Observations, are they valid?

[Tonx]

Gday guys!

Been working on my game alot recently, as playing a few of the tougher courses in the area have really shown where my game is at. At my local course, I shoot between 73 and 85 on a 68par almost any given day, (depending on the tee placements) but struggle to break 90 on the tougher courses.

My biggest problems have been manning up on the longer irons, and occasional blow outs from the tee. I've taken lessons, but when hitting furthur, have so far been unable to hit quality shots, as my swing flaws have been amplified.

Recently though, I have found a few things that seem to have helped heaps, and my only problem with them, is I don't want to be teaching myself the *wrong* thing, as it could be hard to break in the future if I start taking golf a little more seriously.

I've been keeping the back (right) leg rock solid throughout the delivery. Using a basic 1 plane swing, its giving awesome results from 7-SW, but with the longer Irons (especially when rotating the shoulders a little more for longer distances), it gives me a medium fade, and an occasional shank. To compensate for this, I've been dropping the downswing well inside the upswing line.

The greater the shoulder rotation, the furthur inside I drop the downswing.

I gained this idea from studying Garcias' swing, and even though some experts suggest against the 2 plane swing, this method is giving me awesome (comparitive) ball flight, striking, and direction, even from quite tough lies. It also gives me the ability to create 3 well defined ball distances with the same club, without deliberately concentrating on swing speed. Little rotation of shoulders, medium rotation, and maximum rotation.

To gain the required amount of rotation, I simply drop the front knee inside an appropriate amount, and my only school of thought is directed at keeping my back leg locked. I am able to hold position after swing better than usual.

This method had me hitting my 2 iron a maximum of around 190-200 metres with either a straight ball flight, or a light high draw, even off dirt. I CAN go back to the light fade when required, simply by not dropping the club in as much when wanting to set the ball to stop. Previously I could only use my 2-iron off the tee.

Am I on the right track, and is it worth working on, or should I concentrate more on a single plan swing, where I have the OTT swing on occasion?

Your thoughts?

[BC MIST]

Am I on the right track, and is it worth working on, or should I concentrate more on a single plan swing, where I have the OTT swing on occasion?

Keeping the right leg firm is characteristic of every good golf swing and it has played a huge roll in your success.

You have really answered your own question in that your "2 plane" swing occasionally results in an OTT motion, the results of which are seldom good. Is this what you want? You have had success using the "1 plane" with the shorter, scoring irons, so keep using it with the longer ones, until you gain the confidence with them that you have with the short ones.

Remember too, that Garcia gets into an "on plane" position by looping. The "1 plane" swing gets you into the SAME, ON PLANE position without looping. Now, do you have the world class ability and timing that Garcia has to loop consistently into the right position or would you be better off if you did NOT have to loop? Why would you loop when you don't have to? In golf, the K.I.S.S. principle woks best for mortals.