LESSON 9 THE SWING PLANE AND THE BODY (Part 1)

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Barry Edwards
5 years ago
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1 LESSON 9 THE SWING PLANE AND THE BODY (Part 1) A BLOW IN PLANE FACE ON. In our very first lesson we understood the principle of striking a fence post with a hammer; we could make a glancing blow, but the most powerful and accurate blow directly down the post was the one in plane. By placing the post on the ball to target line it is possible to use our golf swing to drive the post towards the target. Back in 1997, I devised this visual aid for an article in Golf Monthly magazine. There are seven pegs with a golf ball glued to the ends; the idea is to imagine driving the pegs into the wall using a golf club to deliver the horizontal blow. You might also notice that the pegs are different colours, the same colours used by Ping to colour code the Lie of their irons. Here is the colour of those different pegs; 1. GOLD 3 degrees flat. 2. ORANGE 2 degrees flat. 3. RED - 1 degree flat. 4. BLACK STANDARD LIE 5. BLUE 1 degree upright 6. GREEN 2 degrees upright 7. WHITE 3 degrees upright The PING company have gone on to add even more choice of lies in recent years, but you can clearly see the principle of the colour code of each peg relating to the exact height of the golfer s upper sternum. Every PING iron has a coloured dot in the cavity back to denote the lie of the iron. I happen to be 5 9 tall and with fairly regular proportions; this means that I use Standard length and lie of golf clubs. Consequently, I measure up to the Black peg on the rack which is the middle one of the seven. Now I swing the club back behind me in a horizontal swing plane the club head should stay within that plane at all times. Notice how the butt of the club starts off well below that plane at Address, but rises to meet the horizontal plane during the backswing. For example, Ian Woosnam, at 5 4 tall would measure off against the Gold peg which is level with his upper sternum. However, a tall man like Nick Faldo, at 6 4, would measure up to the White peg to swing in his horizontal swing plane. The common denominator, for each of the three different heights of our upper sternums, is that the horizontal swing plane represents the most powerful coiling action whilst delivering the most accurate blow against the coloured pegs. A BLOW IN PLANE DOWN THE LINE. Here I am demonstrating the swing in the Horizontal plane with my 6-iron, but this time viewed down the line. By leaning forward from the hips I can address the golf ball on the floor: how far I lean is determined by the height of my upper sternum and the length of my arms and club combined. By flexing my knees quite a lot, I can drop down to mimic someone of Ian Woosnam s height. Again, having swung the club in the horizontal plane, I lean forward to address the golf ball at floor level. As you can see, I don t have very far to lean.

2 So if you draw a line from the golf ball through my upper sternum, we can see that is in a much flatter plane than the one I made earlier. Because my 6-iron is a standard lie, the toe of the club is off the ground at Address; this means that we would need to bend the neck of the iron to flatten the lie of the club to suit Ian s flatter swing plane. Now, at the other end of the spectrum, a tall man like Nick Faldo will measure off to the White peg at chest level; he would have to lean forward the most to incline his swing plane at the correct angle for his 6-iron. Here is an image of Faldo s address posture and another at the top of his Backswing. In my opinion, in the years that David Leadbetter coached Faldo to great success, Nick tended to sit back a little at Address as shown in Pic.1. His slightly soft spinal angle rectified as he created his Backswing coil; note in Pic.2. how beautifully in line he is from the top of his head to his tail bone. FALDO ADDRESS FALDO TOP OF BACKSWING Pic.1. Pic.2. To summarise; the primary factor that determines a golfer s Swing Plane is the height of their body, but in particular the height of the Upper Sternum. Tall people lean forward from the hips the most and utilise an upright swing plane short people lean forward much less to swing in a Flat plane. In broad terms, someone 5 9 being of average height would swing somewhere between those two extremes with a standard or regular plane. THE SWING PLANE ALTERS DUE TO PROPORTIONS OF THE BODY. Imagine me setting up to a 6-iron, but with the ability to vary my body proportions: Longer arms would flatten my Optimum Biomechanical Swing Plane. Longer legs would steepen my OBSP. Shorter arms would steepen my OBSP. Shorter legs would flatten my OBSP. The wonderfully simple thing about the Optimum Biomechanical Swing Plane is that irrespective of the varying height and proportions of golfers bodies, the OBSP always runs from the ball, up to & through, the top of the sternum. The angle of the OBSP will take into account the height and proportion of the body AND the length of the club in use. In practice, all you have to do is make your most powerful shoulder coil in the backswing from good posture to automatically find your OBSP.

