Plane Shifts

[O.B.Left]

I'm wondering about the advantages and disadvantages to early plane shifts.

The wise one wrote that an ideal pattern would have the least plane shifts, however, plane shifts are accepted. Is there a relationship between the number of shifts and the earlier the shifts occur in the backswing?

One thing that makes Homers statements about Plane Shifts confusing is his acknowledgment of non shaft or non Longitudinal Center of Gravity, non Sweetspot Plane, Planes of Motion. In regard to the Angle of Approach Procedure for instance, he is quoted as saying something to the effect of " remember, its not a shaft plane, its a clubhead plane".

Further complicating things is his acknowledgement that a golfer doesnt need to return to the shaft plane for impact if the ball separates prior to the clubface striking the ground. In his day , most every golfer played a standard lie angle which was located closer to the Elbow Plane than a Turned Shoulder Plane and yet good golfers made excellent contact on a variety of plane angles.

We modern day golfers, in the era of dynamic lie adjustment etc tend to see the shaft plane as the plane of startup and impact. Making a Double Shift seem logical given that the shaft plane is too flat to locate at Top. Homer observed that it was in fact the Longitudinal Center of Gravity , the Sweetspot Plane that Centrifugal Force was acting upon as opposed to the clubshaft. As such he believed you could align the Sweetspot Plane to the Turned Shoulder Plane at Address and despite the Heal up alignment negotiate a shiftless swing with pure contact assuming the ball was gone before the toe dug in. This was his Shiftless Swing. Remember though that despite the fact Homer said that changing planes was hazardous, Plane Angle is less critical than Plane Line Tracing in the hierarchy of Plane Compliance. Changing Planes is hazardous but not as hazardous as bending the Plane Line , in other words. He did appreciate what he termed a golfers "psychological need" to return to the shaft or Elbow Plane although he believed there to be no mechanical advantage to it.

I personally find all it all very confusing, but ............to answer your question Slice, Id say .........I dont know about early shifts vs later but what is of critical importance is that you get on the Plane you select for Impact as early as you possibly can!

Me personally Im a Single Shifter , but have no reason why, it just is.

[Daryl]

The Ultimate Goal is no plane shift, at least on the down stroke. The starting point is where you are now. If something doesn't work for you, it's not the component but your understanding of it and how to apply it.

Die-Hard TGMer

[innercityteacher]

your driver and woods? I know that "it depends..." is part of the answer but I'm tring to discover what makes a pro's ball flight fly so low then pop-up to land so softly.

Patrick

The Ultimate Goal is no plane shift, at least on the down stroke. The starting point is where you are now. If something doesn't work for you, it's not the component but your understanding of it and how to apply it.

Die-Hard TGMer

[O.B.Left]

The illustration on the left show you to turn the shoulders and then lift the arms to the top of the swing. The one on the right shows you to lift the arms which then turns the shoulders to the top.

The illustration on the right shows a conscious effort to trace the plane-line all the way to the top of the swing.

OK now I get your drawing, maybe. So you are taking Hands to Pivot to mean that the Hands proceed the Pivot in Startup? Is that right?

Why cant you turn the Shoulders and Trace at the same time? The Shoulders go one way the Hands and Arms go another?

[BerntR]

Why cant you turn the Shoulders and Trace at the same time? The Shoulders go one way the Hands and Arms go another?

This is more similar to what I do. But there's more to it than shoulders and hands too.

I don't start with the hands on any stroke. I basically start with a hip motion that partly rocks, partly turns the shoulders and keep the club head on plane with good extension. Then the hands path separate from the pivot path. A major part of the shoulder turn happens really late.

[Daryl]

your driver and woods? I know that "it depends..." is part of the answer but I'm tring to discover what makes a pro's ball flight fly so low then pop-up to land so softly.

Patrick

I don't use an alternative Aiming Point. I adjust Ball Position and Stance, Target and Plane lines. I use what I call a "Flying Wedge Waggle" which shows me the adjustments needed for that particular length of club. So everything is adjusted to "Impact Fix".

If you want to hit "boomers" then grip down 2-3 inches. Increase the Angle of Attack for any given loft-club length.

[Daryl]

OK now I get your drawing, maybe. So you are taking Hands to Pivot to mean that the Hands proceed the Pivot in Startup? Is that right?

Why cant you turn the Shoulders and Trace at the same time? The Shoulders go one way the Hands and Arms go another?

The Pivot will comply/adjust to the Path of my Hands regardless of where my hands are headed.

Turning my shoulders is way too hard of a procedure for me. My pivot gets all whacked as soon as it thinks it has freedom and can move independently. Unless I'm on the Range where after awhile, even the worst pivot will hit everything straight (Pivot adjustments subconsciously made to hit the ball straight - i.e. hacking at the ball) . Hell, when I'm on the range I can hit the Ball retriever tractor every time. Most people can. That's really funny because it's a moving target. These same people, when on the Golf Course can't hit the green more than 50% of the time from 150 yards, and that's a stationary target 20 times the size of the tractor.

I know exactly the Path of the Hands. The Hands Path controls the shoulder turn direction and amount on any given length of shot. The Shoulders control the amount of Hip turn needed. So, the Shoulder and Hip turns are never too much or not enough and my Pivot Lag Amount is always the same.

I need a precise amount of Right Elbow Bend at the Top of the Swing. The Steeper the Plane Angle (Shorter Clubs), the less Bend in the Right Elbow. My Elbow bend stops automatically when my hands reach the Plane on the Backstroke and my arms begin to raise to the Top of the Swing moving my right shoulder exactly where it needs to go. Then, I drive the Power Package into Release. I don't straighten the Right Arm during the Downstroke, so the Right forearm has to be perfect at Release.

My way of using the Hands to go to the Top of the Swing, gives me the precise amount of Right Elbow Bend I need for any given Plane Angle.

I have the pleasure of knowing that 99.99% of my poor shots result from poor execution and not incompatible component selection due to poor decision making.

[O.B.Left]

This is more similar to what I do. But there's more to it than shoulders and hands too.

I don't start with the hands on any stroke. I basically start with a hip motion that partly rocks, partly turns the shoulders and keep the club head on plane with good extension. Then the hands path separate from the pivot path. A major part of the shoulder turn happens really late.

Me too, I feel like my turning right hip actually starts the clubhead moving for the first few inches, then I turn my right shoulder back and fan and pickup the Right Arm. The body is the rotor , the arms are just blades. The McDonald drill with the butt of the club stuck in the belly button.

Without the Fanning, Bending and Tracing the Hands would go with the Shoulders. Its a trained thing. Its the Right Elbow Bending , the Pickup that gets the Hands up to the Turned Shoulder Plane.

Basically its the Hands, the Pressure Points which travel the Inclined Plane for every shot including those that dont have a Shoulder Turn, making the motion of the Right Arm unique for different shots and ..........critical. It sure sounds a heck a lot more difficult than it is. Just keep Tracing and you're good despite how much Shoulder Turn the shot has. A quarterback can be running and throw the ball in any direction. We can divide the motion of the Body of the Arms and Hands, we can concentrate on the direction of the Hand Path. That is what is attached to the handle afterall.

[innercityteacher]

Wow!wow!wow!

[innercityteacher]

This is the coolest non-family/non-work life event! I am never washing my keyboard again! : }