Create Custom Graphs for Better Golf Swing Analysis

Most golfers and coaches who use a 3D system spend the majority of their time studying the body: pelvis, torso, spine angle, and the kinematic sequence. Those graphs are valuable, but they are only part of the story. If you want a more complete picture of how the club is actually being moved, you need to study what the arms, hands, and club are doing.

That is where custom graphs become extremely useful. Instead of relying only on the default layout, you can build graphs around the motion patterns that matter most to your analysis. Once you save those graphs and organize them into a custom layout, you can compare swings much more efficiently and uncover information that standard screens often miss.

Here is how to create those graphs, save them properly, and use them to make your swing analysis far more insightful.

Why Custom Graphs Matter

The standard advanced layout in an AMM or TPI-style 3D setup usually gives you several familiar windows:

• Pelvic position and angles
• Torso position and angles
• Lead wrist data
• Spine angle
• Kinematic sequence

That information helps you understand how the body is organized and how it moves through the swing. But the club does not move because the pelvis graph looks pretty. It moves because the golfer applies force through the shoulders, arms, wrists, and hands.

When you build custom graphs, you can shift your attention from broad body motion to the parts of the system that directly control the club. This often leads to better coaching decisions because you are no longer guessing how the golfer delivered the club—you can see the movement patterns more clearly.

How to Create a Custom Graph

The process is straightforward once you know where to look. The key is to create a graph from a chosen parameter, then save it so it can be reused later.

Step-by-Step Setup

1. Go to the Analysis tab.
2. Select Graph.
3. Right-click in the graph area.
4. Choose Parameter versus Time (often shown as “Par ham vs Time”).
5. Select the parameter or parameters you want to display.
6. Click OK to generate the graph.

At that point, the software will display the chosen data over time. But there is an important detail: the graph is not yet saved as a reusable custom graph. Until you save it, it is only a temporary view for that session.

How to Tell if the Graph Is Saved

A saved custom graph will display its graph name along with the file name. If you only see the file name, the graph has not been saved as a custom graph yet.

To save it:

1. Choose Save Graph as Custom.
2. Give the graph a clear, descriptive name.
3. Save it so it appears in your custom or “More Graphs” list.

This step matters because you cannot build an efficient repeatable layout around temporary graphs. Saving the graph turns it into a tool you can call up on any swing file.

A Great Example: Mid-Hand Speed

One of the most useful custom graphs you can create is mid-hand speed. This graph gives you a much clearer picture of how the hands are moving through space, and it often reveals patterns that body-only graphs fail to explain.

What the Mid-Hands Point Means

In the 3D model, there is a digitized point on the grip located roughly a hand’s width down from the butt end. This point is referred to as the mid-hands. By tracking that point, you can study the linear motion of the hands throughout the swing.

Rather than reducing the hands to a single vague concept, this graph lets you break their movement into directional components.

The Three Directions to Graph

To build the mid-hand speed graph, select these three movement directions:

• Toward and away
• Forward and backward
• Up and down

Once added, the graph will display each component as a separate line, typically color-coded. This allows you to see not just how fast the hands are moving, but which direction they are moving in at each point of the swing.

Why This Graph Is So Useful

The hands are a major link between the body and the club. If you want to understand delivery, release, width, steepness, or hand path tendencies, this graph can be extremely revealing.

For example, you may notice:

• The hands moving excessively away from the body in transition
• A sharp downward movement that helps explain a steep delivery
• A late burst of forward movement that changes low point and shaft presentation

Those are the kinds of details that often connect directly to ball flight and strike pattern.

Save Time by Creating a Custom Layout

Once you have built a useful graph, the next step is to place it into a layout that you can use repeatedly. This is one of the biggest advantages of the system.

If you have to rebuild your preferred screen every time you open a new swing, analysis becomes slow and inconsistent. A saved layout solves that problem.

How to Save a Layout

After arranging and resizing your graphs the way you want them:

1. Go to File.
2. Select Save or Delete a Layout.
3. Save the current arrangement under a custom name.

Now, when you open another swing file, the software can automatically populate the same graph setup. That means you can move from one club to another—or from one player to another—without rebuilding your analysis screen each time.

