(BOSTON, MASS.) – A contingent of top instructors is reminding golfers that at-home practice can keep their swings in mid-season form and actually improve their games over the winter. In fact, there’s no need to hit a ball or even hold a golf club. All improvement-minded golfers need is the PerfectMotion app on their smartphones. Best of all, PerfectMotion delivers immediate feedback on every swing.
PerfectMotion uses proprietary artificial intelligence to track a golfer’s body motion and instantly determine key swing issues – calling up professional video instruction that addresses the golfer’s specific issues to help eliminate them. Additionally, each swing’s diagnosis and body motion trace, the MotionMap, can instantly be shared with a pro for real-time instruction and personalized coaching. The impressive and growing cadre of top golf teachers who use PerfectMotion includes former PGA TOUR winner Chip Beck, Golf Digest “Top 50 Instructor” Joe Hallett, Mike Sullivan (pictured below), Sarah Stone and Golf Digest “Best Young Teacher” Jake Thurm.
“Using PerfectMotion is a really good way to practice in the off-season. Putting is the place I like to start with my students. With PerfectMotion, I encourage my students to take just 10 strokes a day. As their coach, I can instantly see what's happening when they putt. I can tell them when they are too extended, if they are changing their stroke arc, or if they don't have the shaft on the forearm plane. The putting metronome in the app is very effective for tempo and feeds right into chipping timing as well. Around the hole, you're trying to use the shortest stroke possible to get the ball going a particular distance. That all has to do with tempo and timing,” says Beck, who now coaches golfers everywhere via the app from his home in Florida.
Jake Thurm, Director of Instruction at Fresh Meadow Learning Center and Ruffled Feathers Golf Club in Chicago, is a huge proponent of off-season practice and performance measurement. “The time to implement change is in the off-season – using the elimination theory of motor change: If you can't do it with a ball, then eliminate the ball. If you can't do it with a club, then eliminate the club. In other words, break the change down to its simplest form and then rebuild your swing to better than it’s ever been,” Thurm says.
Thurm puts his students on a steady diet of no-ball swings to mitigate their excuses. "I stress the importance of monitored and measurable repetition. Every day, within minutes, my students can take five practice swings with immediate, real-time feedback using PerfectMotion. The app improves your awareness, while its AI levels you up or down. As you learn from it, it continually learns how to better help you,” he adds.
Top instructors agree that golfers should devise a game plan up front if they are serious about improving. Joe Hallett, Director of instruction at Vanderbilt Legends Golf Academy in Franklin, Tenn. and a GOLF Magazine “Top 100 Instructor”, suggests that you focus on the particular area of your game that needs the most help, and work with your pro on specific drills to become more consistent in that area.
“PerfectMotion is a great way for my students to work on their consistency. We start by focusing on the motion that creates their best results and then hone in on making those shots even better,” he says. “A drill I like to start with uses a narrow, feet together stance. Take some swings and then widen your stance to about half your normal stance width, and then to the full-stance width,” Hallett suggests. “Review your MotionMaps and take note of where the changes occur and particularly note when the maps become inconsistent. From this point, you’ll start to know whether you’re falling back, falling forward, or driving too aggressively. Make the necessary adjustments and you’ll see, hear and feel a completely different ball contact.”
Hallett also believes PerfectMotion is ideal for cold winters. “At-home no-ball swings have proven merit for improving body movement,” he says. “When you improve your body motion, it will influence your entire game and make you a better player.”
To download the innovative PerfectMotion app to kickstart your off-season practice, visit https://perfectmotion.io.
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