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SWING PATH AND SWING PLANE! PAGE 1

Ever since I started teaching this great game over 46 years ago, tens of thousands of golfers have come to me asking if they are “swinging on plane”. Golf professionals will consistently confuse the two, so itʼs no wonder the golfers are confused.

I donʼt like to watch much golf on TV, because I have a very difficult time l istening to the commentators use terminology which is not correct. Most of them are former PGA Tour players, and it just blows my mind that they donʼt seem to

Edition 20: “Be Your Own Golf Coach” Series

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In this month’s DVD... you will solve the mystery of swing plane & swing path. What you’ll quickly see, is that all the talk of getting ‘on plane’ and ‘using a one plane or two plane’ isn’t nearly as important as mastering path. You’ll learn how to be on plane for every swing, and how to direct your swing to your target.

Path & Understanding the Difference Between Plane

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know how to define the various parts of the golf swing.

They constantly call the finish the “follow through”. They love to draw on the screen showing how the golfer is either staying nicely on plane, or getting off plane at the top. I can only imagine, but I would think they get paid a very nice amount of money to sit there in the “booth” and explain to all of us what is happening on the golf course.

Here I go again, but I also wonder if they are instructed to give improper information so us PGA professionals will get more lesson traffic. I apologize for being so cynical, but I think they should not call themselves “pros”, if they donʼt even know the nomenclature for the various parts of the golf swing.

They at least shouldnʼt be up there in “the booth” if they donʼt know what all of the parts should be called. Is it any wonder most of the local teaching pros donʼt know the names of things, either? Try getting away with that in the medical field, or in a university classroom. I just bet you it wouldnʼt go over very well.

There I go again ragging on the golf pros. However, they earned it. It seems they all want to become famous, so, just like a herd of sheep, they follow any or all of the big famous teachers, without ever questioning them. Iʼve never been one to fall in line, “just because everyone else was doing it, or saying it”.

Well, Iʼm not going to tell you until the next paragraph, because I want to see if you know what it really is.

Do you know how to explain what a “plane” really is? What do you think it is?

Here is the geometrical definition for a “plane”. It is a flat surface. Thatʼs all it is, and nothing more than that.

A table top is a plane. The counter top in your kitchen is a plane, because it is a flat surface.

Now, I am going to ask you to define yet another geometrical term. I am not talking down to any of you in this Edition. We s imp ly need to ge t some p rope r understanding established.

It wonʼt hurt one bit for you to inform your local pro the next time he/she misuses any of these words or their definition, when he is talking about the golf swing, either. After all, he is supposed to know the difference, if he is going to teach the golf swing.

WHAT IS A PLANE?

All right, a plane is nothing more

than a flat surface, and a circle is

not just a shape that goes around. A

circle can only be a circle IF IT IS

ON A PLANE–or flat surface.

! EDITION 20

SWING PATH AND SWING PLANE

In other words, you could take a compass and draw a circle on a piece of paper very easily. Now, if you pick that piece of paper up and put a crease through the center of your circle, so it is no longer perfectly flat, what once was a perfect circle IS NO LONGER A CIRCLE AT ALL. Try riding a bicycle that has a bent wheel. That wheel was once a circle, but not any longer.

Please stay with me through all of this. I know it sounds way too elementary, but there is a very good reason why I am going to all of this trouble and all of this explanation for you. I am constantly asking all of you to sit in your easy chair and just do some thinking. Well, this is another one of those times.

Remember also, I am constantly trying to share enough of the correct information with you so that you can become your own golf coach. Why would you want to pay any of your hard earned money to have someone try to teach you something about which they have very little knowledge? That doesnʼt make a bit of sense to me.

I had a physics professor my freshman year of college who had been a part of the original United States space endeavor called the Mercury project. This man was brilliant, to say the least.

However, he had a huge problem. Five or six of us would be struggling with a particular problem, and finally, after hours of trying to determine the correct answer, we would take the problem to him in the classroom.

He would look at the problem, and just stand there for a few moments looking at it on the blackboard. Then he would jot an equation on the board, and finally he would then write the answer on the board, either under or next to his equation.

Figure 1 is a plane. It’s a flat circle. Figure 2 is the same circle, but it’s been bent through the center. Now it is not a flat surface, so therefore it is no longer a plane.

Figure 2

Figure 1

A CIRCLE IS ON A PLANE

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Five or six of us working for hours on the same problem would have used a page or two of paper, going through all of the steps we had been taught to employ to reach the correct solutions to these things. He answered it in moments, and he did it without using any of the prescribed steps he had taught us.

