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How Do I Figure Out My Match Ups

How to Identify Your Key Swing Fixes for Better Performance

After this video, you'll be able to:

  • Identify the key aspects of your swing that lead to consistent results
  • Use video analysis to recognize patterns and improve your technique
  • Learn how to troubleshoot specific issues affecting your ball striking

In this video, we'll explore how to determine your specific swing keys by analyzing your performance and using video as a guide. Understanding these matchups can help you maintain consistency and improve your game.

Tyler Ferrell. Golf Digest Best Teachers in California, 2026-27. The only person named to both Golf Digest's Best Young Teachers in America and Best Golf Fitness Professionals lists. Author of The Stock Tour Swing.
Video Transcript
WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.080
this concept video we're gonna discuss the member question how do I figure out

2
00:00:09.080 --> 00:00:15.840
my matchups so I mentioned a number of times about Jack Nicholas's comment that

3
00:00:15.840 --> 00:00:19.920
most good players have three to five keys that make their swing work and

4
00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:24.800
basically when they're warming up or throughout the season they're when they're

5
00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:29.280
off it's one of those three to five keys well in order to figure out your

6
00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:32.520
three to five keys you're gonna have to experiment with a number of different

7
00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:38.640
pieces but I want to give a quick little guide as to how you're likely going to

8
00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:41.640
figure them out how I've figured out mine and how a lot of my students have

9
00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:47.520
figured out theirs so typically we're gonna start with video we want to have

10
00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:51.360
a model we want to have a guide as to where we're trying to get to that way

11
00:00:51.360 --> 00:00:56.120
we're not just going off of the feel of contact there's some times where you'll

12
00:00:56.120 --> 00:01:00.080
hit it great but if the video doesn't change then it's usually not sustainable

13
00:01:00.080 --> 00:01:06.960
it's only gonna last for a day around a few balls who knows but so the the

14
00:01:06.960 --> 00:01:11.120
video will help guide the overall progress as far as the big pieces that

15
00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:16.000
you're going to work on and then what you'll typically find is you'll either

16
00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:23.480
have areas that consistently help solve the same problem multiple times or you

17
00:01:23.480 --> 00:01:23.520
'll

18
00:01:23.520 --> 00:01:29.560
have consistent areas where anytime you work on it you get worse so I'll talk

19
00:01:29.560 --> 00:01:33.120
through each of those so the first one is the ones that make it better so let's

20
00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:37.760
say you consistently have the same problem let's say you're you're hitting

21
00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:44.040
it fat because you're getting too much tilt like this and so one day you notice

22
00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:48.680
it on video and you set up a pool noodle and you work on your upper body

23
00:01:48.680 --> 00:01:53.120
covering the ball kind of like this well you feel that okay that upper body

24
00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:56.800
covering the ball I hit the ball great that day it was working good for a

25
00:01:56.800 --> 00:02:00.320
couple practices and then I started hitting it fat I looked at it on video

26
00:02:00.320 --> 00:02:04.960
and I was falling back into this pattern I quickly remember it oh I need to get

27
00:02:04.960 --> 00:02:10.400
more on top and I started to hit it well again so when the same issue solves

28
00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:10.600
the

29
00:02:10.600 --> 00:02:15.800
same problem multiple times in a row usually I say at least three times in a

30
00:02:15.800 --> 00:02:20.400
row that's usually gonna be one of your keys now what could evolve with that is

31
00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:24.760
maybe the first time I feel like my chest is covering my lower body maybe the

32
00:02:24.760 --> 00:02:28.800
second time I feel like my lower body is rotating or staying more centered

33
00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:34.580
instead of kind of too much tilt or too much slide I might feel like my hips

34
00:02:34.580 --> 00:02:34.720
are

35
00:02:34.720 --> 00:02:40.760
back I might feel a complementary piece to it and that can either become one

