Tip van de pro

Hello Golfers,

One big problem that I see a lot in my lessons is that man people swing their club on a bad swing plane, causing many problems. What do I mean?

If you swing your arms and the club too far behind your body, then your swing plane is too ‘flat’.

If you swing your arms ant the club too far above your head, then your swing plane is too ‘upright’.

You can check your swing plane at home in front of a mirror or a glass window as I am doing in the pictures.

foto 1

foto 2

foto 3

If you look like I do in picture 1, your swing plane is too flat, and 4 bad things can happen:

1. You hit the ground much too early
2. You hit the ball much too low
3. You hit the ball straight to the right
4. You hook the ball to the left

If you look like I do in picture 2, your swing plane is too upright. Again, 4 bad things can happen:

1. You hit much too deeply in the ground
2. You hit the ball much too high
3. You hit the ball straight to the left
4. You slice the ball to the right

Picture 3 is an example of a good swing plane. My hands are over my right shoulder in a ‘neutral’ swing plane and I have a good chance to hit a good shot from here.

How can you check yourself on the driving range or the golfcourse?
Simple: just swing a club to the top of your backswing and stop.

Loosen your fingers so that the club starts to fall down slowly. If the shaft of your club touches you anywhere between your right shoulder and your neck, you are ‘on plane’.

This tip works with any club from your driver to your wedges and it works if you are small (like me) or much taller (like most other people!)

I hope that you will keep playing and enjoying your golf over the winter months.

Good golfing,

Peter Stacey
PGA professional
Golfschool Sluispolder