This man was smart enough to work for the US government on the Mercury project to send a vehicle into outer space.

However, he was NOT smart enough to teach us how to see what he was seeing when he looked at the question. He could DO all of the “stuff”, but he couldnʼt really teach it. There is a huge difference between the two.

Golf professionals many times do the same thing. They have acquired the proper skills to play the game quite well, but they really do not have the skills required for teaching others to play the game at that same level. That is why I have always told my students, “I do not want to be a ʻgolf tellerʼ. I want to be a golf ʻteacherʼ, and there is a very big difference between the two.”

Mean while, back at the circle. A circle is only a circle if it is on a plane. I am not going to get into the one or two plane question here. I simply want you to know the correct and proper definition for a circle and a plane.

This becomes quite an important issue, because it is basically impossible to swing a golf club “off plane”. In other words, you will see in this Edition that EVERY golf swing is essentially on plane, and does not have to be put on the proper plane.

These golf swings are obviously different, BUT they are both on plane. Every golf swing you ever make is ALWAYS ‘on plane’. The trick is to make sure the plane you swing on has a golf ball on it!

! EDITION 20

SWING PATH AND SWING PLANE! PAGE 5

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3

When we swing a golf club the way we are supposed to swing it, and that is with our hands, wrists, and fingers, we can readily discover that it is IMPOSSIBLE to snap or throw the clubhead at the golf ball UNTIL, or UNLESS, the shaft of the club is

pointing at either the golf ball, or an extension of the line of intended flight.

Thatʼs why I always get a little chuckle out of any golfer who asks if his swing plane is all right. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR IT TO BE WRONG – IF WE ARE AT LEAST MAKING SOME KIND OF CONTACT on the golf ball.

Now letʼs look at another part of the equation, and that is the path on which we place this plane or swing. If you were to hold a hula hoop so it rests on the ground where your golf ball would be lying, you could do a variety of things with it.

You could hold it in a perfectly vertical position, or you could hold it in any number of angles. One part could be touching the earth where your golf ball might be resting, and the opposite side of that circle could be anywhere from one inch off the ground, or all the way back to that vertical position.

However, just as soon as you bend it somewhere in the middle, it is no longer a circle, because you have basically “broken” or bent the plane. It still looks round, to a great degree, but it is no longer a circle.

Try to imagine what it might be like to swing a golf club in a way which might possibly represent this “bent” circle. There is no way on earth to do it, because the club could not achieve any speed if it had to change directions half way through the circle.

I hope you are getting the picture here. I want to almost bore you with the information that a circle IS A PLANE, because it can ONLY be on one. You can only draw a circle on a flat surface, and you cannot draw a circle on a bent surface. You can draw the shape of a circle on a bent surface, but technically it is only a combination of two separate arcs, which meet at the fold.

INTRODUCING ‘PATH’

More examples of changing your plane

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I believe we are ready to see the difference between a plane and a path, so letʼs go back to the hula hoop. I started to talk about the path with you, but had to share the rest of the information first.

If you take the hula hoop and stand it upright, you have a circle on a vertical plane. You may now rotate that hula hoop so the plane on which it lies can point 360 different directions. As you are in the process of pointing the plane of the circle in any direction you might choose, you are not altering the fact that the circle is the thing which creates the plane.

However, it is not the thing which creates the path or direction of that plane. You, the golfer, are creating the direction or path on which that plane is aligned. You are creating the path, or direction in which the plane points. Neither the circle nor the plane can do that without your assistance.

Here is where golfers become confused, and their instructors arenʼt helping solve the confusion. In fact, most are stirring the pot and adding to the confusion.

As a result of all of this, if you swing a golf club and make contact with the golf ball, you are “on plane”. Your PATH may not take you to your target, but you are on plane.

If golfers can ever begin to understand the difference between the two, it would become very difficult for them to ever hit an errant golf shot.

Maybe I should say that again. If golfers can ever begin to understand the difference between the “swing plane” and “swing path”, it would become very difficult for them to ever hit an errant golf shot.

Did you get that one? Golfers seem to think there is some mystery to directing a golf shot, but that is so far from the truth that it isnʼt even funny. All we have to do to hit a golf ball where we want it to go is to swing the club on a path which points to our target.