36
00:02:40.760 --> 00:02:41.080
key

37
00:02:41.080 --> 00:02:45.840
like my whole pivot feels this way or two keys like okay hips back chest

38
00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:52.000
forward and I almost never chunk the ball so it solves a specific problem so

39
00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:56.560
that would be how you're gonna build your keys the first version the second

40
00:02:56.560 --> 00:03:02.440
version is sometimes there are things that you consistently see and you try to

41
00:03:02.440 --> 00:03:07.720
work on and whenever you work on it it gets worse that just means that you

42
00:03:07.720 --> 00:03:13.240
haven't quite figured out the part and it's so ingrained in your swing that if

43
00:03:13.240 --> 00:03:17.160
you try to disrupt it it's gonna break some of the other patterns give you an

44
00:03:17.160 --> 00:03:22.560
example of maybe someone who tends to pull down in transition and any time they

45
00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:29.840
work on shallowing they do it too much with the body or they do it late like it

46
00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:35.000
doesn't actually change the pattern if that's the case then in the short term I

47
00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:39.520
would say okay that's part of my my pattern I'm not gonna be able to change

48
00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:45.040
that today I'm gonna wait until I have enough time to really work on it so I'm

49
00:03:45.040 --> 00:03:49.600
probably gonna work on complementary keys if that's the case I might work on

50
00:03:49.600 --> 00:03:53.560
more of a rhythm or a timing and that could become one of my three three to

51
00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:59.360
five keys so I'll tell you mine for this year have revolved around either

52
00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:05.080
using my abs I actually had a hernia surgery two years ago so I've done a

53
00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:08.960
bunch of work for getting my core working better and that's freed me up to

54
00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:14.110
feel some things that I wasn't able to feel previously so there's a feeling

55
00:04:14.110 --> 00:04:14.120
that

56
00:04:14.120 --> 00:04:18.640
I get in my abs especially during transition when I do that there's a

57
00:04:18.640 --> 00:04:23.720
completely different rhythmic feel and it feels like a good feel like a

58
00:04:23.720 --> 00:04:28.320
effortless power type scenario so my key number one this year has been using my

59
00:04:28.320 --> 00:04:33.120
abs part of that revolves around a little bit better a little bit less

60
00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:38.680
slide and a little bit better bracing and then to complement that I've had to

61
00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:42.640
work a little bit more on the wipe and a little bit more on the ulnar deviation

62
00:04:42.640 --> 00:04:47.920
so over the course of this year most of the weeks when I've hit the ball really

63
00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:52.670
well and and played pretty well in some of the playing lessons my keys have

64
00:04:52.670 --> 00:04:52.880
been

65
00:04:52.880 --> 00:04:58.080
on one of those three pieces or sometimes two or even all three of those

66
00:04:58.080 --> 00:05:04.200
pieces there have been times where it was a blend of abs and release that kind

67
00:05:04.200 --> 00:05:08.520
of encompassed those three keys for me I've experimented with a number of

68
00:05:08.520 --> 00:05:13.240
different things whether it's a backswing pivot whether it's a loading whether

69
00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:17.560
it's lengthening to try to get a little bit more speed and those are kind of

70
00:05:17.560 --> 00:05:21.600
part of the the long-term goal but right now my three keys that help me play

71
00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:21.720
the

72
00:05:21.720 --> 00:05:26.040
ball really well or hit the ball really well feeling the abs getting a little

73
00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:30.000
bit more of that trail arm wipe and then getting that good ulnar deviation all

74
00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:35.000
the way through impact when I do that it consistently solves my pattern of

75
00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:39.360
getting a little bit picky or a little thin with my contact and hitting a

76
00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:43.920
little bit more of an overdraw those go away I hit the ball much more solid and

77
00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:50.800
far when I've worked on those keys and they've cycled I haven't worked on them

78
00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:55.950
explicitly the entire time it might be I work on the wipe for a couple

