The Swing Plan

As an instructor of the golf swing, I believe that it is my duty to help clear up one of golf’s greatest mysteries. How does the golf swing work? What are the necessary fundamentals of a solid, repeatable golf swing, a swing that is repeatable even under the most pressure filled situations?

Swinging on the correct plane is the most difficult thing to do in golf, because it is the most important thing. In fact, in my opinion, the swing plane isn’t just the most important thing, it is the only thing. That is a very strong statement to make, so let me explain.

In golf, you don’t hit the ball. The way you stand doesn’t hit the ball. The way you hold the club doesn’t hit the ball. Your swing doesn’t even hit the ball. The only thing that hits the ball is the golf club. And the only thing that influences the collision of the club and the ball is the angle in which the club is swinging into the ball.

With that being said, the golf club has to do two things when you are swinging it. It has to go up and down, and it also has to go around your body. If the club doesn’t go up enough during the back-swing, it won’t come down enough during the forward-swing to strike the ball. You will swing above the ball, missing it and the ground completely. Conversely, if the club goes up too much during the back-swing, it will come down too much during the forward-swing. The end result will be hitting too much of the ground, which will look and feel like a chopping motion. Remember the statement I made earlier though, the club also has to go around your body, so too much or not enough around with the golf club will also have a disastrous effect on the direction and trajectory of the shot.