That sounds WAY too simple. The fact is, it sounds too simple to be the truth. How can playing golf be that easy? Itʼs no different than shooting baskets. If you take a basketball and face 90° left or right of the backboard and basket, and then you proceed to shoot the ball where you are looking, everyone would think you were nuts. In fact, you would even think you were nuts.

However, if you were to get your body into a comfortable position to shoot the basketball somewhere even in the general vicinity of the basket, you would at least feel like you had a chance to toss it through the hoop. It wouldnʼt really matter whether or not you made it. You would at least be giving yourself a chance to do so.

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Take a good look at this on the DVD. It is very important!!

! EDITION 20

SWING PATH AND SWING PLANE! PAGE 7

Golf is not different. If you can learn how to stand in a relatively comfortable position which would at least give a fairly simple possibility to swing the club in the general direction of your intended target, you might at least have a chance of hitting your golf ball in that direction.

As I have shown you on the video, EVERY golf swing is basically “on plane”. The real problem most golfers have is learning how to swing the club “on PATH”. I guess, in a sense of the word, we could describe the path as “being on plane”. The

problem with that, in my opinion, is that, psychologically, golfers all seem to have a huge struggle with the term “plane”, but they seem to all be able to grasp the concept of “path”.

Study the pictures until you really understand the difference between the two. Study the video, then, and see if all of this finally makes more sense to you. Then, the next time you hear a golf teacher using the wrong terminology, you will no longer be confused by it all.

All you have to do to hit the golf ball where you want... is the swing the club on the path which points to your desired target.

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Let me take some time now to show you how to create and feel “swing plane” and then we will do the same thing with “swing path”.

Get a golf club and find something to make or draw a line on the ground. Do this outside, because you are going to be swinging the club.

Take an address position as if the line on the ground represents your intended target line. Now, toss your club back into a backswing, using your left hand as if you were actually making a golf shot.

When you get to the top of your backswing simply snap and toss the clubhead AT – not into – the line on the ground.

You were on perfect “swing plane” when you did this. Do it several times, and then I will have you experience something which should really help you understand why I never teach or mention anything which has to do with the backswing.

Now let me point something out to you. In the picture below that my shaft is pointing at the line and golf ball as I snap or toss the clubhead.

Once you feel what “swing plane” is, try this one out for the fun of it. Take the club to the top of the backswing, and intentionally point the shaft and clubhead somewhere totally away from the line. Donʼt be afraid to do something completely crazy with it, because I want you to feel as though you are as far from a true backswing as possible.

Now, from the top of the backswing, look at the line you have on the ground and figure out something or some way to be able to snap or throw the clubhead at that line. Iʼm not talking about you pulling the shaft of the club through a swing. I am trying to get you to see if there is anything you could do, or MUST do, in order to easily snap and throw the clubhead at the line.

THE ONLY WAY POSSIBLE TO PERFORM THE TASK I HAVE ASKED OF YOU, IS TO REROUTE THE SHAFT IN A MANNER SO IT ONCE AGAIN POINTS DIRECTLY AT THE LINE.

FEELING YOUR SWING ‘PLANE’

From the top... Snap, Toss or Throw the clubhead at the line (see my club on the ground)

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SWING PATH AND SWING PLANE! PAGE 9

1.

Try this. Even with a ridiculous backswing... To snap the clubhead at the line, your body will automatically reroute the shaft so it is again pointing directly at the line. Meaning, you don’t need to

worry about ‘staying on plane’ in your backswing. When you use your hands correctly, your body will get you to the perfect position to snap the club at the target line.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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This may sound strange or difficult, but it is actually neither. I am trying to show you how simple, as well as perfectly natural, it is to swing a golf club “on plane”. When you SWING THE CLUB WITH YOUR HANDS, as the tour professionals do, you will easily see that IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO MISS YOUR SWING PLANE” WITH ANY CLUB IN THE BAG.

Now, this brings me to the question many of you have asked me over the past few years, “Do you think the one-plane swing is best, or do you prefer the two-plane swing?”

Here is my honest answer, “Who cares?” In the book on one and two plane swings, the author finally states, but most golfers totally miss the statement, “In all reality, there is no such thing as a true one-plane

golf swing, but we can get very close to it.” I actually paraphrased the statement into my own words.

Nevertheless, this was his actual admission to all of the golfers who had just spent $20 or so on the book. I take offense to people doing things like that. I feel it simply isn ʼt the honest thing for a professional to do. This is why I keep stating that I feel instruction has become way too money driven and not golfer oriented.

