[O.B.Left]

Hmm? What about a non-Pivot Stroke?

Great question. Im thinking, the brain via its sensory outposts the Pressure Points in the Hands ensures the Hands travel the Inclined Plane, Pivot or no Pivot. So the path of the Hands, the degree of UP vs BACK is unique in each motion and dependent upon the amount of Pivot and the direction of the Pivot. Even I am confused by my own writing here. Let me try it again. If you take a non Pivot stroke, Hitting Putting say, the Hands travel the Inclined Plane right. Now take a Pivot Stroke where the Hands travel the Plane again and zero out the Pivot by taking your shoulders back to address and observe the unique path of the Hands which is now not on plane. This reveals the changes in Hand Path necessary given the Pivot being employed. Why is this necessary? Because the Arms are attached to the Shoulders and are therefore effected by Shoulder or Pivot motion.

If I may ask one more question:

If the Hands go up and down, and the Pivot goes back and forth, then are the Hands monitoring both paths simultaneously?

Im not an AI and will defer to Drew or anyone else. But to my mind the Brain monitors the Hand Path vis a vis the Plane Line, Tracing and adjusts its control over the Hand Path to accommodate any off plane pressures that the Hands may sense be they from the Pivot or elsewhere. A gust of wind could, knock you off balance and the brain could compensate for instance. Like drawing a long line on a chalk board with someone trying to knock your hand off line, you try to compensate with equal and opposite forces to net out with a straight line. When this person stops you see your hand reflect the correction you have programed in as it shoots away in the direction of your correction, which you then re correct as you move back to unobstructed straight line tracing.

The Pivots motion is not On Plane, not traveling the same Path as the Hands at all times (one exception being the choice of an On Plane Shoulder turn in Statdown, the TSP concept). So the Hands are constantly adjusting in their quest to Trace the Straight Line Plane LIne assuming you are Tracing.

If I may ask one more question:

Isn't Down-plane a Path?

Yes but it is, for pivot shots, the product of divergent vectors.

If I may ask one more question. I don't want to be annoying

If my hands go up and down and my Pivot goes back and forth, then if they precisely move 1" at a time then their path will be down and out at a 45 degree angle to the ground. That's not the question. The question is, If my Pivot is moving back and Forth, then whats moving my shoulder up and down to support the Hands?

Not sure I follow you here. Your shoulders by definition are part of your Pivot in this regard no?

But if I may wander off path myself a bit, all of this necessitates that the Arms swing freely, independently from the Shoulders!!!!!! Per the MacDonald exercises or Wild Bill Melhourne drills etc. Relaxation at this connection is a must as tension tends to add more power to the Pivots normally off plane influence over the Arms and therefor the Hand Path! A good note to keep in mind when preparing to bomb a drive or when playing in very cold weather I find. Or tournament play, I guess never thought about that one till now, shucks. As Drew says "Let the Motion make the shot".