Instruction
The Plane Truth about Swings and Things
In his book, The Plane Truth for Golfers instructor Jim Hardy says there are at least two ways to swing the golf club:
- Around the body
- Up and down out in front of the body
He labels these swings “one-plane” and “two-plane,” respectively. Ben Hogan was a classic one planer, and Tom Watson was a two planer. I think the book is well worthy of discussion, and possibly much more. Personally, I have great respect for Jim Hardy — he taught us a lot through the years, and The Plane Truth for Golfers, in particular, can be a great help to many players.
There have been thousands of books written on how to play and swing. Most of them suggest a method — one way of swinging the golf club to hit the ball. What is new and noteworthy about Hardy’s work is he is recommending two distinct motions guided by two separate sets of fundamentals.
For so long we have heard about “the fundamentals.” When I was learning the game, I was curious about fundamentals because I saw many of the leading professionals with different grips, stances, backswings, etc. I always wondered what “fundamentals” those books were talking about. What is standard; what is right?
Well, it didn’t take me long before I figured out there was more than one way to swing. John Jacobs once said,
“The purpose of the golf swing is to reach good solid impact; the method employed is of no consquence, as long as it is repetitive.”
So we have known for some time there are different routes to solid golf shots. But Jim Hardy has actually quantified these diverse styles and describes them in detail in his book. So let’s take a look. I am not going to detail the book, you’ll have to read it for that, but I am going to discuss the theory behind it.
In the book, Hardy uses the analogy of a tire (I have also heard him use a hula hoop as an example). Let’s say the tire or hula hoop is standing up, as it would on your car for example, at 90 degrees to the ground. Very little of the tire is touching the ground. The circle represented by the tire or hula hoop has a very narrow bottom. This is like an upright golf swing. It has a very narrow bottom, and it is “in and out of” the ground quickly, spending a very short time along the turf.
Now take that tire or hula hoop and tilt it down. You’ll notice that a lot more of the circle is touching or very close to the ground. It is along the ground a longer time. This is the idea behind a flat golf swing. It is wider than an upright one, parallelling the ground for a greater area. The upright, narrow swing is quite steep — the flatter, wider swing is shallow (ariving at low point sooner).
OK, so we have upright = steep, and narrow and flat = shallow and wide. Got that?
Secondly, the golf swing is powered by the body in the one-plane swing and by the arms and club in the two-plane swing. It’s important to get these points because THEY ARE THE BASIS OF THE WHOLE BOOK. Everything Hardy suggests for you to do is based on these concepts. If you swing the club flat, you need certain fundamentals, and if you swing the club upright the fundamentals change. If we go through all the recommended swing and set up positions, you will see that they are designed to facilitate the two basic swing ideas.
One-plane setup recommendations
- Grip: Strong(ish), 3 knuckles.
- Stance: A little wider than normal and a little further from the ball with the left foot out.
- Posture: More bent at the waist with shoulders outside the toe line and the spine centered (no upper body axis tilt).
- Aim: Square to slightly closed.
Two-plane setup recommendations
- Grip: Neutral to slightly weak, 2 knuckles at most.
- Stance: A little narrower with the feet inside your shoulders and a square left foot.
- Posture: More erect with your shoulders over toes and a slight tilt to the right.
- Aim: Square to slightly open.
Now the key question: Why the differences?
Well, remember the two swings and keep these points in mind: In the one-plane swing, the stronger grip promotes a slightly closed club face, which has a steepening effect on the swing. This balances the natural flatness of the one-plane swing (Note: Jim hardy is all about balance, one position offsets another).
The wider stance in the one-plane swing keeps the body more centered, which balances the width of the one-plane swing (if you’re creating width with the arms, the body cannot get off the ball — that’s two wides!).
The more bent posture for one-plane swing allows the shoulders to turn steeper (read narrower), which balances the flatness (read width) of the arm swing. And the slightly closed aim allows the club to work in and behind, which balances the resistance of the upper body.
In the two-plane swing, the slightly weaker grip allows for an open face and an open face has a flattening effect on swing angles, which balances the upright action. The narrower stance allows the body to move more off the ball. That creates body width, which balances the narrowness of the upright arm swing. The more upright posture in the two-plane swing allows the shoulders to turn flatter, which balances the vertical swing action. And finally the more open aim allows the club to work back a little straighter, which balances the freer turn with the upper body.
So it’s all about balance — one move offsets another, one motion complements another. Yes, you can center your pivot, but you need a wide swing to complement it. Yes, you can move your center but you need a narrower swing; so on and so forth.
As for the swing itself, chapters 3 and 4 (pages 30-110 in the book) detail the motions with considerable illustrations. I will make a few general references about the swing acton here: In a one-plane swing, the club swings in and around with the right elbow going behind the golfer and the left arm staying close to the chest, producing a plane quite similar to the shoulders. The shoulders are turning against a stable lower body, creating coil in the upper body. From the top, the TORSO begins the downswing; remember, the trunk is the power move here and the golf club is behind you, so you must unwind the torso first or it is easy to “get stuck.” The death move in the one-plane swing is a tilt of the shoulders from the top, as it will surely drop the club behind you.
Now in the two-plane swing, the shoulders have turned on a much flatter plane, and the arms have swung on a more vertical plane up OVER you, not behind you. From the top, the shoulders remain passive and the arms (the motor of the two-plane swing) separate immediately from the shoulders, swinging aggressively down to the ball. The hips begin with a LATERAL move toward the target, as getting “stuck” is not as much a concern because the arms are more over and out in front you. After the initial lateral move, the hips and torso turn AS THE ARMS AND CLUB SWING DOWN. As I said, this paints a very general picture of the motions. I highly recommend reading chapters 4 and 5 in the book. But if you read the book, be aware of two things: Swing width and the compatible fundamentals.
The point is this: BOTH WAYS ARE EFFECTIVE, but you cannot randomly choose a set-up position when deciding which swing is for you. Personally, if I were forced to choose, I think the one-plane swing is more consistent, but it does demand more physicality than the free swinging action of the two-plane swing.
Take a look through the book. See where you stand or where you’d like to go, and consider the recommendations for each. I think Jim Hardy is a great teacher who has given us much to think about in this seminal work. Also, Hardy allows and I agree that there are “hybrid” swings, many of them, but these blended efforts are still governed by the starting positions that put them in motion.
I said in my last article about Ben Hogan’s instruction book, Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf that while I believed the information was great, the points in the book were harmful to the vast array of weekend warriors. Jim Hardy’s book is a much more universal prescription that can help everybody.
As always, feel free to send a swing video to my Facebook page and I will do my best to give you my feedback.
Click here for more discussion, and to ask Dennis a question in the “Instruction & Academy” forum.
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
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Bernard Sullivan
Feb 6, 2019 at 10:32 am
I played one plane swing by mistake,as I started of 2 plane,and just picked it up on the range,as I was bending over more, trying it get an angle in to do a draw shot, anyway I became very armsy and rotating the body around me,but I lacked distance,and my back started hurting after a while,so I’ve gone back to 2 plane,but the problem I have now is, on the takeaway I keep bringing the club low and along the ground,and then swinging around and behind,and either hit the ground or just goes out right,I’ve totally lost the correct swing path,but now I realized you have to lift the club and turn in the two plane,but I can’t seem to do consistently,but when I do it right I hit the ball miles and seems like I hardly moved,but I do remember getting up high in the takeaway,can anyone give me a good tip to get the club up,and not keep sloping back into low and bringing club across instead of up and over me,it’s doing my head in,I only had 3 lessons in my life and that was only with a 7 iron,and I got an 18 handicap,but I play more like a 28, please, many thanks,
Jason
Feb 20, 2020 at 10:41 pm
Try taking some practice swings with your heels about 6-8 inches from a wall behind you, this will not allow the club to get behind your body. The goal is to make a back swing without hitting the wall.
Dan
Apr 4, 2014 at 10:01 am
Interested in getting more info on the “2 Plane Swing”
How does this book compare to the “LAWS of Golf” by Suttie, Tomasi, Adams? I found this book to be a game changer once I starting working on the “Arc” method.
Was difficult to learn the “hip bump/move down” , how is this book in explaining that?
Minh Nguyen
Mar 31, 2014 at 12:34 pm
Dennis, have you heard of the Haney Blueprint? I watched the infomercial and he talked about a “Parallel Plane”. How does that compare or contrast to a single or two plane swing?
Dennis Clark
Mar 31, 2014 at 4:33 pm
His concept is more of a one plane one. He likes the golf club parallel to the original shaft plane throughout the swing. IOW, same angle different points of origin. Like so many things- good for some not for others…For average golfers, i prefer more of a one plane swing simply because it’s easier to square the face
tom stickney
Mar 31, 2014 at 10:56 am
Good article Dennis…I’m asked the same thing on the lesson tee on a weekly basis.
All the best.
Dennis Clark
Mar 31, 2014 at 4:29 pm
Thx Tom, you know how it is! 🙂
Martin
Jan 3, 2013 at 6:47 pm
Ok, thank you! BTW, I love reading your articles and I am learning a lot, like your approach in the articles, to sort of tell us things we dont read in the articles or the books. I am trying to get a two plane motion to work, so thanks for the input on that!
Martin
Jan 2, 2013 at 1:12 pm
Very interesting article. You mention that the one plane swing requires more of psycical ability than the two plane swing. In what way? Are you talking about strength and flexibility or coordination?
Thank you!
Dennis Clark
Jan 2, 2013 at 6:56 pm
I think it has more to do with the body and the ability to rotate. So yes more flexibility ansd strength. It is a body dominated motion so to speak. Thx DC
bob
Dec 26, 2012 at 5:10 pm
YEA AND HOGAN’S FACE WAS OPEN AS WELL> I thought your ONE PLANNER was meant to have a closed clubface as well.
Dennis Clark
Dec 26, 2012 at 6:18 pm
Hardy is saying the same thing as you. There are a lot of ways to swing the club, and they must complement the fundamentals you choose-much like the great players to whom you refer. Hogan was a one planer swing who employed a WEAK grip for one reason-to FADE the ball. Tell a student to do that and look quickly to the right for the ball flight. And what Hogan could do most couldn’t.
Richard Montfort
Dec 18, 2012 at 3:59 pm
Powerful Golf Concept part 1/2
Powerful Golf Concept part 2/2
on you tube
ac930
Dec 14, 2012 at 12:05 am
Jim Hardy is the man! Unbelievable how great his instruction is. He didn’t invent the methods, he simply figured it out. I suggest you watch all his DVD’s
andrew cooper
Dec 12, 2012 at 2:12 pm
Thanks Dennis, interesting article on The Plane Truth. I’m a fan of Hardy, but have always felt the major flaw in his one plane or two plane idea is that in reality nearly every golfer, including the great ones, have elements of both-the “hybrids”. So basically, one plane, two plane or a combo??!! it kind of doesn’t matter.