Now that we are all clear on that one, letʼs move on and try to show you how to feel your“swing path”. This is so important, because it is the actual part of the golf swing that enables us to properly and consistently direct our golf shots.

We have all been taught down through the years that it is the club face which gives us the ability to hit our golf shots where we want them to go. However, it is the swing path by which we are able to accomplish this all too elusive task.

Therefore, we must learn how it feels to swing a golf club in the direction we want the golf ball to fly, so here we go.

FEELING YOUR SWING ‘PATH’

Basic physics assures us

the golf ball will take off

from impact in the same

direction in which the mass

of the clubhead is traveling.

That is the swing path.

! EDITION 20

SWING PATH AND SWING PLANE! PAGE 11

Hopefully, you are still standing in your yard, next to the line we used for swing plane. I would like for you to take another address, so you are somewhat in alignment with it, and take another swing, the same way you did earlier. As you are performing this task, I want you to try to feel the clubhead swinging somewhat along that line.

It will not travel on the line, but rather it should point at the line throughout the entire swing. Here is another one of those places where golf professionals lead us astray. They tell us to swing the club “down the line”, but no one can really do that. However, if we swing the club properly, using our hands, the shaft of the club will point to a place somewhere on the line at all times.

Next, I would like for you to rotate either your stance a wee bit, or rotate the line a bit, so the line either points to the left, or the right of your stance.

From this position I want you to make several of the same swings, until you can very definitely feel the clubhead traveling in the new direction of the line. This is so very important for you to learn to do. Too many of you have written, even after the previous times I have talked about the swing path, and you ask me why you are pulling the ball, or coming “over the top” in your golf swing.

Next, try swinging the club in the other direction, and do that also until you can feel what you need to do in order to make that happen. Pay close attention to what it takes to swing the golf club to the left or to the right, as far as what you feel like you are required to do with your whole body.

As an example, I particularly want you to pay attention to what you have to do with your upper body in order to swing the club from the inside/out path. You will notice you will have to tilt your chest to the back side in order to swing the golf club to the outside, and from that same position, you will not be able to swing to the left.

Please take the time to experiment and play around with this, seeing what all you feel comfortable doing, and what things you cannot comfortably do. Do not stop attempting to do the things which feel more difficult to you, until you can be assured they will not work.

Youʼll see this demonstrated nicely on the DVD

Try altering your taget line on the ground, so that it points a little right, and then try it a little to the left. Feel what you have to do with your body to swing the club to different targets.

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At the same time, when you find something you can do quite easily, try to also see if you think these motions will still allow you to swing the club where you want to swing it. This is very important. I believe I have never gone into this much detail as to how I would like for you to attempt to learn how to swing the club in any direction you choose.

I have a few golfers write to tell me they learned to do this in their back yard by using the pickets on their fence. They would line up to one picket, and then they would take a swing which felt like it was traveling on a path toward a chosen picket. Then they would stay in the same alignment and swing at a different picket. Eventually, they say they could actually swing at any picket they chose.

Once you can successfully swing the club to the right and to the left of what might be a relatively “square” alignment, you are ready to go the the driving range and try a few more experiments.

Tee up several golf balls on short tees. This experiment is strictly for the purpose of seeing what happens to a golf ball when you alter the direction of each swing. Do not be concerned if you miss some shots and the ball does not fly in the air. You are performing this exercise strictly for the purpose of seeing the direction of your shots change with each swing.

Alignment is alway a main topic when golfers either come to see me, or when they email for help. The truth is, once you understand “swing path” and can swing the golf club in any direction you choose, there is no need to ever concern yourself with alignment.

Yes, you heard me correctly. Alignment is not an important factor in playing a good, consistent game of golf. However, being able to swing the club on your chosen path is one of the most vital parts. When you can swing the club where you choose, then who cares where your feet are aligned?

You need to take the time to really ponder that one, because once the lights go on in your head concerning this point, you will never struggle again with hitting the golf ball where you want it to go.

At this time I would finally like to congratulate each and every one of you. If you are able to now swing the golf club in any chosen direction, with a golf ball on a short tee, you are also ready to hit your golf shot anywhere you choose. None of us is perfect on every swing, but you now know how to control all of your golf shots. You also now know the difference between “swing plane” and “swing path”.

Next Month...Edition 21 we will be working on shot control. Specifically - How to Hook it the Ball... And How to Fix It. I can’t wait to show you how it all works. See you next month.

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