One of the great benefits of the SwingForm trials was meeting so many different golfers and one of those was Japie Schmidt. Japie is a numbers guy when it comes to the golf swing and has an amazing bit of tech called DeWiz. He had an HI of 20.6 prior to SwingForm.
These sensors and matched app provide some interesting data and a debate we were having during his trial prompted him to setup his own experiment using the DeWiz tech.
During a discussion we were having around the swing plane and position of hands around the 26th October 2022 , he was saying that he felt like his hands were too close (which is a common response to the SwingForm setup) and that he felt he needed to reach further to feel comfortable in the setup.
I explained that the hand position in SwingForm promotes better control and consistency of the club in the swing plane and this in turn delivers more pure strikes.
About a day later he sent me some spontaneous data recorded from his DeWiz with a message that said,” So, you’re unfortunately 100% correct!”
Courtesy of Japie Schmidt
In this screenshot from September 13, 2022, you can see the deviation of the swing plane in degrees and the variations are considerable from swing to swing.
From #2 to #3 , there is a 5 degree variation, and from swing #3 to swing #4, that deviation is 10 degrees.
From swing#4 to swing#5, the deviation is 6 degrees, then 2 degrees, then 4 degrees, then 4 degrees from #7 to #8 and 3 degrees from #8 to #9.
What the data reveals is the inconsistency in the swing plane and this would cause variations in strike consistency.
Courtesy of Japie Schmidt
The screenshot here was taken on October 27th and the was the experiment done with the hands further away from the body , before doing the swing using the SwingForm setup.
While the swing deviations are not as extreme as the data prior to the SwingForm trials, there is still some noticeable inconsistencies in the swing plane degrees.
This is because having the hands away from the body requires muscle power to keep it on plane and any slight variance will create the differences in swing plane consistency and that will translate to inconsistency in ball striking on the club face , as well as direction, shape and distance variations.
You can also see the variations in cm with both sets of data, but what is noticeable is that on the October data set, you don’t see any negative deviations , while prior to SwingForm there were a number of shots where the cm deviation was in negative space.
This demonstrates the swing plane consistency that SwingForm delivers and even though the hands were further away from the body, the degree of deviation remained in positive space.
This data was done on the same day as the one above – October 27th – but this time using the SwingForm setup and hand position – and the difference is IMMEDIATELY apparent.
With the exception of #4 which had a 5 degree deviation from #3 and a 3 degree deviation from #5, the other swings are within only 1 or 2 degrees from each other, with #5 and #6 having zero deviation.
This means that the swing plane has condensed and been far more consistent and accurate in the swing action and in golf terms, this would mean more consistent and accurate striking , distance , direction and shape.
This is further evidenced by Japie’s results in the SwingForm trials where his baseline average accuracy was just 33%, while his post trial accuracy SOARED to 73,75%!
Over the four driving range sessions, Japie’s accuracy was astounding with scores of 70% (round 1); 80% (round 2) ; 70% (round 3) and 75% (round 4) and he achieved 90% accuracy twice – once with the Pitching Wedge and once with the driver!
Post SwingForm, Japie played a round and his first nine was 52 mostly due to nerves, but his second nine was 39! And subsequent 9 hole rounds were 42 and 44!
Another bit of data Japie sent me was around the 17th November was he had set up 20 shots only to test accuracy with limited balls and had achieved 16/20 on target which is 80% accuracy!
I don’t care who you are , but that is some serious golf right there!
Japie, you’re a legend bud, thank you for all the data and feedback – we are on for a round soon!
