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The One Plane Golf Swing Is Not Ben Hogan's Golf Swing

Instructor Jim Hardy and his book The Plane Truth For Golfers is possibly one reason the "one plane golf swing" concept has increased in popularity. The fact that great players such as Tiger, VJ, Nicklaus, and many other tour players have worked to flatten their swings gives credibility to the movement. Personally, I have mixed feelings about the new found popularity of the one plane golf swing. On the plus side, it will hopefully generate more interest in Ben Hogan's golf swing fundamentals, which is such a very specific form of one plane swing that I don't consider it to be part of the current one plane swing movement. On the negative side, I believe the way it's being taught doesn't make it any better than the upright swing model, even though the potential is there.

Of course, there have been many great players that have used an upright swing, but this type of swing isn't the best swing available to a good player. The problem is that an upright swing requires at least a fair amount of manipulation from the hands and arms because it isn't the most biomechanically sound movement. In other words, the club gets out of position and correcting movements have to be made in order to have a chance to hit a good shot. Sometimes the attempted correction is successful, sometimes it isn't. When manipulation is required to make a golf swing work, the swing is very dependent on timing, which is bad for consistency, and is bad because the swing tends to fall apart under pressure.

The one plane swing (excluding Ben Hogan's swing) also requires manipulation, possibly even more than the upright swing, depending on how the player applies the concepts. Not only that, there is the slight possibility that a golfer attempting to swing with the one plane concept can get into positions from which hitting a good shot is almost impossible no matter how much manipulation is applied.

Using one plane swing concepts will not teach anyone to swing like Ben Hogan even though Hogan's swing was technically a one plane swing. The reason is that the Hogan swing was different from current one plane swing concepts. If you've read Ben Hogan's Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals Of Golf, then you might recall that Ben Hogan's emphasis for the backswing was swing plane, but when it came to the forward swing, Hogan very briefly mentioned forward swing plane and then wrote that focusing on the forward swing plane would not help the golfer as would focusing on the backswing plane.

I am convinced that the Hogan swing is the ultimate in golf swing fundamentals becasue it requires little to no manipulation, but the one plane swing concept is also possibly a better option than the upright swing model. Again, the problem with the one plane swing (not Hogan's swing) is that it still requires manipulation and there is the possibility that some serious problems can develop. Ben Hogan's swing didn't have manipulation, which explains his tremendous ball striking capability, and this is why I am not a fan of the one plane swing concept.

On another, but related note, I find it ironic that golf commentators are now calling the flatter swing the "modern swing", probably because Tiger and a number of other tour players have been changing their swings in this direction, yet Ben Hogan used this swing (again, a very specific version) to awe inspiring effect over fifty years ago!

Next Page—Ben Hogan's Golf Swing Fundamentals

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