We have a question from an Inner Circle member, Ttenrab. T says: “I am having success with the shorter irons, but the longer irons and driver have problems when using the PPGS swing. How do you keep your clubs on plane and come up vertically. A rock on a string spins fastest when the string is at 90 degrees to its axis. The club head (the rock) spins fastest when the string (the shaft and your left arm) are 90 degrees to the axis (your body). If you lay a club head on the ground the shaft comes out at x degrees, your body has to bend to match about 90 degrees to the shaft, and then your arms swing around your body. With the shorter irons you can come about straight up while staying close to 90 degrees to your body, how do you accomplish this with the PPGS? Help would be greatly appreciated, because right now i am hitting my longer irons and driver with a limited turn swing but i have to come into the sacred burial ground in order to stay on plane. I seem to be hitting my longer irons and woods ok, so should I just keep what I have, or try to change it?”
Mr. T, I've got a few things I need to look at and comment on. Yes, you are 100% right that the rock swings 90 degrees at the axis. I think where we have a problem here is that you say you swing your arms around your body.
Well, you swing your arms around your body and, as you say, you're getting into the Sacred Burial Ground to stay on plane. That's because, if you're swinging around your body, you're not making the Peak Performance Golf Swing. That's rotational. In the Peak performance Golf Swing, we swing around the neck.
I like to say there are two centers of gravity for a golf swing. The center of gravity for your body is a point at the base of the spine, and the center of gravity for the swing is the other end of your spine, the nape of your neck. When I swing my golf club, I lift my arms up and swing around my neck. My forward arm comes up and swings around my neck and when I swing back down my back arm comes up around the neck.
So if you're going around your body, you're way too flat. That's why you're having problems swinging on plane because, if you go around your body, it's very likely the club is getting very heavy behind you. You're plane it way too flat for what the Peak Performance is, with the 3/4, limited turn swing.
Remember, I've always said the concept of the Peak Performance Swing is that we always swing on a maximum, vertical, inclined plane for our posture. If you draw a line from the ball it goes through the neck resting on the shoulders. It's the same concept as Ben Hogan's pain of glass, it sits on the neck. We swing up around the neck. If you're swinging around your body, that's rotational and I think that's where you're having a problem feeling like you're having trouble swinging on plane.
Swinging flat around your body, your arms tend to break more, the club gets heavy, the heavier club starts pulling your hands down. To swing it back into the ball you've got to lift the club up a little bit, then the club's trying to go vertical again. The weight of the club going up and down is what you're feeling with your problem of keeping it on plane.
Think about swinging your arms up around your neck. Since you're an IC member, get in there and look at the pictures of the plane in the manual and on any of the videos. You see DJ and me swinging, our arms are lifting up around our neck and not getting around our bodies and into the Sacred Burial Ground. Your plane issue will be settled by swinging around your neck, not your body.
The Surge!