James Leitz...Golf Digest Top 100 Instructor, Top 100 Club Fitter, and one of the game's earliest adopters of 3D motion capture and force plate technology, joins Mike Granato and Shaun Webb on the Athletic Motion Podcast to break down the framework he calls the "3 Grapes."

In this episode, James walks through how the upper torso, pelvis, and center of mass move in the golf swing, why staying still is actually hurting your speed, and what separates a 99 mph Rory McIlroy from a long drive competitor. He also shares the story of how a single phrase from an aeronautical engineer in 1982 — "never guess what you can measure" — shaped an entire career.

Topics covered:
→ What the 3 Grapes are and how to trace them in GEARS
→ Why deceleration in the downswing isn't always bad (and who got it wrong)
→ The boat analogy, the jack knife, and how ground force really works
→ How James used Kelly Gibson to map club delivery across 9 shot shapes
→ Why throwers and laggers need completely different grape positions
→ The mental/physical link — what happens to your swing when you get nervous
→ D-Plane origins, TrackMan history, and measuring since 1982

🎁 FREE Training Here: 🎁
Make your BEST swing your NORMAL swing: https://athleticmotiongolf.com/consistency

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction — Meet James Lights of Chafunka Country Club
0:27 James's background — from college golf to pro shop in 1982
2:04 "Never guess what you can measure" — the phrase that changed everything
2:35 Buying a $2,800 camera on a $9,000 salary — measuring from day one
3:37 Seeing research-grade 3D and force plates for the first time (1994)
4:30 The TPI moment in 2006 — deceleration, wrist graphs & buying his first AMM system
11:47 Kelly Gibson experiment — mapping 9 shot shapes with 3D data
13:23 TrackMan origins — discovering the D-Plane with Frederick Tuen at the 2006 show
16:58 Introducing the 3 Grapes — upper torso, pelvis, and center of mass
19:02 Visualizing grapes in GEARS — stripping away everything else
21:17 Golf as a controlled jack knife — the speed generation system explained
22:07 World record hammer throw — what it tells us about upper grape movement
24:59 Pelvis grape stability — sways, thrusts, and the lead foot changing teams
28:09 Long drive vs. tour player — how the grapes move differently
28:54 Laggers vs. throwers — why the same fix works against you
33:56 Why your swing falls apart under pressure — the mental/physical connection
35:43 Why James prefers teaching beginners over tour players
36:44 The 1,000-piece puzzle — why collaboration beats silos in golf instruction
37:41 Where to find James Lights — Chafunka Country Club, Covington, Louisiana

#golf #pga #athleticmotiongolf #amg #golftips #improvegolfswing

In this episode of the Athletic Motion Golf Podcast, Mike Granato and Shaun Webb sit down with NBA Hall of Famer Grant Hill to talk about his journey into golf and how his mindset as a professional athlete has shaped the way he approaches the game.

Grant shares what it’s been like learning golf later in life after a 25-year basketball career, including the challenges of starting from scratch, rebuilding fundamentals, and applying the same discipline he used in the NBA to improve his swing.

The conversation dives into the key differences between basketball and golf — especially the mental side of performance. Grant explains how confidence feels completely different when you’re standing over a golf ball, why golf can be more frustrating than basketball, and how learning to stay present has become one of the biggest parts of his development.

They also discuss:
- How elite athletes practice and refine their skills
- Why fundamentals and repetition never go away
- The importance of being coachable and willing to improve
- What Grant learned from players like Steph Curry and Tiger Woods
- How to perform even when you don’t have your best swing

Grant also shares stories from his NBA career, including working on his shot mechanics, overcoming injuries, and how those same lessons now apply to his golf game.

This episode is a great look at what it really takes to improve at golf — from the perspective of someone who has already reached the highest level in another sport and had to learn how to start over again.

