One of the coolest things about instructional technology is the way it continues to evolve and how simple basic graphics can help the teacher and the student understand and solve problems during a lesson. When I first started using force plates back in the early 2000s all I could see was the amount of pressure moving into the lead and trail foot. I thought it was magic when they made an upgrade and I could begin to see the “trace” of the center of pressure during the swing! Now companies can measure things like horizontal, vertical, rotational forces, as well as, the actual peaks and valleys as to when and where these occur during the swing. It’s amazing…

I want to start by taking a few steps back to the time when we only had the option to see the pressure in the feet, the CoP, and the CoP “trace” or move back and forth. As stated earlier this is one of the easiest visuals for you and your student to focus on and one that makes some of the quickest improvements. Don’t make things harder — golf instruction is not about showing the student how much you know, but how simple you can make it!

First let’s identify everything you see in this Pressure and Stance Graphic by Swing Catalyst. Remember, everything you see in this window is perfectly timed up with the swing of the golfer (we’ll show this in the video that will accompany this article.)

• You can see the numbers in grey that represent the amount of pressure on each foot (the number in the middle shows the stance width)
• The “hotter” colors show where the pressure is located on the feet from front to back and side to side
• The grey dot that you see on each foot represents where the CoP is on that particular foot
• The white dot is the combined CoP of each foot and denotes where it would be positioned on the ground between the feet if “averaged out”
• The dark grey squiggly line attached to the white dot is the CoP “trace” which shows the actions of the CoP during the swing and in what direction it is moving from frame to frame

The bottom line is that if you only used this graphic with your students, you would receive an amazing amount of information about the how and why of their current motion! Often this Pressure and Stance box is overlooked during lessons because teachers are focusing on the more detailed aspects of the data in other areas which might or might not be the best idea.

Now, let’s dive in to the swing of Beatriz Recari, a wonderfully talented LPGA Touring Professional whom is regarded for her swing as well as her worth ethic. You will see that the Pressure and Stance Graph shows everything that she does so well and why she has been so successful over her LPGA career!

• In her address position, you can see that she is basically balanced from side to side 51-49%
• Her weight is favoring her toes rather than her heels (note the hotter colors in the toes and the small grey dot on each of her individual feet)
• And her stance is 20.9 inches…over time as we understand more about how she moves we can determine just how wide her feet should be- we’ve never been able to clarify this before!

• This is just past the lateral rebalance stage of her downswing (where the CoP would return to 50/50 between the feet) and you can see that the club has shallowed out as we all would like
• Note the direction of her CoP trace…it’s moved in a straight line from her trail foot to her lead toe! This is usually seen in players who possess a big “bump” into right field during the transition coupled with a distinct plane shift to the inside on the way down which fits Beatriz to a “T”
• The lead foot has all the pressure centered on the toe portion currently, and it will begin shifting towards the heel very soon as the forward knee begins to “post up” or straighten

• Just prior to delivery is the peak of her target-side pressure at 78% on her lead foot now just beginning its journey moving towards the heel
• If you look closer at the CoP trace graphic you can see that this is the point when the CoP is heading towards the heel…this is beginning the “deceleration” phase of her body in the downswing
• As the forward knee continues to straighten the weight will continue to move back into the heel and as the body slows it will send power up the kinematic chain to power the clubhead from the ground as all good players do

• Finally, we have reached impact and she shows a 74/26% pressure shift between the feet
• Remember that the as forward knee posts up the body decelerates and the body falls “backwards” through impact slightly as the club flings past reducing the amount of pressure on the lead foot for a bit
• The only thing we see here is that Beatriz never fully moved her pressure early enough into her lead heel and at impact she is still a touch toe heavy on her lead foot. This could be a power leak within her swing, but we’d have to audit her other graphs
• I do love the fact of where the pressure is on each of her individual feet from side to side- her forward foot is firmly planted on the ground and the pressure is not on the outside of her lead foot which could cause slippage or imbalance through impact while her rear toe is the only thing connected on the trail side

• Look at her beautiful balanced finish in the video, it’s a thing of beauty and poise…
• Still notice the balance between her foot pressure at 66/34% and where the weight is positioned (hot color distribution) on the lead foot…it’s from the mid-foot to the heel and on the middle-outward portion of her foot.
• This gives a solid platform to finish on and from here it’s the least vulnerable position for injury due to slipping or excessive pressure on the outside portion of her foot

So hopefully by now you have seen the wonderful golf swing of Beatriz as well as how much information can be garnered from the Pressure and Stance graphic from Swing Catalyst. If you have balance issues and poor footwork, I would suggest you find a teaching professional with force plates in their academy, and I bet your issues will become a thing of the past!

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