Frame Rate (Video Capture)

Standard smartphone video usually records at 30 or 60 frames per second. That means the camera captures a new image every 33 or 17 milliseconds. A full golf swing takes roughly one second from takeaway to impact. The clubhead is moving fastest of all right around impact. It is fast enough that even at 240 frames per second, the club can travel a meaningful distance between two consecutive frames.

This matters directly for swing analysis. At a lower frame rate, the actual moment of impact might fall between two captured frames rather than landing squarely on one. That limits how precisely position, timing, or tempo-ratio calculations can be pinned down. Many modern smartphones support a slow-motion mode (commonly 120 or 240 fps). Slow motion helps because it gives analysis software many more frames to work with around the fastest parts of the swing.

Frame rate is one of the most controllable variables in getting good swing analysis feedback. Lighting and camera angle may be constrained by where a golfer is practicing. But switching a phone to its slow-motion recording mode before filming is a simple, free way to improve analysis reliability.