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Over the top: Mirror, mirror on the wall?

Swing analysis is not for the faint-hearted, but you will learn a fair bit from it

Bad karma has a way of jumping up at you like a fluffed lob wedge. I should have seen it coming. All that snickering over some of the idiosyncratic swings you?ll see at my home club would have furthered my case for golf purgatory.

Even well-meaning counsel by friends was abruptly ignored. ?Don?t do it bud,? said Sammerjit Raikhy grimly when I mentioned, halfway into our weekend round, that I was planning on having my swing video-analysed at the DLF Golf Academy?s studio. Raikhy, a single-handicapper, pressed on with uncharacteristic seriousness. ?You?ve got a decent swing. You just don?t hit it as well as you could because you have old clubs. Get new cavity backs?that?s what you need, not a video swing analysis,? he proffered. ?Cynic,? I retorted suspiciously. Hard to trust a man who probably uses his weekly Nassau winnings from me to pay his car installments.

The studio at the DLF Golf Academy in Gurgaon is a golf swing aficionado?s Eden. Six cameras encircle the hapless golfer from all sides (and from the top), recording every move, which is played back real-time on a big screen. A ?Samputt? lab sits on the other extremity, while golf bags (with very attractive blades) line the edges. Seems like a single-handicapper hangout from the looks of it. Karan Bindra says that?s not the case. ?The V1 Pro software, which we?ve installed here is obviously great for the pros, but it?s the amateurs who derive the most benefit. Why don?t you get warmed up by hitting a few balls first?? he says ominously.

Caddies passing by look at me and exchange grins. My last appearance here, at a pro-am, obviously left an impression. The pro on that occasion, Asian Tour regular Angelo Que, had been diplomatic. ?I?m just glad you?re a writer!? Que had said warmly, putting his arm around my shoulder.

Banishing all negative memories, I scour my mental database for a few positive ones and heave away. There it is?the infernal slice, which has been plaguing my driver for the past month. Bindra looks on glumly before cancelling an appointment. ?No sir, not today, I?m going to have a long afternoon,? he whispers into the phone.

?Okay, let?s have a look at what you?re doing,? he says finally. Bindra sets up the video of my swing alongside a side view of PGA Tour pro Aaron Baddeley?s swing. ?Can you see how your left shoulder is pointing almost on the ball at the top of the backswing? And see where his shoulder is pointing? Also, pay attention to his left arm at the top of the swing.? If Baddeley?s left arm is sitting in the condo, then mine is in the basement. At this point, I decide to educate the pro. ?Aaron Baddeley has a ?stack and tilt? swing,? I say smugly, adding, ?I have an old-fashioned ?square-to-square? swing,? pointing to my accentuated reverse-C finish.

Now, golfers the world over may talk endlessly?and breathlessly?about the width of Tiger?s swing, or Martin Kaymer?s finish, but when it comes to golf swings, I?m a dedicated oldie: lateral leg drive and a ?late-hit?, and that?s what I tell Bindra. ?Nothing old-school about your action,? he replies, while unsuccessfully suppressing an exasperated sigh. ??Stack or tilt? or not, some fundamentals remain the same. Your shoulder has to point behind the ball at the top of your backswing and your left arm can?t break down like that. That?s how you?ll come in shallow at impact and get the right trajectory.? Admittedly, the figure on the screen doesn?t look anything like me; the action seems disconnected and the finish contrived.

?I have a natural low ball flight,? I inform Bindra, and proceed to hit another low driver to emphasise my point. ?The ball flies low and takes off a bit before coming down?it?s exactly what Jyoti Randhawa used to hit a few years back!? I add, giving Bindra some point of reference. By this time, the coach seems to have had his fill of instruction. ?Your ball goes low because you have your left shoulder lower than your right at address. That sets you up for a steep out-to-in takeaway, after which you slash vertically across the line, coming down with a steep descent into the ball,? he says in one breath, pausing only to check the Astroturf for damage.

?Okay, why do you think you?re slicing the ball?? he asks after regaining his composure. ?Well?? I start, a bit shaken by the recent developments. ?I thought it was because I have such quick hip rotation through the ball that my hands can?t catch up in time??

?No sir,? Bindra cuts me off mid-sentence. ?It?s because you don?t rotate through the ball at all. And you block the club, which never gets to release. There?s also something wrong with your grip? Why don?t we just try and putt for a while?? he says in resignation.

The Samputt lab is far more forgiving and, unbelievably, there?s nothing wrong with my stroke. ?That?s amazing,? says Bindra, as if he?s just witnessed a miracle. ?I know my putting?s fine, that?s why I never practise it,? I say defiantly.

We never really get to analyse my downswing. ?I don?t want to fill your head up with too much information right now,? says Bindra. ?You?ve got a fair bit of work before we look at your plane and impact,? he mentions politely.

All said and done, I did learn a fair bit at the studio. The only other coach who?s been brave enough to give me a couple of lessons, gave me exactly the same feedback: right shoulder tilt, extended left arm, in-to-out swing, and firm left leg. But it is humbling (after your ego has been stomped out of shape) and instructive to see yourself swinging and then relating that to what a coach is trying to tell you.

Now, the DLF Academy is restricted to members, but you might be able to swing a session if you know one. As for me, I think I?ll only have another go once I?ve managed to work on my grip, stance, arm extension, weight shift, release and finish. It could be a long time coming.

A golfer, Meraj Shah also writes about the game

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First published on: 06-07-2014 at 21:57 IST
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