[O.B.Left]

Great topic Bucket.

Curious too that HK recommended we stay away from the elbow plane for short shots unless we use in our full swings?

In my first lesson with Yoda I asked him about the elbow plane lob shot and he called Vj on his cell to describe the shot to me. Not sure how happy VJ was about this or what we were taking him away from but he kindly described in detail how to pull it off. Hands low low low,feels like your almost lower than the elbow plane, right forearm on plane as best you can, ball further away from you to accommodate all of this, stay on the elbow plane going back, blade wide open, feet planted throughout etc etc. It works better and is easier than you'd imagine and produces what we used to call a "parachute lob". Straight up and straight down with the stop coming form ballistics rather than spin.

The advantage of this shot given its relative complexity is that the shallow angle of attack takes almost all of the "down" out of the shot. Lots of out , hardly any down. Which means you have a larger margin for error in the strike. No divot , just a very shallow, super long scalping of the grass.

I use it when I must otherwise I keep it simple and just vertical hinge and maybe cut a chip or pitch.

I think its not so hard to pull off however and I dont return to the elbow plane for full shots. I taught my brother who is 15 handicap the shot. What gives with Homers warning?

Guys, as a side question, is there an advantage to returning to the elbow plane for a full shot? HOgan , Moe, Knudson, O'Grady all did it I think. Not bad ball strikers ,eh? Is this a personal preference, body type, or an ideal plane for some reason? Advantages/disadvantages? As a turned shoulder guy who sometimes comes in above plane should I experiment with returning to the elbow plane? Or am I already in enough trouble with my sorry action? Vertical drop anyone?

O.B.