Golf Tips For The Swing Plane

Your golf swing plane is the path your club follows as you bring the club away from the ball in your backswing and then down and forward through impact. All golfers experience errant shots when they deviate from their natural swing plane. Amateur golfers have difficulty monitoring their swing plane unless they video tape their swing or have a coach standing by however there are several drills you can do yourself to check for and resolve swing plane errors.

Check Your Balance

If your play is inconsistent you can check to see if your swing plane is off by checking your balance. PGA apprentice Steve Bishop from the Pavilion Lakes Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona uses a drill with just a quarter and your natural swing to check your balance and correct your swing plane. Place a quarter on your left foot if you are right-handed and take a normal swing. If the quarter falls to the inside of your foot, you have shifted your weight too far to the rear on your backswing. If the quarter falls to the outside of your foot, you have shifted your weight too far forward on your follow through, or you are finishing your swing with your weight on your back heel.
Practice maintaining your balance over the center of your body. If you don't shift your weight too much, the coin will stay on your foot and your swing plane will naturally return to proper form.

Check Your Takeaway

Your takeaway is the first part of your swing and thus sets the foundation for a proper swing plane, especially if your miss-hits result in a sliced shot. The Butt on the Wall drill advocated by Peak Performance Golf Swing will encourage a proper takeaway by not allowing you to swing the club too far inside, a common mistake by amateur golfers.
Stand with your rear end slightly touching a wall behind you and stand in your normal posture to hit a golf shot. Take backswing after backswing until you are able to get to the top of your swing without your club hitting the wall. You should not take a full swing because your left arm will hit into the wall and that will probably hurt.

Check Your Upper Body

After you have made a successful takeaway and kept your swing on plane until the top of your swing you may still get off plane if you use your upper body too much on your downswing, which should start with your legs and body. You can get a feel for how a proper downswing should start with a drill endorsed by swing guru Paul Wilson. Hold your club at knee height and take a few practice swings. Since there is no ball to hit you will not have the compulsion to rip your club down with your arms but rather you will be able to focus on your legs and torso bringing the club around your body, on a perfect plane. Remember this feeling of not using your arms so much and then apply it to your shots on the course.