Swing plane

irish bloke

Nothing here on swing plane that I can see and its a topic that divides alot of opinion.

I myself have a flat swing and after watching many videos, reading many articles and some pro lessons, I was more or less told an upright swing was the way to play golf.

Apparently the rise of Nickalus was really influential in the uptake of the upright swing from abt the 70's onwards and the Hogan flat swing of earlier was almost taboo.

The more I tried to fix my so called bad flat swing the more I struggled, until I decided to drop my pro and embrace it. Best golf decision I've made.
I now hit a really nice draw ball when on song and there is alot more power there also.

From what I can see out there now the flat swing has alot of followers and is encouraged by alot of pros and instructors as being a more natural, powerful swing.

Just curious as to what people have in general and have they being advised to change to one type or another by a pro. My own opinion is that both are perfectly fine, and whatever you have you shouldn't try to change it.

searay

irish bloke wrote: »

Nothing here on swing plane that I can see and its a topic that divides alot of opinion.

I myself have a flat swing and after watching many videos, reading many articles and some pro lessons, I was more or less told an upright swing was the way to play golf.

Apparently the rise of Nickalus was really influential in the uptake of the upright swing from abt the 70's onwards and the Hogan flat swing of earlier was almost taboo.

The more I tried to fix my so called bad flat swing the more I struggled, until I decided to drop my pro and embrace it. Best golf decision I've made.
I now hit a really nice draw ball when on song and there is alot more power there also.

From what I can see out there now the flat swing has alot of followers and is encouraged by alot of pros and instructors as being a more natural, powerful swing.

Just curious as to what people have in general and have they being advised to change to one type or another by a pro. My own opinion is that both are perfectly fine, and whatever you have you shouldn't try to change it.

I had the exact same experience. Had 4 lessons with a pro trying to change and struggled.

Was in another driving range where there pro approached me and we got talking. He told me from looking at 3 swings what i was trying to do and that it wasn't what he'd do.

After 10 minutes of working with my old swing, I was back to my flat swing and draw. When my timing goes, everything goes haywire but it's easily fixed.

I learned to stick to what suits me.

foxyboxer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FH5r5_tROU

Good video describing the swing plane.
It will let you know how flexible you really are.

You basically make the same swing as in the video except in the address position.
Couple this with sound lessons on the fundamentals (grip, alignment etc) and your on your way.

matt-dublin

put more weight on the balls of your feet, this will steepen up your swing plane

SuprSi

matt-dublin wrote: »

put more weight on the balls of your feet, this will steepen up your swing plane

It's also a sure-fire way to increase the number of shanks you have, especially with shorter irons. I wouldn't advocate this for your swing on the course. Maybe in the range, but not in a real round.

matt-dublin

erm, not its not, it shouldn't encorouge shanks at all???

shanks are usually caused by a ridicously in to out path or taking your eye off the ball.

Tones69

SuprSi wrote: »

It's also a sure-fire way to increase the number of shanks you have, especially with shorter irons. I wouldn't advocate this for your swing on the course. Maybe in the range, but not in a real round.

No? Ur supposed to have your weight on the balls of your feet, not on yer feckin tippy toes now but yeah, spine about 45* angle, knees flexed slightly, weight forward on balls of your feet, then swing like a lunatic Shanks normally caused by standing too close and getting ahead of yourself

SuprSi

matt-dublin wrote: »

erm, not its not, it shouldn't encorouge shanks at all???

shanks are usually caused by a ridicously in to out path or taking your eye off the ball.

It can, though I should have clarified that it'll only happen if you lean too much on your toes. This may cause you to lean forward mid-swing and shank it. A lot of people don't realise that this can be the cause of shanks too but I've seen it happen with many people over, including one guy I play with every week at the moment.

I agree your weight should be on the balls of your feet, but just be careful how much weight you put there and how much it changes during your swing.

k.p.h

Weight should be no where other than the place that allows you to have the most balance.

