Swing Plane Aid

[NathanZ4C]

Im 31 years old have took golf back up again after around 15 years. As a junior I got down to around 20 if I remember correctly.

Ive been playing again for the last 4-5 months and whilst I am improving I feel like at times im completely losing my way with my back swing. As quick as I think im on plane and have resolved it, I lose the ability to know where on earth the club should be going.

Ive had a couple of lessons and was given some tips because I was swing too flat and I was coming too far back around my body on the take away however this caused me to sway on my back swing rather than turn from the waist.

I played 9 holes last weekend and shot 3 over. Cracked it or so I thought! Yesterday I went to the range and couldn’t hit a 7 iron to save my life. 95% of shot I was shanking violently to the right. Driver was straightish and my pitch/clip shots weren’t bad.

Im 99% sure its to do with my swing plane as I felt like id completely lost my way going back and I know that im probably thinking about this all too much.

Can anyone recommend a training aid that I can use to get me to feel where I should be going? Something I can practise with at home so it allows me to think about something else when im down the range.

Ive got a game tomorrow. So im hoping that I can get back into the grove.

 

[Foxholer]

Check with the Pro (presumably) that gave you the lessons!

Seems like quite a bit going on and he's in miles the best position to suggest a drill or 2 to help that won't cause problems elsewhere!

Well done on the solid 9 holes. However, the subsequent collapse is typical of the sort of thing that happens with Golf!

Too much thinking about swing mechanics is almost certain to cause problems. Better to 'set it, then forget it' imo!

 

[the_coach]

reading between the lines with you saying swing going back little ways 'flat' & the swing plane being a ways troublesome.

assuming posture ball position, hand position at address in reasonable shape so the angle of the club is in the position it should be so middle part of the bottom of the sole resting horizontal to the ground, there will/should be a small gap under the toe say that you could fit a small coin under, if pretty modern irons likely a small gap under the heel too.

would say couple things likely to be going on, the hands/wrists particularly the top hand on the handle (left if RH golfer) most likely is not setting in the right condition. so sounds as if the hands are rolling over some from the start of the takeaway & also the left arm losing contact with the chest wall so the connection arms & body being lost. this combination will breakaway the club both too flat & too far behind the body also the hands/wrists not setting in the right condition it will force you to try to manipulate the through swing to get some speed through the ball.

you got a mirror you can use, reflection somewheres, set up at address say with an 8i so you're looking at the dtl view & just take notice of the angle of the shaft.

imagine if you just put the butt end of another club on top of the butt end of the club in your hands so there was a straight line, that's the angle (the imagined second club shaft atop the other) that once your left arm was first horizontal to the ground that the club you'd be using should pretty much be at, so as a guide your looking to replicate the address shaft angle (assuming it's in good shape at set up)

one of the best things to come out of Aus (not counting the numerous top players) is a training aid called the 'swingyde' will help the understanding of how the lead hand/wrist should set 'thumb upwards' not thumb/hand rolled over atop the bottom hand.
another is an aid invented by the Tour Striker guy PGA Pro Martin Chuck, called 'the educator'. both good tools to help understand how the hands/wrist should 'set' going back which is key to a swing being on a good plane.

important too that the 'light' connection between the upper lead/left arm & the side of the chest wall that should be there at set up is kept as you start the takeaway, there's then some light contact top of left arm to chest as the turn continues to the top.

here's a vid that shows how the left hand/wrist movement is 'upwards' while the rights a movement backwards.
for me he gets the terminology a little ways backwards. as it's better to think of the top/left hand 'setting' upwards & the bottom/right hand 'hinging' back on itself some. but the visuals & how it's all should move is on the money.

[video=youtube_share;STA6p8J1WiE]http://youtu.be/STA6p8J1WiE[/video]

 

[NathanZ4C]

Thanks for the input. I have looked at the swingyde but wasnt 100% clear on how that will help swing plane. From what you have said it should help.

From the lesson i had (from a pro but it probably wasnt long enough to get the issue resolved) he tried to get me to push out futher away from the body and what felt like towards a 2 o clock angle from my standing position. Sadly the more i practised this the more i stopped turning, i actually had a good round having a pretty striaght up and down swing following his suggestion but i know it wasnt right because of the sway id got going on and i felt like i was coming over the top too.

I havent been able to watch the video link as its blocked at work but ill get onto that when i get home. Ive also updated my signature to show what kit im using.

 

[patricks148]

Thanks for the input. I have looked at the swingyde but wasnt 100% clear on how that will help swing plane. From what you have said it should help.

From the lesson i had (from a pro but it probably wasnt long enough to get the issue resolved) he tried to get me to push out futher away from the body and what felt like towards a 2 o clock angle from my standing position. Sadly the more i practised this the more i stopped turning, i actually had a good round having a pretty striaght up and down swing following his suggestion but i know it wasnt right because of the sway id got going on and i felt like i was coming over the top too.

I havent been able to watch the video link as its blocked at work but ill get onto that when i get home. Ive also updated my signature to show what kit im using.

A Swingyde will help if you are flat it won't cup your wrist properly. I had and a very flat swing plane and that helped me no end

 

[CMAC]

the good thing about swingyde is you take full shots (ideally half shots) but you can do full shots with it attached (not in a comp though)

 

[the_coach]

yep how the hands/wrists set & hinge, left hand motion & right hand somewhat different - how the hands sit on the handle from the get go mostly in the fingers - not high up in the palms - so both V's point mid right shoulder (RH golfer) is key, plus the arm motion being connected to the rotation of the upper body - no lateral movement to the trailside. right hip right shoulder for RH 'turn' behind don't move laterally any in the takeaway/backswing.

something else that can help as an aid to backswing plane. you imagine a straight line from target to ball that carries on straight back. takeaway keeps the arms/body turn connected imagine a laser coming out of the shaft at clubhead heel end this 'laser' so shaft would point & continue tracing a line along that ball/target line.

as hands & handle move away the angle in the back of left hand/forearm is kept as is the triangle 'space' inbetween the arms. approximately somewhere just after the hands/handle move past the right thigh, the right hand begins to soften back so 'hinge' & the left hand, so thumb. will begin to set upwards (so more points towards the sky than back behind you, kinda motion you'd make if you had a small hammer & tapping a pin into a wall in front of you , so up & down motion, you wouldn't 'turn' the hands over & be able to tap the head of the pin to knock it in straightways).

so when the left arm is first horizontal to the ground its around parallel to both that ball/target line & your toe line & the set & hinge of you hands has formed a 90º angle between the left arm & shaft.

good check point is at this left arm horizontal & parallel position a 'laser' coming out of the butt end of the handle would likewise point to the ball/target line, from here the body just turns to the top taking the arms with it, when the body/shoulders stop turning the hands/arms/club should stop & not carry on independently.

if you had that 'laser' out of the butt end as the swing continued to the top it would still point at that ball/target line as it went way back from the ball into the far distance.
then at transition the start back down to the ball, the weight goes into the lead foot first before anything else moves, head stays behind the ball as you just turn down & swing down & rotate fully through to a full balanced finish.

 

[NathanZ4C]

Thanks the coach. Something I can go and work on. Just had a few swings in the garden. Things feel ok but difficult to tell until you see the ball leaving the club

http://youtu.be/qPEpgCSHbYQ