Proper Swing Plane

Step 1: Layin The Club Off

On my front leg. Now first thing I’m going to show is what better players have a tendency to do. Better players have a tendency to want to get the club very much inside and to get really quickly inside and then they start to do what’s called ‘lay the club off’.

Step 2: Being Too Laid Off

Now if you notice here, you can see that little laser just beyond the mat there. That means it’s on the other side of the line; that’s not a good thing. So if I get very laid off, I’m going to have a tendency to get the stuffed stuck behind myself. And when I get stuffed behind myself, as I start back down, I’m outside that line now which means my club head is not going to want to come from the inside. If my club head comes from the inside, I have to drop it very quickly and I’m never going to be able to close it fast enough.

Step 3: Pushing And Pulling The Ball

And it’s way ahead out of me, which means it’s going to be what’s called a ‘push’. So when a better player ends up pushing the ball that’s what he does. Now if he doest what’s called ‘pulling the ball’, he’ll do this. He’ll get very much inside; the club is outside the line, it’s very laid off. He’ll get stuffed behind himself, he’ll clear his hips and get over the top and then outside the line and then straight down inside. He’s trying to get the club back inside struggling, and the ball gets pushed to the left.

Step 4: Being 'Handsy'

So these are two things that better players do. Now here’s what not as good players do; they have a tendency to get very ‘handsy’ on the take away. So when they get very ‘handsy’, the club again gets outside or they’ll try to lift it straight up now, now the club’s very much inside the line.

Step 5: Starting Back

Now whereas they start back instead of turning their hips, clearing their hips to get into the downswing, they’ll start down with their arms and the butt of the club will get very steep and inside the line and then that throws the head outside the line. Now they try to hold it off, they don’t let it release. And that’s what we talked about, the proper release drill. We have videos on that also, and you’ll want to check those out because that’ll help you there.

Step 6: Slicing The Ball

The club gets well out ahead of them, their body is still hanging back and the ball slices and goes to the right. That’s another thing that we don’t want to have happen. So, this is what we want to have happen; we want to keep that butt of that club still pointing at that belt loop as we get half way back, and that shaft is going to point at that target line.

Step 7: The Teaching Device

So here we have another special device, and what we did was; this is something that I put together for my students so they can get a greater understanding on how this works. I use this in a lot of lessons and I also use this:
Students like to purchase this for the fact that this is something that I put together because I’m also a custom club builder. So what I did was I took a shaft and I added two grips to it, I put one of these lasers at either end. Now they can see where the shaft is going as it goes down the line.

Step 8: The Teaching Device In Practise

So if we set up here, that shaft is going to want to go straight down that line. I can still take that thing down that line with just my hands, so if I get ‘handsy’, that’s where it is. But lucky if I caught where that laser is, it’s really inside. So what I want to do is I want to turn away with this, it’s a shoulder turning as if I was shaking hands with my neighbor, I’m going to turn away and that butt is pointing still, right there. You can see it on my hand; right at that belt loop. Now all I have to do is cock my wrist and it goes right down the line. That’s a beautiful thing, and notice also too the flying elbow n