January 2019 – Bryan Pate Golf

Shanks vs Strikes

January 28, 2019January 8, 2019 Bryan Pate

What creates a shank? To put it simple it is when the sweet spot gets too far past the ball line or target line. This can be done a few ways. One is a club that gets too steep on the downswing, works outside the ball line, and cuts sharply across. Another is more of a better player problem when the sweet spot comes from too far in to out and the sweet spot is working across the ball line too much. Where a third option is having a good swing direction but the sweet spot is just too far away from the player resulting in a hosel strike.

Lets take a look at the first scenario where the club gets outside the ball line too early and works across. This is what we see most often and comes form a player that has a club traveling too steep and an open club face on the way down. The player is trying to square up an open face or get a playable ball flight by swinging left. This way the face that is open to the path that produces slices will start the ball left of the target and move into play somewhere. The featured image above shows a club head in blue that is outside the ball line 1′ away from impact. If that club head does not move quickly left to find the club face or toe of the club there is the hosel waiting for some action.

Typically, but not all the time, players that pull their club inside too fast and open the face on takeaway get the club into a positions at lead arm parallel that is too shallow. From there in order to get the club head on the ball and the face closed they move the club head form the top out into the ball. This gets us into a position that the player has limited options to hit a functional shot. Below is a screen shot of a club going back too far to the inside and open (left) and coming down too far out in front of the grip (right). Click on the image for the 1 minute YouTube clip on this pattern.

Now let’s take a look at a good player that does the opposite. They take the club back more around the hands, this guy takes it slightly outside, and the club face is looking more towards the ball. The club head has not been rolled behind and open. If they were hitting a chip shot it would be easy to get the club back on the ball from this position without a lot of manipulation. On the down swing (right) the club head is coming down slightly behind the hands and you can see it is further away form the ball line and more toe down. From here the club can enter into the ball on more of a shallow angle closer to the white line than steeper on the yellow line. Click the image for a 1 minute YouTube clip on how this club comes into the target line, collects a ball, and leaves the ball line.

To see the difference of the in and over (blue club) and up and back (yellow club) click this image for a 1 minute video comparison.

Pre-Round Body Warmup

January 21, 2019January 14, 2019 Bryan Pate

How often do you see players arrive to the course, check in, and head straight to the driving range to begin taking full swings with their mid iron or driver? Maybe you are one of those individuals. Players that play for a living warm up their body before warming up their swing for the round. This could be anywhere form a few minutes in the hotel or at the course all the way to a full hour workout. In 2018 Brooks Koepka warmed up for his final round at the PGA Championship with a full length 1 hour consisting of cardio and back & triceps and treated it like any other day. That is not for everyone but a lot of high level golfers will use bands, light weights, and some cardio to get their body ready to preform for the day.

Now let’s get real, we do not have time to spend that long to warm up before we start to hit balls before our round. Due to life, kids, and obligations some days it is lucky we are at the course at all and have 30-60 minutes to warm up. For most the week consisted of sitting in a car driving 5-60+ minutes to work, doing the 9-5+ behind a computer at a desk, driving back home, sitting down for dinner, then some tv, and finally call it a day. That is a lot of siting and stationary positions throughout the day let alone the week. Now were are asking our bodies to move in different directions, do it quick, and at the expense of not losing our balance so we can find the middle of the club and preform to our high expectations.

What can we do to play better in that limited time without trying to carve out more time in a busy life? Go to the course with a game plan. When you get there have a routine you can do to get everything done in the amount of time you have. Heck, have a few options for when you only have 15 minutes, 30-45 minutes, and a full hour or more. Now let’s look at the body prep or warmup for the day and the areas that should be targeted. Starting from the head down the joints that need to be loosened up are the neck, wrists, shoulders, t-spine or upper back, hips, and ankles. When starting out begin with single plane movements before they become complex. An example would be warming up the hips and before going into full swing motions start with reaching down towards your toes then up to the sky. This will get the hips moving, back moving, neck moving, and you’r balance going.

Before coming up with what you need, since everyone is different and have their own limitations, take a look at my latest YouTube video going through some movements CLICK HERE. Come up with a little routine you like, hits all the areas, and can spend a little extra time here or there where you feel the tightest. Time yourself and see if it is in-between 5-10 minutes so you know how long it will take. Once you get a little routine that takes a few minutes do it once a day so your body get moving not only on game day but every day. This way you will not be shocking the system by only doing it just before the round.

