A simple analogy hammers the point home

Perhaps the best way to understand how quickly and dramatically the one plane swing will improve your golf game is to imagine hammering a nail into hardwood. The most efficient motion is to swing the hammer on a single swing plane with your elbow as the fulcrum of that plane. Ideally, the hammer moves along a consistent swing path that intersects with the top of the nail for a solid flush impact position. The nail is driven straight into the wood.  It's efficient, it's powerful and it's automatic.

Now imagine how much more difficult it would be if you moved your elbow mid-swing - taking the hammer off plane. You'd be forced to re-route the hammer's path in an attempt to hit the top of the nail. Solid hits would be rare. The motion would become hard work and would require great concentration as you try to manipulate swing path and swing plane. 

An off plane golf swing poses the same challenges.  As you know, when your swing is off plane you must re-route the club just so you can hit the ball.  When you analyze the most common swing flaws - over-the-top, chicken wings, reverse pivots, casting etc. etc. they're all examples of the ways golfers re-route the club to overcome an off plane swing.  And every one of them robs you distance, accuracy and consistency.  Solid impact that drives the ball straight and true is automatic when you stay on plane throughout your swing.

Is the One Plane Golf Swing Right for Your Game?

The concept of a one plane golf swing is not new.  Ben Hogan spoke of staying “on plane” in his book "Five Lessons". His illustration of a golfer making a swing with a pane of glass essentially resting on his shoulders gives us a good visual of the one plane motion.  Experts agree that the best ball strikers of all time had one plane golf swings. Bobby Jones and Ben Hogan both had one plane golf swings. All the top players in the world today are adopting the one plane golf swing in order to stay competitive on Tour.  Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Adam Scott, Peter Jacobsen, Tom Pernice and Olin Browne are good examples of players who have adopted a one plane motion in order to compete and win at the highest level.  In the process each has added distance, improved their accuracy and most importantly, achieved the consistency needed to win on Tour.

The recent publication of Jim Hardy's book, "The Plane Truth for Golfers", has stimulated much discussion on the one plane vs the two plane golf swing.  The One Plane Golf Swing stays on a single swing plane defined by your spine angle.  The swing produces more rotational power by efficiently harnessing the power of the bigger muscles around your core.

In contrast, the two plane golf swing is a more upright motion.  The shoulders turn on a plane that would be more or less parallel with the horizon.  The golfer lifts his arms above that plane in the backswing and then drops them on the down swing - which represents the second swing plane.  The two plane golf swing is clearly a more complicated motion.  It is more dependent on tempo, timing, rhythm and balance. 

Most amateur golfers are two planers.  This explains why the game is so difficult for most people, why it takes so much practice to play at a consistent level and why getting better can be so difficult. Simply put, a two plane swing is too complex a motion unless you have plenty of time to practice with a great coach like Jim Hardy or Hank Haney at your side.

How much will YOUR game improve?

The top players on the PGA Tour are migrating to the one plane golf swing for the same reasons you should.  Instant Improvement

Tiger Woods' much publicized swing changes were designed to keep his swing connected and on plane throughout.  He worked for almost a year under the constant scrutiny of his coach, Hank Haney, before he had locked that motion into his muscle memory to the point where he could count on it in the heat of the battle.  And once it was 'there' he began to dominate the game like no other player in history. Back to back majors and a string of 7 straight PGA Tour victories.