Flatter backswing plane...

[thepinkbomber]

Been studying Hogan and a couple others on rebuilding my backswing. Curious to hear from anyone else that prefers shallow backswings and why.

 

Starting with the three plane lines at address - ball through shaft, ball through elbows, ball through top of shoulders (hogans plane glass). Read Hogan says to stay under the shoulder plane line. He looked to be really under it and in cases close to the elbow line on some videos. Been working to shallow backswing from shoulder plane line to elbow plane line and keeping arms connected to chest and stopping them when the shoulders stop turning - result is a tight backswing that is shallow with no excessive arm disconnection. I found if I keep the hands on the elbow plane going back then when I come down they fall on the same elbow plane (no OTT from being too flat). There is no rerouting of the club from a higher backswing plane like the shoulder plane going up compared to when going down. The down side is it looks excessively flat. Another downside is it looks like he arc is shorter since the swing is tighter and maybe smaller arcs create less club head speed?

 

I don't see too many top 10 long hitters hitting with very flat tight backswings or are there?

[thepinkbomber]

Bump. Anyone strongly for or strongly against flatter backswing planes and why?

[MonteScheinblum]

[quote name='thepinkbomber' timestamp='1418919873' post='10612007']
Bump. Anyone strongly for or strongly against flatter backswing planes and why?
[/quote]

Obviously not universal, but most people who try and get flat in the backswing, get too upright in the transition. That's the danger.

[Mcaesq]

There are very few people with swing planes at or below the shoulder line that hit it far (in a relative sense).

Monte's right re: shallow --> steep. The downswing is the reversal of what you do in the backswing, so starting shallow can lead to steepness on the DS. I think a lot of the people in favor of flatter backswings are too obsessed with swing plane and making the swing correspond to artificial straight lines. I think that a flat swing plane is dangerous if you have an aggressive lower body move--too easy to get disconnected and stuck. The other danger is that it's much easier to get the club behind you and disconnect your arms from your shoulder turn.

I also believe a lot of the obsession with a flat swing plane comes from Hogan's swing; I think it's a mistake to use any one person's swing as a model for your own. Rather, IMO, it's better to look across the great players and see what they have in common. If it works for you, keep at it but I think swinging in this way is very very timing dependent. The Church of Hogan can proselytize all it wants, but I don't think dissecting grainy video frame by frame and interpreting one man's feels as the holy grail of golf instruction is an especially productive venture.

To me, the key point to what you said is keeping the hands connected to the chest. I don't think that's something unique or particular to a flatter swing plane--to the contrary, it's harder to keep them connected (at least for me). Also, I wouldn't characterize a steeper swing as requiring a "rerouting" as much as a natural consequence of rotational force during the transition.