March 2019 – Bryan Pate Golf

Shoes and Their Effects on Pressure Traces.

March 25, 2019March 17, 2019 Bryan Pate

In this blog I wanted to cover shoes and their effect on your balance and pressure trace. Pressure is what the ground is feeling under your body and everyone has a trace unique to them. The reason for this post is I have been wearing some shoes that are comfortable to wear all day and teach in but was having issues on the course with balance and feels when playing with students. Normal go to playing shoes for myself is a flat shoe with soft spikes. If you are not a reader Click here for the YouTube video. Here are the findings hitting a few shots using BodiTrak with the shoes on and barefoot:

On the left photo you will see me with my shoes off and the right where they are on. The shoes have a larger heel piece which creates a wedge under the feet and pushes the pressure more towards the toes. Ball in the same spot and take a look at the difference. Same amount of pressure form left to right but to to heel stands out. The shoes pushed more of myself onto the toes which is felt in setup.

These photos are taken when the pressure reached the maximum distance traveled to the right. Notice without shoes more pressure went right and in to the heel with the trace being more linear instead of from the toes arcing to the trail heel.

With the pressure moving more direct, without shoes and having to rebalance from too much getting on the lead toe, the pressure started to move sooner towards the target. Notice how soon the pressure started to move around left arm parallel. We see a lot of higher handicap golfers keep their pressure and even their weight moving away form the target for too long. Stills at P3 or Lead Arm Parallel to the Ground.

Here we are at P6 or shaft parallel to the ground without the shoes on it is easier to get the trace to arc towards the lead heel. I play a cut and that keeps the body turning in order to get the swing direction more left. On the right with the shoes notice how the pressure is more mid foot. This could have more of a neutral path and throughout the ground as the body gets tired if that becomes more toe bias the path can move in to out. Not a good thing for curving the ball to the right.

Here in the finish I noticed not only more pressure into the lead heel but with the shoes on it went into the heel then back to mid foot with the shoe design. Also notice that in both scenarios more pressure finished towards the target (90% and 83%) with more towards the lead heel.

You may be asking what can be learned form this little test? I would say pick your shoes carefully and this will be all player dependent. If you are a golfer that gets too much on their heels at setup a higher back of the shoe will help you stay more centered or towards the toes. Also if you’re a slicer that gets too much on the lead heel at impact they could again help you get the pressure trace going more linear or towards your toes.

If you are a player that likes to fade the ball a more neutral shoe will help get the pressure moving more into the lead heel. If your path is moving too much left a little heel lift might help.

Also what is on the bottom will change your foot work. From a spiked shoe to a soft spike will change the amount of grip the feet have. Some players, especially those with limited mobility, might benefit form shoes that will break traction through the shot and let their lead foot move.

To summarize all of this try a few shoes on. When making a selection make a few golf swings between different styles. See what one you are more balanced in form setup to backswing and into the finish. If your local club has a BodiTrak, Swing Catalyst, or another pressure mat then take a few swings on it. That will give you the feedback on if a lifted heel or flat heel is best for you, what the shoe is made out of from stiffer outer to softer, and what traction the shoe has. Finding the right shoe could also increase your club speed where the poorly fit shoe can reduce the speed.

Here is an unclose view of the traces. Shoes off on top and with heel lifted shoes on the bottom.

Here is a YouTube video with a good drill to get you the feeling of a balanced setup and where your pressure is going during the swing.

Attack Angle

March 17, 2019March 17, 2019 Bryan Pate

This article is mostly going to cover attack angle on a stock mid range wedge. For the YouTube clip Click Here. In the wedge game you can get away with a low point in front of the ball, at the ball, or slightly behind which would be a club landing slightly behind the ball. That is as long as the club is coming down like an airplane that is going to do a touch and go instead of one that is too steep and would crash. For a stock shot it is good to have an attack angle from 4-10*. The reason for this is to reduce the amount of interference between ball and club. Also when you are in the rough the steeper attack angle will not have to go through as much grass as a shallower club. Less interference will help create more friction, launch the ball lower, and increase the spin on a stock shot.

Now let’s take a look at a drill that will give you instant feedback. Place a golf ball 1 grip behind the ball you are going to strike. The goal is to land the club in a manner that the club will miss the back ball and not dig into the ground. Sounds easier than it is if you are someone that has a tendency to want to try to help the ball in the air.

Below on the left is a successful attempt and the one on the right was not. At shaft parallel to the ground you will notice that the butt of the club is closer to being over the ball on the left. That is setting up the steepness needed. When doing this drill or hitting my stock shot I feel as if I am going to miss the ball 2-3″ in front of the ball.

As the club starts to release to be shallow through the turf strike the handle is now in front of the ball.

Drawing a circle around that point you will see that the low point, where the yellow line is, varies. On the left it is in front of the ball and on the right it is slightly behind. If the back ball was not there I might have gotten away with the right shot. The more grass behind the ball would have shown the club down more and more as well as reducing the amount of speed transferred to the ball.

