André Rennes

1 Executive summary

2 Ball flight — range screen

Metric	André (Oct 28)	LPGA Tour avg	PGA Tour avg
Ball speed	92.2 mph ★	93 mph	109 mph
Club speed (estimated)	~66-67 mph	72 mph	85 mph
Carry	116 yds ★	119 yds	148 yds
Flat carry	115 yds	—	—
Total	117 yds ★	—	—
Launch angle	27°	23.9°	20.4°
Apex	78 ft (26 yds)	26 yds	30 yds
Landing angle	47°	47°	51°
Curve	6 ft left	—	—
Hang time	5.2 s	—	—
Proximity	73 ft	—	—

★ = first report for this club, so it sets the baseline. The curve direction is read from the arrows on the screen (the left arrow is bright, the right one dimmed). Club speed isn't on the screen: at a typical 9-iron smash of ~1.38-1.40, 92.2 mph of ball speed means about 66-67 mph of club speed, which is estimated. The video was filmed at 30 frames per second, so the ball could not be followed after impact. Slow motion (120 or 240 fps) would give the start direction.

What it means: the flight is a good, normal 9-iron: launch is 3° above the LPGA average, yet the apex and landing angle match it. The ball landed steeply and stopped quickly, with only 1 yard of roll (117 total vs 116 carry). The gap to the PGA Tour carry (32 yds) comes mostly from speed: ball speed is 17 mph lower (92 vs 109), and the estimated club speed is about 18-19 mph lower. Against the LPGA average, carry is only 3 yards short.

3 Timing & tempo — measured from the video

30 frames per second, so each time is accurate to about ±0.03 s. The backswing starts at ~32.00 s (frame 210), the top is at 33.23 s, and impact is at about 33.43 s.

Tour figure: John Novosel, Tour Tempo. One frame either way on the downswing moves the ratio between ~5.3:1 and ~7.2:1. The takeaway frame (226) comes ~0.5 s after the backswing began, and the hands had moved only ~1 in by then.

What it means: the downswing (~0.20 s) is quick and fine for a short iron. The slow part is the backswing, and most of the extra time goes into a very gradual start. This is the opposite of the 3-wood on Oct 24, which was rushed on the way back. A backswing near 0.6 s would put the ratio close to the Tour's 3:1.

4 The reference frame — how this swing was measured

• Grid: each square is about 5 inches (~93 px at 18.66 px per inch). The scale comes from his body size in the frame, because his height wasn't given, so treat distances as ±1 inch.
• Center lines: the vertical line runs through the center of his stance (the feet) and the horizontal line runs through the ball line. The two corner-to-corner diagonals cross near the belt buckle at address and give a fixed perspective scaffold for depth.
• Depth rays (yellow, dashed): the mat edges extended to the horizon. Anything that moves along them is moving toward the target, not sideways. Only one target-line stick was in view, so the vanishing point is an estimate and the rays are a little less exact than with two sticks.
• Address references: the white cap line marks head height, and the dashed waist line marks waist height. Dashed light-blue lines mark shoulder and knee height. The dashed red tush line marks the back of the hips at address. The red trail is the head path and the yellow trail is the hands' path.
• Rotation: shoulder and hip turn are rough visual estimates from the silhouettes, about ±10-15°. X-factor at the top is the shoulder turn minus the hip turn.
• Tracking: body points were tracked automatically on 300 frames and checked by eye at each key position. The camera stayed still: the background moved less than 0.2 px.

5 Swing sequence

Nine key positions, filmed down-the-line from behind the hands. 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

• Athletic posture: knees flexed, arms hanging, hands just ahead of the ball.
• Cap line, shoulder and knee lines, waist line and tush line are all set from this frame.

Photo 2 — Takeaway Quiet start

• Head has barely moved (~0.2 in down, ~0.1 in toward the ball), and the hips haven't moved at all.
• Hands are only ~1 in from their address spot. The first ~0.5 s of the backswing is very slow.

Photo 3 — Lead arm parallel Head dips

• Most of the head dip happens here: ~5.5 in lower than address (it was ~0.2 in at the takeaway), and ~3 in toward the ball line.
• Hips stay steady (~1 in away from the ball, ~0.8 in up) while the hands move ~23 in from address.

Photo 4 — Top Strong coil

• Shoulders turned about 85° and hips about 40°, so the X-factor is about 45° (visual estimate, ±10-15°).
• Head is ~4 in lower and ~3 in toward the ball line. Hips are ~0.7 in away from the ball, so they turn and don't slide in.

Photo 5 — Arm parallel (down) On plan

• The downswing starts from the lower body, and the hands drop back toward their address spot (~23 in away, closing fast).
• Head is ~4.5 in lower. The hips start to rise (~1 in).

Photo 6 — Delivery Hips rising

• Hands are ~3 in from their address spot, right on schedule.
• Hips are at their highest of the downswing (~1.9 in up) and the head is ~5 in lower. The body is stretching here.

Photo 7 — Impact Watch the head

• Hands return within ~0.7 in of their address spot.
• Head is ~6 in lower than at address and ~3 in toward the ball line. The hips stay back (~0 in toward the ball, ~0.2 in off the tush line) but rise ~1.8 in.
• Hips are about 35° open and shoulders about 15° open: the lower body leads, a good sequence (±10-15°).

Photo 8 — Release Through it

• Head stays low (~6 in, its lowest point) while the chest keeps turning through the ball.
• Hips settle back to ~0.8 in up, and the hands are ~11 in from address as the arms extend.

Photo 9 — Finish Balanced

• Tall and balanced on the lead leg, trail foot up on its toe, chest facing the target and the club wrapped behind the head.
• Head rises about 5 in above address height as he stands tall, which is natural at the finish.

Overlay — head at address, top and impact

Depth note: from behind, the head's ~3 in shift sits partly along the depth rays, so it is a mix of "toward the ball" and "toward the target". One camera can't split the two, and the vanishing point comes from a single stick. A face-on clip of the next swing will settle it (see the last section).

7 Where the 9-iron sits in the bag

Heads-up: the 9-iron carries 28 yards less than the 7-iron (116 vs 144) with 12 mph less ball speed. The 8-iron has no report yet and would sit between them, at about 14 yards per step. The gap that stands out is higher up: the 6-iron and 7-iron are only 2 yards apart in carry (146 vs 144), so that pair is worth a second look in later reports.

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.
• Filmed at 30 frames per second, the ball is gone between two frames after impact, so the start direction couldn't be measured. Slow motion (120 or 240 fps) would fix this.
• Spin and club speed aren't on the screen, so club speed is estimated from an assumed smash factor.
• Distances come from a grid scaled to his body size, because his height wasn't given. The depth rays come from a single target-line stick.
• Shoulder and hip angles are visual estimates (±10-15°), and the club read from the sole was low confidence.

Next capture: (1) the same down-the-line spot with two target-line sticks, (2) a face-on clip at chest height, square to the feet stick, (3) the club sole held steady and close to the camera, with the club said out loud, (4) slow motion (120 or 240 fps) so the ball can be followed, (5) 3-5 balls for an average, and (6) André's height, to lock the grid scale.