance of a pre-shot routine. Dr. Bob Rotella, a top sports psychologist who’s worked with tons of PGA Tour pros once said, “Your pre-shot routine is like your wingman on the course.”
When your pre-shot routine is like a caddy on the course, you will play better golf… especially in pressure packed situations. Whether it’s winning a club championship, shooting your career best, or a $5 match with a friend, a consistent routine can help your performance.
Routines aren’t just important in golf either; think about basketball players shooting free throws or football players kicking field goals… their pre-shot routines help them get in the zone and perform their best under pressure.
When you master your pre-shot routine in golf, it will help you focus on the shot you want and have the right mental attitude. But a great pre-shot routine doesn’t just show up on the golf course, you have to train it on the driving range.
By filming your routine on the driving range, you can track each step of your pre-shot ritual including timing, alignment and more. Pretty soon it’ll be automatic and give you tons of confidence on the course.
4. Improve Short Game Performance
Another benefit of filming your golf game is the ability to improve your short game quickly.
While so many people think they need a “perfect swing” to shoot their best scores, elite players know a great swing is not enough. To play your best every single round, a world-class short game is the real key to unlocking greatness in your game.
When you regularly film your smaller swings, like chips, pitches, bunker shots, and putts, you can evaluate form, routine, and more. This will help you practice more efficiently and spend time on your short game weakness.
5. Get to Know Your Swing
The final reason it’s so important to film your swing regularly is because you will get to know your swing. The key word here being “your” swing, not anyone else’s swing.
So many golfers fall into the trap of trying to create “the perfect swing.” When in reality, the perfect swing doesn’t exist and players with nearly perfect swings (Adam Scott, Rory McIlroy, etc.) don’t win every event.
Instead, you need to learn how to swing your swing so you can play with confidence on the golf course.
As the great Arnold Palmer once said, “Swing your swing. Not some idea of a swing. Not a swing you saw on TV. Not that swing you wish you had. No, swing your swing. Capable of greatness, prized only by you. Perfect in its imperfection. Swing your swing, I know I did.”
When you film your swing, study it, and make changes, you will trust it much more on the course. Not to mention, when you’re hitting it poorly during the round, you will know how to change it quickly and get your game back on track.
There’s so much power in being able to self-assess midway through the round, make changes, and get your swing back to normal. But that only happens when you know and film and study your swing regularly!
How to Film Golf Swing
Now that you know the five biggest reasons to regularly film your swing, here are a few tips to create the best videos possible.
Step 1: Get Golfpod
The first thing you need to film your golf swing is a sturdy and reliable tripod.
While there are a lot of options in the marketplace, we’re confident that Golfpod is the most reliable and smartest way to film your swing.
What makes it so much better than the competition?
It’s the first tripod designed for golfers, by a fellow golfer.
The Golfpod is not just any old tripod but specifically designed for golfers looking to take their game to the next level. Golfpod is the ultimate accessory to film your swing and get the benefits discussed above.
Golfpod only takes 15 seconds to set up so you can start filming your swing and not waste any time on the driving range. The golf tripod is lightweight, fits all smartphones, and has a stable base to create the best videos possible. Not to mention, it has a Bluetooth remote so you can easily turn it on and off.
Step 2: Start Filming Your Full Swing
Once you have your Golfpod, the next step is to start filming your swing, short game, and shots on the golf course. Ideally, you should film in portrait orientation, not landscape mode so it takes up the entire space on your screen.
Here are a few best practices to film your swing correctly.
Front View (Face-On)
The face on angle is a great way to evaluate your setup, impact position, and so many other aspects of your swing. To film properly, make sure the camera is in front of you with enough room so that your entire body and backswing are in the frame.
You want the camera at hip height, positioned in the middle of your chest, facing directly at you. If it’s angled one way or another, it will skew the setup position and make it harder to correctly analyze your swing.
