Mike Adams Gold Magazine article

[quote name='JackieTreehorn' timestamp='1326082895' post='4048835']
This article seems kind of crazy. The thumb measurement method is very imprecise...the idea that there are only 3 types and not a continuous distribution... No explanations are given.

I can see the value of e.g. people with long forearms thinking about steeper swings by the geometry (bent R arm + long forearm = higher hands = steeper swing plane). But the tone of the article was misleading I thought. I am still confused how anyone would swing on the shaft plane.

Any thoughts on this article?
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I guess Kuchar would swing not he shaft plane...but that is the only one I can think of.

The high track that he called the Hogan plane looked really high to call it the "Hogan" plane.


If you view it on an iPad, you can see the tour players he compares. There were also a bunch of major winners in those articles. He calls the middle plane the right forearm plane on the way down. Rory McIlroy is supposed to be a middle of the road swinger. He says Rory nails it on the mid track on the way back, but says he is too shallow on the way down, even though the shaft is right down his right forearm.

Like most things in golf, it isn't this easy.

Is this the same guy who has a youtube video where he has tied a rope from a stake to the club?

It seems fairly interesting that it is possible that many people have a "different" plane to swing to.
IMO it is perfectly reasonable for people to have a different golf plane. I'm going to try it next month when I'm in FL for a couple months and see if I see any distinct differences in my game.

Does anyone have any experiences in these drills yet?

I believe that I'm a high track golfer but when I look at most of the pros I would think they're a high track golfer they're actually a mid??? Is it the thumb and where it's pointing that determines which track a person is or is it something else?

also can anyone tell me about the elbow thing at the end of the article? mine folds in when i take the test.

[quote name='Clark' timestamp='1326987820' post='4117439']
It seems fairly interesting that it is possible that many people have a "different" plane to swing to.
IMO it is perfectly reasonable for people to have a different golf plane. I'm going to try it next month when I'm in FL for a couple months and see if I see any distinct differences in my game.

Does anyone have any experiences in these drills yet?

I believe that I'm a high track golfer but when I look at most of the pros I would think they're a high track golfer they're actually a mid??? Is it the thumb and where it's pointing that determines which track a person is or is it something else?

also can anyone tell me about the elbow thing at the end of the article? mine folds in when i take the test.
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The Elbow thing at the end is a variable. It talks about how your natural motion would dictate what plane you take the club back on (high, mid, low.) He was saying in the article that not all golfers will take back and swing on the same plane. You may take back high and swing on a mid, etc...

The whole idea is to get people swinging on a plane that is natural to their body tendencies, rather than trying to force someone to swing on a plane that is correct, but unnatural - giving more leeway to mishits/error. It is obviously just one part of the swing, but incorporating a natural swing with other sound fundamentals seems logical.

I am classified as a high track plane golfer, Seeing a plane like that and being able to watch film of it is of great benefit to me. I've tried to swing on a mid track, and it is unnatural, uncomfortable and has led me to try various grips to swing on that plane. MY natural swing always seemed to be to steep or so I was told, but it was always natural, a lot of my errors and mishits were probably caused by other bad fundamentals - weight, ball position, grip, etc...when i think back about it. I'm going to use my natural swing and sound fundamentals and see how it goes, but so far I feel a whole lot more confident and my ball striking is more consistent.

Sounds good... I tested as a high tracker too, does it seem like the plane is in line with the top of the shoulders or on top of them (using the top part of the forearms as a reference)?

[quote name='Clark' timestamp='1327121950' post='4128633']
Sounds good... I tested as a high tracker too, does it seem like the plane is in line with the top of the shoulders or on top of them (using the top part of the forearms as a reference)?
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When swinging, it almost feels like I'm swinging around my neck (Above my shoulders), then I drop the club on a line below my shoulders on the down swing. Since the premise is that as high tracker golfers, we have longer forearms then upper arms (above the elbow/biceps) It does make a fair amount of sense to swing like this as even though we are swinging what seems above our shoulders or around your neck as I like to think - our longer forearms actually have the club in position that looks proper at the top of the swing.

If that makes any sense...

[quote name='JSunGolfPharmD ' timestamp='1327379386' post='4143691']
[quote name='Clark' timestamp='1327121950' post='4128633']
Sounds good... I tested as a high tracker too, does it seem like the plane is in line with the top of the shoulders or on top of them (using the top part of the forearms as a reference)?
[/quote]

When swinging, it almost feels like I'm swinging around my neck (Above my shoulders), then I drop the club on a line below my shoulders on the down swing. Since the premise is that as high tracker golfers, we have longer forearms then upper arms (above the elbow/biceps) It does make a fair amount of sense to swing like this as even though we are swinging what seems above our shoulders or around your neck as I like to think - our longer forearms actually have the club in position that looks proper at the top of the swing.

If that makes any sense...
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Yeah, have you been able to work this out on the range or in play? I'm curious in how it converted in to play.

This article seems to support some changes I made a number of years ago, from a two plane to a one plane swing. I'm taller so I naturally thought that a more upright swing path (two plane) was correct. Since changing to a one plane swing a mid angle path is more consistent. Never considered my right forearm length as a factor but it makes sense because at some point you are bending your right elbow on the takeaway and that would seem to affect club path plane.

Does anyone have a copy of this article or know where I could get one, in a pdf format possibly?

The plane or planes should match or is totally dependent on the built-in angle between the left arm and clubshaft looking at the golfer DTL. So, if someone's gonna change the swing plane, he should also change or make sure the L arm-shaft angle is the appropriate one.

Just read the article.. Mike Adam seems to always focus on body types for certain swings which makes a lot of sense to me. This article is interesting to me because the TGM guys seem to always want you to return the shaft to the address plane, which is really unnatural to me. I am a bit concerned that the measurement isn't very precise as someone else mentioned. Anyone spend some time on this?

Mike's thumb test isn't the most precise way to test whether you are a low/mid/high track golfer but it's the easiest way. I haven't seen the article but have worked with an Adam's associate and seen most of the tests. They are trying to figure out what everyone's best swings based on his/her biomechanics. It's very good stuff.

LV_2 can you elaborate a bit?