Jumping the bandwagon and going one-plane...

I've been contemplating whether or not to goto a one-plane swing for awhile now, and after breaking down and reading Hardy's book, I've made the decision to commit to the change. Some reasons behind the change are the fact that Hardy mentioned the one-plane required more athleticism and it resembled a classic baseball swing. I played ball for most of my life, and have a pretty athletic build, so it seems that I meet those requirements. The swing mechanics also seem much more simplistic, and I think I could achieve a powerfull and repeatable swing much faster by hunkering down and working the one-plane. I hit the range yesterday, and did my best to begin the transformation. A video is linked below, and I would appreciate any and all comments. One thing I immediately noticed was the difference in swing speed. I was able to achieve my prior distances with much less effort, and when I tried to accelerate my shoulders I was hearing a pretty nasty swish much louder than before. After watching the video, I noticed some things I know I need to change. The main thing is the over-rotation of the hips, something I've been prone to do in past. I think I was so focused on getting the shoulder turn that I forgot to stabalize my lower torso. The backswing plane seems to be good, and my downswing is coming more from the inside than it used to. (I was hooking with my misses, as opposed to my usual slices). I ran out of tape, but towards the end of my bucket I was trying to use my shoulders more, and seemed to be hitting the ball much more solid. In this video I seem to be releasing the arms a little early. One last thing I notice right now is my left arm chicken-wing in the follow-through. I'll be working on getting that elbow back behind me and letting the right arm fold over better. All in all, I was pretty happy with Day 1 of the transformation, but it will obviously take a lot of work to get it grooved. Thanks in advance for any comments.

Video

Scott,

Other than the things you have already noticed, notably the hips need to be a little more set, with resistance.

Noticably half way back your are very flat with your hands to far behind you, try to keep them infront of your chest.

The second point is your left wrist..it is cupped at the top, try working with a flatter left wrist this will eliminate any open face at impact.

Other than these minor things I can't believe your an 18 h/capp........I suspect your short game must be lacking.


all said it is a very nice swing with great tempo.



Ian.

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I am not a pro but noticed the following: your shoulders are a bit tilted towards the target at the end of the back swing. the left shoulder shoulder be over the right knee at the end of the backswing I also think your right leg is too stiff at the end of the back swing. . Otherwise great swing.

I've recently converted from a 2-plane to a one plane swing, and did it without any serious technical considerations, but a mental one. Forget your shoulders, turn your back. Yes, it takes a bit of work to stabilise the hips, and it's important not to lock your right knee to ensure weight transfer, but it's a lovely pure swing thought. Turn your back. Swing will slow down, you'll have surprising power, and personally I haven't sliced the ball in my last 4 rounds at all.
Anyway, give it a bing on the range, you may be quite pleased.

Down the line:

You're overswinging - oddly enough, this is OK in the One Plane Swing if you've got the flexibility. Impact position looks good - hips might be a little racy at this point. Looks like you hit a pull on this shot - a problem with the 1PS when you have the ball too far forward.

Face on:

To get a Hardy-esque swing: Lose your spine tilt. If you remember, it adds width to an already wide swing. It looks like you may have a touch of sway on the backswing, and it looks like you're standing up over your right leg - now you'll have to drop yourself back down to have any success.

At the top you've got a bit of a reverse pivot - not a swing destroyer in the One Plane Swing. But it's combined with a hip slide, which is worrisome. You seem to turn your shoulders around your spine quite nicely going back.

Your downswing has all the compensatory movements to get back to impact (slide forward, back leg folds again) and you've got good connection between your left arm and your chest.

Not a bad 1 PS.

Keep your hips still on the backswing.

Something I've tried lately to get a feel for a body-propelled swing is a modification of Hardy's broom drill.

Instead, I swing a 4' shovel. It's heavy, so swinging it with my arms would get tiresome in a hurry. But you can hear the 'post impact whoosh' if you use the body to propel the arms. It's this feeling that has me playing my best ball-striking golf.

I chose the One Plane Swing for mostly the same reasons - a lifetime of baseball. I've been working on it all summer, and it's finally coming around.

