This guide is for people wanting to take videos of their swing to improve, rather than for fun or to show off on Instagram or TikTok.
When using videos to improve, it is important that you set up the smartphone in the correct position. This is so you capture a true, undistorted representation of how your body is moving and what the golf club is doing. Failure to do this may mean you incorrectly interpret the error and make your swing worse not better.
This is also how the many training apps that are on the market now, need to see the video of your swing.
This guide focuses on Down-the-line (DTL) videos and then photos.
For Down-the-line (DTL) shots, you should position yourself in the middle ground of the frame and the target is visible in the distance. The Camera Lens should point towards your hands and be parallel to the target line, as shown below.
The camera should be set at the players hand height. You can achieve this with a tripod or by balancing the camera on an object that is the right height. Ideally the camera should be secure, so it doesn’t shake or move.
Ideally, down-the-line (DTL) shots should be taken in portrait mode and the golfers hands should should be in the centre of the frame, left-to-right and top-to-bottom.
Make sure the entire swing will fit in the frame, i.e. no part of the swing is missed. Good framing will show the full arc of the golf swing with lots of breathing room in the margins. Tighter cropping can be achieved after recording, if needed.
Whenever possible, film in slow motion video mode. High speed filming – most mobile phones can now record in 120 and even 240 frames per second – allows you and instructors to clearly see how the club shaft is moving and how the club face is orientated throughout the swing – without the distortion of motion blur.
It’s important to use several alignment rods (or similar) to set up the shot. For Down-the-line, you want one rod ahead of the ball and one behind the ball, in line with the target. You also want to set up a parallel set of rods, directly under the player’s hands. This will help you to set up the camera parallel to the target line. If the camera is left or right of this line, the club path will appear to swing inside or outside of the true swing plane that the club is traveling on.
Taking Photos
If you are taking photo’s down the line, position the camera in the same manner, but now set the camera to photo mode. The key positions you will want to capture are P1 to P10.