3 LESSON 9 THE SWING PLANE AND THE BODY (Part 2) THE LENGTH OF THE GOLF CLUB ALTERS THE SWING PLANE. Many amateur golfers do no not realise that their golf swing needs to alter in sympathy with the length of club being swung. There is a very significant difference between the swing planes required for the Driver compared to that of a Wedge. The shafts of the varying clubs are like the spokes of a wheel the long Driver shaft will turn on a flattish plane, the 6-iron on a steeper plane and the Sand iron on the steepest plane. The club maker adjusts the lie of every club according to the length of the shaft; you might think that the Butt of every club would therefore be at the same height at Address but, you would be wrong. The butt of the Driver shaft sits highest and the butt of the Wedge sits the lowest! The reason is because we lean forward the least with our Drivers, and then increase that lean as the shaft becomes shorter. So, our hands are highest at Address with the Driver and lowest at Address with the Wedge: the rest of the clubs are calibrated to evenly fill the gap between those two extremes. COMPARING THE SWING PLANE FOR DRIVER, 6-IRON & WEDGE. Using my Post and Pegs viewed from down the line I can measure off to the black peg which is exactly at the height of my upper sternum. With the long shaft of the Driver, I am furthest from the peg I do not have very far to lean forward to address the ball on the ground. It stands to reason that my Optimum Biomechanical Swing Plane is going to be at its flattest when I swing the Driver for real. Then, with the shorter 6-iron, I move nearer to the peg at chest level; I now have to tip forward more to address the ball at floor level. Finally, the same exercise with the Sand Wedge moves me nearer again to the ball at chest level; I will lean forward the most to meet the ball on the floor the resulting swing will now be in the steepest, most upright swing plane of all. We should all be clear that the primary cause of our Swing Plane is the height of our upper sternum the secondary cause is the length of the club. REMEMBER TIPPING FROM THE HIP TO BUILD THE GRIP? In our earliest lessons we learnt to build our address around the club in use; we understood that the lie and length of the club determined three things: The HEIGHT of our HANDS from the ground. The DISTANCE our HANDS, ARMS & SHOULDERS are from the ball. The ANGLE of our SPINE. This third factor is vital in preparing our bodies to swing in the ideal plane ; it is almost impossible to swing properly with poor spinal posture. Remember: Tip from the Hip to Build your Grip and You ll be Fine when your Spine s In Line! Having understood the importance of correct posture and its relationship with the club itself, it confirms the absolute necessity to have clubs that are the correct lie for your physique. PLEASE, Mums & Dads make sure that your PGA Professional adjusts your child s irons on a yearly basis to adapt to their growth curve. I believe that the lie of a set of irons is the single most important and influential factor of a golfer s swing plane get them checked!

4 LESSON 9 THE SWING PLANE AND THE BODY (Part 3) THE OPTIMUM BIOMECHANICAL SWING PLANE. In golf, it is possible to hit shots with an Open face, or a Closed face at impact; between those two lies the ideal of a Square face. Now it s not possible to consistently use a Square face but it is a point of reference. Similarly, a golfer can swing too Flat or too Upright ; that begs the question what lies between those two extremes? The answer is the Optimum Biomechanical Swing Plane. Again, it is not humanly possible to swing exactly on the optimum swing plane, but, it is a very important point of reference. By understanding the OBSP we can understand what happens to our bodies and club when we make swings or hit shots. Certain things happen when we swing above or below the OBSP; understanding those effects, helps us as Teachers, to make corrections and improvements. Back in 1957 Mr. Hogan gave us this wonderful image of the Swing Plane in his renowned book, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf. I believe it was, and is, a great representation of the principle of the golfer s Swing Plane. I believe that the pane of glass in the picture is resting on Hogan s shoulders, whereas the OBSP is just 2 or 3 inches lower, aligned through the upper sternum. I m not saying that there is only one way to swing the club! What I am saying is that the OBSP is a constant point of reference but will adapt hugely according to the height of the golfer and the club in use. OBSP with a Driver in a Horizontal Plane. If I measure off with the Driver at chest level, I can show that my most effective coil is when my left shoulder fits into the slot against my throat. Notice how the club head naturally rolls as it remains in the constant plane aligned through the post. When this happens, the Forearms rotate through 90 degrees and the wrists hinge to achieve 90 degrees. When I rotate and coil in this ideal plane, the cocktail of Shoulders, Forearms and Wrists are blended into one smooth movement. It s a mix of 25% Wrists, 25% Forearms and 50% Shoulders. Magically, the most powerful rotation coincides with the most accurate movement when you use the OBSP, POWER and ACCURACY live together.

5 SWINGING BELOW THE OBSP. If one swings below the OBSP you would be in a flatter than ideal plane. It is almost certain that your Forearms will over rotate and your wrist hinge will lessen; the swing path will now be In to Out and deliver an ascending blow from low to high. SWINGING ABOVE THE OBSP. Should you swing above the OBSP, the swing plane is too upright. It is likely that your forearms will not rotate fully and the wrist hinge would tend to be more active; this swing path will be from Out to In, causing a blow from high to low. Q. WHY HAVE I DEALT WITH THE TECHNICAL SUBJECT OF SWING PLANE. On the course, the last thing you should be worrying about is your Swing Plane! You don t have to be a great cyclist to know that ideal balance is vertical or perpendicular, yet as you ride your bicycle you will wobble in and out of balance. The swing plane is just the same an invisible point of reference. By discussing it and understanding it, we can make sense of many things: 1. The Swing Plane alters with your height. 2. The Swing Plane changes with the club. 3. Your clubs need to be adjusted to your physique from Day One! 4. The OBSP helps us analyse your swing movement and shot pattern. 5. It s very simple draw a line from the ball, to & through the upper sternum! 6. When you watch swing analysis on T.V. you ll know if they know their stuff. So, keep it simple. Set-up superbly, create your most powerful backswing and Hit the Shot the Swing Plane s for free as well!

RORY MCILROY DRIVER SWING SEQUENCE Copyright LUTHER BLACKLOCK 2012

RORY MCILROY DRIVER SWING SEQUENCE Copyright LUTHER BLACKLOCK 2012 ALL PHOTOGRAPHS COPYRIGHT MARK NEWCOMBE Rory McIlroy s golf swing is one of the most remarkable of modern times; his shot making ability