Behind View (Down the Line)
The second angle is a down the line view, which makes it easy to evaluate your alignment, takeaway position, backswing, and downswing. This angle is easier to capture than the front view as it won’t matter if the range is busy with other players. Since the Golfpod is behind you, it won’t interfere with other players who want to hit in the spot next to you.
The key is to make sure to get the Golfpod setup in the correct position to create the best videos possible. We’ve made it easy to capture epic videos with our full guide where you can learn how to record your golf swing here.
Step 3: Film Your Short Game
As mentioned above, one of the greatest benefits to filming your swing is learning more about your short game too.
Here’s why it’s crucial to film your short game, not just your full swings.
According to a Golf.com article, they found that scratch golfers only hit 58% of greens in regulation (GIR) while most amateur golfers hit far fewer greens. Check out the data below on number of greens vs. different handicap players:
- 0 handicap = 58% GIR
- 5 handicap = 45% GIR
- 10 handicap = 34.6% GIR
- 15 handicap = 25.9% GIR
- 20 handicap = 20.44% GIR
- 25 handicap = 16.23% GIR
This data shows that even the best amateurs miss nearly 40% of greens, which is why it’s so important to work on your short game. Missing the greens is inevitable, so you need a solid short game to save pars and minimize big numbers.
Golfpod can help as you can easily set it up around the short game area to check the form of your pitching and chipping. These shots are much simpler to fix than the full swing and will have a big impact on your total score. If you struggle with one of these shots, film it with both angles, analyze, and practice to improve your scrambling.
Here are three shots you want to film regularly to make sure all facets of your game are dialed in.
Chipping & Pitching
Start by mastering the basic chip and pitch shot to start shaving shots off your scorecard. Set up your Golfpod from several angles to make sure your form, alignment, and ball position are in the right setup position.
Sand Shots
Most everyday golfers are terrified of the sand and don’t practice nearly enough. But once you get the mechanics right, the shot is actually quite easy.
However, most golfers have no clue what their timing, setup, and swing look like from the sand… until now. You should film bunker shots from both angles to figure out what might be holding you back from getting out of the sand every time.
Once you correct this issue, you will have so much more confidence around the greens when you inevitably end up in a bunker.
Putting
Finally, make sure to take your Golfpod to the putting green too. Golf Digest partnered with Golf Game App and found two statistics that will make you want to improve your putting:
According to their study, an amateur golfer has:
- 34 putts on average per round
- Uses their putter 41.3% of the time
That’s right, nearly half of all shots on the golf course happen with a putter! Needless to say, the more consistent and confident you are with the flat stick will almost directly lead to lower scores.
Filming your putting stroke from several angles will help evaluate your setup and stroke. Plus, you should experiment with the Golfpod in its lowest position, directly in front of the ball. Then put the camera in slow motion to see how the ball reacts after contact to notice if it’s bouncing or rolling smoothly.
If the ball is bouncing instead of gliding on the greens, you might need to change ball position so you can get a smoother roll. This will help you hit putts much better and likely improve speed control in the process.
Conclusion
Filming your full swing and short game is one of the most beneficial things you can do to play your best golf.
Since golf is a game of inches, even the smallest change can make a huge difference in your performance. Filming your swing will:
- Improve your short game
- Help you practice with purpose
- Create an effective pre-shot routine
- Allow you to document your golf journey
- Learn the ins and outs of your swing so you’re 10X more confident on the course
To make filming your swing easy, invest in a Golfpod today. It’s the best golf tripod available and will make it easy to film all parts of your swing and start playing better golf.
Golfpod is used by PGA coaches, amateurs, and pros because it’s:
- Easy to set up
- Fits all smartphones
- Easy to store in your golf bag
- Stable and won’t fall over thanks to a sturdy base (even on windy days)
Remember, if the best golfers in the world regularly practice and film their swings and routines, you should too. This will guarantee no practice session is wasted and almost certainly lead to lower scores on the golf course.
Buy Golfpod today to start taking advantage of the incredible benefits of filming your swing so you can speed up the learning curve of golf. Your best golf awaits!