The Complete Guide to Practice Verification

You've heard it a thousand times: "Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect."

But here's the problem — how do you know if your practice is actually perfect? Without a coach standing over your shoulder, you're guessing. And most golfers practice their mistakes more than their improvements.

That's why we built practice verification into Stroke Gained.

How It Works

When your coach assigns a prescription — say, "Fix your early extension with these three drills" — here's what happens when you submit a practice video:

Step 1: Pose Detection MediaPipe runs directly in your browser (no server upload needed for the analysis). It maps 33 body landmarks across every frame of your swing, creating a complete skeleton model.

Step 2: Metrics Extraction From those landmarks, we calculate the specific metrics that matter for your drill:

• Hand path — Is your club traveling inside-out or over the top?
• Early extension — Are your hips thrusting toward the ball at impact?
• Spine angle — Are you maintaining your posture through the swing?
• Hip turn — How much rotation are you generating?
• Tempo — What's your backswing-to-downswing ratio?

Step 3: Focus Area Scoring Since your coach prescribed a specific focus area, the AI weights that metric heavily. A prescription for "hand path" will prioritize whether your club path improved, while still tracking overall form.

Step 4: Results + Keyframes You get an overall score, a focus area score, and keyframe snapshots showing your address, top of backswing, and impact positions — with skeleton overlays.

What the Scores Mean

• 80-100: Excellent. Your mechanics match the target pattern.
• 60-79: Good progress. Most fundamentals are there, with room to tighten up.
• 40-59: Needs work. The focus area still shows the original fault.
• Below 40: The drill isn't clicking yet. Review your coach's instructions and try again.

A score of 60+ is considered a "pass" — meaning the AI believes you're executing the prescribed correction.

The Coach Reviews Everything

Practice verification isn't a replacement for your coach. Every submission goes into your coach's review queue. They see:

• Your video with playback controls
• The AI scores and metrics breakdown
• Keyframe snapshots with pose overlays
• A comment thread for feedback

Your coach can approve the submission, add feedback, or request a resubmit with specific notes on what to adjust.

Why Client-Side Matters

All the heavy pose detection runs in your browser using MediaPipe's WebAssembly engine. This means:

• Privacy: Your video doesn't leave your device for pose analysis
• Speed: No waiting for server processing
• Cost: No GPU server bills = free for users

The video itself is uploaded to secure storage for your coach to review, but the AI analysis happens on your phone or laptop.

Tips for Better Scores

1. Camera angle matters — Use the angle your coach specified (face-on or down-the-line)
2. Full swing in frame — Make sure your entire body is visible from address to follow-through
3. Good lighting — Avoid backlight or deep shadows that confuse pose detection
4. One swing per video — Keep it clean for the most accurate analysis

Your coach prescribed a drill for a reason. Trust the process, submit your practice, and let the data guide your improvement.