Gaian · Swing Analysis — André

1 Executive summary

Bottom line: André has a sound, athletic setup and an excellent, balanced finish. The ball, though, is launching far too high for a 6-iron: 23° launch against a typical 14–17°. That extra height is where the distance goes. At 103 mph of ball speed, a well-delivered 6-iron should carry roughly 145–150 yards. André carries 140.

The frames point to the cause. Too much loft reaches the ball at impact: the handle isn't clearly leading the clubhead. Two things in the motion feed that. The backswing is arm-dominated and upright, and the transition into the downswing is quick, at about a 2:1 tempo. The priority is a forward-leaning shaft at impact. Second comes a smoother, body-led transition. The finish, balance and rotation are already strengths, so keep them.

Strength

Setup & balance

Athletic posture, relaxed arms, and a full finish he holds, with chest to the target and the trail foot up on its toe.

Priority 1

Impact / dynamic loft

A 23° launch and 87 ft apex point to excess loft at impact. The fix is shaft lean and a ball-first strike.

Priority 2

Backswing & transition

The arms lift high and upright, then the club comes down quickly (~2:1). The fix is more chest turn and a smoother start down.

2 Strike data — Mariners session

Read from the range's ball-tracking screen at the end of session 2. This is one recorded shot, so treat it as a snapshot, not an average.

Screen capture from the video. The second distance field (145) has an illegible label, likely a carry-normalized distance.

Metric	André	Reading
Carry	140 yds	Short for speed
Total distance	149 yds	9 yds roll
Ball speed	103 mph	Est. club speed ~75–77 mph*
Launch angle	23°	Too high
Apex (max height)	87 ft (29 yds)	Tour-height at ~80% speed
Landing angle	46°	Stops well
Hang time	5.7 s	High, floaty flight
Curve	11 ft	Near-straight
Proximity to target	53 ft	—

*Club speed isn't shown on screen. It's estimated from ball speed ÷ a typical iron smash factor of 1.33–1.38.

How it compares (TrackMan published averages, 6-iron)

Metric	André	LPGA Tour avg	PGA Tour avg
Club speed	~75–77 mph (est.)	78 mph	92 mph
Ball speed	103 mph	109 mph	127 mph
Launch angle	23°	17.1°	~14°
Max height	29 yds	25 yds	~30 yds
Landing angle	46°	46°	~50°
Carry	140 yds	152 yds	183 yds

The LPGA comparison is the useful one, because club speed is nearly the same. At roughly equal speed, LPGA players launch about 6° lower, hit it 4 yds lower, and carry ~12 yds farther. The gap isn't power. It comes from how the club is delivered at impact: excess loft spends energy on height and spin instead of forward distance. Part of the 6 mph ball-speed gap is the same issue, since a more compressed strike raises smash factor.

3 Swing sequence

Seven key positions pulled from each video. Session 2 is the Mariners session, white shirt, with launch data. Session 1 was filmed on a different day, in a vest.

Session 2 — Mariners (with launch data)

Session 1 — earlier session

The P-numbers follow the standard 10-position swing model. Timestamps are accurate to about ±0.07–0.1 s, set by each video's frame rate.

4 Position-by-position biomechanics

Each row shows both sessions side by side. Session 2 is on the left, session 1 on the right.

P1 — Address Good

The posture is athletic. He's tilted forward from the hips with moderate knee flex, and his weight sits over the middle of the feet.
The arms hang naturally under the shoulders, with no reaching. The grip end points roughly at the belt.
Alignment sticks on the mat in session 2 are a good habit, so keep them.
Watch: he stands slightly tall in session 2. A touch more hip hinge would give the arms room to swing around the body instead of lifting.

P2 — Takeaway Mostly good

Arms and club start back together, the lead arm stays straight, and the clubhead stays in front of the hands.
The hands work slightly inward early. It's fine in moderation, but it pairs with the arm lift that follows.

P3 — Halfway back Arms leading

At lead-arm-parallel, the hands have climbed to chest height while the torso has turned only moderately. Arm lift is outpacing body rotation.
An ideal P3 shows the chest turned well away from the target, with the shaft roughly on the same plane it started on.

P4 — Top of backswing High & upright

At the top, the hands are very high, at head height and above, and the lead arm sits on a steep, upright plane in both sessions.
The shaft finishes near vertical, short of parallel, so length isn't the problem. The issue is how the club got there: mostly by lifting the arms rather than turning the chest.
A high-hands, under-rotated top usually leads to an arm-driven start down and a loss of lag, which ties directly into the high launch.

