Have you heard of the term swing plane? Maybe while watching the Golf Channel an instructor may have mentioned the importance of the swing plane. What is the swing plane and how does it affect me as a golfer? Swing plane simply put is the path in which the club is swung. Chuck Cook says plane = path. Below we will explain how swing plane can be defined and analyzed.

One definition, popular view held by today’s top instructors, is centered around that the swing plane is defined by the angle the shaft creates with the ground while the club is soled at address. At the halfway point of the back swing, where the target arm is parallel to the ground, the shaft should be parallel and above the line created by the shaft angle at address. At the top of the swing the target arm and club face should be parallel to the shaft angle created at address. When the target arm is parallel to the ground in the downswing the shaft should be parallel to the address shaft angle. At impact the shaft angles should match the angle created at address.

In 1957, Ben Hogan wrote the Five Fundamentals of Modern Golf and created another popular view of the swing plane. Hogan said at address imagine a pane of glass with a hole in the middle. Your head should fit in the middle and the pane of glass would rest on your shoulders, the pane of glass would angle downwards to the ball, and upwards away from the head, creating a plane angle from the ball, along the shoulders, and upwards past the shoulders. Hogan’s goal was to swing and not break the glass during the swing motion. If the glass did not break then the proper swing path has been achieved.

A third view was created by Jim McLean in his book the Eight Step Swing. Jim introduced a model based on both the first model in the article and Ben hogan view of the swing plane. First, we determine the plane angle created by the golf club at address. This will provide our lower swing plane limit. Second, we will imagine Ben Hogan’s pane of glass to created the upper swing plane limit. Jim McLean envisioned a cone shape, he teaches his students to swing so the shaft of the club remains inside the upper and lower limits.

Technically the the first illustration of the swing plane is correct. Depending on your skill level and the time you can devote to learning to swing on the correct plane I would choose between the first and last illustration. If you have the time and skill try and perfect your swing plane using the first model. For most golfer the last model can be used to fine tune your swing. The club still has to be swung correctly , not too flat or upright, to be on plane.

The biggest benefit of swinging the club on plane is it makes it easier to square the club face at impact. Also less effort is needed to create power and greater consistency. What could be better consistently long and straight shots.