Keys to one plane swing?

could be two things i can think of...

standing too close to the ball...

or you have a reverse pivot going on...what i do when i reverse pivot is turn my left foot (i'm RH) and point it to the target at address and hit a few balls or just take a few swings...if you feel a stretch from your left shoulder on you're backswing, you're not reverse pivoting...if you dont feel that stretch, then you are and you'll probably feel your hip and shoulder tilt too...

i'm not a pro though...

After reading the One Plane/Two Plane article by Jim Hardy, I have recently changed my swing to a one plane swing and I've been hitting quite well for the last few weeks, shooting some of the lowest scores I had in a while.   

 

 

Suddenly.... (drum roll) :D 

 

Well, not suddenly.. but after I was instructed to make a tighter backswing,, I started to hit very poorly. I feel like my swing has gotten too steep from trying to built a tighter swing. I have been hitting mostly fat shots with straight pulls to the left and fades to the right. My contact feels very "dead"; rather than the club face hitting the ball, I feel like the club just slides under. What could I be doing? What drills should I do to fix this?

 

Unfortunately I do not have accress to pics or videos of my swing but I hope that this gives you an idea of my swing.

 

 

Thanks alot.

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If you are hitting pulls, and fades you have most definitely become to steep in your angle of attack. I would work on trying to draw the ball for a while. Use an inside approach or a training aid that will help you with your path.

As to the one stuff I have some idea's about it, but I will understand it better when I meet with my friend EJ Phister. I worked with him at the Mclean school for a few years, and he has been with Hardy the past souple. He is teaching Tway and his son. He was on his bag when he won the US JR. I will try to see him soon, and get a better understanding what exactly they are teaching.

As to the one stuff I have some idea's about it, but I will understand it better when I meet with my friend EJ Phister. I worked with him at the Mclean school for a few years, and he has been with Hardy the past souple. He is teaching Tway and his son. He was on his bag when he won the US JR. I will try to see him soon, and get a better understanding what exactly they are teaching.

Zach -

Wasn't E.J. Phister up at Thunder Canyon? Did he leave? A buddy of mine from high school, Dave LaFata, started there recently as director of instruction, I believe. I haven't talked to him to find out if he took over for E.J. or in addition to him.

Dave is more of a Haney guy.

I have been reading and working w/ the one-plane stuff, interesting. I will have to stop by and we can discuss sometime. Been spending a ton of time in Napa, so not much time to get down your way.

As to the one stuff I have some idea's about it, but I will understand it better when I meet with my friend EJ Phister. I worked with him at the Mclean school for a few years, and he has been with Hardy the past souple. He is teaching Tway and his son. He was on his bag when he won the US JR. I will try to see him soon, and get a better understanding what exactly they are teaching.

Zach -

Wasn't E.J. Phister up at Thunder Canyon? Did he leave? A buddy of mine from high school, Dave LaFata, started there recently as director of instruction, I believe. I haven't talked to him to find out if he took over for E.J. or in addition to him.

Dave is more of a Haney guy.

I have been reading and working w/ the one-plane stuff, interesting. I will have to stop by and we can discuss sometime. Been spending a ton of time in Napa, so not much time to get down your way.

Yeah EJ was at Thunder Canyon. I think EJ is opening up a practice facility in the Reno area.

Thank you cornbred and Zach

I found out that my right armpit and my chest has a quite a bit of gap and I have a tendency to come over the top with my arms instead of my body.

I dont think I'll be cashing out 60 dollars for the inside approach soon but is there a drill for me to do to keep my arms close to the chest and transition with the check on the downswing rather than coming off the chest and from the outside? Thanks alot

As I understand it, you start the downswing by aggressively rotating the shoulders and keeping the arms back as long as possible. In another words, the body whips the arms through. If you dont resist with the arms, you will hit pulls. Trust me Ive tried it.

Could be that you're not rotating your shoulders enough on the backswing. One of the keys to a one plane swing is to create as much resistance between the shoulder turn and the hips. When the shoulders start to move in sync with the hips (either because you haven't made a full rotation of your shoulders or your hips have closed too much) you hit pulls and then fades by failing to release the club. Nick Faldo pointed this out during the made for TV golf thing in Rancho Santa Fe when Reteif kept pulling his irons. It makes sense.

It's also one of the fundamentals to the one plane that Jim Hardy pointed out in the Golf Digest article.

Hope this helps.

It looks like I had been coping hardy's example too much. It was WAY exaggerated; ball too far away from body, too much bend at hips. Looks like I need to figure out how tall I should stand/ how close I should stand to the ball.

If I stand too tall and close to the ball, could I lead to more of a two plane swing? I'd like to advoid that because I am getting quite comfortable with the flat shoulder turn. Also, what is a good way to figure out the necessary posture with a one plane swing? Thank you very much for all your help.

I've read Hardy's book, The Plane Truth, and it clearly compares/contrasts the one-plane vs. two-plane swing. You can get it at the local bookstore or order it through Hardy's website. Costs about $17.

The following is for a right-handed golfer. Reverse if you're a lefty. As for the arms swaying from your chest, it is OK to have a bit of a "flying" right elbow as long as the left arm stays connected to the chest and doesn't break down. The right elbow is supposed to come "up and back" according to the book.

Here's a simple drill that we've all seen Vijay do: place a glove under your left arm (in the armpit) and make small swings to start. If the glove falls out, your left arm is not staying connected. Start with a wedge or 9-iron and hit some 60-70% shots just to get the feel. Vijay does this drill religiously and you see how pure he hits it. He, Tiger and Jacobsen (to name just a few) are prototypical "one-planers."

Good luck!