Swing path going back

[Playthru]

One thing I note in many instruction books and U tube videos is that very few instructors talk about the path of the golf club going back. Is it in line with the target, on the Hogan " window pane" plane, more inside, more outside?. To me this is a critical aspect and yet often not mentioned.

The two exceptions are Nicklaus and Hogan. Nicklaus recommended taking the club back in line with the target. Hogan recommended going back on the "window pane" ,which is more inside. My observation is that most of modern golfers on the tour take the club back more in line with Hogan than Nicklaus. A few exceptions are Couples, Bubba Watson, Jim Furyk, resulting in a more upright plane.

Of course they all come back to impact similarly, but it appears that the more upright swing requires more rerouting.

To the golf instructors on this site - why is this not specified more. Is it an individual thing? Is there a "correct' path one should aim for?

Appreciate your thoughts.

[swingpure]

The position of the club halway back when it is parallel to the ground is demonstrated well in this you tube video.

I have had lessons from a few instructors and virtually all at least agreed on this position.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxpP3...e_gdata_player

[Golftime]

Originally Posted by Playthru

One thing I note in many instruction books and U tube videos is that very few instructors talk about the path of the golf club going back. Is it in line with the target, on the Hogan " window pane" plane, more inside, more outside?. To me this is a critical aspect and yet often not mentioned.

The two exceptions are Nicklaus and Hogan. Nicklaus recommended taking the club back in line with the target. Hogan recommended going back on the "window pane" ,which is more inside. My observation is that most of modern golfers on the tour take the club back more in line with Hogan than Nicklaus. A few exceptions are Couples, Bubba Watson, Jim Furyk, resulting in a more upright plane.

Of course they all come back to impact similarly, but it appears that the more upright swing requires more rerouting.

To the golf instructors on this site - why is this not specified more. Is it an individual thing? Is there a "correct' path one should aim for?

Appreciate your thoughts.

I spend a lot of time on it because I mainly teach based on the work of Don Trahan. His methods revolve around staying as far away from a flat and rotational swing as you can get. Because of the difference between his work and 90% of what you hear everywhere it is important that the student understands the proper swing plane for this method so they don't get trapped into listening to other theories while they are making the transition to a new swing.
I would strongly disagree with your comment "Of course they all come back to impact similarly, but it appears that the more upright swing requires more rerouting.". When done properly the exact opposite is true, no rerouting is needed.

[Playthru]

Originally Posted by Golftime

I spend a lot of time on it because I mainly teach based on the work of Don Trahan. His methods revolve around staying as far away from a flat and rotational swing as you can get. Because of the difference between his work and 90% of what you hear everywhere it is important that the student understands the proper swing plane for this method so they don't get trapped into listening to other theories while they are making the transition to a new swing.
I would strongly disagree with your comment "Of course they all come back to impact similarly, but it appears that the more upright swing requires more rerouting.". When done properly the exact opposite is true, no rerouting is needed.

You may be right -"when done properly". I dont see rerouting with Nicklaus, but as I look at the examples I mentioned - Couples, Bubba Watson and Furyk - I see the club being re routed. Am I just imagining this or are they not doing it correctly?

[Golftime]

Originally Posted by Playthru

You may be right -"when done properly". I dont see rerouting with Nicklaus, but as I look at the examples I mentioned - Couples, Bubba Watson and Furyk - I see the club being re routed. Am I just imagining this or are they not doing it correctly?

Yes they all manipulate the club to get it on a different path on the forward swing than it was on the backswing. It works for all of them because they are very good athletes and have worked at it diligently. It is much easier to have the forward swing mirror the back swing.

[Playthru]

Ok. I take it from the above discussions that there is no generally agreed upon path to taking the club back.
Like everything about the golf swing, there are always at least two schools of thought, and often more.
And we wonder why people don't take more lessons!

[davee]

Originally Posted by Playthru

Ok. I take it from the above discussions that there is no generally agreed upon path to taking the club back.
Like everything about the golf swing, there are always at least two schools of thought, and often more.
And we wonder why people don't take more lessons!

Tiger has had 3-4 different swings, very different. As the old saying goes" There is more than one way to skin a cat". For most of us recreational golfers we have a set swing DNA ( Peter Kostis quote" ) If you are a shut faced or open faced player that is the feel we are us to and other parts of our swing happen to accomodate those conditions. Same for swing plan going back be it steep for upright swings or shallow for rotary swing. I have taken lessons from a number of good instructors and each one has helped me. Dr. Jim Suttie has done great work on matching up the swing with your body type, makes sense. but then so does alot of other things till you start shanking and chunking and topping etc. etc.