The Plane Truth For Golfers
Update September, 2006
In the summer of 2005, I saw an episode of
Jim Hardy says that all golfers swing the club in one
of two patterns. He describes these
patterns on four DVDs that he released in the summer of 2006. The DVDs can be purchased at
www. Jimhardygolf.com
or at www. Planetruthforgolfers.com for 100
dollars. Jim Hardy gives the best
information that I have ever seen on the golf swing, and I strongly recommend that you buy his
dvds and his book.
In a ONE PLANE GOLF SWING , the golfer has a neutral to strong grip, has a wider stance, bends forward more at the
hips, and will be standing further away from the ball. The body alignment is straight ahead or slightly to the right of the
target. The spine is vertical as viewed from the front, and the weight is 50%
on the right leg and 50% on the left leg. The club will move more inside
and behind the body in the backswing. The
right elbow moves up, out, and behind on the backswing. This upward and outward position of the right
elbow looks like the right elbow of a
baseball batter waiting for a pitch. The
left arm will be closer to the chest at the top of the backswing, and it will be
parallel to the shoulder line as viewed from behind the golfer. At the top of the backswing, the club will
point at the target or slightly left of target, but should not point right of
the target. At the top of the backswing, the weight is
still 50% on the right leg and 50% on the left leg. In the
downswing, the right elbow is NOT tucked in by the belly button, which would
cause the club to approach the ball too much from the inside with a clubface
that is too open. Instead, the right
elbow and right forearm remain higher on the downswing and come through impact “like the arm movement
of a discus thrower”. The humerus
rotates counterclockwise on the downswing. The right shoulder moves outward early in the
downswing and the shoulders are well open at impact. The right wrist remains bent backwards through
impact, and the feeling is like sweeping the right arm thru impact and to the
left with the bent right wrist. With an iron shot, the ball will be struck
before the ground, and it almost feels like an outside in swing path that
strikes the outside quadrant of the golf ball.
The divot will point slightly to the left of the target. The arms and
club swing to the left after impact,
the left knee straightens, and
the weight moves more to the left leg. Ben Hogan had a one plane golf swing. Peter Jacobsen and Don Pooley had two plane golf swings, and then switched
to one plane golf swings after instruction by Jim Hardy.
In a TWO PLANE GOLF SWING, the golfer has a neutral to
weak grip, has a narrower stance, stands
taller with less bend at the hips, and will be closer to the ball. The body alignment is straight ahead. The
spine is tilted slightly to the right as viewed from the front, and the weight
is 60% on the right leg and 40% on the left leg. The club will move more up and
higher on the backswing. The left arm will be above the shoulder plane as
viewed from behind the golfer. At the top of the backswing, the club will point
at the target or slightly right of target, but should not point left of the target.
The two plane golfer swings the club up,
down, and back up on a more upright
swing plane. The arms start to drop down
before the right shoulder turns in the downswing. The shoulders and hips turn together in the
two plane swing. There is more rotation
of the forearms and hands through impact compared with the one plane swing. The
arms and club do not go hard to the left after impact, as in the one plane
swing. The two plane swing favors timing, tempo, rhythm, and balance. Tom Watson and Colin Montgomerie have two
plane golf swings.
It is certainly possible to play golf with either a one plane
swing or a two plane swing. However, if
you are a one plane swinger, you should do the things that work best for a one
plane swinger. If you are a two plane
swinger , you should do the things that work best for a two plane swinger. As
you can see, the fundamentals are really quite different for these two types of
golf swing.
Jim Hardy’s book and DVD series are fascinating, and I would recommend that you take a look at
them.
Steven Vig
MD joyandsteven @cox.net
WWW. SAJGA. ORG
(Steven Vig is available at the SAJGA practice sessions at the