How to switch to an upright wave-swing plane and the benefits it has for your distance and accuracy

As a golf instructor, I can see no reason why golfers should not adopt an upright glider, regardless of their physique or flexibility.

But if you go online to & # 39; golf swing plane & # 39; To search, you will see multiple statements on the subject and as many different versions about what is correct and what is not correct.

As I will show shortly from a purely mechanical and physical point of view, the advantages in distance and accuracy far outweigh those of a flatter swing airplane and for those reasons alone, I recommend the concepts of a more upright swing for all my students.

Swing plane angles are usually associated with the height of a golfer.

Golfers who are shorter in height, would have a flatter swing surface.

It is also common to see golfers taking a flat swi to ng movement due to characteristics of their physiques that limit the range of their pendulum flexibility, such as their chest and midsection.

On the other hand, longer golfers can naturally swing with a more upright swing plane, simply because of the increased height of their shoulders off the ground.

But the physical characteristics of a golfer are not the only things that determine their angle of rotation.

What also determines swing plane is how they position themselves in their arrangement and how they turn their backs on the backswing …

Swing Plane Angle

Before I go into the details of an upright swing, I must first define how often the angle of the sway plane is understood.

I say that because I, like most passionate golfers, have read Ben Hogan's book "Five Lessons, The Modern Basics of Golf" and his explanation of the floating flat is probably one that your mind is sitting.

Here is his explanation …

Try to visualize a golfer who forms a right triangle in their setup position.

The vertical side of the triangle is formed from the top of their shoulders / neck to the ground around the position of their feet. The horizontal side is formed from the club head and the ball position up to that point on the ground that meets the vertical side of the triangle.

The hypotenuse, or long side of the triangle, is determined from the club head to the point on their shoulders.

The classic concept of the angle of the swing plane is that it is the angle between the hypotenuse and the horizontal side of this triangle. (Think of the plate with glass image in Hogan's book resting on the golfer's shoulder …)

You can now imagine how this angle would increase or decrease as a result of the height of the golfer and why a waving plane is often associated with the shoulder length of the golfers.

The reason why I say that this is how often swan field is determined, is that there is a big assumption with this theory which is usually incorrect …

What it assumes is that the sling path the head of the club follows the same angle during the backswing, so that the highest point of the swing is on an extended line drawn from the ball through the top of the shoulders to the hands at the top of the swing …

The reality is that the angle at which the swing "actually" turns can be completely different, allowing the hands to reach the top point of the swing, below or above the point of the "Hogan-glass plate definition."

The reason for this is that the angle of the swing plane is not only influenced by your setup, but is mainly determined by the plane where your shoulders rotate.

Your lineup can show one swing plane angle that can be quite different from the actual plane of rotation of your shoulders.

This is why …

Rotational planes from your shoulders

To understand your movement of the shoulder rotation, you stand upright in front of a mirror. Keep your arms straight from each side. You can turn your shoulders in a horizontal plane around the axis of your spine … which is easy.

Now try to turn your shoulders in a vertical plane by lifting your right arm and dropping your left arm so that you keep a straight line from hand to hand over your shoulders. The rotation axis in this plane is a point on your chest just below your chin …. this movement is not very easy to perform.

The reality of your shoulder turn on the backswing is that it works in a combination of both vertical and horizontal movement.

As you would expect, a shoulder rotation that moves more in the horizontal plane will create a flatter plane plane.

One that operates more in a vertical plane produces a more upright sway plane.

So when we go back to the classic Hogan explanation of the sway plane that is determined by the arrangement and the height of the golfer, the only way a golfer in the same plane is on top of their swing, if the combined horizontal and vertical movements of their shoulder windings happen to match that angle.

This happens rarely …

With this insight that the swivel plane is more influenced by your shoulder rotation than you With your setup and height you can make adjustments to your backswing to get a number of benefits. pick up from an upright swing pad.

Here are some of the main reasons why I always recommend a more upright sway plane based on the mechanics and physics of the swing.

Improved consistency of your swing accuracy

The first reason affects the accuracy and the flight path of your shot.

If you've ever reviewed my free video about "Understanding the Mechanics of Common Swing Errors", in which I outline the physics why your shots "fly" like doing, the outcome of all your golf shots comes down on two important factors:

o The direction in which your shoulders point to the point of contact with the ball

o The orientation of your club head at the point of contact with the ball

How flatter your swing plane the more your shoulders move in the horizontal plane.

This means that they "focus" only on the target at a point just before the contact and shortly after the contact. That's because the movement of the clubhead moves more "across" the goal line as a baseball swing instead of the goal line like a putting swing.

Outside this very small area, the direction that your shoulders strive is further to the right of the target on the downstroke and further to the left of the target on the next passage (opposite for lefts).

The success of a flatter plane plane requires a high degree of "timing" and balance in the swing through the contact point, because there is very little margin of error.

The level of "ball spin" generated by a badly timed swing also determines the accuracy of the recording.

The relative difference between the shoulder wing plane and the direction of the club surface at the point of contact determines the amount of spin generated on the ball.

