Until evolution bestows us with a vastly different physiology to the one we currently possess, the human body will move in somewhat predictable planes, angles and ranges of motion. I am lead to believe that even in a thousand years’ time, unless medically interfered with, our form will not morph into something that doesn’t closely represent us today.
Variances from person to person within the framework of the human body are of course to be expected.
Our ancestral markers represented by DNA all nod to the origin of life yet have presented us with a vast spectrum of personalities, values and physical identities. We are like ice cream: we have different colours, we have different tastes, we have different strengths and because of these micro variances, we also have different relationships within our interactions and environments.
Upon closer examination of the facts above, it would be accurate to say that it is our physicality not our mental variance that gives us the best chance of predictability within the game of golf. This is especially true when you consider the equipment used is standardized and non-adjustable. A driver is a driver and a seven iron is a seven iron and there is not enough variance between the two to suggest you learn two different techniques to use them well. No, with minute adjustments, it will be a generic swing pattern that utilizes both clubs well.
The technology we have today, has finally caught up with our imagination.
During my formative years as a golf instructor I was miffed as to why 99% of the representation of the golf swing was only from two angles; down the line and face on. Surely, we could learn more about movement if we had more perspectives to play with?
One afternoon in Spain, when no students were booked in, I set up four VHS cameras at perfect 45deg angles, that is to say, diagonal views of my golf swing with cameras looking perfectly into the lens of its diagonal counterpart.
With all camera’s on record, I started hitting golf shots.
For the first time, I had recorded a representation of the golf swing from angles not I or anyone else for that matter had rarely seen. The closest was one drawing by Ravelli’s in Hogan’s in Five Lessons.
The diagnosis of the golf swing had transcended from an arid two dimensional black and white canvas to a technicolour flyover.
New eyes, new lands.