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Swing Plane And The Golf Swing

Ben Hogan didn't invent the concept of the golf swing plane, but he definitely popularized it. Hogan credited perfecting his swing plane as a major reason for his success, basically changing him from an inconsistent shot maker and below average tour professional into the best ball striker of all time.

In Ben Hogan's book Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals Of Golf, there is a drawing of Hogan addressing a ball and there is an inclined pane of glass resting on his shoulders (his head sticks through a hole in the glass) and the inclined glass extends out and down to the ball. This pane of glass parallels the target line. The purpose of the illustration was to show the ideal path for the clubhead, and that if the clubhead were to stay in that swing plane going back, a golfer's consistency could improve greatly.

There is one problem with the drawing, however. At the top his backswing, Ben Hogan's actual swing plane was about a foot and a half below the plane illustrated in Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals Of Golf. It was not through his shoulders, as the drawing indicated.

I have no desire to go too deeply into the technicalities of swing plane here on my web site because a correct swing plane is the result of a sound golf swing and because swing plane can be a complicated matter—a plane is 2 dimensional, yet we swing in 3 dimensions (the only thing that can continually be in plane is the clubhead).

One needn't, and shouldn't, try to force the club into a swing plane. Instead, use the concept of swing plane to test your swing for faults. Film yourself hitting balls and see if your club goes back and comes down in the same swing plane. Unless you're a very good golfer, it probably won't. If it doesn't, this is a sign that your swing has problems and this might be an area that, if improved, could help you to become a better player.

Most people familiar with the concept of swing plane realize that an individual's plane gets flatter as the club shaft gets longer and more upright as the shaft gets shorter, but not many know that the golfer's actual position at the top of the backswing should remain pretty much the same, regardless of what club is being used. Below I appeal to your artistic sense with my exquisite armless stick drawings. The one on the right is the way it should be.

Teaching Hogan fundamentals, which I do, is an uphill battle when it comes to swing plane. The upright swing has been popular for so long that it's hard to find a golfer who doesn't think upright is right, even though Hogan, with about the flattest plane you of any professional golfer, was the best ball striker of all time. The upright swing plane is wrong! By this I mean it tends to lead to many serious swing faults, but a golfer with great coordination who can practice a lot can make it work with compensating movements.

Obviously, there has been plenty of good golf played by professionals with upright swings. My point is, tour players with upright swing planes would be even better (more consistent) if they would swing the club back and down in more of the same swing plane. The problem is that an upright backswing plane requires a golfer to manipulate the club into the correct (flatter) plane on the forward swing. This manipulation, or correction, requires timing and coordination, which has consequences regarding consistency, and no one can have perfect timing all the time.

For tour players who practice and play every day, the penalty to consistency is relatively small on a shot to shot basis, but considered over the course of a career, it could add up to a significant number of wins and a lot of money! As for amateurs manipulating an upright swing plane into a correct forward swing plane, the point is moot because so few can make it happen.

Below is an illustration of a golfer taking the club back in a backswing plane that is too upright and having to shift to a flatter plane for the forward swing.

When Tiger Woods first came on tour, I hated to see him win tournaments because his backswing was terrible for someone who could play so well. It was too closed and too upright and, of course, everyone was going to try and copy his swing. When he saw film of his swing after running away with the Masters by 12 strokes in 1997, he realized his backswing was UGLY and decided to improve it. The changes he made basically resulted in a flatter and more correct backswing plane in which he now goes back in a plane that is much closer to his forward swing plane. A year and a half after initiating the changes, and after finally getting used to them, Tiger came back to thoroughly dominate a PGA Tour that no one thought could be dominated.

There are three points to my mentioning Tiger Woods' experience 1) Tiger improved tremendously by flattening his swing plane, getting much closer to his ideal plane (ideally, where the club goes back in the same plane as it comes down—no manipulation necessary), 2) It takes time to make improvements to a golf swing—if you want to improve, develop a multi-year plan, not a multi-week plan, and stick with it no matter how badly you play, 3) If even the best golfer in the world can improve his swing and get significant results, think what you can do.

Tiger still has some other swing faults to deal with, but improving his swing plane was very important! If only other tour players would realize how important Ben Hogan's golf swing contributions are—Tiger's swing changes and the resulting successes are pretty strong proof!

Next Page—The One Plane Swing Is Not Ben Hogan's Swing

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