As you start to feel better do that 5-10 minute routine in the morning and afternoon. Not asking you to become a Yoga freak but a little time here and there will add up over time. 10 minutes a day adds up to 70 minutes a week. If you have the time I would highly recommend doing a Yoga class once or twice a week. They can walk you through different positions, teach you about breathing, and find stretches to add into your routine. This is not a fix over night for a body that has been stationary for so long but it is a start to moving better. Do 5-10 minutes a day or every other day for a few months and see how you feel. Your body will thank you and don’t stop there… keep going.

YouTube link for the full length video: https://youtu.be/UceXiLO7sHo or CLICK HERE

YouTube link to the 5 minute follow along clip: https://youtu.be/6UUT4XmcXwM or CLICK HERE

YouTube link to an extended 9 minute follow along video clip: https://youtu.be/-UZskYBa0-U or CLICK HERE

Toss the Club Drill

January 14, 2019April 22, 2019 Bryan Pate

The golf swing is like a circle that is a little squished and titled on an angle. In this sport it is one of a few sports where the object ball is sitting on the ground and not moving around. With it just sitting there waiting for use to tell it what to do through the club face and swing circle there is a lot of time for us to think before the shot. Also because the ball is sitting on the ground students take it as that is the object to hit instead of making their swing directed out in front of them where the ball is trying to go too. The ball just gets in the way of the club face as we swing it around us.

Here is a good drill to get you feeling the weight of the club and reacting to the club in transition out towards the target instead of down in to the ground. Take the club in your trail hand up to shoulder height behind you. Grip the club with your thumb and index finger with the club head on top of the grip (shown below). From here the club will feel light and you can balance the club head on top of the grip. Where some people go through this position and let the club head tip out towards the ball then try and react to something that wants to crash into the ground we want to let the club fall behind us away form the ball at the start.

From there you will feel the weight of the club head move behind you and with that the body can respond and through the club out to the range. You don’t need to actually through the club and can hold on a little after you passed the ball. I did this one at the 0:43 mark of the YouTube video. The idea is as the club is falling behind without much pressure on the grip you can feel where the club head is at instead of trying to control where it is going. The club will feel back behind the trail hand, coming in lower under the hand, putting some stress into the back of the trail wrist, get your trail arm more into a side arm action instead of a push position, and get the body rotating. Below you can see two stills and where the club head is at and going as the body is turning. The eyes did not stay down, the body got taller, the trail knee turned towards the target, pressure moved into the lead heel, and much more. All this from a simple drill of stand the club up vertical, hold it with 2 fingers, feel the club head fall behind, respond to that and toss the club out in front of you.

In the upper left photo you can see the club face is starting to look at the ball, the club is still inside the target/ball line, and lower to the ground. This is all great stuff for shallow strikes with a path in to out for high launching, draw bias, shots. From there everything is going out toward the target and the forces will pull you into a finish. It is near impossible to finish on your back foot and not tall on your lead side rotated to the target like below.

CLICK HERE for the YouTube video. Show you the club toss from down the line and face on then hit a ball showing you the similarities in this drill and a full shot.

Ball Speed NOT Just Swing Speed

January 7, 2019 Bryan Pate

We are all looking for more distance off the tee and for our irons to travel further. Without putting in the time in the gym to get stronger and work on movement patterns, doing yoga for flexibility, and training for speed what are some areas that will help maximize our potential? For the YouTube clip that ties in with this blog CLICK HERE

In a previous article about maximizing the driver, HERE, I discussed spin axis and club delivery. If we are delivering a glancing blow to the ball the club speed is not projecting its full potential onto the ball. Also any balls that are not hit out of or near the center of the club head will deliver less speed.

Let’s take a look at a 7 iron example. In the below image the club head was traveling 77 miles an hour, the face to path was slightly closed at -1.5* for a slight draw delivery, the spin loft was 27.5 which is good for a 7 iron, and the ball speed was 107.1 mph. 107.1 ball speed decided by 77 club speed gives us 1.39 which is the Smash Factor. The golf ball left the face at 1.39 times that of the swing speed. In this scenario the ball launched at 18*.

Now let’s take a look at another 7 iron scenario. Here is the same club speed but the ball was slightly miss hit, face was more closed to the path, and spin loft was higher. These little variances had a club traveling more across the ball resulting in a ball speed of 94mph. Even though the ball launched higher at 20* with the potential to carry further the smash factor was down from 1.39 above to 1.23 here resulting in a ball speed of 12.8mph and 28.8 yards of carry. Could say roughly every MPH of ball speed is 2.25 yards.