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Had a quick comparison between your old Two Plane Swing and One Plane Swing. Your takeaway is definitely much better as you actually took it way outside on your old swing and that your swing path was more outside-in. Was your natural shot more of a fade and is it now become more towards a draw?

Your swing is definitely good and I see some big potential here. I cant believe that you are off 18 either but perhaps its due to the inconsistency of your previous swing. Where the shots quite wild before?

Now, as for improvements, I am going to pretty much say what everyone else has said:

- You are overswing. This has to do with your hips being too active on the backswing. Try to keep your hip quiet on the back and really try to build the tension in your right side early. This should help reduce your overswing a bit.
- Your club is crossing the line at the top. This probably has to do with your cupped left wrist and overswinging. Your start cocking your wrist right at the start of your swing. Try keeping your arm and shaft in line straighter for longer.
- As for your chicken left arm, I dont see it in the video. However, on your downswing, both your arms and your hips are coming down together. I believe there are two sides to this one:
1) Some people think that the arms should drop first to about shoulder height before the hips start to rotate.
2) The other thinks that the hips should start clearing first (rotate not slide!) and the arms gets pulled behind.
I think this depends on what you like so try either way.

I think you can get much better consistency with your shots here and that your shot wont be as wild (if I am correct in saying that they had a tendency to before).

Wow, thanks a ton for all of the replies, you've given me a lot to work on. I will be doing some drilling and will probably ask you guys for comments again in a week with a new video. Unfortunately my season is coming to a close (50 degrees today), but I will be purchasing a net and have a heated area to practice this winter. As far as my handicap goes, it's at 14.3 now, down from 26 six months ago. I get a lot of similar comments about my handicap from playing partners, which is flattering but also very frustrating. My putting is actually decent, and my chipping is either really good or really bad. The thing that has been killing my rounds this year is FW accuracy, which has been getting better, but is still nowhere near what it needs to be. When I hit a FW I tend to hit the green, or leave myself a pin high chip (50/50). When I miss a FW, it's usually a big miss, leaving myself a recovery shot and adding a stroke pretty much every occurence. I know I need to work and work and work on my short game, but my objective this off-season is to get my full swing mechanics solid so that I can concentrate on the other facets of my game for next season. Thanks again for all of the replies, they're much appreciated.

One thing I noticed on your setup which is really quite good. You maybe reaching for the ball a bit. the arms should be hanging straight down from the shoulders. Reaching will lead to a flat swing plane. If the arms hang straight down, the club should stay more on plane as you turn back. See if a PGA pro concurs.

Guys - the One Plane Swing has a flat plane. Now, that said, I find that when I reach, I get toe mishits. When I let my arms hang, I hit flush. I also employ a 1 plane swing.

Regarding this video only: if you pause the back swing at the top, extend the left arm plane to the ground, you will find it rests outside the ball and target line by several inches i.e. too flat a swing. The plane should fall on the target line or just inside of it.

Am I understanding Hardy wrong when he says the shoulder plane should point in a range from the ball to 3-4 feet outside of the ball?

What you're getting, SKlep, is Two Plane Swing advice for your One Plane Swing. You're right - if you hold a club across your shoulders, you should be anywhere from 1-4 feet OUTSIDE the ball.

The biggest problem I can see is that you are not keeping the right knee flex on your backswing, This would be the main cause of your hips over rotating on your backswing.

[img]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/vhanopsklarm/My%20Documents/My%20Pictures/toms_impact.jpg[/img][img]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/vhanopsklarm/My%20Documents/My%20Pictures/vijay_singh_impact.jpg[/img]
David toms 2plane VJ one plane

Ok low post i see the difference although not that familiar with One Plane Swing. appears the set up position is different with more wrist angle in the Two Plane Swing

SkLEP if you stop your video at impact your position will look for like toms with hands and club above the plane.

couldn't get images to come out, but if you look at golf digest One Plane Swing vs Two Plane Swing you will see comparison of VJ and Toms. again your impact looks more like toms.