Getting Shoulders Down Plane

[jeffgladchun]

Dear Gurus,

Besides trigger delay and the plane of my swing, I feel my best, most powerful, most accurate, most satisfying shots are made when my shoulders are downplane. Its simply the most athletic and strongest feeling way for me to hit balls.

I understand the "throw the drunk" move and the "stand with your head against the wall and make your right shoulder farther away from the wall than your left was" drill, but is there another way to get my right shoulder more consistently downplane at impact?

Edit: also my most powerful shots occur when PP#4 is held through impact and my shoulders are downplane. How are these two factors related?

Thanks so much ahead of time!

 

[cmartingolf]

Sounds to me like you are doing the right things and are aware of what's needed. Be careful, if you are like me, instead of taking one aspirin, you'll take the whole bottle.

I see problems arising when I don't have enough right arm thrust syncing with my right should downplane. Then I'm underneath and playing out to right field. YUCK.

 

[jeffgladchun]

My miss is definitely swinging too far right. I hit all sorts of hooks and draws when I'm not swinging properly as well as the occasional straight block slice. I'm not sure that this comes from too much right arm thrust, but rather from positive torque (Brian, any help??) on PP#4. When I go to impact fix during my preshot routine my results are much better than when I don't, leading me to believe that I have too much "arm swing" and not enough hit with the body.

I know I get under plane during transition and positive torque on #4 causes me to hit shots fat. I would say my worst miss is the fat shot to right field.

I know these "help me please!" posts are annoying, but maybe some of you will find it interesting enough to help me get on plane! When I'm swinging my best I feel like Hunter Mahan, the swing I'm trying to model.

Any help would be genuinely appreciated!

 

[puttmad]

jeff,
I solved the same problem as you by simply "thinking," make the right shoulder turn more around, rather than down, on the downswing...and if you think about it, it also helps you swing more "left" after impact....
Cured my fats instantly....

 

[jeffgladchun]

Thanks puttmad,

at least for me, getting my shoulders to turn on the proper downswing plane is the hardest thing to get right on the full swing.

any other suggestions would be great!

 

[longball]

hey jeff,
Theres this tip that ryan told me when i was swinging way out to right and im pretty sure that i told you once. Swing to your left pocket. this will help you get your shoulders down the line and help to keep you from hitting fat shots

 

[bendet3]

Jeff, you mentioned something that applied to me when I struggled with the "fats" as well and that was too much arm swing, or another way of looking at it, I was "quitting" my body pivot too soon in an effort to correct my old slicing tendencies where it felt like my body was too active. When I visited Brian last year, I wasn't hitting fat shots but I was hitting hooks and pulls and he told me to pivot more through the shot. Hope this helps.

 

[pieman]

longball: what do you mean by 'swing to your left pocket'?

 

[jeffgladchun]

pieman, its just a feel. When I try to do it, it feels like a flatter shoulder turn through the ball with little lateral hip slide