Switching to an upright swing plane

[TJW]

Swing tips/thoughts?

If you've seen any of my previous posts, I'm 6' 5" and have always had a very flat, inside-out swing...left arm not even getting to shoulder height on the backswing. My irons are even 2 degree flat.

Anyway, I'm 2 lessons in with a new instructor and we are working on building a much more upright swing plane. I'm only a week into trying this new swing, but I absolutely love it. I know the modern swing is much more single plane, but this Fred Couples-like swing feels very natural and much smoother. Arms and club just swoop down. By the way, I'm sure my backswing is still not Couples-like upright at all, but it feels that way.

Again, I am taking lessons, but any swing thoughts or tips are VERY welcomed.

Thanks.

-TJW

[taylormadefan]

I struggle with getting flat myself (mainly with my body).

 

The goal for my swing (especially in the short irons) is to be steep with my body and shallow with the club. One of the things I really try to feel is that my left shoulder is pointing at the ball at the top of my back swing (pre-Haney Tiger was awesome at this) and from there I turn my hips and shoulders as fast as I can.

 

That's been a good swing thought for me to put some steepness back into my swing and gotten me some extra height in the long irons and driver.

 

EDIT:

However, I am a Hardy one planer. After re-reading your post, it sounds like that may not be what you're working towards.

 

The best piece of advice I can give you is that at the end of your lessons boil things down to one or two swing thoughts to work on with your pro and then understand what causes each of your misses. That way when you're at the range and you hit a push cut you'll know why and how to fix it.

 

Hope that helps.

[TJW]

As I began reading your post, I thought "that sounds like more of a 1-plane swing."

 

Yes, I'm making the move to 2-plane...I think.

 

I bought the Hardy book a few months ago and thought I was a natural for the 1P since I already swing around the body. Didn't spend enough time truly practicing Hardy's fundamentals, but when I hit the ball well with the 1P I hit it a mile.

 

That said, I hate how the 1P feels. I love a smooth up and down swing, which in my old swing only occured on soft, short pitches out of rough.

 

The reason I say that I "think" I'm moving to a 2P swing is that right now I'm just focusing on making the backswing more upright since it's far too flat. I've only had two lessons (have my 3rd this Friday).

 

But my instructor can't be with me every day at the range so I'm just looking for swing thoughts/tips that might help.

 

Thanks.

 

-TJW