Let’s take a look at Stewart Cink’s swing and see why he is so consistent.
At address, you can see I have two plane lines. The tour pros usually follow the red one or the yellow one depending on what school of “plane” they believe.
Stewart, in this case, resorts to the yellow plane line, which is perfectly okay, but the red plane line is the “new” and deadly “secret” that the tour pros won’t tell you about.
At takeaway, you can see Stewart right-on-plane with the yellow plane. It’s actually inside the red plane, meaning Stewart will have to re-route slightly to hit the ball.
At 1/2 way on the backswing, you can see Stewart follow the yellow plane perfectly. This is the old-method taught by teachers like David Leadbetter and some others. (It’s not a TRUE plane as I will explain further in the latter pics.)
At the top of Stewart’s swing, you can see he’s veered off the yellow plane completely and he’s now on the red plane. Why the yellow plane worked is because he actually “manipulated” his arms to go upright. This isn’t natural but then over 50% of pro tours swing like this. (except Tiger and couple other players)
At 1/2 way down, you can see the Stewart is actually on-plane with the true red plane. The yellow plane, as shown here, does not constitute as the real-plane as it has no meaning.
Why is it like this?
Because the yellow plane only shows the plane of the club shaft at “address”, not “impact”.
At impact, your wrists and arms straighten out due to the centrifugal force applied by the body, that’s called the red plane, true plane to follow for hitting the ball flawlessly. A lot of teachers do not even know about this simple because they are too stubborn and stuck in the 90s.
At moment of truth, check out how Stewart’s shoulders, arms, and hands are on plane with the red line than the yellow line. (This is why yellow plane has no meaning except that teachers try to teach you an invisible concept)
Even after impact, look at how well Stewart stays on-plane.
Now, you have learned the two ways of planes in golf.
The first plane is the plane formed by the clubshaft at address. (the yellow line)
The second plane is the plane formed by the line between your clubhead and the middle of your right shoulder sockets. (the red line)
Tiger Woods and couple other top players in the world are using the red plane. Everyone else is using the yellow plane.
Which one is correct?
The red line plane is more correct because it’s based on your impact position, not address.
The reason why the yellow plane works is because Stewart manipulated his arms after takeaway to fit the red plane. (So in fact, all his previous work to get the club on-line with the yellow plane becomes worthless)
Take a look at my swing analysis of Tiger’s swing and you will know what I mean here.
Here’s Stewart Cink’s driver swing in slow motion:
