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How do you find your Ideal Plane?

To hit very straight shots, finding your ideal swing plane is vital. In fact, some top players do not swing the club on their ideal plane during their backswings but find their plane somewhere into the downswing before impact.

As teaching skills have improved over the years, most of the younger top professionals seem to be developing simple swings which try to keep the ideal plane from the backswing to the downswing.

Here is how to find it:

1. Take your address position with correct posture and draw an imaginary line from the ball through the centre of your chest and up behind your back.
   
   
2. During the first part of your swing (i.e take-away to 9 o clock) the whole of the club will gradually rise to the plane as you turn. This happens because the hands for most of us the hands will be slightly lower than the plane at address.
   
   
3. From mid-way to the top of the backswing, the back of the left hand, the shaft of club and the leading edge of the club-face are in line with the plane.
   
   
4. Now try to keep the plane line into the downswing and follow through.

Again remember not all top golfers stay on the ideal plane for the whole of the swing. This is a guide and will help you identify faults you may have and will help give you a clearer idea of your ideal backswing and downswing Of course many factors are involved in achieving these positions.

Work on your swing with a good PGA Professional who will be trained to help you with the necessary changes:

1. Good Posture	2. Hands and club shaft on the plane line.
3. Back of left hand, shaft and clubface on plane almost at the top of the backswing	4. Starting down trying to stay on plane
5. Trying to keep the plane to the finish.

Check the Grain before you chip or pitch

It's more common to check the grain of the grass when we putt but most of us forget to check the grain before playing short chips or pitches from around the green. If the grain on the green is going towards you, the ball is going to check up and stop faster than if the grass is growing away from you. When the grain is in the other direction, growing away from you, the ball will skid forward more on landing and roll more.

Crisp Iron Shots

One important fact for every crisp iron shot is that your weight is mostly on your left foot at impact. You cannot swing down and through the ball with the club head striking in a "ball then turf" sequence unless this happens. At impact, the left leg should feel firm maintaining a bit of flex before the follow-through. This firm left leg feel anchors the body momentarily so the arms can swing the club down and through the ball to give that crisp spinning iron shots.

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