André Rennes

1 Executive summary

2 Ball flight — range screen

Metric	André Nov 13	#3 · Oct 14	#1 · Oct 6	Average golfer	LPGA Tour avg	PGA Tour avg
Ball speed	98.3 mph	107 mph	103 mph	—	109 mph	127 mph
Club speed (estimated)	~70–71 mph	~76–78 mph	~75–77 mph	—	78 mph	92 mph
Carry	140 yds	146 yds	140 yds	—	152 yds	183 yds
Flat carry	138 yds	144 yds	—	—	—	—
Total	163 yds ★	150 yds	149 yds	162 yds	—	—
Launch angle	19° (closest to tour yet)	20°	23°	—	17.1°	14.1°
Spin	not shown	—	—	—	5,943 rpm	6,231 rpm
Apex	50 ft (~17 yds)	81 ft	87 ft	—	25 yds	30 yds
Landing angle	31°	44°	46°	—	46°	50°
Curve	13 ft left	17 ft right	11 ft	—	—	—
Hang time	4.4 s	5.6 s	5.7 s	—	—	—
Proximity	—	99 ft	53 ft	—	—	—

★ = personal best for the 6-iron (total 163 yds vs 150). On the screen, the target flag reads 158 yds. The ball could not be tracked from the video: at 30 fps it is gone between two frames after impact, so slow motion (120 or 240 fps) is needed for start direction. Club speed isn't on the screen: at a typical iron smash of ~1.38–1.40, 98.3 mph of ball speed means about 70–71 mph. The average golfer column is total distance (162 yds).

What it means: the launch (19°) is close to the LPGA window, yet the ball peaked 8 yards lower than the LPGA average and landed 15° shallower. Part of that is simply less ball speed (98.3 vs 109 mph). The rest points to low spin, a common sign of contact low on the face, though no spin number is shown on the screen. The result is a low, running ball: 23 yards of roll for a 163 total, but 140 carry.

3 Timing & tempo — measured from the video

30 frames per second, so each time is accurate to about ±0.03 s. Takeaway starts at ~17.40 s, the top is at 17.87 s, and impact is at about 18.13 s.

Tour figure: John Novosel, Tour Tempo. One frame either way moves the ratio between ~1.6:1 and ~2.0:1. The 8-Iron clip was slowed down, so only its ratio is quoted.

What it means: the downswing (0.27 s) is exactly the Tour's 0.27 s. The backswing is the quick part: 0.47 s against 0.80 s on Tour and 0.60 s on his own Oct 14 swing. That gives the lowest 6-iron ratio in the logbook, flagged as rushed.

4 The reference frame — how this swing was measured

• Grid: each square is about 5 inches. It's scaled from the 4 x 4 ft hitting mat (14.52 px per inch), since his height isn't on file, so treat distances as ±1 inch.
• Center lines and diagonals: the vertical line runs through the center of his stance and the horizontal line through the ball line. With the two corner-to-corner diagonals, they cross at the belt buckle at address and give a fixed perspective scaffold.
• Depth rays: the mat edges and the two converging target-line sticks are extended to the horizon. Anything that moves along these rays is moving toward the target (into the picture), not sideways.
• Address references: the white line is the cap (head height). The belt line marks waist height. The dashed light-blue lines mark shoulder and knee height. The dashed red tush line is the back of the hips. The red trail is the head path and the yellow trail is the hands' path.
• Tracking: body points were tracked automatically on 225 frames (14.0–21.5 s) and checked by eye at each key position. The camera stayed still: the background moved less than 1 px (median 0.9 px).
• Rotation: shoulder and hip turn are eyeballed from the frames, about ±10–15°. X-factor is shoulder turn minus hip turn at the top.

5 Swing sequence

Nine key positions, filmed down-the-line from behind at about hand height. The target is straight into the picture.

Photos are numbered in the order they happen in the swing. The frames follow the standard swing positions.

6 Position-by-position biomechanics

Photo 1 — Address Good

• Feet square to the orange stick across the toes, with the two target-line sticks running away to the right of the ball.
• Athletic posture: forward tilt from the hips, knees flexed, arms hanging. The hips sit right on the dashed red tush line.

