A Tale of Two Teachers - Added Video of My Swing

[Gerardv]

So, I am pretty much a gimp due to a spinal cord surgery and two serious car accidents. In all three cases, my neck took the brunt of the abuse and my pain management doc tells me I have the neck of a 90 year old.

I want to get away from my lift and flip golf swing, which I can repeat, but limits distance.

I also have at least 8 brain tumors, two remaining spinal cord tumors and countless more throughout my body. My gimp-ness makes it very hard for me to extend my arms and turn in the back swing, which is the one of the reasons for the flip. Without a good turn back, I don't make a good turn going forward.

In the last few months, I took lessons from three different Pros. The first one is out because instead of working around my physical limitations, he berated me for not being able to fully extend my left arm while getting to the top - he was a jerk, to say the least. As a tactical handgun instructor in my non-golf life, I could never, ever imagine treating a student how he treated me.

OK, so that leaves me with two.

The next stuck with my natural movement, didn't mind that my left arm never really gets straight and simply worked on getting me to turn my body as much as possible. He moved the ball forward temporarily in an effort to end my casting of the club, and gave me drills based around the Ledbetter Swing Setter. All with the goal of helping me stop releasing my lag so early. He also had a physical limitation which eliminated any insensitivity to my issues.

More background info – naturally, I have a very upright set-up and swing.

Instructor number two admitted his first reaction to build lag is to get me to get me to extend first, and then work the other issues from there. Basically, that option is off the table, so he suggested I transition to a Matt Kucharish one-plane swing. A very foreign way to swing based on my current move.

He also has medical problems, so he understand my issues. Yes, I picked these two because I knew ahead of time that they have physical issues. The third guy, the jerk, had great reviews on several golf forums, but clearly if you are physically limited, you need not bother to see him.

At this point, I am 13-15 handicap, but want to improve drastically this year. After years of surgeries and other medical limitations, I am hoping this is finally the year I can play, a lot. So, I am more than open to putting in the work.

The one-plane swing concept is foreign to me so I am looking for advice and will do the research myself. So, any thoughts on the one plane swing, or experiences with it are appreciated.

[uttexas]

The "one plane" swing, in theory, may place less stress on your spine.

By one plane swing, I mean, the club starts back on the shaft plane, then goes up to the elbow plane stays there to the top of the backswing.  The forward swing stays on the elbow plane until the club is parallel to the ground on the forward swing, then down onto the shaft plane to impact.  Matt Kuchar, Ben Hogan, and Anthony Kim have this sort of swing.

In the "two plane" swing, the club head starts on shaft plane, goes up to elbow plane, then goes up again to shoulder plane (or above) at the top of the backswing.  Then at the start of the forward swing drops back down to the elbow plane then down to the shaft plane at impact.  Jack Nicklaus has a two plane swing.

This dropping down of the club from the shoulder plane back down to the elbow plane as the hips fire forward and around places significant force at the cervicothoracic junction.

Basically, the one plane swing has less moving parts.  Less moving parts=less force on the spine.

Best wishes for your health and golf

[uttexas]

One plane swing

Two plane swing

[Gerardv]

Thank you! That is a huge help.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Gerardv

Thank you! That is a huge help.

Congratulations on even playing at all!!

You don't hit the ball with your backswing, so as long as you get the club back on plane in the downswing, either way works fine, but some people struggle with getting back on plane in the down swing. You need to determine if you're a one plane or two plane swinger before reading too many swing tips. Not all tips work for both swings. Either way, it sounds like that one instructor has your best interests in mind.

Ps.  One thing I've noticed as a 2-plane swinger is I hit higher long irons and woods than most people I play with, yet I struggle with short irons and wedges relative to my handicap. I've tried to flatten my swing (actually make my backswing less flat and downswing more flat) and even incorporate a bit of S&T thinking when I'm within 150 yards. My swing is definitely flatter than it was 15 years ago and I'm not as streaky.

[Gerardv]

Added video of my swing so people can see what we have to work with.

[Tifosinumerouno]

Your swing looks nowhere near as bad as I expected from your description. You might want to add a down the line video, too.

[Gerardv]

I will look through my videos and try to find one.

[Gerardv]

Here is the best I can do. The quality is pretty bad. I got a nicer camera recently and will have better vids if the weather in Ohio ever gets  better!

[saevel25]

Isn't that technically wrong definition of two plane and one plane. I thought the true plane doesn't follow your golf club, its more were the elbow is at?