The more the shoulders "move" across the goal line, the bigger the created ball spin 1 with exaggerated hooks or slices.

On the other hand an upright swing is produced because the shoulders move more in the vertical plane, which means that the time that the shoulders move along the goal line is a much longer time during the swing

The result is that the club head moves along the goal line over a larger part of the swing, resulting in a higher margin of error for timing and balance problems.

The impact on ball rotation is also reduced, because the shoulders swing less "over" the target line at contact for poorly timed recording.

In both cases the consistency of your swing accuracy will improve, the upright your swing plane angle …

Higher pivoting force and distance

Observe all the big hitters on tour and one of the common functions that you will notice is that these take the upright swing most.

I wrote about this in a previous Turnberry newsletter, but it is worth revisiting the reasons why an upright sway plane generates more power for the swing:

o The hands and clubhead will higher off the ground are at the top of the swing and generate more "potential energy" for the swing. When you think of the energy that can be created by hoisting and dropping a weight of 20 – 30 pounds above your shoulders, you will understand where there is more energy for the swing. That weight is the combined weight of your club and arms.

o You use your powerful muscles along your right side and the top of your left shoulder that can generate more power for the swing than the use of the force of your lower back muscles rotate around the base of your spine in a flatter swing .

Improved balance

Your balance during the backswing and downswing is influenced by the centrifugal force of turning the head while it is moving and at which angle that force working on your torso.

The centrifugal force generated by the clubhead moving in a circular path works to pull your shoulders forward towards the ball, which may affect the stability of your trunk during your swing.

To give you an exaggerated example of the effect this might have on your balance, you try to imagine the action of an athlete who throws the hammer.

In this case, the athlete must overcome the enormous centric force needed to turn the hammer by "leaning back" to stay in balance during the spin.

A flattering swing has a similar influence on the balance of the golfer who has to counteract the effect of the centrifugal force, the clubhead has to turn with the lower back muscles to keep the trunk in place during the swing.

During an upright swing, this centrifugal force is generated more by the trunk and legs from the ground generate less effect on your lower back muscles so that your trunk remains more stable.

How to generate an upright swing

As much as you would expect your setup to affect the flat angle, this has had more influence on your shoulder rotation.

I encourage you to start your swing with a "downward rotation" of your left shoulder ..

Many golfers initiate their swing by moving their hands.

For golfers who may be stiff in their trunk flexibility, shoulders or perhaps a few inches more around their center than they would like to start by swinging their hands, they are encouraged to swing their swing around their bodies " wrapping "creating a flat-waving surface.

That's because their shoulders move more in the horizontal plane.

net swing results may be excessive cutting, with the ball starting the flytrack heavily to the left or pushing the ball to the right.

This is because the area where the club head goes along the goal line is very small, reducing the margin of error for accuracy in the s wing like I did before.

Start with your swing by a downward movement of the left shoulder and you will counter this problem.

It causes your swing to start with more of a vertical rotation of the shoulders. This will cause your shoulders to turn more towards the goal line.

Mirror exercise for correct arrangement

The other area that will affect your swing plane is your setup.

I encourage you to practice this swing initiation exercise with your left shoulder before a mirror at home.

Watch as you rotate your hand movement. Adjust your setup to make it easier to turn vertically and move your hands along a more upright sway plane.

Here are a few tips to help you:

o Let your arms hang vertically down in the stand with your hands no further than five centimeters away from your leg

o Keep your back straight up from the hip. Do not let your shoulder be prone

o If you have a large torso, you may want to lean forward more to give your arms more room to go straight back than to wrap your body

If you go through this routine, you probably feel muscle stiffness in the decline that you are not used to … especially in your left shoulder.

That's because it's much easier to turn your shoulders horizontally around your spine than to rotate them vertically.

This is normal because the movement in the vertical plane uses different muscles in your golf swing.

Shoulder flexibility

Many golfers are just too stiff in the shoulders to do this effectively and when they try to use an upright glider on the range for the first time, they find the results disappointing.

If this happens, you will significantly shorten your backswing because the stiffness of your golf muscles in the upright glider will cause other parts of your swing to break.

Note: Do not break your left elbow when trying to swing more upright. You beat the goal of the adjustment to a higher swing plane and only cause yourself more timing problems.

An exercise I recommend to improve shoulder flexibility in the vertical plane is to take a broomstick and place it over you. shoulders and then wrap your elbows and arms over the top of the handle.

For some people this can be a stretch exercise in itself, so do it carefully without straining the shoulder muscles.

Now move the handle as far as possible down to the stop and hold it for 60 seconds. While you hold the piece, you do not allow your hips to move sideways in the opposite direction, because this will counteract the part.

Also keep your torso upright and straight forward as much as possible during stretching.

Now do the same movement in the opposite direction.

After a few days of this process, you will notice that your distance on the range improves as you expand your backswing. However, from the outset, you should see a clear improvement in your accuracy constraint, the more you swing along the target line.

Good luck!

Sincerely,

Lesson