79
00:05:55.950 --> 00:05:56.120
practices

80
00:05:56.120 --> 00:06:00.200
I start drifting I work on the wipe again I start drifting to something new I

81
00:06:00.200 --> 00:06:00.600
come

82
00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:04.120
back to it but what I've noticed is over this year the times when I've hit the

83
00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:08.840
ball great it's it's I've had the same problem I was trying to solve both on

84
00:06:08.840 --> 00:06:13.400
video and contact wise and those three keys have been how I've been able to

85
00:06:13.400 --> 00:06:18.800
solve it so when you use video and to dial in your feedback and you figure out

86
00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:24.080
how to change the picture those will likely contribute to your keys and as you

87
00:06:24.080 --> 00:06:27.480
work through them and consistently the same keys solve the same problems you'll

88
00:06:27.480 --> 00:06:32.120
become more confident more durable and more resilient in being able to maintain

89
00:06:32.120 --> 00:06:38.920
your higher level of ball striking all right so let's see if we can throw one

90
00:06:38.920 --> 00:06:43.480
together where we get all of our keys so we're gonna feel the ab with the the

91
00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:50.840
white movement for me and then the ulnar deviation late so a little bit of the

92
00:06:50.840 --> 00:06:57.140
overdraw didn't quite feel the ab the way that I wanted felt a little bit too

93
00:06:57.140 --> 00:06:57.240
much

94
00:06:57.240 --> 00:07:02.920
leg in back so let's do that one more time this time we're gonna really focus

95
00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:10.920
on the ab feel we had the other day there we go so that I covered it a little

96
00:07:10.920 --> 00:07:16.800
bit more the wind took it late but it came out just the way that I want so now

97
00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:21.120
I can challenge it by picking different targets working on different lengths of

98
00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:28.040
swings and tempos changing clubs but I've got my keys ready to go play kind of

99
00:07:28.040 --> 00:07:30.360
like that
Related topics
This video hasn't been assigned to any topics yet. Browse all topics in the sidebar.
Tyler Ferrell. Golf Digest Best Teachers in California, 2026-27. The only person named to both Golf Digest's Best Young Teachers in America and Best Golf Fitness Professionals lists. Author of The Stock Tour Swing.

How Do I Figure Out My Match Ups

How to Identify Your Key Swing Fixes for Better Performance

After this video, you'll be able to:

  • Identify the key aspects of your swing that lead to consistent results
  • Use video analysis to recognize patterns and improve your technique
  • Learn how to troubleshoot specific issues affecting your ball striking

In this video, we'll explore how to determine your specific swing keys by analyzing your performance and using video as a guide. Understanding these matchups can help you maintain consistency and improve your game.

Video Transcript
WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.080
this concept video we're gonna discuss the member question how do I figure out

2
00:00:09.080 --> 00:00:15.840
my matchups so I mentioned a number of times about Jack Nicholas's comment that

3
00:00:15.840 --> 00:00:19.920
most good players have three to five keys that make their swing work and

4
00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:24.800
basically when they're warming up or throughout the season they're when they're

5
00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:29.280
off it's one of those three to five keys well in order to figure out your

6
00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:32.520
three to five keys you're gonna have to experiment with a number of different

7
00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:38.640
pieces but I want to give a quick little guide as to how you're likely going to

8
00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:41.640
figure them out how I've figured out mine and how a lot of my students have

9
00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:47.520
figured out theirs so typically we're gonna start with video we want to have

10
00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:51.360
a model we want to have a guide as to where we're trying to get to that way

11
00:00:51.360 --> 00:00:56.120
we're not just going off of the feel of contact there's some times where you'll

12
00:00:56.120 --> 00:01:00.080
hit it great but if the video doesn't change then it's usually not sustainable

13
00:01:00.080 --> 00:01:06.960
it's only gonna last for a day around a few balls who knows but so the the

14
00:01:06.960 --> 00:01:11.120
video will help guide the overall progress as far as the big pieces that

