Golf Tip of the Day: Identify Your Shaft Angle Plane

Identifying your shaft angle plane can be a useful tool in understanding your golf swing. Find out more in today’s golf tip.

In a video lesson, be sure to trace the golf club with a line well past head height. This is the shaft angle plane. In today’s golf tip, you’ll learn why this trick can be a very useful part of your understanding of the golf swing. Whether or not you take the clubhead along this plane will make a big difference in how you hit the ball.

To establish width, the clubhead should be just above the plane (shaving the line) during the backswing. This produces a takeaway that has the shaft parallel with your feet while the club is horizontal to the ground. This is a nice move to repeat and learn, as it allows the downswing room to come down through the backswing.

On the downswing, I like most players to attack the ball with the clubhead under the shaft angle plane line. This allows them to attack the ball from the inside, utilizing all the centrifugal force they can. Basically, the clubhead should go just over the shaft angle plane on the way back and under on the way down. This shot often produces a nice draw, as most players naturally swing out to the right a little bit. At the very least, it will produce a nice, straight shot to right-center of the green or fairway.

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Attacking the ball right along the shaft angle plane on the downswing is another great way to hit the ball. This approach still includes an inside attack and can produce straighter hits. I often look at the shaft angle plane as the “straight hit line.” If you attack along this line on the downswing, you will hit it quite straight if your grip is correct.

Attacking the ball from ever so slightly (one clubhead) over the shaft angle plane on the way down is something that only very good players should do. They may lose a slight amount of distance, but they gain much more control and consistency with their clubhead speed.

When high handicap amateurs attack from over the top of the shaft angle plane, they usually stray too far. This results in a shot that has the double whammy of an open clubface that often comes with this “too steep” attack. The most common hit is the banana ball, which starts in left field (for right-handed players) and then curves to the right. These players often aim left, making matters even worse.

In addition, these players sometimes hit with too strong of a grip and hit over the top with a closed club face. A closed club face will force the ball to go way left.

"High handicappers make the dreaded “forward loop.” They take the clubhead back under the shaft angle plane, then attack the ball from over it with an “outside in” attack. This is the exact opposite of what you want to do."

You can help adjust the amount of curve on the ball at the end of its flight. If the ball tails to the right, move your hands to the right and reduce the grip pressure. This will give the hands a better chance to release.

If your ball tails to the left, move your hands to the left, showing less knuckles. This will slow down the closing of the clubface.

See my Twitter @Pete_Kelbel for a picture of the shaft angle plane.

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