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How to add Width and be on Plane


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Having a wide and on plane golf swing which gets rid of a lot of wasted motion and makes the golf swing very repeatable and stable. To me the right arm is the governor for width and I try to keep my right arm straight for as long as you can in the backswing. If you bend it too early you will get narrow, the left arm will move too much across the chest and your club will be behind your hands at waist high in the backswing. Butch's favorite training aid and one he sells with no endorsement is the Right Angle 2 which he only ever sets on the HALF setting (50%) and you can see it in action below with my swing; it gets you wider, shorter and on plane which are all very big factors in his teaching philosophy. As an added bonus it reduces the tendency to get the club behind you on the backswing.

 

The less your right arm bends on the backswing, the more your shoulders will turn. This is why Tour players, especially the power hitters, have their right shoulder behind their heads at the top of the backswing.

 

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Another great checkpoint in the swing is the tush.... I like to put a line on my backside and make sure that my tush never goes forward of that line which is what early extension in the golf swing is which causes all types of problems and makes staying in your spine angle impossible. Great iron players stays in their posture into impact which you can't do if you early extend which is caused by too much right hand or pushing off of the right foot to start the downswing. There is a big difference between starting the downswing from the ground up and pushing off with the right foot.

 

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Make it a goal to make 100 perfect practice swings a day indoors and you will get better fast! I have a 5x5 golf mat that I love: https://unique-sports.com/products/cimarron-5-x-5-premier-golf-mat and it can be used in conjuction with the Swing Plane Perfector to make sure that you are getting the most out of grooving your swing with the 100 daily indoor practice swings you make. https://www.golftrainingaids.com/products/swing-plane-perfector

 

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97speedster, I really enjoy your comments! Yesterday, at the range, I worked on trying more width in the backswing. Like a lot of higher cappers, I am guilty of snatching the club with my hands on the takeaway. Yesterday, my visual was a child swinging an adult club, then setting the club at the top (a la Stricker). Width on the backswing made good things happen!

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P1 with a driver from down the line and front.

 

DTL

 

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My set-up and fundamentals from down the line are:

 

1. I want a line from the back of armpits down to go through the knee caps and through the balls of the feet.

2. My butt line should be slightly behind the heel line by about 4 inches.

3. Shaft line of the club is in line with my belt buckle.

4. My shoulders, arms and hands should be in a straight vertical line down to the ground in line to the front of the toes.

5. I want a flat lower back and a rounded upper back.

 

In the above set-up (P1) I am working on getting the club a few inches closer to me which will move my butt back to about 4" behind my heels and will also bring the shoulders directly vertical of my toe line. I have too much weight on my toes in this set-up and need to get more neutral.

 

FRONT

 

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My set-up and fundamentals from the front view are:

 

1. I want my stance with a driver to be at least shoulder width.

2. I want a little tilt to the right at address with my spine to make it easier to coil behind the ball.

3. I want the ball position to be off my left ear or slightly forward of that, but not behind my ear.

4. My grip is more in my fingers, not my palm with the the left hand showing 2 1/2 knuckles and my right hand opposing that position.

5. A line drawn up the shaft points at the center of my body or sternum.

6. I like to keep my feet square instead of flared out, even though my left foot flares out slightly. This makes it easier for me to line up consistently without getting c0ck-eyed and it allows my legs to support my upper body versus sliding.

 

 

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97... great call out!

 

I have been looking at athletic motion golf’s stuff and they also point to width as one of the core keys to the difference between low/high hdcp swings. They talk about the relationship between width and shoulder turn - that more width eliminates the sensation of getting the club back without full turn and thus encourages getting trail shoulder (and scapula) deeper. This is also consistent with Jim Waldron’s ideas - arm swing illusion - width is about not swinging/pinching lead arm against chest but hands raising and lowering (vs side-to-side). AMG also thinks that width plays a role in sequencing properly because there is less need for arm travel and once you get to the top, and there isn’t much time left in the swing till impact. (And AMG also proposes starting arm swing down independent of shoulder unwinding)

 

These two ideas - width and different sequencing - have increased my swing speed and smash factor.

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Thanks, yet again, DJ for the great info!

I have the right angle 2 and an impact box on order to work on my width and forward shaft lean on impact. Currently, I am between a 5-6 hcp, and based on video analysis I suffer from not dropping the shaft down on the downswing. I am confident that work with the right angle and the impact box will help...excited to get them and get to work! Looking forward to more width on my backswing and seeing how this impacts my game.

 

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DJ - look forward to following this thread and enjoyed all of your (and others) input on the "Ballard" thread. As a former high level competitive player (Senior Tour player for 6 years in mid 90's) back in my day (turn 77 this fall), I am have been fighting loss of distance over the past few years. Even at age 72, I was capable of mid to upper 90's swing speed with driver. Now I struggle to push 90. Had a right hip replacement in May 2016, and had severe case of sciatica in late summer of 2017 that took me 5 months to recover from. No issues with that at this time (knock on wood). I too have found myself taking the easy way out with a narrow BS (right elbow bending quickly and close to side) and trying to gain speed by throwing with hands at bottom.

 

I began working on width over the last few days (straight right arm as long as poible) along with getting my hands to move away from right shoulder at beginning of DS. Played Tues. and yesterday with some encouraging signs. Some pretty good shots, but also some poor misses when I felt our of synch. Did get it around in even par yesterday with only 3 missed greens. Lot of long putts as my distance control with irons is inconsistent due to many mishits.

