Plane angle

[steviesouthpaw]

Question for anyone who knows. We can all agree that the pros swing on plane. This is elementary. My question is why is there such a large variation on their shaft angle as it approaches the top of their swings? Some of them are much flatter than others who are more upright, almost perpendicular to the ground as the shaft is just shy of the very top of the back swing. There seems to be about 30-40* of variation between where their shafts are at this point in the swing as seen from behind the player looking down the target line. I have a much more upright swing plane like Dimarco and even Tiger (not that I'm comparing myself to them in any sense). Guys like Miguel Angel Jimenez have a very flat swing plane. Is this a matter of a players height? Or is this just a matter of preference and comfort? Make sense?

[MiniMoe]

some of it has to do with height, some has to do with basic swing mechanics. I have a flatter swing plane because I am a little shorter, stand farther away from the ball, and don't let my wrists set until very late in the backswing. All that really matters is the plane at impact. Everyone on tour is the exact same. The extension of the shaft at impact will intersect with the middle of the back. How you get to that position does not really matter.

[ebough]

A physicist might argue that a clubhead that stays in a single plane is maximally efficient. And that would mean that for any given player, and club, and stance, there is only one ideal swing plane. And then you have players like Furyck, whose swing has been described as like "an octopus falling out of a tree." And so in golf, consistent repeatability trumps stylistic perfection.

[tm22721]

A flatter rotary swing like Hogan's is much more forgiving at impact than a steeper plane. That being said, a pivot guided swing is the key to consistency.Swing plane is secondary.

[iluv5pam]

"an octopus falling out of a tree."

LoL

Never heard this one. Thanks for the afternoon laff.

[verse214]

Furyk's swing may look like an octopus but all that matters is the part of the swing below the waist...

if you look at all tour pros they are almost identical in their back swing and follow through during the moments their club is below their waists;

[starchuk]

Swing plane is really only critical when the club is swinging from 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock (given the ball is at 6). How a player swings the club up in the backswing is a preference and is the artistic part of the swing. It doesn't matter how it goes up - only how it comes down.

When I work with players I'm not concerned so much as how the clubs goes up unless it is putting them into a position where they are not able to get the club working into a on-plane position at that 9 o'clock position - when the club is parallel to the ground.

[ebough]

Swing plane is really only critical when the club is swinging from 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock (given the ball is at 6). How a player swings the club up in the backswing is a preference and is the artistic part of the swing. It doesn't matter how it goes up - only how it comes down.

I just can't agree with this. Although the plane from 9 to 3 in the hitting zone is indeed most important, the more one is in this plane throughout the whole swing the more likely one will finish in that same plane.