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Yodas Luke
I hope that you perceive no personal slight because I question the relevance of those photos of Tiger Woods regarding the question-issue of the appropriate "clubshaft orbit through the impact zone".
I will restate my position in a different fashion. At impact, the idea of a clubshaft plane with its base on the ball-target line has no relevance because one doesn't hit the ball with the hosel (heel) of the club. At impact, the baseline of any theoretical clubshaft plane must be inside the ball-target line, so that the sweetspot can hit the ball. In other words, at impact the only plane of practical relevance is the PP#3-sweetspot plane. We agree on that point.
We even agree that during the early takeaway that one could use the imaginary PP#3-sweetspot axis line to trace the ball-target line (SPL).
I only think of the "clubshaft being on-plane" concept as being relevant because it helps a golfer move the clubhead in an arc that is symmetrical to the ball-target line, and that results in an in-to-square-to-in clubhead swingarc that is perfectly symmetrical with respect to the ball-target line. To achieve that goal, a golfer must focus his attention on the clubshaft. From my perspective, one could also use a dowel stick (which doesn't have a clubhead) to train a golfer to swing the clubshaft on-plane (where the end of the dowel stick nearest the ground always points at the ball-target line - except when the dowel stick is parallel to the ball-target line). In Lynn's Alignment Golf DVD there is a drill performed by VJ Trolio where he runs the clubshaft along a railing (made of PVC tubing) that is about 18" high. Isn't that drill supposed to help a golfer acquire a sense/feel of being on-plane through the impact zone? In that drill, it is the clubshaft which is tracing a SPL, and not the imaginary PP#3-sweetspot axis line. Hopefully, all golfers understand that the drill is only an approximation because there is a subtle difference in the sweetspot plane, relative to the clubshaft plane, in the immediate vicinity of the ball.
Finally, in my mind, I can hold the following mental image. I can mentally imagine the clubshaft tracing a SPL through the impact zone (in the manner that I described VJ Trolio's low-fence drill), but I also simultaneously realize that the SPL must actually be inside the ball at impact (and not through the center of the ball). I can then readily mentally picture the clubface closing during the release swivel phase and followthrough phase and I can mentally picture the sweetspot path being slighly curved as the clubhead moves through the impact zone. It "feels" is as if the clubhead toe is rotating around the hosel (while the hosel traces the SPL).
I can also think of the same situation using an alternative mental image. I can imagine the PP#3-sweetspot axis line (not the clubshaft) tracing the SPL, which then forces me to imagine that the hosel tracks along an inward curved path through the impact zone. I find this mental image disconcerting - because I cannot really imagine the hosel curving inwards (towards the toes) as it moves from the third parallel position to the fourth parallel position. Can you really imagine the hosel of the club following an inward curved path as it moves through the impact zone - while your hand thrust is down-and-out-and forward?
Jeff.
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