P5–P6 — Transition & delivery Quick, arm-led

The downswing starts with the arms and hands coming down, rather than the lower body leading first. The shaft looks steep through transition in session 1.
Tempo: the backswing takes about 0.45–0.6 s and the downswing about 0.23–0.3 s, a ratio near 2:1. Most skilled players sit around 3:1. A rushed transition is a classic way to "throw" the clubhead early.

P7 — Impact Key issue

The shaft is close to vertical at impact. The hands aren't visibly ahead of the clubhead, so there's little forward shaft lean, and the 23° launch backs that up.
On the plus side, the hips are already open, the trail heel is releasing, and the head stays steady behind the ball.
The target picture: hands over the lead thigh, shaft leaning toward the target, lead wrist flat or slightly bowed, and the low point a few inches past the ball.

P10 — Finish Excellent

A full, balanced finish in both sessions. His weight is fully on the lead side, the belt buckle and chest face the target, and the trail foot is up on its toe.
He holds the pose, which shows good balance and full rotation. This is a real asset, so don't change it.

5 Diagnosis — the cause-and-effect chain

Arm-lift backswing: the hands go high on an upright plane with limited chest turn.
Quick, arm-led transition (~2:1 tempo): the arms fire before the body has rotated.
Early release: the angle between the lead arm and shaft is lost before impact, so the clubhead catches up to the hands.
Excess dynamic loft: the 6-iron reaches the ball with extra loft, giving a 23° launch and a high, floaty apex.
Lost distance: energy goes into height instead of forward travel, so he carries 140 yds where ~145–150 is available at this speed. Compression and ball speed likely suffer too.

Confidence: high on steps 4–5, which the launch data supports directly. Steps 1–3 are moderate, because they're read from down-the-line frames only. A face-on angle and club data (attack angle, spin, smash) would confirm them.

6 Fixes & drills (in priority order)

Priority 1 · Impact

Hands-ahead punch shots (9-to-3)

Hit half swings with the hands finishing low and left, and the shaft still leaning toward the target after impact. Take the divot after the ball.

Trains forward shaft lean and a ball-first low point. It lowers launch directly.

Priority 1 · Impact

Towel-behind-the-ball drill

Lay a towel about 6 inches behind the ball. Hit without touching it.

Instant feedback on a scooping, early low point.

Priority 1 · Impact

Impact bag / flat lead wrist

Strike an impact bag and hold the position. The lead wrist should be flat or slightly bowed, with the hands ahead of the clubhead.

Builds the feel of delofting the club instead of flipping it.

Priority 2 · Tempo

3:1 tempo with a metronome

Use a tempo app or metronome to rehearse "back-2-3 / down-1". Start with half swings, then build to full.

Slows the transition so the body can lead the arms.

Priority 2 · Transition

Pause-at-the-top drill

Hold the top for one beat. Start down by shifting pressure to the lead foot, then rotate.

Breaks the arm-first habit and restores sequencing.

Priority 3 · Backswing

Chest-turn backswing

Put a club across your shoulders and turn until your back faces the target, with no arm lift. Then add the arms with the trail elbow pointing down.

Swaps arm height for rotation and flattens the upright top.

7 4-week practice plan

Week	Focus	Session (≈60 balls)
1	Impact & low point	20 towel-drill shots · 20 punch shots (9-to-3) · 20 full swings at 70% effort with a "hands ahead" feel
2	Tempo 3:1	Metronome rehearsals · 20 pause-at-top shots · 30 full swings at the new tempo · 10 normal shots, logging data
3	Rotation backswing	Chest-turn drill without a ball (5 min) · 20 three-quarter swings · 30 full swings · 10 shots logging launch
4	Integration & testing	20 warm-up punch shots · a 30-ball 6-iron test on the launch monitor: record the average and spread for carry, launch and apex

Targets to track on the monitor

Launch angle: 23° → 16–18°

Apex: 87 ft → 70–78 ft

Carry: 140 → 145–150 yds

Ball speed: 103 → 105+ mph (better compression)

8 Limitations & next capture

Both clips are from the down-the-line view only. Ball position, weight shift, shaft lean and head movement toward or away from the target need a face-on angle.
The strike data comes from one shot. Club speed, attack angle, spin and smash factor weren't visible.
Session 1 was filmed on a different day and has no launch data, so it supports the movement analysis only.
The camera sits higher than hand height and is slightly off-line, so plane angles are approximate.

For the next session: film face-on and down-the-line with the camera at hand height, pointed along the target line. Use slow-motion (120–240 fps), and capture a 10-shot average from the monitor, including spin if the bay displays it.