Now you understand what swing planes are, let’s take a look at a couple of important features associated with them.
To start, let’s view a golfer from the “face on” perspective. From this angle we can’t tell what plane the golfer is swinging on exactly, but we can gauge how steep the swing plane is. We can do this by observing how much the clubhead is hitting down on the ball. Potentially, the steeper the swing plane is, the more downward force you can apply to the ball through the impact interval.
This downward force can be seen via the clubhead path through impact. If you were to trace the clubhead’s path from this perspective, you would have what Mr Kelley calls the Arc of Attack.(1) The Arc of Attack is curved, but if we take two reference points along this curved line - one at the start of impact and another at separation - we could connect these two points to create a straight line.(2) Mr Kelley called this the Angle of Attack.
The Angle (and Arc) of Attack's steepness is dependant on a few variables. The first is, as mentioned, the plane angle. The steeper this is, the steeper the Angle of Attack can be, and so the more downwards force you can apply to the ball. The second variable is the ball’s location on the ground, specifically, it’s distance from the lowest point on the swing.
If you were to move the ball further away from the target, closer to your right foot (being a right handed golfer), you would increase the Angle of Attack so the club strikes the ball more downwards than before. This is because the further the ball is from the low point of the swing, the more downwards the clubhead is moving along its arc at the time of impact. The closer to the low point, the shallower the Angle of Attack. A ball stuck at low point would have no downward force through impact, resulting in a horizontal Angle of Attack.(3)
The last variable determining the Angle of Attack is the size of the clubhead path circumference. In other words, how large of a circle you are swinging the clubhead. This circumference size through impact depends on the length of the club you’re swinging (a driver has a larger circumference than a wedge), and how you uncock your left wrist during the downswing (releasing the 2nd Power Accumulator at the last moment means a reduced clubhead path circumference).
The smaller the clubhead path circumference, the steeper the Angle of Attack will be.
The next feature that occurs on the swing plane is the Arc of Approach. From the player’s perspective looking down at the golf ball, we can see the clubhead path approaching the ball and through impact. Although the Arc of Approach is on the inclined swing plane, it “appear(s) to the player as if inscribed on a horizontal surface - that is, ON THE GROUND.”(4)
As with the Arc of Attack, if we take two reference points along the Arc of Approach and draw a straight line between them, we’ll have the Angle of Approach. The reference points here are the impact point and the low point of the swing.(5) Likewise with Attack, the Approach is dependant on the same variables to change this angle’s characteristics: the steepness of the plane angle, the ball’s location on the ground, and the size of the clubhead path circumference. So the flatter the plane angle, the further away from the low point, and the smaller the circumference, the more "outwards" (pointing right of target) the Angle of Approach will be.(6)
The three angles we’ve discussed in this chapter: the Plane Angle, the Angle of Attack, and the Angle of Approach, are each related, and together create the Three Dimensional Impact necessary for a precision golf stroke.(7) The three dimensions at impact are: downwards (towards the ground), outwards (away from the golfer) and forwards (towards the target). The Plane Angle is the relationship between downwards and outwards. The Angle of Attack is the relationship between downwards and forwards. The Angle of Approach is the relationship between outwards and forwards.
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(1) The Golfing Machine - 2-C-1 #2B
(2) Interestingly, Mr Kelley doesn’t specify the two reference points for the Angle of Attack. In the above diagram (1) they are shown from Impact Point to Separation - though the impact interval is extended for the sake of clarity / simplicity there, so Separation takes place at Low Point. When describing the Angle / Arc of Approach however, Mr Kelley does specify the reference points - Impact Point to Low Point. Here I disagree with Mr Kelley’s use of the Low Point as opposed to Separation. The reason being, the magnitude of these angles using Separation compared to Low Point can differ greatly when moving the ball away from the Low Point. A ball placed off the right foot would have a modest difference in the angles of attack and approach compared to a ball off the left foot if using the Low Point as the reference. Using Separation as the reference, the difference between the two ball locations for angles of attack and approach would be much more substantial, and more reflective of the clubhead’s arc of travel through impact. But in reality, this is an academic disagreement. What’s important is the concept of angles of attack and approach - not what they are exactly to the angle’s degree, but what they are in relative terms. That is to say, it’s important to understand swinging on a Squared Shoulder Plane will produce a steeper Angle of Attack compared to the Elbow Plane, all things being equal. It’s not important here to know the Squared Shoulder Plane produces an Angle of Attack of, for example, 5.3° degrees - that’s for launch monitors to fuss over.
(3) The Golfing Machine - 2-C-3
(4) The Golfing Machine - 2-N-0
(5) The Golfing Machine - Glossary - Although again, I prefer to use to Separation rather than Low Point for the same reasons as in (2).
(6) The Golfing Machine - 2-N-0
(7) The Golfing Machine - 2-C-0
