About Barrie Van Proctor

Golf biomechanics author, researcher, and creator of SwingTrace AI Pro.

The Background

My path into golf biomechanics is not a conventional one — which is perhaps why the approach in the book looks different from most of what you will find in coaching literature.

I studied Psychology at undergraduate level, alongside concurrent studies in Astrophysics and Mathematics to second-year degree level. That grounding — the study of human behaviour alongside the mathematical laws that govern physical systems — turned out to be an ideal foundation for understanding what actually happens during a golf swing.

A career in Engineering, Construction, and Architectural Design followed. Years of working with forces, loads, structures, and materials added a practical, structural lens to the theoretical. Throughout all of it, I remained a keen golfer. And the longer I played, the more clearly I could see the disconnect between how the game was being taught and what the physics and biomechanics actually suggested was happening. That gap is what the book is an attempt to close.

The Book

The Physics & Biomechanics of Golf (2025) presents a strictly unified approach to the golf swing — treating it as a single, continuous motion governed by dynamics, force, and kinematic sequencing. Rather than adding layers of complexity, the goal was the opposite: distilling the science into three core fundamentals that any golfer, at any level, can understand and apply.

The book covers ground reaction forces, kinematic sequencing, smash factor optimisation across woods, irons, and wedges, proprioception, and the full biomechanics of the short game. It is grounded in physics, sports science, and biomechanics research — written for golfers who want to understand the why, not just the what.