Motion Picture

Motion-capture technology shows where your swing movements go awry and exactly how wrong they are so you can make the right fix

Every time you hit a bad shot something is out of whack with your swing, but if you've ever wondered what was off and by how much, motion-capture technology can tell you. Magnetic sensors attached to your head, back, chest, shoulders, wrists and elbows detect low-frequency electromagnetic fields, and when you swing, the sensors report movement and orientation to computer software which converts the data into three-dimensional models like the ones you see here.

TEST DRIVES

So you can see how motion capture works, we hooked up golfers of different abilities: a 20-handicapper and Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher Jon Tattersall [left]. At first glance, the differences in their swings may look subtle, but a closer look at the data quickly shows the difference between a solid swing and a wobbly one, and what the latter needs to work on.