On the left the club is slightly pass the yellow line, or low point, and starting to travel slightly up. The orange arrow is from where the ball started and where it is going. You can see that on the left side of the circle the club was still traveling down and through. A lot of golfers do not understand this and they want to try and help the ball in the air not trusting the club to do the work.

Outside of shorter wedge shots we are looking for the left image more consistently. The reason is that on the right the ball will be deflected too high and not out enough. The right photo with the club arriving more vertical at the ball gets into high technique where the club actually lands behind the ball, projects it more upwards, and uses the landing angle to stop the ball instead of spin.

Also remember to change your wedges when needed, play a premium ball, and keep the grooves clean, and club face dry in order to create as much friction as possible. I tell a lot of students that play Vokey wedges to replace their main wedge when each new model comes out which is roughly 2 years. Their other wedges could be done every 2 cycles or 4 years or sooner if needed.

For the YouTube clip Click Here.

Lead Arm in the Downswing

March 11, 2019February 4, 2019 Bryan Pate

Let’s talk about the downswing and your lead arm. A good reference point is to have the lead arm inside the target line around 20* at lead arm parallel (P5) in the downswing. Little more inward could help be more of a draw pattern where more outward could help with a cut pattern. Here is a good drill to give you a visual and feeling. YouTube Link

If you don’t have someone to hold an allotment rod or club just outside your trail shoulder use a shaft with an alignment rod in it or two alignment rods taped together. When using the alignment rods place the rod outside the ball line and have it go through your trail shoulder like on the featured image above.

Now that you know how to set it up let’s take a look at what it does. If your lead arm moves out too fast it will run into the stick. The alignment rod also gives you a spacial reference of where the lead arm and hands have room to operate. Start off with small shots and success then speed up the swing. Below is an image keeping the lead arm in on the left and one where the lead arm worked out too fast on the right.

Click here for the YouTube Link or copy and paste this link in a browser window: https://youtu.be/JxdhnZSRqEA

Start Line and Curve

March 4, 2019February 4, 2019 Bryan Pate

Lets talk about start line and curve. The club face accounts for roughly 75% of the balls starting direction and the path curves it. In the featured image above is a great setup station. 10′ of rope starting a foot out in front of the ball with an alignment rod sticking up out the other end. The rope is lined up with the target and standing behind the ball the alignment rod is right in front of the target. Now from here you can get a visual of where the ball is starting and going. Here are the ball flights that could come out with a solid struck ball:

1. Ball starting left and craving left : Face closed to target and path more toward target.
2. Ball starting left and going straight : Face closed to target and path matching face start line.
3. Ball starting left and curving right towards or past the target : Face closed to path and swing direction left of the face.
3. Ball starting at the stick and curving left : Face square and swing more to the right.
4. Ball starting at the stick and curving right : Face square and swing more to the left.
5. Ball starting straight and going straight : Face and path straight. I call this the UNICORN.. Will discuss below.
6. Ball starting right and curving left : Face is open to the target and path is moving more right.
7. Ball starting right and going straight : Face is open to the target and path is going the same direction.
8. Ball starting right and curving right : Face is open to the target and path is moving more left than the face is open.

It is good to understand these ball flights when diagnosing your swing. That way when you are working on corrections you are not doing something that is going to make it move the same direction but worse. An example is a ball that starts left and curves right. You see that so figure lets aim more left. That just moves the path more left making more curve. The larger the difference is where the face was pointing at impact and the direction the club was traveling the bigger the curve.

Best training tool to add to your golf bag is a can of Dr. Scholls “POWDER” foot spray. Why is this? Because miss hits can change those above impact perimeters. A club that is open to the target, swing direction slightly right of that (draw shape), and is hit in the heel of the club will not curve back but if it is hit in the toe the ball with over draw. Same with the opposite club delivery of a cut. Club face more left of the target at the strike point starting the ball left with a swing shape slightly more left of that but if you hit it in the heel the ball will over cut and if you catch it more on the toe the ball will fly straighter. Also lower strikes launch lower and spin more and higher strikes launch higher and spin less.

Use the above ball flights and strike info to figure out how to change your curve, reduce the curve. or know why your curve does what it does. Remember I mentioned the UNICORN above which is a dead straight shot. That is the hardest shot in golf because the face can be straight but the path slightly right or left and you get different curves. We want some room for error built in the swing and a ball that is moving back towards the target. Let’s take a draw as an example: The photo below I am holding my club on the ball line or target line. The furthest alignment rod to your right (my left) would be the club path at impact. A good number would be 3-4* to the right. That would give me room to fit my club face into that area and have a face from 1-3*. On a swing direction of 3* right having my club face at 1* right would start right and slightly over draw just a little, a 2 would start right and finish close to the target line, a 3 would start right and go straight with the swing direction. All very manageable shots with not much curve. If my face was a 1 but swing was an 8 one way or another the ball would start close to the target then curve a lot past the target and work away from it as it landed.

For more info and to see the YouTube clip on this subject CLICK HERE, select the above image, or go here: https://youtu.be/4JQLOgGJipo

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