TheDoc

I've started a MAJOR overhaul since coming back. And its prettty daunting. I had alot of " on the line" lessons as a youngster, and it was tough trying to do a swing change when a coach could only speak with you for a few minutes.

But I've gont ambition to get my game right and get my handicapp back down.

The more annoying thing is I know what my issues are, but I'm struggling to fix.

My ball flight is most typically a fade, sometimes extreme slice.

The cause of which are

Noisy legs
I am getting better, but my left leg had a tendancy to go into Disco Stu mode in my backswing, so I'm trying to keep it silent.

Left foot
In my backswing my left foot would slightly rise of the ground. Have cut this out the last two games and already hitting better irons, just need to keep it down.

Shoulder dropping.
Occasionaly I've a tendancy to let my right shoulder drop just before takeaway, and puts me on a plane for a massive slice : /

Wrist cock and release
Still not comfortable with this, I'm not at a point feeling comfortable with it. I know I'm loosing striking ability from not doing this right

Rolling/ rotating my wrists
Tendancy to not roll my wrists on impact, which causes me to leave the occasional shot out on the right. Feel if I get the wrist lock, and the roll correct, I'll have alot more acceleration through impact and be hitting better shots.

Hip movement
Doesnt feel comfortable, I'm not utilising my body correctly at all. Need to learn how to do it properly to capitalise on the strength I have. I'm a big fella, alot of shoulder power and I'm not using it at all.

Swing plane
Not sure whats with this, looks bad, feels good : /

I'm going to take a few videos tomorrow on the course hitting some shots to have reviewed essentially. I figure this place has some good skins, so why not open myself up for some pointers.

Its such a grueling process though, and youve to crawl through **** before getting any results.

In recent months I've brought three things to my game that I've seeing results from only in the last two weeks.

Getting check on my wedges
I'm essentially using the same swing in and around the green for short chips or longer approach shots, but before impact I'm heavily, intentionally cutting across the ball. Its providing alot of spin and check, and I'm finding I'm able to get alot more aggressive on shots.

Keeping my left foot planted
Was moving around and coming up for some reason, causing me to hit alot of low iron shots and low drives.
I'm focusing on keeping it planted, which is in turn actually helping body rotation and I'm feeling better strikes and seeing better results.

Disco stu legs
I found my wedges and occasional irons sporadic at best. Turns out I was tunring into the swing before I'd even settled on the backswing. Keeping everything dead quiet below the waste and getting better results

neckedit

http://www.adverts.ie/1550730 ...............Problem Solved

irish bloke

matt-dublin wrote: »

put more weight on the balls of your feet, this will steepen up your swing plane

Thats true Matt, but I am not trying to steepen my plane. I am happy with my flatter plane as it is more natural to me and I have more power with it.

I more interested to hear what people have in general and have they being advised to change from one type to another by a pro.
It just seems that there is a big "NO campaign" against them when there appears to be so much going for them.

heavyballs

TheDoc wrote: »

I've started a MAJOR overhaul since coming back. And its prettty daunting. I had alot of " on the line" lessons as a youngster, and it was tough trying to do a swing change when a coach could only speak with you for a few minutes.

But I've gont ambition to get my game right and get my handicapp back down.

The more annoying thing is I know what my issues are, but I'm struggling to fix.

My ball flight is most typically a fade, sometimes extreme slice.

The cause of which are

Noisy legs
I am getting better, but my left leg had a tendancy to go into Disco Stu mode in my backswing, so I'm trying to keep it silent.

Left foot
In my backswing my left foot would slightly rise of the ground. Have cut this out the last two games and already hitting better irons, just need to keep it down.

