D-Plane

[Region3]

I've just watched the D-Plane video (linked to on the 'Influential Instructors' thread), and apart from my first 37 thoughts of "ffs man, get on with it" I have 2 questions.

Not saying I'm going to try any of this, but I'm just trying to understand.

If I'm lined up perfectly with my target line, how can I ever hit a ball that starts at my target and stays straight?

If I aim slightly left to allow for hitting the ball before the bottom of the arc while the club is moving in to out, do I have to alter my grip or manipulate the clubhead any differently than I do now, or will my standard grip and swing have the face square to the swingpath wherever it contacts the ball?

 

[fundy]

I watched that vid, had a read of some of the stuff on his own website and his forum, left myself more confused than when I started. Gonna have another watch tomorrow and hopefully will all become clearer lol.

 

[JustOne]

I've just watched the D-Plane video (linked to on the 'Influential Instructors' thread), and apart from my first 37 thoughts of "ffs man, get on with it" I have 2 questions.

Not saying I'm going to try any of this, but I'm just trying to understand.

If I'm lined up perfectly with my target line, how can I ever hit a ball that starts at my target and stays straight?

If I aim slightly left to allow for hitting the ball before the bottom of the arc while the club is moving in to out, do I have to alter my grip or manipulate the clubhead any differently than I do now, or will my standard grip and swing have the face square to the swingpath wherever it contacts the ball?

You can't if you are striking down on the ball as you'd need to make an adjustment which is why you can categorically state that the clubface doesn't need to be square at impact. If you are lined up perfectly square at the target it's a one in a million shot a bit like a magic bullet, not only would your clubface need to be square but your swing plane would also have to be spot on to the 0th degree (called zero'ing out) and your swingpath, and you'd have to hit it perfectly with 0 degrees of downswing/upswing angle aswell.... then there's the question of whether or not you really were even perfectly aligned in the first place????!!!... and could you repeat it?

So to try for any of those things is futile, certainly to try for all of them at the same time, so what you do is opt for the swing that's going to get you as RELIABLY close to that as possible that you can repeat time after time.... relibable impact, ball flight and direction... did you ever hear of stack and tilt? LOLOLOL


Research (eg:the D-plane) shows that when you hit the ball descending on an angled plane the clubface will be open, so if you don't want to hit a draw (or even a straight push right) you have to stand a little open to compensate for the downward strike.... but you still have to realise that that will only work if your swing plane and path is PERFECT or zero'd out, if it's not and even out by a single degree then you are still going to impart some spin on the ball and get either a draw/fade flight.

It's like talking about finding a needle in a haystack, everything has to be perfect... and golf isn't a game of perfects

To answer the last part of your question, if we assume that your clubface is arriving at the ball 5° open then you'd have to align yourself 5° to the left to cancel that out... but that's not taking into consideration what your swingplane/path is currently doing. If you currently hit a 10yd draw because you are swinging 14° from the inside and just aim left then you are just going to hit the same 10yd draw.. only a bit further left

The range is where you go to experiment, better still if you have trackman with you!!!

The best way to play the game is by first learning how to hit the ball properly with a repeatable swing that goes a good distance THEN you look at the ball flight you are getting and make necessary adjustments. It doesn't matter if you stand 45° open with a grip like a gorilla, if the ball goes where you want it to every time you'll win all the majors if you can putt

This is the order...

Good strike - Good distance - Control the ball

I know it all sounds like waffle, lots of people from the forum have seen me carve shite loads of balls into the trees, I've duffed shots and thinned a few, occasionally I snap hook some into the trees pretty sharpish too but I'm not the kind of person who can be bothered to practice at all, no chipping, no irons, no putting and no driving range. Can't remember the last time I slogged my way through an entire bucket of balls with my driver and fired them all over the back fence of the range, maybe 18months ago? maybe more, but I do know what I'm SUPPOSED to be doing so please don't make assumptions just because you've seen me hit a ball... I don't play too bad considering... AND I also have a bad wrist don't ya know!

 

[Tiger]

James thanks for the essay!!! Good strike? Check. Good distance? Check. Control the ball? Feck!

