AI can be a good golf coach

Scott Kramer

Finally found a great use for AI. I used it to help improve my golf game. No, I didn’t send a video of my swing to ChatGPT and ask for advice – although that will work (more on that below). Instead, I pounded golf balls on a virtual driving range at golf simulator manufacturer Uneekor’s massive facility in Irvine, Calif. Admittedly, my swing was a bit rusty upon my arrival.

Officials there activated a software package on their simulator called AI Trainer. Combined with the launch monitor, high-speed cameras, and detailed software that spits out 19 data metrics about every swing you take, it instantly analyzed my swing, helped me improve distance and impact, and offered personalized tips. It's truly like having a keen-eyed personal coach available in real time.

The software is intuitive and explains things very clearly. It recorded my swing, drew a circle around my head and lines on my body, and kept track of the swing. About five seconds after each swing, it broke down the swing into eight steps from address all the way to follow through. In each, it offered a slo-mo video; grading my swing via a green checkmark, which meant no issues; yellow exclamation point, which is something to watch out for; or a red X, which is something to focus on and fix. Then it identified the issue via an illustration of what my body was physically doing, plus an illustration of how to correct it – along with a description. The intuitiveness and clear explanations were well thought out and easy to understand. For instance, it detected a slouch in my stance, erratic head dipping on my downswing, a strange bend in my right elbow after impact, and an off-target clubhead path – all on the very first swing. After cleaning up those factors one by one – as my technician suggested – I’d boosted my shot distance by 25 yards. For added measure, I made cleaner ball contact and increased shot trajectory.

This could not have come at a better time, as I’d noticed how my distance on iron shots had dwindled the past year. Where I used to hit a 9-iron from 135 yards out, I was suddenly finding myself negotiating that distance with a 7-iron at times. I found that each correction I made here had a positive ripple effect on the swing. I attacked my head movement first. Once that stabilized, my posture and swing path improved. And contact was more solid. Then the software showed the moment of impact, and the ball being closer to the club heel. So I simply moved away from the ball by maybe a half-inch at address. Problem solved.

About 50 swings later, my overall swing score jumped from a 70 to an 86, with 100 being the best. Plus I was able to remove several of the warning signs. I then took those tips to the real golf course and was blown away how much longer I was hitting my irons in real life. I call it a minor miracle, especially after having several of my buddies watch my swing recently and not be able to figure out the source of my power outage by sight.

But then I wondered about the many people who can’t afford to buy a golf simulator or don’t have access to one. So I uploaded a video of my wife’s golf swing to Google’s free Gemini AI, and asked it for some tips. I was pleasantly surprised with how it offered three simple tips to help her out, along with guidance on drills and presenting each tip one at a time to her. I’m not saying AI will ever replace a golf swing coach, but all of this technology is very promising – and a great quick fix before your next round.