Path/Plane Assistance
 

Howdy Everyone,

The last month has served as my introduction to learning "The Golfing Machine". Although I know my basics (such as the three imperatives/essentials, hinge actions, flying wedges, etc.), I am having difficulty analysing my own pattern/stroke/swing and identifying mechanical faults. I was hoping you guys could provide assistance.

Before I describe the issues I am experiencing, I feel that I should provide a summary of my situation. I am 25 years old, 6'4", have above average athletic ability (based on other sports, not necessarily golf), and currently play off a 3.7 handicap (although, I haven't played much golf in the last three years). My goal is to progress as far as my abilities will allow.

The current issues I have with my pattern/stroke/swing revolve around consistency. I am satisfied with the distance that I strike the golf ball (although, who is going to say no to more distance?), so I would really like to focus on increasing accuracy and decreasing the severity of my misses.

My current pattern/stroke/swing can be seen on my YouTube channel posted below. I will try to upload additional videos with various angles (including down-the-line) in the near future.

www.youtube.com/cummib

My misses are primarily pulls with the divots pointing left (i.e. out-to-in path) and I appear to have an over-the-top move at the start of the downswing. I make an effort to exaggerate the in-to-out path on the downswing, but the results can be inconsistent and it feels more like a compensation than a solution. I have a feeling that my pivot may be the root cause, but I'm sure you TGM gurus will know better than me.

Any help will be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!

plane-stance lines
 

Lay plane and stance lines (dowels?).
Trace and look, look, look

The Bear

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

I am slightly confused on the correct way to trace the plane base line. I know that the right forearm and right forefinger are meant to point at the plane base line, but are they meant to point at it whilst moving in an arc or should it feel like it is moving in a straight line? I watched the video lesson that Lynn did with Colin, but am still unclear.

Great looking stuff in that golf swing! A couple of things . . . if your ball is starting LEFT it's because of the FACE. You may not be over the top . . . you could just have the face rotating too fast or just not open enough. Do you hit pull hooks or pull slices?

To your question on plane . . . your arc is going to be more acute (sharper) depending on the plane angle you select if you imagine your hand covering a line on the ground. Ideally you'd like to stay on the same arc the whole time back and through. The steeper the plane angle the more close the "arc" or "line" will be closer to "straight" back.

Your head stays centered nice got super lag . . . Sounds like you need to get your concepts right on why the ball flies as it does. The ball for the most part is going to START OUT WHERE THE FACE IS LOOKING AND CURVE AWAY FROM THE PATH. The face is generally worth about 85% of the start line NOT THE PATH.

Hard to say without a down the line but it looks like you could "use the ground" LONGER . . . try to move your pivot longer where you feel like you're going to hit pushes. Keep the pivot going and it will keep the face from rolling as fast. Good swing.

Nice swing.

Id agree with Buckets suggestions and would add that if your divots are pointing left then you do need to fix your club head path too. Research "Startdown Waggles".

Since golf is played on an Inclined Plane the clubhead does move in to out as it approaches the ball! This will produce the straight divot! (which actually has a little arc to it) Trying to hold the clubheads path in a straight line is "Steering" and non planar. Keep swinging out till your divots go straight.

Get into 2-C-0 until you understand the correct impact geometry and the difference between it and all three forms of Steering. Much of the book will open up for you after you get the correct impact geometry sorted out.

Just for fun, what are the results if you start your swing...
 

...from the Impact Fix position? Since impact is the test and the ball is a blabbermouth, maybe starting from Impact Fix would reveal the need for a longer pivot before release or too much head movement, or ball position adjustments, or too quick of a Flying Wedge (your hands) release? When I started using the Impact Fix position, I was able to reverse engineer a lot of insights. My hcp. is still a 15 so I'm not saying I know your solution but TGM gives a person a lot of perspectives to examine and the Impact Fix idea has given me lots of new ideas and insights.

Welcome.

Patrick

Thank you all for replying, I really appreciate it.

I may be misunderstanding this matter (so correct me if I'm wrong), but if the ball is starting left due to a closed club-face only, shouldn't the divot still be pointing straight along the target line? Due to all my divots pointing left of the target line on my misses, I just assumed it was a path/plane issue. I generally hit pull hooks but occasionally hit pull slices as well.

That makes perfect sense, thank you.

Should I research the D-Plane more (if this is what you're referring to)?

I will try to get some more video (with face-on and down-the-line angles) uploaded tonight.

I agree in regards to the pivot. However, I don't know how to execute it correctly. I have tried the drills in "Alignment Golf" but it hasn't worked for me. This was my downfall whilst trying "Stack and Tilt" as well, as I was unable to slide my hips laterally.

I will look into it, thanks.

This has been my main effort (consciously swinging in-to-out) since I am unable to execute the pivot correctly. At times it feels like I am swinging out 45 degrees. However, would this be considered a compensation or is it a feeling that is making me perform the mechanics correctly?

I'll also look in this, thanks.

"Impact Fix" confuses me slightly. Is it just to create a feeling of impact before playing the shot or is there more to it?

OK, got it, thanks!

I've uploaded another video to YouTube (www.youtube.com/cummib) which contains several swings from today with different angles. The only thing that I worked on was the clockwise rotation (i.e. turning) of the right forearm on the take-away. Everything else is what naturally feels comfortable. The divots still point slightly to the left.

Your right, divots right down your plane line. 2 choices. Fix it or compensate. Get some plane lines and stance lines on the ground and start small and slow. Maybe an AI will make it easier.

The Bear

The beginning and the end
 

Hop on Youtube and look at a few professional golfers - I randomly looked at Charlie Hoffman, Charles Howell, and Ryo.

You are definitely coming over the top at the start down and that means the hips don't need to slide forward as much on the downswing. The end result is this: In your finish position your butt is back - hasn't moved forward as much it should have. From the face on perspective, if you trace the right leg from the foot up - you see a nice curve until you get to the waist and then the curve stops and as you continue to trace - the line moves towards the target. Look at pro players on youtube and notice from right foot through the upper body it's one big consistent curve. That's because the hips end up closer to the target - because they had to slide more during the start down - for the right elbow to clear the hips - since they are on plane starting down - instead of you going off plane and the right elbow going around the right hip.

Tip #1 - understand where you need/want to finish. That will influence the entire movement.

Tip #2 You may notice that same lower body upper body "kink" when you look at your set-up - can you see how the lower body is straight up and down or leaning back and the upper body is leaning forward? Hips need to move forward a touch at address/ impact fix - that'll be a nice reminder for you.

That's a start - you'll need to fill in the gaps (get rid of the other unseen items that make your current movement work) to make it all work together.

Besides the swing - at your level it's important you play with better players, improve your course management, and most importantly begin to move away from what got you to where you are today - that is - consistency of movement. You now need to become the artist - where every shot is different, every swing is different - based on the shot at hand. By that I mean, you are hitting it low into the wind, right to left high and low when the shot calls for it, left to right high and low when the shot calls for it - all of those may require different grips, grip pressure, etc. etc. depending on what feels right for you. You have to be willing to "let go" initially, since you won't have the confidence doing that on the course compared to "one swing". Maybe you are not at that level yet - but it's an important aspect of getting to the next level when the time is right.

You see - a key aspect of movement is about one predicting the future - making assumptions - based on previous experiences. That makes Memory a tool for predicting the future. The more you can diversify, i.e. enlarge your experiences - the more you expand your memories - and the better you become about predicting the future - the better control you have over your movement and movement predictions.