Photo 2 — Takeaway Head sinks early

• Hands and club leave together; the hands are about 3 in from their address spot.
• The head is already about 3.2 in lower and ~1.1 in toward the ball line. The dip starts here, in the first move away.
• Hips barely move (~0.3 in away), a quiet base.

Photo 3 — Lead arm parallel Quiet base

• Hands about 16.5 in from address, and the arms are wide.
• Hips only ~0.6 in away from the ball and 0.3 in up, so no sway. The head is about 3.9 in lower and ~2.6 in toward the ball line.

Photo 4 — Top Big coil

• Shoulders turned about 85° and hips about 40°, so the X-factor is about 45°. That is a strong, loaded position (±10–15°).
• Head about 2.8 in lower than at address, a bit back up from the 3.9 in seen earlier, and ~2.9 in toward the ball line (see depth note).

Photo 5 — Arm parallel (down) Good

• The downswing starts with the body: hips are back near their address depth (~0.1 in) and have started to open.
• Hands are about 12.4 in from their address spot, on their way back down. The head is about 3.4 in lower.

Photo 6 — Delivery Solid

• Hands are only about 4.4 in from the address spot, with the arms in front of the chest and the club moving fast (blur).
• Head about 3.6 in lower and ~2.6 in toward the ball line; the hips have not moved toward the ball (~0.3 in).

Photo 7 — Impact Watch the head

• Head about 3.8 in lower than at address (watch) and ~1.9 in toward the ball line (good). The dip is smaller than in reports #2 and #3.
• Hips ~0.3 in toward the ball (watch, inside the ±1 in error), 0.3 in off the tush line (good), and 0.9 in up (good). No early extension.
• Hands about 1.2 in from their address spot (watch). Hips about 35° open and shoulders about 10° open: the hips are well ahead, with the club still to catch up.

Photo 8 — Release Good extension

• Both arms extend down the line and the chest keeps turning.
• Head about 4.2 in lower and ~1.7 in toward the ball line; hands about 4.3 in from the address spot.

Photo 9 — Finish Excellent

• Tall and balanced on the lead leg, trail foot up on its toe, hands high with the club over the shoulder.
• Head now about 3.8 in above its address height and the hips about 2.9 in toward the target. Held, as in every report.

Overlay — head at address, top and impact

Depth note: from behind, the head's ~2.9 in shift sits partly along the depth rays, so it mixes 'toward the ball' and 'toward the target'. One camera can't split the two. A face-on clip of the next swing will settle it (see next capture).

7 Where the 6-iron sits in the bag

Heads-up: the 6-iron carried 4 yards less than the 7-iron's best (140 vs 144), with 5.7 mph less ball speed (98.3 vs 104). It sits 19 yards of carry behind the 5-iron (159). The 163 total is 16 yards past the 7-iron only because of the 23 yards of roll. Ball speed is closer to the 8-iron's (94.0 mph) than to his own 6-iron best (107 mph). This is one swing, but it shows where the yards are: ball speed and a higher, softer flight.

8 Diagnosis

9 Next steps — keep it simple

10 Limitations & next capture

• One swing is a snapshot. The ball readout matches this swing, as it's the screen shown right after it.
• The ball could not be tracked from the video: at 30 fps it is gone between two frames after impact. Start direction needs slow motion (120 or 240 fps).
• Spin and club speed aren't on the screen, so club speed is estimated and low spin is inferred from launch, apex and landing angle.
• Distances come from a grid scaled to the hitting mat. His real height would help lock the scale.
• From behind, depth (toward the target) mixes with sideways motion. That's exactly what the depth rays flag.

Next capture: Next capture, to sharpen the reference frame: (1) show the clubhead sole to the camera before the swing so the club can be read, (2) the same down-the-line spot, filmed in slow motion (120 or 240 fps) so the ball can be followed, (3) a face-on clip at chest height, square to the feet stick, (4) 3–5 balls for an average, and (5) André's height, to lock the grid scale.