Why This Improves Your Analysis

A saved layout gives you consistency. And consistency is critical if you want to compare swings intelligently.

With a custom layout, you can:

• Compare different clubs from the same player
• Track progress over time
• Evaluate before-and-after changes
• Use the same lens for every session

That leads to cleaner pattern recognition and fewer wasted clicks.

Looking Beyond the Body

Many golfers become fascinated by pelvis rotation, torso turn, and sequencing graphs. Those pieces are useful, but they do not always tell you how the club was actually controlled. Two golfers can have similar body graphs and still deliver the club very differently because their arm and hand patterns are not the same.

This is why arm-and-club-focused layouts can be so powerful. They help you answer questions such as:

• How is the golfer creating speed?
• Where is the club being redirected?
• How are the wrists behaving in transition and release?
• Is the player widening or narrowing the arc at key moments?
• Are the elbows working together efficiently?

Once you begin studying these graphs, you often discover that the most important coaching clues are not hidden in the pelvis window at all.

An Effective “Arms to Club” Layout

A strong custom layout can be built around the transfer of motion from the upper body into the club. One useful concept is an arms-to-club layout, where you organize graphs that show how energy and motion flow from the shoulders to the hands and finally into the club.

An example layout might include the following graphs:

• Lead shoulder angle
• Lead shoulder lift
• Trail wrist angles
• Trail wrist speeds
• Lead wrist speeds
• Lead wrist angles
• Axial velocity of the club
• Elbow separation
• Mid-hand speed
• Elbow extension position
• Arc width

What These Graphs Help You See

Together, these measurements show how the golfer organizes the upper chain of motion. Instead of looking only at body turn, you can see how the player is actually applying movement to the club.

For instance:

• Shoulder graphs help you understand arm structure and inclination changes.
• Wrist angle and speed graphs reveal how the club is being loaded, redirected, and released.
• Elbow separation and extension show how the arms are working in relation to each other.
• Arc width helps explain radius control and hand path shape.
• Axial velocity gives insight into the club’s twisting or “screwdriver” motion.

When you put all of that on one screen, you start to see the swing less as isolated positions and more as a coordinated movement pattern.

How to Use Custom Graphs More Effectively

Creating graphs is only the first step. To get real value from them, you need to organize your analysis around questions.

Start With a Ball-Flight Problem

Do not open the software and stare at graphs hoping something jumps out. Begin with the shot pattern.

Ask yourself:

• Why is the player steep?
• Why is the face unstable?
• Why is contact inconsistent?
• Why does the player lose speed?

Then choose graphs that help answer that question.

Use Body Graphs and Hand Graphs Together

You do not need to abandon pelvis and torso data. The best approach is to combine them with the hand-and-club information.

The body graphs tell you what the golfer is doing globally. The hand and arm graphs tell you how the club is actually being managed. The combination is much more powerful than either one alone.

Look for Patterns Across Multiple Swings

One swing can be misleading. A saved custom layout allows you to compare several swings quickly, which helps you identify what is truly a pattern versus what was just a single rep.

This is especially useful when comparing:

• Driver versus wedge
• Good strikes versus poor strikes
• Before and after a lesson change

What You Gain From This Approach

When you start building custom graphs and layouts, your analysis becomes more specific and more practical. Instead of relying on generic swing ideas, you can study the actual motion pathways that influence strike and ball flight.

The biggest benefits are:

• Better clarity on how the club is being moved
• Faster comparisons across swings and sessions
• More useful coaching insights for hand and arm motion
• Stronger connection between 3D data and real ball-flight outcomes

For many golfers and coaches, this is where the 3D system becomes much more than a body-motion tool. It becomes a way to understand the actual delivery mechanisms of the swing.

Final Thoughts

If you only use the default layout, you are probably missing some of the most valuable information in the system. The body graphs are helpful, but custom graphs aimed at the arms, hands, and club can completely change how you interpret a swing.

Start with something simple like mid-hand speed. Save it as a custom graph. Build a layout around the information you care about most. Then use that same layout across multiple swings so you can compare motion patterns quickly and consistently.

Once you begin analyzing the swing this way, you will often see details that standard screens hide—and those details can lead to much better understanding of how you should diagnose and improve the motion.