The Vertical Plane
The vertical plan as it relates to the golf swing.
THE VERTICAL PLANE
Welcome to our blog golf lesson titled, The Vertical Plane. Following Wednesday's lesson concerning the core, or horizontal plane, this one, the vertical, literally connects the two. This is why one lesson does not usually do the trick; players must create a strong horizontal plane, the turn, combined with a good vertical plane with which to coordinate. ALL GOOD GOLFERS implement a good turn of the core and have a consistent vertical swing of the arms & hands, shoulders, chest and club.
Whether instructing at Taberna Country Club or The Golf Place simulators, I start with a review of pre swing set up and routine which I will address in another lesson, then move directly on to horizontal, and once that is in place, the vertical.
In a strong, backswing, our shoulders turn until we coil our upper back. From the right handed golfer's perspective that usually means we see and feel our left shoulder under our chin. If you've ever heard of The X Factor, it is achieved when the shoulder turn goes well beyond our hip turn, thereby creating the tension and coil we seek while forming an X between the hip and shoulder lines. It's simple to do, but requires a little repetition so to stretch out the shoulder muscle extension. This is a great way to gain distance.
High level golfers often feel this vertical move, also called the ferris wheel or windmill, is the essence of the backswing, and the turn of the core, the merry go round, as the driving force which carries the vertical, (golf club), to the target with coordination, force and balance.
If viewed in pieces, the pre swing is seen as piece 1, which requires no athletic ability, only the effort to follow the procedure of good grip, proper alignment, solid stance and consistent ball positioning within that stance. Piece one will be our next blog topic. Piece two is the vertical coil and piece three is the core delivery of the swing. Pretty simple when viewed in 3 stages, right?!
New lesson bookings at The Golf Place are currently paused.
Keep reading
Release
When golfers speak of release during a golf shot, they normally mean one of two moves: either release of hands or transition of weight and uncoiling of…
Swing plane
Many golfers do not really understand swing plane. I am not going to explain what swing plane is in this blog, but I am going to address what it is…
Up, Down, Up, Up!
In terms of swing thoughts, this may be a good one: Up, Down, Up, Up. When the shoulders turn and arms go up on the backswing, that is up one. Down…