Golfbulldog - you wrote-:"What is much more interesting is Brian advocates that a backswing move like Snead or Palmer ( technically off plane as per TGM) actually seems beneficial TO SOME and has been reproduced at the highest level in players of differing eras...
It could be said to have evolved in seperate eras ( or been passed down to the next generation ) and is therefore a factor that,either has no gross disadvantage to the user or is sufficiently advantageous for tour survival.
You do not see that discussed on many forums...any ideas why it works...what are the subsequent benefits from this move?"
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You are wrong that this backswing move is
not discussed in other forums. In fact, if you were a member of online golf forums that discuss the rotary swing, then you would be very familiar with this move. Both Snead and Palmer had a rotary swing - they had a more bent-over spine, and they turned their shoulders perpendicularly to the spine during both the backswing and downswing. That will result in the clubshaft being
behind the hands in the takeaway. Chuck Quinton wrote a book on the rotary swing, and this next photo shows him in the takeaway.
When the hands reach the toe line in the takeaway, he wants the left arm to be inclined slightly inwards and the clubshaft to be slightly inside the toe line and slightly below the clubshaft-at-address plane. This takeaway move will result in the hands getting deeper during the backswing. Consider his three quarter-backswing position - when the left arm is parallel to the ground.
Note that when his left arm is parallel to the ground, that his hands are opposite his right biceps (deeper) and that the butt end of the club is pointing at the ball-target line (and therefore on plane). This is the result of his rotary swing action. He looks very similar to Palmer at this point in the backswing.
Bennett/Plummer also teach a rotary-style swing, and you can see the effect of their teaching on Aaron Baddeley in the next photo.
In his
old swing, Badds' hands were opposite his right mid-chest when his left arm was parallel to the ground in the backswing - very characteristic of a Leadbetter-style traditional backswing. In his
new swing, his hands are deeper, reflecting a more rotary backswing style.
Jeff.