Shoulder dropping.
Occasionaly I've a tendancy to let my right shoulder drop just before takeaway, and puts me on a plane for a massive slice : /

Wrist cock and release
Still not comfortable with this, I'm not at a point feeling comfortable with it. I know I'm loosing striking ability from not doing this right

Rolling/ rotating my wrists
Tendancy to not roll my wrists on impact, which causes me to leave the occasional shot out on the right. Feel if I get the wrist lock, and the roll correct, I'll have alot more acceleration through impact and be hitting better shots.

Hip movement
Doesnt feel comfortable, I'm not utilising my body correctly at all. Need to learn how to do it properly to capitalise on the strength I have. I'm a big fella, alot of shoulder power and I'm not using it at all.

Swing plane
Not sure whats with this, looks bad, feels good : /

I'm going to take a few videos tomorrow on the course hitting some shots to have reviewed essentially. I figure this place has some good skins, so why not open myself up for some pointers.

Its such a grueling process though, and youve to crawl through **** before getting any results.

In recent months I've brought three things to my game that I've seeing results from only in the last two weeks.

Getting check on my wedges
I'm essentially using the same swing in and around the green for short chips or longer approach shots, but before impact I'm heavily, intentionally cutting across the ball. Its providing alot of spin and check, and I'm finding I'm able to get alot more aggressive on shots.

Keeping my left foot planted
Was moving around and coming up for some reason, causing me to hit alot of low iron shots and low drives.
I'm focusing on keeping it planted, which is in turn actually helping body rotation and I'm feeling better strikes and seeing better results.

Disco stu legs
I found my wedges and occasional irons sporadic at best. Turns out I was tunring into the swing before I'd even settled on the backswing. Keeping everything dead quiet below the waste and getting better results

Sorry for quoting the whole post but holy god, how many swing thoughts are goin through ur head before or during ur swing?
I know the above shows how well u know ur own swing but way too much goin on upstairs,u need to work on ur setup at the range,pick a target,have a trigger to start the swing and let it go

TheDoc

heavyballs wrote: »

Sorry for quoting the whole post but holy god, how many swing thoughts are goin through ur head before or during ur swing?
I know the above shows how well u know ur own swing but way too much goin on upstairs,u need to work on ur setup at the range,pick a target,have a trigger to start the swing and let it go

The above is more so a breakdown of what I think is going wrong in my swing at the moment.

Trust me I dont run EVERYTHING through my head. Thats outragous.

I'm just picking one thing at a time, working on it for a few rounds until its fixed, then moving on the list.

At present my left foot is keeping down, I'm turning my body into the swing and I'm happy its consistent.

Unfortunately as you review and review, you find other things wrong.

And it appears, one of the most glaring things happening I hadn't noticed, is my ball position is massively back in my stance, I mean, holy ****.

Its weird I dont know if anyone else struggled with this, but when I look down it appears my feet are straight and it looks like the ball is in a good position relative to my body.

Had the da and his mate take a few photos and videos of various swings and its only when I looked I saw how far back the ball is, how steep my club gets on impact, and how my body is turning into the finish before impact.


I definitly dont run through everything in my head before a shot haha.

My preshot routine is a very simple behind the ball visualise the target and shot. From the point I'm happy and move into address, its less then ten seconds.

Although god ****ing knows what you can think about, I strictly remember a shot last Sunday where I was thinking " must download Game of thrones tomorrow"

AldilaMan

If there was one thing in that list I would advise on it would be what one of my instructors reinforced into me during any lesson:

Stand into the ground not on it.

By that I mean feel yourself pushing down from your hips into your legs which will give you both stability and torque and should stop your left foot going all over the place which causes loss of balance.

Make that your last swing thought for a while until it beds in. You'll be surprised at how much more power you'll get from that position.

charlieIRL

foxyboxer wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FH5r5_tROU

Good video describing the swing plane.
It will let you know how flexible you really are.

You basically make the same swing as in the video except in the address position.
Couple this with sound lessons on the fundamentals (grip, alignment etc) and your on your way.

that was one of the drills i had to practice as part of my golf lessons, i still use it now and then on the course when my drives start to stray.