 

In my prime, I was a moderately long hitter who had no trouble flighting 3 wood or long irons high. Carried a one iron during my first year on senior tour which I could hit high and carry about 215 to 220.

 

Now even a 5 iron (strong 24* AP3) is problematic in getting good trajectory off tight fairway lies (we play the ball down at our course). Sure this is a swing speed issue. Did go to graphite (UST Recoil 80 stiff soft stepped twice).

 

A few questions - do you feel a gradual release of club beginning at start down? Is "springing the shaft" a feeling of ulnar deviation at beginning of start down? Okay to have "extended" left arm (instead of "short left arm") in getting greater wiidth in BS as long as upper left arm in "connected" to pec? I am not tied to "full Ballard". Just seeking (as you are) the best swing for me but which could include some of his principles.

 

Thanks again for your many contributions to help many others better their game.

 

Best to you, Bruce

 

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@97speedster you are right on. I bought a RA2 about a week ago due to your recommendation. I use it for about 25 swings a day and can start feeling it becoming ingrained.

Had my best ball striking day today and most of it is due to you & your recommendation. Felt funny at 1st, but having width makes everything easy.

 

Looking forward to this thread and your infinite wisdom. You sir......are the all knowing oracle lol

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I added width the last two years. Unfortunately, it wasn't to my golf swing. :(

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> @wmblake2000 said:

> 97... great call out!

>

> I have been looking at athletic motion golf’s stuff and they also point to width as one of the core keys to the difference between low/high hdcp swings. They talk about the relationship between width and shoulder turn - that more width eliminates the sensation of getting the club back without full turn and thus encourages getting trail shoulder (and scapula) deeper. This is also consistent with Jim Waldron’s ideas - arm swing illusion - width is about not swinging/pinching lead arm against chest but hands raising and lowering (vs side-to-side). AMG also thinks that width plays a role in sequencing properly because there is less need for arm travel and once you get to the top, and there isn’t much time left in the swing till impact. (And AMG also proposes starting arm swing down independent of shoulder unwinding)

>

> These two ideas - width and different sequencing - have increased my swing speed and smash factor.

 

Exactly right! OP your post is one of the best ever I have seen in my 13 years contributing to this site.

In my opinion, width does not get enough love in general in golf and here on wrx as well.

Action of right elbow/right arm is one of the most important influencers in the golf swing - back in 1994 Mac O'Grady told me he thought it was THE most important influence on the swing. It has been an integral part of my swing model and swing instruction ever since. I too started with the original Right Angle the year it came out back in the early 90's. It is a fantastic aid and one I use in my golf schools with many of my students.

 

Arm Swing Illusion explains why so many golfers struggle with bending the right elbow too much and too early in the swing, which causes a host of flaws and potential bad shot outcomes.

I also recommend the setting of 75 degree right arm angle and never use the 90 degree setting.

Works even better if you add the Figure 8 Strap to help maintain your sideways Triangle pressure.

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> @97speedster said:

> > @Nard_S said:

> > I always have this as an issue, tend to over fold right arm, a sense of right angle peak to arm bend does wonders for ball striking. Going wide to narrow is a key intent too. Good stuff here.

>

> Have you tried the Right Angle 2 training aid yet?

>

>

No, but it's something I would not mind trying. Poor right arm fold is big fault that is chronic to my swing. When I wake to it and get the feel of 90* bend and keeping hands away from body it makes a tremendous difference. The whole get narrow and increase angle thing on down swing makes it harder for me to maintain good width going back so the mantra of " go wide, get narrow" is what I'm working on now.

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The downswing DOES start from the ground up, but it actually starts before the backswing is even completed. It is VERY different than pushing off with the right foot which leads to early extension. On the downswing my weight shifts towards the target while my shoulders stay closed which shallows the club and gets you in the slot and gives you the leverage you need for speed. Weight shift and keeping the right shoulder closed shallows the downswing.I try to keep my back to the target for as long as possible on the downswing.

 

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3 Ways you can increase distance without increasing your club head speed: Higher Launch, Lower Spin and Shallower Angle of Attack. To get a higher launch you need to get the right amount of axis tilt at address, most long drive hitter have an average of 12* of spine tilt away from the target at address. Lower spin will come from a combination of staying behind the ball and a shallow angle of attack. The closer you can come to the clubhead traveling through your right elbow halfway down on the downswing the better your spin rate will be, but you don't want to ever get the club head below your right arm or right elbow because that will get you stuck and cause you all kinds of issues. Jim Furyk has funky backswing, but he shallows the club very well. In frame 2 Furyk is ideal:

 

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I shallow the club by keeping my back to the target longer (shoulders closed for longer in the transition) and keeping my head more behind the ball at impact. If you do it early you will hang back and you don't want that. So with a driver you want to get spine tilt (12* for max distance) and I want my head at impact to be whole head width behind where it was address. So in other words at impact my left ear is where my right ear was at address.

 

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The shorter the club, the less behind the ball you should be at impact. So with say a 7 iron you should be about half a head width behind the ball only and with a wedge you would almost be in the same spot you were at address.

 

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> @97speedster said:

> An incorrect right arm position in the golf swing is the cause of more problems the golf swing than anything else. Why? Because it starts so soon in the backswing that it throws off your plane from the start, screws up your sequencing, makes it extremely difficult to recover from, and robs you of a ton of speed.

 

Wondering how the quoted comment would square with players like Miller Barber, Fred Couples, Ian Woosnam, John Daly, and 100's of other tour players that have what may be called incorrect right arm positions at the top but still found tons of speed coming in.

 

 

 

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