Swing Plane ~ Player of the Month

Anybody who has ever played golf knows about the swing plane, however, most talk about the effects of going ‘over the top’ of the plane.  This undoubtedly leads to slices and pulls, which is why it is such a popular topic!  Often we will find that the better players may tend to have the opposite problem, going to far under the plane.  This will cause a player to hit bog hooks and big blocks… many of you may remember when Tiger used to talk about ‘getting stuck’ which is another part this problem.

When it comes to shot shape, the ball will always start about where the club face is pointed, to the tune of about 80% for irons and 95% for drivers.  The shape of the shot (draw or fade) is then created by the club’s path.  A club path to the right of the face will cause the ball to move to the left, and a path to the left of the face will cause the ball to move to the right.  Please understand that the club’s angle of attack can adjust this, however, for these purposes we’ll assume an attack that is level.

When we first began working with our Player of the Month, Mike Haney, his club path was from the extreme inside out, or to the right of the target.  This cause the ball to be forced have a large hook to it.  Any shot that has a lot of side to side movement will be difficult to control.  In Mike’s case, it forced the ball to have a large hook just to get back to the target.  If he got a little to far in front of the club, the ball was blocked right and if he was too far behind it, a snap hook would result.
Mike jumped in head first when we showed him the Stick Drill which helped him determine the correct club head path.  The resultant shot now starts only a few paces right of target with a baby draw.  Now even the once elusive fade is a staple in Mike Haney’s repertoire!