Retesting & progress FAQ

It is the third step of one fix, one plan, one retest. Without it, "it feels better" is the only evidence you have; with it, you can see whether the specific thing you practised actually moved.

The comparison is a directional read from video, not a lab test, so it is deliberately careful. It will not call something progress when the two clips were filmed differently or the new one was hard to read.

If your golf fix came from launch-monitor data, the retest is a new session from the same setup rather than a video. More on the idea in the retest guide.

A typical finding gets 7 days. Beginners get a little longer and advanced athletes a little less, because a change takes hold at different speeds at different levels.

For some athletes the window also adapts to their own record: it shortens after a retest that shows the issue is still there, and lengthens after improvements in a row — always between 3 and 28 days. When the date moves, the app shows a one-line reason.

The retest readiness meter counts days through the window — it tracks practice time, not how good your swing is. Mechanical change shows up over days and weeks rather than in one session, so give the fix real reps before you film.

Before you film, you can confirm each one. All three confirmed makes a strong comparison, two a usable one, and fewer a weak one that is read cautiously — the retest still runs, it just claims less.

After you film, SwingVantage checks what it can see for itself — camera angle and height, your size in frame, whether your whole body stayed in shot — and tells you if something you confirmed does not match the footage. It cannot see which equipment you used, so that one rests on your word.

Repeat the same motion too: compare a chip with a chip, not with a full swing. Good, even light and a steady phone keep the new clip as readable as the first.

• Improved — the issue you practised dropped down or off your priority list, or, in Motion Lab, your overall read rose clearly with nothing moving backwards. Keep reinforcing it before moving on.
• Still present — the issue is still your top priority, or the read has not clearly moved. That is normal, and usually means more reps. Motion Lab may show this as "No change", or "Partially improved" when some parts moved and others did not.
• Inconclusive — the conditions differed or the new clip was too hard to read. Motion Lab calls this "Low confidence". Nothing is held against you.
• Worse — only from comparisons that can support it: launch-monitor sessions from the same setup, or two closely comparable Motion Lab clips where the overall read clearly dropped. Day-to-day variation is normal, so treat it as a prompt to slow down, not a verdict on you.

Every result lists its cautions — a different angle, a hard-to-read clip — and reminds you that a video comparison is a directional read, so you can judge it yourself. It also comes with one next move: lock in your next fix, give it more reps, re-film cleanly, or go back to basics.

• A different camera angle or height from the original.
• Standing closer or further away, or part of your body out of frame.
• A darker, blurrier or shakier clip than the first.
• A different shot — a chip against a full swing — or, in golf, a different club or effort level.
• No read that both clips could produce, so nothing to line up.

An inconclusive result costs you nothing. It is not counted as a failure or a step backwards, your fix stays the same, and you can retest again as soon as you can match the original setup. The result names what differed, and if you confirmed the same conditions beforehand it points out which one the footage disagreed with.

Re-film from the original spot and setup, then retest again — see keeping conditions the same.

How much it matters depends on the change. A different view — facing you versus from behind — means the clips cannot be compared at all. A smaller shift in height or distance lowers how comparable they are, and the result says so in plain words, such as "the camera sat at a noticeably different height".

The fix is to go back to the original setup and retest again. If you cannot recreate it — a new range, a new phone mount — let the new clip be your starting point and film every retest after it from that same spot.

Your plan follows along: once a fix is complete it moves to the next thing holding you back, and while results keep improving it can shift the focus forward or raise the challenge.

Progress marks the change "Improvement verified" only when the retest was filmed under matching conditions; otherwise it reads "Improving — not yet verified". See why one retest is not proof.

For some athletes, improvements in a row on the same focus also stretch the time before the next check.

• Current focus — your active fix, whether your plan is under way, your practice streak and the drills you have tried.
• Retest results — each before-and-after, with its verdict and cautions.
• Status — "Improving — not yet verified" until a retest under matching conditions confirms it, then "Improvement verified".
• Timeline and trend — what happened when, with a trend chart once you have 3 analyses, so one or two sessions are not over-read.
• Milestones — earned from real steps like completed practice days and retests.

Golfers who import launch-monitor data also get a separate view of those numbers over time.

Motion Lab first checks whether the two clips are comparable — same view, framing, capture quality, and how much of the motion both cover. A close match shows the change in each read; a loose one marks every change as directional only; clips that are too different get no numbers at all, just the reason and a prompt to re-film.

Golfers with launch-monitor sessions can also compare two sessions' numbers on the Compare page, which also lets you set your swing beside professional reference swings.

That is why an improved result says to keep reinforcing it before moving on, and why Progress only says "Improvement verified" when conditions matched. For some athletes, a run of improvements lengthens the gap between checks rather than ending them.

The reverse holds too: one disappointing retest does not mean the fix failed. Read the cautions first — a different angle or a hard-to-read clip explains a lot of surprises.

A comparison is only as trustworthy as the weaker of the two clips. Before judging any change, Motion Lab scores how comparable they are — camera angle, framing, capture quality, and how much of the motion both clips cover. A weak score means "Low confidence", never a claim of improvement or decline.

A clip the quality check asked you to re-film is not used as a retest at all. If your retest clip comes back below Good, apply the fixes the quality check suggests and film again before reading much into the result.