The Swing Plane

The Swing Plane





Throughout the years, the swing plane has always been one of the most difficult things to

understand. Hopefully, I can simplify this difficult subject so you can achieve the proper

swing plane in your golf swing.

I like to use the image of a weight swinging on a piece of string to illustrate the swing

plane. What would happen if you picked up a weight on a piece of string and started to

twirl it? Assuming your hand was on a 45 degree angle in front of you and not tilted left

or right, the weight would make a circular arc around your hand causing the weight to

swing down the line. If the weight was allowed to swing freely, it would do the same

thing on one side as it does on the other. That means it would be swinging on a perfect

plane around your hand.

Now that you have an understanding of what the swing plane is, you have to also

understand that there are 3 different planes you could have. To imagine the different

planes, think again about the weight swinging on the string. We already discussed the

down the line plane (hand not tilted) but what would happen if you tilted your hand to the

left? If you tilted your hand to the left the weight would swing to the left. Now what if

you tilted your hand to the right? If you tilted your hand to the right the weight would

swing to the right. So here are the 3 different planes you can have:

1. Swinging straight down the target line.

2. Swinging down to the left (over the top).

3. Swinging out to the right (inside out).

It's important that we keep these things in mind when we think about our swing plane

with a golf club. Like the weight swinging on a piece of string, we also have a weight

(your golf club) swinging around our body (axis). Your swing plane may also swing left

or right depending on the tilt of your body as you hit the shot. So what would cause the

club to swing to the left or right of the target line (assuming you were in a stance that was

square)? There are a couple of things that will stop the clubhead from swinging down the

line:

1. Hitting with your upper body causing it to tilt to left on the way down.

2. The lower body sliding too much laterally on the way down.

Starting Down with Your Arms

If you start you downswing by trying to hit the golf ball you will get ahead of the ball

which means that your body will be tilted to the left. This means that the ball will start to

the left of the target causing pulls, pull hooks, skyed shots and slices.

Poorer golfers tend to try to hit at the ball with their arms because they have not yet

learned how to hit the ball with their legs and body. To eliminate this problem of hitting

with your arms, I want you to concentrate on the moment you are about to swing the golf

club down. At this precise moment, you must start down by turning your hips not by

pulling your arms down. This means you have to go against human nature. At the moment

you are about to start down, human nature is telling you to try to hit the ball and hit it

hard. This activates your arms which gets your shoulder rotation ahead of your hips and

making the club swing down and to the left.

DRILL

A great way to feel the lower body swinging the club is to hold your club off the ground

at knee high and do some practice swings. If you hold the club in the air, you take the

ball and any hitting sensation with your arms out of the picture. If you no longer have the

feeling of hitting with your arms, you can clearly feel your body making the club swing

around your body thus creating the perfect plane (like the weight on the piece of string).

Remember this feeling of not using your arms to hit your shots then apply it to your shots.

The Lower Body Slide

If you slide your lower body laterally through your shot you will cause the upper body to

tilt to the right too much which, in turn, will make you ball start out to the right causing

pushes, push fades and duck hooks.

DRILL

If you are someone who starts the ball out to the right of your target, you have to learn to

turn your hips and body more as opposed to moving laterally. At the moment you are

about to start your downswing, don't think about shifting your weight to the left. If you

shift too much, you will move too much laterally which will cause your body to tilt to the

right too much on the way down. Instead, start your downswing by turning. To get the

proper feeling of turning, simply place and object such as a broken shaft, golf bag, chair

waist high approx. 3 inches off of your left hip. When you do your swing, try to turn and

miss the object. If you hit it, you are moving too much laterally. Once you do a few

practice swings training your body to miss the object off of your left hip, add the ball and

hit a few shots.

Hopefully you have a new and better understanding of the swing plane and how if can

greatly effect the direction of your shots. The next time you go to the practice range you

may want to try an experiment to see how your upper body tilt affects the direction of

your shots. All you have to do is simply tilt your upper body to the left and see where the

ball goes. Then, tilt your upper body to the right so you can see the opposite result. Once

you see this relationship between the direction and your body work on the proper

uncoiling of your lower body until your shots start straight down the target line.

Paul Wilson

Director of Instruction

Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate

http://www.paulwilsongolf.com

About The author

Paul Wilson is a nationally recognized golf instructor with numerous appearances on the

Golf Channel and in major golf publications. He is the creator of "Swing Machine Golf"

which teaches people the 3 elements of the Iron Byron Swing Machine. Please visit

http://www.swingmachinegolf.com to find out more about his teaching method.