Jim Hardy - The Plane Truth for Golfers

golf4psu · October 26, 2006

I am definitely not a know-it-all, but there will be a ton more information available in the coming weeks and months from a pair of guys that have been working with Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett. These guys have helped the likes of Elk, Badds, Axley, and many more. True one-plane swinging is not that realistic. The pictures that are on there are as close as you could basically get. From what I understand, and it is not that much, is that to be one plane, the club and your arms must start on the shoulder plane and continue on that plane the entire swing. Jake starts between the elbow plane and the shoulder plane. Wanted some input as to what you guys thought.

jeffy · October 26, 2006

I am definitely not a know-it-all, but there will be a ton more information available in the coming weeks and months from a pair of guys that have been working with Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett. These guys have helped the likes of Elk, Badds, Axley, and many more. True one-plane swinging is not that realistic. The pictures that are on there are as close as you could basically get. From what I understand, and it is not that much, is that to be one plane, the club and your arms must start on the shoulder plane and continue on that plane the entire swing. Jake starts between the elbow plane and the shoulder plane. Wanted some input as to what you guys thought.

I attended one of Jim's seminar's in Houston last week and he described what Andy and Mike teach. From the sounds of it, is better suited for the gifted atheltes like the guys on tour, as it featues a shallow, in-to-out two plane release, offset by getting well on the left side in the downswing.

Jim's method is tough to learn but easy to execute once mastered. Getting to the pure positions isn't all that hard, if that is your objective. That is not the objective of most of Jim's tour students: they just want to play better, NOW! If they can accomodate a two-plane move without it significantly hurting their play, Jim doesn't change it. For example, several of the guys move off the ball, which isn't necessary, or desirable, in a "pure" one-plane swing; but they are good enough athletes to get away with it, so they don't spend time trying to change it.

When a player gets so hurt with a two-plane swing, like Don Pooley, that he can't play, he has no choice but to change if he wants to stay on tour. That is the reason Jake changed to the OPS as well: he sat out 1993 and most of 1994 in the broadcast booth. Late in 1994, he asked Jim to teach him the OPS, and he was out on tour, winning, within months. He still has some two-plane moves, but Jim's atttitude is "who cares?" He never said that Peter has a perfect one-plane swing, and Peter doesn't need one to win.

golf4psu · October 26, 2006

My only though is whether it is practical to swing both the arms and the club on one plane. I am not aware of what Hardy teaches, but am aware of the teachings of Bennett and Plummer. I wish I could compare the two schools of thought.

I can say that contrary to what people may think, the weight bias is central, and not left side dominant. I think that when you compare swings of their students, they are all very close to a 'model'. Consider the swings of Elk, Axley, Scherrer, Waite, Wilson, and Badds...they are very similar. I would say that their teachings are definitely not based solely on movements that are designed for the game's elite. All golfers can benefit from less moving pieces and more solid mechanics.

Please don't get me wrong...I am not here to knock anyone else's teachings, just wonder if what we view as true actually is.

jeffy · October 26, 2006

Please don't get me wrong...I am not here to knock anyone else's teachings, just wonder if what we view as true actually is.

Don't get me wrong either; Jim likes what they have done for the most part. However, the two-plane arm release they feature is trickier, IMO, than what Jim advocates, particularly from a one-plane top of the bckswing position. We'll see if what these guys teach (which sounds similar to Tom Bertrnd's Schlee/Hogan method) has much staying power with handicap players.

BTW, in Jim's OPS, the planes of the arms and shoulders in the backswing are parallel; the arms don't get on the same plane as the shoulders until the top of the swing position. The best way to understand his method is to buy his dvd set. Whether you adopt his method or not, you'll learn a lot.

golf4psu · October 26, 2006

I am becoming aware of Hogan's method, and have fallen in love with the positioning at the top of his swing. I think that all players can get the club deeper.

If you can, please explain the two-plane arm release...not understanding that part of it. Thanks for the info. It is good to see what others think of the current teaching styles.

John

jeffy · October 26, 2006

I am becoming aware of Hogan's method, and have fallen in love with the positioning at the top of his swing. I think that all players can get the club deeper.

If you can, please explain the two-plane arm release...not understanding that part of it. Thanks for the info. It is good to see what others think of the current teaching styles.

John

John-

A "two-plane arm release" is characterized by the arms staying in front of the chest, the right elbow in front of the right hip early in the downswing. This necessitates a rapid and full rotating of the forearms in the impact zone. An extreme example is Johnny Miller. It is called a "two-plane arm release" because upright, two-planers tend to strive to keep the arms in front of the chest throughout the swing. It is also a characteristic of Mike Bender's students, who, like Mike and Andy's pupils, tend to have a one-plane backswing.

In contrast, for one-planers, Jim Hardy likes to get the arms to the side, "behind" the player in the backswing, then whip them around and past the body in the forward swing. That would be called a "one-plane arm release". Greats like Hogan, Snead, Boros and DeVincenzo released this way,as do Jim's one-plane students: Pernice, Olin Browne, McCarron, etc. Jake, a converted two-planer, needs to work on this release: he occasionally will drag the club into impact on the left arm plane, rather than throw the club around the body on the right arm plane.

Jeff