Two swing questions (grip, plane)

[SilverUberXeno]

Hey fellas, I'll cut right to it:

GRIP:

I've read on here that at address, you can check your grip my releasing the club with your right hand. If it just swings straight to the right, you're golden. Obviously this has nothing to do with HOW you're holding the club, just whether or not you're reaching for it.

Now, with most clubs, this works great. I hit my irons wonderfully, and my 3 and 5 woods consistently. But, with the driver, I get awful sidespin. I tried earlier to reach out a bit more, and I plugged it a LOT straighter. It came a tiny bit left and then a tiny bit right, dropped about 2 yards right of the spot I was aiming.

So, how important is it to use that grip check? Is it just a fluke that I hit a good shot by reaching a little more for the ball?

PLANE:

In my time on the golf team, there was one thing I noticed that nearly everybody was doing. Everybody (aside from me I think) was swinging on a relatively lateral plane. I don't swing totally vertically, but with examination of my swing, I noticed I start the take-away on a good plane, then when I bend my elbows toward the top, the club comes nearly straight up.

I've been swinging more laterally and keeping it on a single plane, and I'm noticing that my good shots are a lot better. I've not been doing it for long, so I don't expect incredible consistency yet, but I'm wondering if I'm doing the right thing changing my plane.

Whaddya think?

[DrBrown]

To start, hinging your wrists in an upward motion is not the best idea. You dont want to break your arms or wrists to achieve the backswing. At least you shouldnt be thinking of it that way, it might lead to problems down the road.

Your shaft should be very close to being directly over your right shoulder. If its behind your shoulder you are flat and if its too far inside your shoulder then its gonna end up too vertical which would be why your htiting your driver with so much spin. But luckily your on the stronger side of golf and hitting down on the ball with your irons will make a nice ball flight and give you decent distance.

My advice is to find a window with a good reflection or a mirror and swing back to see where your shaft is positioned at the top of the backswing. If your anywhere around the shoulder your close to on plane.

Best way to find out where to grip it with the arms is just let them hang down full relaxed when your in good posture. From there just put the grip in your hands w/out moving your arms. With your 3wood and driver this might be more difficult. You will need to reach out a little if you have 44" or longer shafts and are under 6 feet tall. But just remember to keep the shaft on plane (around the shoulder area at the top).

[dave.]

Its not the grip,I think its a posture issue that is confusing you.Assuming you have a good grip to start with,you may be bending to far from the hips with the driver compared to the irons.Try sticking your arse out more with the driver and making sure the weight is in the middle of your feet.When you croach with a driver,you will either hit big pulls or big pushes/slices.

Stand taller,use your height before flexing the knees.Work on posture and see what happens.

[DrBrown]

Good point! If you havent bought the "How I Play Golf by Tiger Woods" GO GET IT! Its instant visual feedback if you have a mirror. His posture in the year 2000 was perfect. Since then he's made his swing all goofy but before this it was perfection. I use the foldout poster with his full swing photos all the time for quick reference. It tells you whether your hands are too far away or close etc.

[charnockpro]

With regards to plane, it is easier to start the ball on line if you are on the correct plane on the way up or down, an easy way to check this is look in a mirror (down the line by the way!!) and when your left arm is parallel to the ground your hands should be in the middle of your chest and the butt end of the golf club should be pointing at the ball and the same position on the way down as this then means you have swung the club on a clean line and will hit the ball in the aligned direction with minimal sidespin and more distance control
e-mail: pro_golf233@hotmail.com