GO | NO GO: AT THE TOP – SWING PLANE

 

Go: At the top of your swing the rod across your chest should be parallel to the ground or angled down slightly.

 

Standing up and losing your posture is one of the great pitfalls of the golf swing. A good player maintains their posture throughout their swing, otherwise it becomes increasingly difficult to find your way back to a good impact position. Every small change in posture must be corrected for somewhere else in the swing. This is another one of those golf swing mechanics that is all but impossible to see in your own swing without some outside help. In order to understand if you’ve come out of your posture you’re going to need someone to watch your golf swing, preferably a golf instructor. So, is there a way to improve your golf swing posture and swing plane on your own? There is now, with Swing Align! Swing Align adds a visual indicator to every part of your golf swing, it allows you to see body positions that you wouldn’t be able to otherwise.  A very easy check you can do while wearing a Swing Align is to, at the top of your swing, look at the position of the rod across your chest. Ideally you want to see the front end of the alignment rod pointing slightly downward, toward the ground. Getting the rod to be either level with the ground, or to have the front end pointing slightly down, indicates that you have maintained the proper spine angle and you are on the proper swing plane! But swing plane can be a confusing swing concept to understand for most golfers, and an even harder one to execute on. How do you know if you have stayed on the proper swing plane? How do you make sure you’ve taken the club back on the proper swing plane?

Using Swing Align to get set-up squarely to your target and to move the club back properly during the takeaway is a great start.  Using Swing Align to stay connected during the backswing to use your arms and body together, not independently, to move the club away from the ball and up to the top of your swing as one, reinforces the proper swing fundamentals.  At set-up your arms form a triangle with your shoulders. Rotate your shoulders down and around and maintain this triangle as you move the club to the top. This is commonly called a one-piece takeaway, and is a concept designed to help you stay on the proper swing plane.  Continue to focus on using your body to rotate the club to the top instead of your arms. The Swing Align cuffs and connection belt will hold your arms together during the backswing and through to the top of the swing. If you can get your arm body connection in a good place, you will start to recognize the position of the rods and reinforce the good behaviors.  Another common fault surrounding these concepts is having a flying elbow at the top of your swing. This happens when your body stops rotating and your arm take over, typically separating at the top of your swing as you reach back in a disconnected manner to try and generate more power. This can lead to bad timing and loss of power and direction. Practice rotating the alignment rod across your chest to where it ends up perpendicular to your target line and parallel or pointed slightly down to the ground at the top.  This allows you not only to see the proper position but to feel the proper position at the top of the swing. This will put you in a great position to deliver the club to impact!