15
00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:16.000
you're going to work on and then what you'll typically find is you'll either

16
00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:23.480
have areas that consistently help solve the same problem multiple times or you

17
00:01:23.480 --> 00:01:23.520
'll

18
00:01:23.520 --> 00:01:29.560
have consistent areas where anytime you work on it you get worse so I'll talk

19
00:01:29.560 --> 00:01:33.120
through each of those so the first one is the ones that make it better so let's

20
00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:37.760
say you consistently have the same problem let's say you're you're hitting

21
00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:44.040
it fat because you're getting too much tilt like this and so one day you notice

22
00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:48.680
it on video and you set up a pool noodle and you work on your upper body

23
00:01:48.680 --> 00:01:53.120
covering the ball kind of like this well you feel that okay that upper body

24
00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:56.800
covering the ball I hit the ball great that day it was working good for a

25
00:01:56.800 --> 00:02:00.320
couple practices and then I started hitting it fat I looked at it on video

26
00:02:00.320 --> 00:02:04.960
and I was falling back into this pattern I quickly remember it oh I need to get

27
00:02:04.960 --> 00:02:10.400
more on top and I started to hit it well again so when the same issue solves

28
00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:10.600
the

29
00:02:10.600 --> 00:02:15.800
same problem multiple times in a row usually I say at least three times in a

30
00:02:15.800 --> 00:02:20.400
row that's usually gonna be one of your keys now what could evolve with that is

31
00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:24.760
maybe the first time I feel like my chest is covering my lower body maybe the

32
00:02:24.760 --> 00:02:28.800
second time I feel like my lower body is rotating or staying more centered

33
00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:34.580
instead of kind of too much tilt or too much slide I might feel like my hips

34
00:02:34.580 --> 00:02:34.720
are

35
00:02:34.720 --> 00:02:40.760
back I might feel a complementary piece to it and that can either become one

36
00:02:40.760 --> 00:02:41.080
key

37
00:02:41.080 --> 00:02:45.840
like my whole pivot feels this way or two keys like okay hips back chest

38
00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:52.000
forward and I almost never chunk the ball so it solves a specific problem so

39
00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:56.560
that would be how you're gonna build your keys the first version the second

40
00:02:56.560 --> 00:03:02.440
version is sometimes there are things that you consistently see and you try to

41
00:03:02.440 --> 00:03:07.720
work on and whenever you work on it it gets worse that just means that you

42
00:03:07.720 --> 00:03:13.240
haven't quite figured out the part and it's so ingrained in your swing that if

43
00:03:13.240 --> 00:03:17.160
you try to disrupt it it's gonna break some of the other patterns give you an

44
00:03:17.160 --> 00:03:22.560
example of maybe someone who tends to pull down in transition and any time they

45
00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:29.840
work on shallowing they do it too much with the body or they do it late like it

46
00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:35.000
doesn't actually change the pattern if that's the case then in the short term I

47
00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:39.520
would say okay that's part of my my pattern I'm not gonna be able to change

48
00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:45.040
that today I'm gonna wait until I have enough time to really work on it so I'm

49
00:03:45.040 --> 00:03:49.600
probably gonna work on complementary keys if that's the case I might work on

50
00:03:49.600 --> 00:03:53.560
more of a rhythm or a timing and that could become one of my three three to

51
00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:59.360
five keys so I'll tell you mine for this year have revolved around either

52
00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:05.080
using my abs I actually had a hernia surgery two years ago so I've done a

53
00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:08.960
bunch of work for getting my core working better and that's freed me up to

54
00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:14.110
feel some things that I wasn't able to feel previously so there's a feeling

55
00:04:14.110 --> 00:04:14.120
that

56
00:04:14.120 --> 00:04:18.640
I get in my abs especially during transition when I do that there's a

57
00:04:18.640 --> 00:04:23.720
completely different rhythmic feel and it feels like a good feel like a

