HackMotion Insights: 1,000,000 Swings Analyzed and Key Discoveries

HackMotion

Jul 30, 2024 . 7 mins read

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With more than 1,000,000 golf swings recorded, we have made in-depth discoveries about the golf swing, wrist action, ball flight control, and more.

Let’s take a look at what HackMotion has taught us so you can get started on perfecting your golf swing.

Key Takeaways

If you don’t have time to read through our in-depth discoveries, here are a few things to understand about how HackMotion continues to make it easier to get better at golf.

• Flipping the wrists is still one of the most common mistakes of the amateur handicap golfer; wrist flipping happens well before impact, and it costs you distance, accuracy, and consistency; luckily, HackMotion can fix it.
• Extension at the top of the backswing (wrist cupping) is almost always about 10 degrees more for amateurs than it is for professionals; at impact, we see that same 10-degree difference.
• Decreasing extension at impact and finding your optimal launch angle will improve total distance, regardless of the golf club that you have in your hand.

Flipping Has to Go

Once again, we have learned that flipping is even more detrimental to the golf swing than we may have thought. Flipping causes major issues with consistency and shot direction. The main misses we see are slices and pulls.

If you want consistency in your game, there is no good way to time a flip. You’ll simply have to learn how not to do it.

One valuable insight here is that professional golfers are starting to move towards extension in their wrists about .02 seconds before impact. The amateurs are doing this extension move at .07 seconds before impact.

The difference in these .05 seconds is the difference between a compressed golf ball and a flip.

What Makes it Hard to Stop Flipping?

We also learned that the main reason flipping is so hard to fix is that it is not a conscious move that golfers are making. Many players can take practice swings with their HackMotion device and not flip at impact.

However, when hitting the ball, the instinct is to flip and hit the ball with a square face.

Luckily, this can be fixed by working on creating a flat left wrist at the top and squaring the clubface sooner. If you wait too long to square the clubface, the only move left is a flip.

Extension at the Top is Still Very High for High Handicappers

High handicap golfers have, on average, 24.3 degrees of extension in their lead wrist. The lower handicap golfers have, on average, about 14.5 degrees of extension at the top of the backswing.

This extension needs to disappear on the downswing to hit the ball with a slightly flexed wrist and square clubface.

The problem for high handicappers is erasing 24 degrees of extension vs. erasing 14 degrees of extension. It takes a lot more work for high handicappers to square the clubface than it does for low handicappers.

Interestingly, when we analyzed what impact position looks like from the high handicappers to the low handicappers, we see that high handicappers are, on average, are about 10 degrees more extended at impact.

In other words, these golfers are not decreasing extension fast enough or efficiently enough in their downswing.

Higher Handicappers are Standing Up at Impact

If you watch any great golfer through impact, their body stays stable, and they resist the urge to stand up and hit at the ball. Instead, lower handicap golfers maintain their spine angle and stay in position without uncocking the wrists too much.

When you uncock the wrists too early, you lose power and control in the shots. One of the best ways to check this with the HackMotion is to look at your radial and ulnar deviation numbers throughout your swing.

Work on not allowing the shaft to stand up through impact, keeping the wrists cocked a little longer through the ball, and improving that clubface position to allow you to do this.

Distance is Impacted by Lead Wrist Extension

The most important benefit that HackMotion has to offer is clubface control. However, as golfers ourselves, we know that distance is always going to be a concern for golfers. This is understandable.

However, we have been lucky enough to discover the fact that you can gain almost 25 yards or more of distance just by changing the amount of extension that you have at impact.

There are a few factors that come into play here, including clubhead speed and launch angle; let’s take a look at this example.

Shot 1: High Launch/High Spin

The first shot is a shot taken by a golfer with a 105 mph club speed and a smash factor (ball speed/club head speed) of 1.5. This shot had a launch angle of 19 degrees and a spin rate of 4500 rpm. After the shot was hit, the total distance of 252 yards.

Shot 2: Lower Launch/ Lower Spin

The second shot takes the same 105 mph club speed and a smash factor of 1.5. However, because of the wrist angles of the player (less extension at impact), the launch angle is 11 degrees, and the spin rate is 2800 rpm. With lower launch and spin, the result was a total distance of 275 yards.

By lowering the launch angle and spin, with a better wrist position at impact, golfers gain almost 25 yards.

Does this Work for Everyone?

We tested this scenario with a large group of golfers. Golf manufacturers have been telling players that hitting the ball high is a good thing, and this has not changed.

However, the initial launch angle of the shot being just a little lower (due to more flexion in the wrist at impact) can get those 25 extra yards of distance you are looking for.

The key here is that your swing speed has to be high enough for you to still gain optimal ball flight. Slower swing speed golfers cannot decrease launch angle too much as they will struggle to even get the golf ball off the ground. However, flipping will decrease your swing speed due to early release, so make sure that the driver’s loft is doing the job, not your wrists.

If you feel like you have good speed, but are not maximizing your distance on the course, work on decreasing extension at impact and adding at least 25 yards to your game.

HackMotion is More than a Wrist Training Aid

The golf swing has three crucial stages that all golfers need to focus on:

• Address
• Top of the backswing
• Impact

HackMotion provides key data for each of these stages, helping to make your golf game more consistent, square your clubface angles, and lower your scores. It assists both high and low handicappers in understanding and feeling where their swing needs improvement. Combining data and feel is a powerful tool for elevating your game.

HackMotion is like a coach on your wrist. It identifies your swing faults using data and provides drills and feedback so you can improve faster.

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Final Thoughts

With these insights, you can now head out to the driving range and start working on these areas of your game. Check to see if you are flipping or if you could use a few more yards in your golf game, and then use your HackMotion to get your handicap lowered.