Author: Zephyr Melton June 16, 2024
Bryson DeChambeau has been using Sportsbox AI all week to help keep his swing on track.
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After Bryson DeChambeau finished his third round on the second hole at Pinehurst, he shook hands with his fellow players, signed his scorecard and headed straight for the practice range. Even though he finished with a 3-under 67, the second-lowest score of the day, he still had a lot of room for improvement in his swing.
DeChambeau has long been known as one of the most tinkerers in golf. No matter how well he's hitting the ball, he always feels there's room for improvement. The fact that he was leading by three strokes going into the final round of the U.S. Open didn't change that mindset.
“I was happy with the shots for the most part,” DeChambeau said. “I just need to work on it a bit more and get better.”
For DeChambeau, working on his swing “a little bit” seems a little different than most pros. When the 2020 U.S. Open champion headed to the range for his post-round practice, his whole team was around him. DeChambeau placed a Foresight launch monitor on the ground opposite and continued hitting balls until it got dark. He also had a team member videotape every swing, recording the Foresight numbers at the same time.
Bryson is leading the U.S. Open by three strokes, but at 9pm the night before the final round he's on the range smashing away, his every swing being filmed and then recorded on a launch monitor. He's an absolute madman.
I love it 😂 pic.twitter.com/lnwkCwvqhC
— Zephyr Melton (@zephyrmelton) June 16, 2024
For any other pro, this kind of behavior on a major Sunday would be cause for concern, but that's typical Bryson, and even with a second major championship in his sights, he remains ambitious.
But DeChambeau isn't just relying on feel to adjust his swing this week: He's also relying heavily on Sportsbox AI, a cutting-edge app that analyzes video of his swing and spits out hundreds of data points about how his body is moving.
Introducing Sportsbox AI, a potentially revolutionary swing app. Author: Zephyr Melton
DeChambeau and his coach, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Dana Dahlquist, have long used Sportsbox when working together, but after a week of relying heavily on the data provided by the app in preparation for the U.S. Open last week in Texas, the DeChambeau team is going all-in on Sportsbox at Pinehurst.
Things really started to click during Wednesday's practice round at Pinehurst, where DeChambeau was hitting the ball “like he hasn't since the Greenbrier” in his final preparation for the U.S. Open, according to a person close to DeChambeau's team. [where he fired a 58 last fall].
According to GOLF.com's sources, DeChambeau is trying to eliminate misses to the right. The problem, the sources explained, is that on shots that miss to the right, DeChambeau puts his weight on his lead side too early, which brings his pelvis too close to the target. When this happens, DeChambeau has to use excessive side bend to compensate, which makes it difficult to get the necessary clubhead release.
After the issue was explained to him by Sportxbox, DeChambeau and his team immediately went to work to resolve the issue. By Wednesday of this week, they had the issue completely resolved. And since then, they've been using Wednesday's swing as a benchmark on every practice range, doing their best to get him back in the groove he was feeling heading into the U.S. Open.
So far, the plan is working: After three rounds, DeChambeau is the man to beat, and if he keeps swinging like he has so far, he could soon be hoisting his second U.S. Open trophy.
Zephyr Melton Editor, Golf.com
Zephyr Melton is an Assistant Editor at GOLF.com where she writes, produces and edits the blog day to day. Prior to joining the GOLF team, Zephyr attended the University of Texas and played for the Texas Golf Association, Team USA, the Green Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. She is in charge of all aspects of instruction and covers amateur and women's golf. She can be reached at zephyr_melton@golf.com.