🎁 FREE Training Here: 🎁
Make your BEST swing your NORMAL swing: https://athleticmotiongolf.com/consistency

Video Chapters:
0:00 Grant Hill & That Iconic Duke Moment
0:46 Apologizing for “The Shot”
1:12 From Basketball to Golf Obsession
2:25 Why Athletes Fall in Love with Golf
3:04 Golf vs Basketball: Confidence Difference
4:03 The Mental Battle of Golf
5:21 Practicing Like an NBA Player Again
6:28 Fixing Shot Mechanics with Chip Engelland
7:42 Injury, Setbacks & Lost Development Years
8:33 Rediscovering Growth Through Golf
9:35 Why Fundamentals Never Go Away
10:26 Watching Steph Curry’s Work Ethic
11:32 Tiger Woods Practice Story
12:17 Why Golf Requires More Precision
13:25 Adjusting Mechanics: Basketball vs Golf
14:06 When Your Shot Is Off (And Still Winning)
15:23 NBA Rivalries Turned Golf Competitions
16:31 Embracing the Struggle of Learning Golf
17:25 The Power of Being Coachable
18:29 Understanding the “Why” Behind Improvement
19:32 Getting Worse Before Getting Better
20:23 The Mental Game: Staying Present
21:15 Competing Against Yourself
22:26 Chasing the Perfect Round
23:41 “Get Lost in the Game” Mentality
25:31 Tiger Woods Masters Story (Mindset Shift)
27:30 Playing Your Game (Even When It’s Off)
28:23 The Chase Never Ends

#golf #pga #athleticmotiongolf #amg #golftips #improvegolfswing

Golf shafts bend, twist, droop, and deflect during the golf swing and most golfers have NO idea how much this impacts their ball flight.

In this podcast, Mike Granato & Shaun Webb from Athletic Motion Golf sit down with Michael “Nipper” Nef, President and CEO of GEARS Golf, the most advanced golf swing motion capture system in the world. GEARS has captured millions of golf swings, including hundreds of thousands from PGA Tour players, giving researchers unprecedented insight into how the body and golf club actually move during a swing.

We break down the science of shaft droop, torque, and deflection, why most golfers misunderstand how shafts behave, and how GEARS technology measures both body motion and club data simultaneously... something no other system can do with the same accuracy.

Michael explains how GEARS measures:
- Shaft bending, twisting, and drooping
- Clubhead delivery and face angle
- Body joint motion during the swing
- Dynamic lie angle and how it affects shot shape

We also dive deep into the GEARS Curve (sometimes called the Nipper Curve) — a concept showing why every club in your bag should be treated as a completely different tool during club fitting.

If you’ve ever wondered:
- Why long irons tend to go right
- Why wedges sometimes pull left
- Why traditional club fitting can miss critical variables
- How PGA Tour players dial in equipment

…this conversation will completely change how you think about the golf swing.

Whether you’re a golfer, coach, club fitter, or golf tech enthusiast, this episode explains the hidden physics behind the golf swing and how modern motion capture technology is revolutionizing instruction and equipment fitting.

🎁 FREE Training Here: 🎁
Make your BEST swing your NORMAL swing: https://athleticmotiongolf.com/consistency

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction – Michael “Nipper” Nef & GEARS Golf
0:45 What GEARS Measures (Body + Club Data)
2:20 How Golf Shafts Actually Move During a Swing
6:30 Millions of Golf Swings Captured by GEARS
11:00 The Discovery Behind Filament-Wound Shafts
16:10 The Truth About Shaft Torque & Ball Flight
20:30 Why Traditional Club Fitting Often Gets It Wrong
26:00 Why Instruction and Club Fitting Must Work Together
31:00 The “GEARS Curve” (Nipper Curve) Explained
36:00 Why Long Irons Go Right and Wedges Pull Left
39:30 Tour Player Fitting Stories
45:30 How Club Lie Angle Transformed a PGA Tour Player
52:00 The Myth of “Keeping the Clubface Square”
57:00 Why the Golf Swing Is More Complex Than We Think
1:01:00 The Future of Golf Swing Measurement

#golf #pga #athleticmotiongolf #amg #golftips #improvegolfswing