When I first began with TGM, I latched onto some bad information that I still fight to this day - elbow stuck way in front, clubshaft dropping underplane, face stuck open. This resulted in either vicious hooks or huge pushes. As one would expect, my game improved immensely once I found some better information. These days, especially when I don't play much, I really need to focus on plane angle and clubface. And my rounds this year all left a lot to be desired.
At a recent range session, I wracked my brain for the tricks and ideas that brought me out of these funks when they occurred years ago. I figure I'd put them out there for the benefit of everyone with plane issues because as we know they can be extremely frustrating.
The first thing I did is envision the problem - when I got to the top, my left wrist was Turning at startdown and thus allowing the shaft to flatten and move underplane. What I felt as "on plane" was in fact underplane. The fix for this is to exaggerate it the other way. I feel like the clubshaft is very much "in front" of my body, even at the top. From there, I try to drive the butt-end of the club into the ground in front of the ball. This naturally steepens the plane angle while still allowing you to dynamically maintain lag pressure.
However, it's harder to achieve this feeling with longer clubs simply because you get the sensation that you're chopping wood with your driver. When this happens, I feel like I speed up my arms in relation to my pivot. I start down by feeling like my arms almost get past my line-of-sight to the ball before my pivot starts rotating. The underplane clubshaft is caused by the exact opposite - your pivot spinning while the arms stay back and then fall behind you. When you start feeling as though your arms move first, make sure to keep your right shoulder back and on-plane instead of collapsing it into the ball.
Of course, it takes some time before you get comfortable with these changes. At first, it feels like you can't even put the clubface on the ball from these "odd" positions. How can you go "out to right field" when you feel like you're coming over the top? After a while, though, it starts feeling more natural and the ball starts flying normally.
I've tried all sorts of ideas to fix plane problems and I'm starting to believe that the best way to deal with them is to simply exaggerate the opposite. You can try to just put it on plane (with laser pointers, mirror work, etc) but more often than not you fall into the "feel versus real" trap - you think you're on-plane, you're actually underplane, it's just a big roundabout. So take your 9-iron and start trying to stick the butt-end into the ground ahead of the ball. Yes, it'll feel over-the-top and like you're chopping wood. When you start taking divots and the ball is flying correctly, start adjusting it back to where it's comfortable. If weird shots occur, go back to exaggerated. Back and forth until you've got it.
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