Golf Swing Plane - Understanding the Concept Will Certainly Benefit Your Golf Swing

There are many swing keys to focus on when discussing correct golf swing mechanics, but one that if you can understand and master will lead to more consistent golf. The golf swing plane has been talked about a great deal but not well understood, so hopefully this piece will give a perspective on it that will make some sense to you. We will not talk about the body and how it relates to the swing, but will only concentrate on the angle the club shaft takes throughout the golf swing, and all the hands and arms should do is make sure the club stays on this golf swing plane.

First, imagine setting up to the ball, but you are watching yourself from behind. Now you will see that, depending on how you comfortably set up, the shaft of the golf club will form an angle to the ground, probably around 45 degrees. That is not only the angle that you will start and finish with, but the club angle you will maintain throughout the entire backswing.

The difficulty in comprehending this is because the club moves in a three-dimensional plane, so it will have to lose this 45 degree angle to the ground, but will continue in the same arc, or swing plane. Said another way, if you were to draw a line on the shaft of the club at address, then extend that line three dimensionally to the top of your back swing, the shaft of your club would never deviate from that angle. Additionally, the face of the golf club would maintain a similar angle with the club shaft.

To digress just a bit, if the club face is kept at this angle throughout the back swing, it will not be difficult to square it to the ball at impact. As a result it will never have left the proper position throughout the back swing; therefore a great deal of adjustment will not be necessary. But let's get back to the golf swing plane of the club shaft.

At the top of the back swing we want to give the club a little power burst, and that comes with the wrist hinge. One of the great things about this swing is that it almost creates a natural swing hinge, as the weight of the club face will naturally cause this to happen. Just remember a couple of things: don't grip the club with too much tension, and always keep the club shaft and club head on the proper golf swing plane we have been discussing.

When bringing the club back into ball contact position, keep everything on the same plane as when you brought the club back. Getting into body position just a little (I know, I said I wouldn't), but all this swing plane action gets a lot easier if the spine angle stays the same. That means you should have no rocking back and forth, and maintain the posture and balance throughout the swing.

All this perhaps sounds complicated, but its basic concept is to keep the swing very basic and simple. When the golf swing plane is kept on the same level, you have minimized the problems that will crop up.

Learning about the proper golf swing plane is part of the Simple Golf Swing that we think all midand high handicap golfers should strive for. Golf Swing Basics is another article we think you will find interesting and helpful. Sean O'Kelly is an avid golfer and writer living in London.