If you are taking the time to read this article you are either already aware of the importance of getting your golf swing on plane or you are curious as to exactly what this plane talk is all about.
For the latter group the plane of the golf swing is essentially the path traced by the golf shaft all the way from address to finish. Think of a plane as say a sheet of paper. A horizontal plane would be if it were laying on a table while a holding it straight up and down would be a vertical plane. The golf swing plane is somewhere in the middle – a taller player should have a more vertical or upright swing while shorter players should have a more horizontal or flat swing.
The goal for the average player should be to maintain the same plane throughout the entire golf swing. Professional golfers tend to re-route their swing at the top of the backswing and have a slightly flatter downswing in an effort to store-up a little more power and deliver the club more from the inside. Sounds nice in theory but if you only golf once or twice a week, or month, then simple is best.
A one plane golf swing will help ingrain a consistent swing with more solid contact. This is because in order to accomplish this you will need to swing around your body and not try to manipulate the club with your hands. Ok, so what is the proper swing plane? Perpendicular to your spine angle is the answer. Therefore if you want only one plane for your golf swing you need to make sure that you keep the same spine angle throughout the swing as well. This means keeping a nice straight spine by bending at the hips not waist and not lifting up on your backswing or dipping down on the downswing.
Once you have a consistent spine angle you need some point of reference to make sure that you are rotating properly around your spine. A great way to accomplish this is to try to keep your right elbow (for a right-handed golfer) close to your right side during the backswing. You will probably feel that this restricts your backswing somewhat which is really the whole point. Most golfers keep swinging back with their arms long after their core has stopped turning which does not generate any additional power but does make it more difficult to consistently get the club back to the ball.
A good drill would be to try swinging with a spare golf glove placed under your right armpit and making sure it does not come out at anytime during your backswing. So to summarize – rotating around a consistent spine angle with your right elbow as a point of reference should really help you get your golf swing on plane.
All the best,
Steve
PS: Feel free to visit my website and sign-up for a FREE 35-part email newsletter containing great advice on all aspects of the game!