Here is a LPGA driver example off TrackMan’s data base showing an efficient strike with a smash factor of 1.49 which is right at the 1.50 USGA limit where a ball can leave the club face. The swing direction and club face difference was minimal at 0.8 open and attack angle to loft small at 12.2 degrees. This swing speed it a typical male club player swinging their driver 90mph.

Optimizing the Driver

January 3, 2019January 3, 2019 Bryan Pate

Using your current speed are your optimizing your driver? Here is the YouTube channel with more info on swing direction and a driver drill to help change the swing direction and attack angle: CLICK HERE

Let’s take a look at a scenario. Below is a photo from a students initial TrackMan driver assessment numbers to see what we were starting with. You will see the student had good club speed at 101.5mph but as you start lookin at the rest of the numbers the club was traveling excessively left, down 7.7*, which created a swipe across the ball. That projected the ball out with a lot of curve to the right with 35.3* spin axis. The larger away form 0 the larger the curve. That glancing blow created a lot of spin at 7602 rpm. Photo below :

Let’s take that same swing speed with a different player. Here is a close swing speed at almost 98mph. The club path was traveling almost straight at 1* to the right, attack angle was up 3.2*.

Presented dynamic loft was less at impact on the second scenario and closer to the attack angle for a difference of 13.2 vs the first scenario of 27.8*. The larger the difference in the spin loft the more the spin. See previous blog about Spin Loft. Remember we want a high launching lower spinning driver shot so it gets max carry and can still roll out depending on what it lads on. Look at the difference of carry between. A full 82 yards of carry and 90.8 yards!!! That is a long ways for swinging 3mph slower.

Here is an image showing the differences of optimal numbers for hitting up vs down on a ball and the corresponding carry/total numbers form TrackMan. Remember if you are swinging above 100mph.. maybe 110mph you can get away with a level or slightly down attack. You will give up carry distance but the ball is traveling far enough that getting the ball on the ground sooner will help your accuracy. Overall height and landing angle will be reduced. The yardage you are giving up might be worth saving 1 or 2 more clubs into the green for a ball to get out of the air sooner. If you are swinging that fast your swing speed is higher than the average golfer and you hit your irons longer as well.

What creates spin? : Spin Loft

January 2, 2019January 2, 2019 Bryan Pate1 Comment

Wanted to write a quick article on spin and increasing or decreasing spin. If you are looking to make a change where should you start? Let’s start with Spin Loft and what that is. Below is an image from GolfTec showing what creates Spin Loft is the difference in Attack Angle and Dynamic Loft.

Let’s take a look at reducing spin on a driver. The image below was a well struck shot. As a reminder due to the drivers bulge and roll it will change the spin quite a bit on a miss hit. You can see that the driver presented 13.3* of loft at impact but because it was traveling up 2.2* that resulted in a spin loft of 11.1* and a low spinning driver. To reduce spin on a driver first is having a solid strike, low face impact spins more, and second is to reduce the Attack Angle and Dynamic Loft in order to narrow the two vectors.

Now let’s take a look at a wedge shot. Here the goal is to create the opposite condition in order to create spin. There is a point that the Spin Loft becomes too great, usually around 55*, where the spin starts to go down. Also any debris between the ball and wedge will drastically reduce the spin. This shot launched at 35* and if I if we wanted to launch it lower without crossing the spin thresh hold on Spin Loft we could tilt the vectors down. Option would be to move the ball slightly back to increase the attack angle and add more rotation in order to get more shaft lean at impact. That will move both Attack and Dynamic Loft keeping the Spin Loft the same.

Now lest talk about hitting a flighted shot into the wind. The goal on this shot is to have a low launching shot that is not spinning too much. Option one would be to go up a club, say form a 7 iron to a 6 iron, to reduce the Dynamic Loft part of the equation. Next option would be creating more shaft lean without increasing the attack angle. This is done by adding more body turn in order to keep the handle moving before the club head passes at the bottom.

For the YouTube video that corresponds to this article CLICK HERE. This video covers a spinning shot and a flighted 7 iron.

Another video on flighted iron shots: CLICK HERE.

For a great drill to help reduce the spin loft on the drive by moving the attack angle from down to up and help with the moving the swing direction out to the right CLICK HERE. Players who swing under 100mph will benefit from a slightly upward attack. Those swinging over 100mph and higher may choose to give up some carry distance to get the ball on the ground sooner for control.

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