Golf Swing Plane For Accuracy And Consistency
Golf swing plane, yours is as individual as your swing. It depends on the size and shape of your body, your height, the length of your arms, torso and legs in relation to angle of the golf club shaft, alignment of the club head and placement of the ball. It also depends on your desire for accuracy and consistency.
The golf swing plane is created by the arc of the club swinging through the planes for the backswing and downswing as though you drew a line from your left shoulder to the ball and imagined the axis of rotation around the spine.
There are five stages of the swing to consider. Setup or address, backswing, the transition, the downswing, impact and follow through.
Several factors will determine whether you are playing a two-plane or one-plane swing. Most importantly is how far or close you are to the ball. The closer you stand to the ball the steeper or more upright you are. Many golfers end up with a steep golf swing plane because they stand too close to the ball.
A more upright swing plane can lead too much up and down movement. As Ben Hogan says if you don’t set things up right in your address the chain reaction of the golf swing will not work for you.
You will lose control as you get to the top of your backswing by over extending your arms above your head and shoulder and consequently will need to adjust to a different downswing plane to get impact through the ball. This variation cannot lead to consistent gownswing and impact leading to hitting the ball all over the place more often. Left and right.
If your swing plane is too steep you will produce pulls and slices. By being too close to the ball, you have no choice but to have a steep swing and your movement into the downswing has to compensate to a different golf swing plane for the downswing. Back injury is a strong possibility from over extension in the golf swing. Rotating off axis and balance shifts your centre of gravity higher up the spine. This puts greater pressure on the middle of the back.
A one swing plane as taught by the likes of Moe Norman creates a flatter swing plane rotating around the body instead of being more up and down. Bend at the hips and you will find the right distance from the ball and create a flatter golf swing.
A flatter golf swing plane rotating around the body creates less movement in less body parts. There is less that can go wrong. If you lack strength, the ability to rotate or have any muscle imbalance or joint restriction simply take a three quarter swing. Shoulder to shoulder. You will certainly hit with more accuracy, much more consistently. You might lose a little distance but it will be straight and in play.
Most amateur golfers lose control with their hands going over head. You not only lose control it is the leading cause of wrist injury. Not to mention missing the sweet spot as you hit the ball.
Moe Norman was credited as the consistently longest and straightest hitter in the history of the game. With the many golfers I have worked with on the course the more you reduce the variables the better.
Whatever your golf swing plane find one that suits you and build as much accuracy and consistency into your game as possible.
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