In your post there is a presumption that I feel is NOT true and that is that those who use a single axis swing LOSE DISTANCE. It is a myth perpetuated by many, including a few local CPGA instructors that I have discussed this with and MAY be a way of showing a lack of understanding of the swing’s characteristics.
While the fundamentals are unique, a little, there are really only a few differences that may result in straighter shots:
- A wide stance. This limits some unnecessary lower body rotation
- A lower hand palm grip.
- A straight line up the club shaft through the right forearm, hence the term single axis
- Facing the ball at impact.
The truly important feature of TGGS (Moe’s swing) is that the club shaft is on or under the shaft axis plane coming down. This would be the equivalent to your attack plane, as the single axis position is higher than a conventional setup. The wrist and other leverage angles still move in the same manner, but the body faces the ball, or as close to doing this as one’s flexibility allows, and this helps keep the club head coming into the ball from the inside. Less lower body rotation, clearing the hips, means greater consistency. IF you believe that club head speed comes from the lower body, you would believe that less lower body rotation means lower club head speed. I don’t. Most of the club head speed comes from the movement of the upper body leverage angles, so IMO, the lower body’s motion forward to a STABLE position, allows the leverage angles to do their thing. I have seen mathematical PROOF that the lower body supplies the power: I have seen mathematical PROOF that the upper body does. A never ending debate.
You say Moe flips his hands and by inference, this is necessary for a single axis swing. I have super slo mo shots of Moe swinging and he delays the unhinging as late as anyone I have ever seen, including Hogan. His hands are in the middle of his body AND the club is still parallel to the ground. In about 3/100ths of a second from there, his wrists unhinge, so that at impact, his hands are AHEAD of the ball, his left wrist is flat as a pancake and his right wrist is bent. It is a position similar to the one you see of Hogan in 5 Fundamentals. If Moe flipped, he COULD NOT achieve this perfect impact position. Yes, there is a release, but the release is completed well AFTER impact. MOE did NOT flip.
My SA swing has differs from the norm in that I start every full swing from a preset position. This is my top of the backswing position that I am in BEFORE I begin swinging. From there I just turn to the top and go. The other fundamental that I stress comes from Mark Evershed’s TGS fundamentals. I try on every shot to keep my left wrist flat and my right wrist bent for the entire swing. By doing this I can swing as hard as an old fart of 61 can, without hooking. There is no flipping in my swing.
This kind of swing motion has helped me maintain a reasonable level of play, not because I hit the ball perfect every time, but because I hit very few really bad shots. This, to me, is one “secret” to better play. Consistency. Keeping the ball in play. It does help to have a reasonable short game and putting stroke. At my age I will never hit the ball long and I don’t try. 100 mph is about all I can muster, but by keeping it in play, good scores can still result. I understand how Corey Pavin feels.
I constantly work on perfecting a handful of simple fundamentals:
- downswing on the shaft axis plane
-hit the INSIDE quadrant of the ball (causes the first)
-left wrist flat, right wrist bent
-face the ball at impact
Soooo simple.
Here is a link to some articles on the swing of Ben Hogan that you may be interested in. Of particular interest are the two on the swing plane. IMO, there are very well done
http://www.golftoday.co.uk/proshop/f...s_hogan_1.html