|
 It
is generally assumed that Tiger Woods, through his continuing
professional association with Hank Haney, a high profile instructor
and published advocate of the “One Plane Swing”, has
been attempting to make this particular swing protocol an essential
part of his game.
I
have recently spent some time reviewing various dissertations
regarding the origins of the one plane swing and its relevance
to Tiger Woods and two online articles in particular have a key
to an answer: one is by Chuck Quinton at www.Oneplanegolfswing.com
and the other from the website of the Natural Golf Company, www.naturalgolf.com.
Quinton
gives great credit to Ben Hogan and his much praised book on
the “Five Fundamentals” as the real foundation for
the one plane swing and indicates that Tiger Woods (through Haney)
has sought to adopt some of the “one plane” mechanics
to reduce the timing dependencies of multi-plane swing movements
said to interfere with consistent accuracy, especially with the
driver. Tiger however has apparently only been able to move part
way in this direction and at times seems stuck in between his
old swing and a new destination. He has been at it with Mr. Haney
for four years or so now and may be coming to the conclusion
that there is a missing piece somewhere.
Tiger
has stated that his goal in golf is to have “his own swing”
and it is said that he credits only two people with already having
that distinction: The great Ben Hogan and Moe Norman; a storied
player unmentioned in Quinton's article, and in many articles
like it, but according to the Natural Golf Company and others,
the man most responsible for the only golf swing that is actually
“on one plane”, from set-up/address through impact.
Hogan
had a flat swing with his golf grip set well in his fingers.
Because the grip was firmly in his fingers he had a marked wrist
angle ( aka shaft angle ) that reduced forearm tension at address;
a wrist angle he tended to maintain through release to avoid
the vertical spine changes resulting when a set-up wrist angle
is followed by full wrist extension at impact. It was largely
because of this that he fought a hook all his playing life. Moe
Norman also had a flat swing but he set his grip more in his
palms than his fingers to eliminate any address wrist angle and
initiate a full wrist/arm/shaft extension on one plane at set-up
that continued on the same plane through impact, promoting a
consistent accuracy. But because of the palm grip's weak release
capability, distance suffered.
Tiger,
as almost all other players, to avoid static forearm tension
caused by the non-ergonomic shape of standard/conventionally
tapered golf grips, must set-up with the wrist/shaft angle of
a partially flexed wrist and address the ball in two planes.
Only later when forearm tension is masked by the kinetic action
of the swing event does Tiger impact the ball with the full extension
of his wrist, arm and shaft aligned in one plane. But because
of the minute but unavoidable spine lengthening required in the
change from a “two plane” address to a “one plane”
impact… consistency suffers….especially with the driver.
If
only Hogan could have eliminated his address wrist angle with
a golf grip design he could set tension-free firmly in his fingers
and Moe Norman could have eliminated his palm grip with a golf
grip design he could set tension-free firmly in his fingers ...
their “One Plane Swings” would have met somewhere in
the middle to better reconcile accuracy and distance.
Tiger
Woods generally gets what he wants and he may yet one day have
his own swing, but if so it should be somewhere between Hogan
and Moe Norman. It will be easier to repeat, more accurate and
even more powerful … and it will begin with a grip shaped
like Macro Golf’s PowerStroke® nestled firmly in grasp
of his fingers. A grip designed to produce a tension-free full
wrist/ arm/ shaft extension (on one plane) at set-up/address
with the same full extension on the same one plane maintained
throughout the swing to impact-release. It will be a "new
swing", and one without the obstacles to swing consistency
of retained set-up wrist angles, mid-swing re-grippings, shaft
“slot” corrections, faux posture “stacking”
or unintended spine angle changes .... and it will be the one
golf swing worth having.
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