Bloody out-to-in swing path!!!!!!! I'll be back at the range on Thursday trying to improve it. But what has helped is further confirmation that I will have a natural ball flight and I need to accept it and work with it rather than trying to eradicate it. I would prefer to have a draw though

 

[robbest3offthetee]

I've just watched the D-Plane video (linked to on the 'Influential Instructors' thread), and apart from my first 37 thoughts of "ffs man, get on with it" I have 2 questions.

Not saying I'm going to try any of this, but I'm just trying to understand.

If I'm lined up perfectly with my target line, how can I ever hit a ball that starts at my target and stays straight?

If I aim slightly left to allow for hitting the ball before the bottom of the arc while the club is moving in to out, do I have to alter my grip or manipulate the clubhead any differently than I do now, or will my standard grip and swing have the face square to the swingpath wherever it contacts the ball?

I thought this was about FANTASY ISLAND....

 

[Region3]

You can't if you are striking down on the ball as you'd need to make an adjustment which is why you can categorically state that the clubface doesn't need to be square at impact. If you are lined up perfectly square at the target it's a one in a million shot a bit like a magic bullet, not only would your clubface need to be square but your swing plane would also have to be spot on to the 0th degree (called zero'ing out) and your swingpath, and you'd have to hit it perfectly with 0 degrees of downswing/upswing angle aswell.... then there's the question of whether or not you really were even perfectly aligned in the first place????!!!... and could you repeat it?

So many questions, but I don't want anything to get missed or glossed over so I'll just ask one for now.

Every single shot I play, I try to line up to the target and I try to hit the ball straight. It works more than one in a million times. I know I'm hitting down on the ball because I take divots with every shot.
Are you saying I'm either not lined up straight, or not swinging where I think I am, or that a 1yd fade or draw does not qualify as 'straight' even though you can't tell if it's spin on the ball or wind?

I lied. Question 2

Doesn't the fact that the shoulders are open at impact mean his D-Plane board needs to be moved to the left even more than the swing is in-to-out?

 

[RGDave]

I'm ignoring all this. I'm going to stick to the tried and tested Dave-plane swing.
It's dodgy, but hey, as Forrest Gump says "Golf (shots) are like a bowl of chock-oh-lates"

 

[Region3]

I hate reading (or seeing) something and not understanding it.

Just seeing where it goes.

 

[bobmac]

I hate reading (or seeing) something and not understanding it.

Don't read the "Golfing Machine" then

 

[Region3]

I hate reading (or seeing) something and not understanding it.

Don't read the "Golfing Machine" then

I hope it's a really complicated book or I'll be starting my own list

 

[JustOne]

Are you saying I'm either not lined up straight, or not swinging where I think I am, or that a 1yd fade or draw does not qualify as 'straight' even though you can't tell if it's spin on the ball or wind?

If the ball is going straight and you are happy with it then does it matter whether you are lined up straight or you are really hitting a 1yd fade?

D plane will simply help people to understand what makes the ball go where it does. It's hard to measure whether or not your swing plane is bang on line with the naked eye or whether it is 2° out, only trackman can do this, but having some understanding can help.... some people are still trying to hit push-draws by closing their stance and aiming the clubface at the target

Doesn't the fact that the shoulders are open at impact mean his D-Plane board needs to be moved to the left even more than the swing is in-to-out?

Are the shoulders really open or are they rotated thus delivering the club on the correct path/plane?

 

[Region3]

If the ball is going straight and you are happy with it then does it matter whether you are lined up straight or you are really hitting a 1yd fade?

It's matters not one jot. I'm just trying to understand his theory.

some people are still trying to hit push-draws by closing their stance and aiming the clubface at the target

I'm going to disagree just a little bit

They're not trying to hit a push-draw, they're trying to start the ball right of their intended target and have it move left.

As such, your description of how they're trying to achieve it will work to a degree.

If the only thing that affects ball flight is where the club is pointing at impact, and the path the club is on at impact. As such, it doesn't really matter where the player thinks they're aiming or where their feet are pointing.

Most amateurs will find it easier to aim right and swing normally than aim straight and swing deliberately in to out.

 

[JustOne]

If the only thing that affects ball flight is where the club is pointing at impact, and the path the club is on at impact. As such, it doesn't really matter where the player thinks they're aiming or where their feet are pointing.

That is correct. As long as they deliver the club head into the ball in such a way that it goes in the direction they want, with the correct distance then they have it nailed, provided it's repeatable.