58
00:04:23.720 --> 00:04:28.320
effortless power type scenario so my key number one this year has been using my

59
00:04:28.320 --> 00:04:33.120
abs part of that revolves around a little bit better a little bit less

60
00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:38.680
slide and a little bit better bracing and then to complement that I've had to

61
00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:42.640
work a little bit more on the wipe and a little bit more on the ulnar deviation

62
00:04:42.640 --> 00:04:47.920
so over the course of this year most of the weeks when I've hit the ball really

63
00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:52.670
well and and played pretty well in some of the playing lessons my keys have

64
00:04:52.670 --> 00:04:52.880
been

65
00:04:52.880 --> 00:04:58.080
on one of those three pieces or sometimes two or even all three of those

66
00:04:58.080 --> 00:05:04.200
pieces there have been times where it was a blend of abs and release that kind

67
00:05:04.200 --> 00:05:08.520
of encompassed those three keys for me I've experimented with a number of

68
00:05:08.520 --> 00:05:13.240
different things whether it's a backswing pivot whether it's a loading whether

69
00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:17.560
it's lengthening to try to get a little bit more speed and those are kind of

70
00:05:17.560 --> 00:05:21.600
part of the the long-term goal but right now my three keys that help me play

71
00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:21.720
the

72
00:05:21.720 --> 00:05:26.040
ball really well or hit the ball really well feeling the abs getting a little

73
00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:30.000
bit more of that trail arm wipe and then getting that good ulnar deviation all

74
00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:35.000
the way through impact when I do that it consistently solves my pattern of

75
00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:39.360
getting a little bit picky or a little thin with my contact and hitting a

76
00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:43.920
little bit more of an overdraw those go away I hit the ball much more solid and

77
00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:50.800
far when I've worked on those keys and they've cycled I haven't worked on them

78
00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:55.950
explicitly the entire time it might be I work on the wipe for a couple

79
00:05:55.950 --> 00:05:56.120
practices

80
00:05:56.120 --> 00:06:00.200
I start drifting I work on the wipe again I start drifting to something new I

81
00:06:00.200 --> 00:06:00.600
come

82
00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:04.120
back to it but what I've noticed is over this year the times when I've hit the

83
00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:08.840
ball great it's it's I've had the same problem I was trying to solve both on

84
00:06:08.840 --> 00:06:13.400
video and contact wise and those three keys have been how I've been able to

85
00:06:13.400 --> 00:06:18.800
solve it so when you use video and to dial in your feedback and you figure out

86
00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:24.080
how to change the picture those will likely contribute to your keys and as you

87
00:06:24.080 --> 00:06:27.480
work through them and consistently the same keys solve the same problems you'll

88
00:06:27.480 --> 00:06:32.120
become more confident more durable and more resilient in being able to maintain

89
00:06:32.120 --> 00:06:38.920
your higher level of ball striking all right so let's see if we can throw one

90
00:06:38.920 --> 00:06:43.480
together where we get all of our keys so we're gonna feel the ab with the the

91
00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:50.840
white movement for me and then the ulnar deviation late so a little bit of the

92
00:06:50.840 --> 00:06:57.140
overdraw didn't quite feel the ab the way that I wanted felt a little bit too

93
00:06:57.140 --> 00:06:57.240
much

94
00:06:57.240 --> 00:07:02.920
leg in back so let's do that one more time this time we're gonna really focus

95
00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:10.920
on the ab feel we had the other day there we go so that I covered it a little

96
00:07:10.920 --> 00:07:16.800
bit more the wind took it late but it came out just the way that I want so now

97
00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:21.120
I can challenge it by picking different targets working on different lengths of

98
00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:28.040
swings and tempos changing clubs but I've got my keys ready to go play kind of

99
00:07:28.040 --> 00:07:30.360
like that
Related topics
This video hasn't been assigned to any topics yet. Browse all topics in the sidebar.