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GOLF
TEACHING PRO®
By Bob Wyatt
USGTF National Coordinator, Port St. Lucie, Florida
Golf has always seen a proliferation of teachers touting
“new” or “better” ways to swing a golf club than what
is considered conventional. The reason that these methods
gain traction is that there are golfers who actually play better
with them than with the “conventional” swing.
Some teachers of these methods, unfortunately, become
quite militant in saying that their way is the “only” way for all
golfers to play the game. Their beliefs, though, are in contrast
to the experiences of the USGTF Technical Committee, and
likely that of the general USGTF membership, as well.
As golf teachers, it is important that we know something
about the various methods out there and how they may be
applied to our students, if necessary. Here is a brief review
of the most popular current swing trends and teaching
methodologies.
STACK & TILT
Instructors Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer researched
and tested this method for over 20 years before bringing it to
several tour players, and they have achieved notable success
with various students. “Stack” refers to the ideal of keeping
the weight “stacked” over the front foot for the entire swing;
“tilt” refers to the necessity of tilting the spine angle towards
the front foot on the backswing to achieve this. Bennett and
Plummer believe that keeping the weight over the front foot
during the swing leads to more consistent contact, while the
conventional swing, necessitating shifting back and through,
leads to diffi culty in developing consistent contact.
Skeptical golf teachers would say that Bennett and
Plummer are teaching nothing more than a reverse pivot
backswing, and under traditional understanding of the golf
swing, this would be correct. However, they refute this by
saying that a true reverse pivot also involves transferring the
weight to the back foot on the forward swing.
Teaching application:
If you have a student who
reverse pivots (or tilts) on the backswing, despite your
best efforts, this methodology may be the ticket. Most of
our students who reverse pivot or tilt, sway their weight
to the outside of their back foot; under Stack & Tilt, they
would still lean their spine towards the target at the top,
but the difference is their weight would be on their front,
not rear, foot. During transition, the hips must move laterally
aggressively – a diffi cult proposition for many average
players. However, if they can do it, Stack & Tilt may be for
them. Info: www.stackandtilt.com.
ON E-PLANE SWING
Years ago, Jim Hardy asked himself, “Why do good golf
teachers say the exact opposite things about the golf swing?”
His search led him to the conclusion that all of these teachers
were correct – in context. That context was whether the golfer
was swinging with either a one-plane or two-plane swing.
Hardy defines a one-plane swing as one where, at the
top of the backswing, the lead arm is parallel to the shoulder
plane, while the two-plane swing features the lead arm at
a more vertical angle than the shoulder plane. The twoplane
swing is what teaching traditionalists would consider
a conventional swing, while a one-plane swing would be
considered flat. However, Hardy says the one-plane swing
is not fl at; it’s just different, and, in his opinion, easier to
repeat.
In a traditional two-plane swing, the player would stand
fairly tall with a neutral grip. During transition, the player uses
the lower body fairly aggressively in returning the clubhead
to the ball in a proper path from the inside.
In a one-plane swing, the player would bend over slightly
more with a stronger grip. During transition, the player would
feel like the upper body is starting the downswing with the
lower body responding – although this is mainly a feel and
not necessarily reality.
Teaching application: If you have a student who is in
a one-plane position at the top, they may have a tendency to drag the clubhead too far inside on the downswing,
resulting in pushes and hooks. This tends to be the result if
you combine a one-plane swing with a two-plane transition
move. The student needs to either make his swing more
upright on the backswing or quiet the lower body on the
downswing. Info: www.planetruthgolf.com.
NATURAL GOLF
Natural Golf is a company that was founded by instructor
Jack Kuykendall, who later sold the company. Kuykendall
came up with the method years ago, when he failed to
improve using conventional means. Later, he was put in
contact with the late Moe Norman, whose swing was similar
in nature to the method Kuykendall discovered.
Natural Golf believes it is easier to swing on a single
plane than on multiple planes. They explain that using a
conventional grip with the club handle in the fi ngers
necessitates that the club be moved into a more upright
plane once the wrists begin to cock on the backswing. After
transition, the club must be then moved again to a flatter
plane to make proper contact in the conventional swing.
Natural Golf says all of this can be avoided by gripping
the club in the trailing palm, relatively parallel to the trailing
forearm. They say, by doing this, that the club will not have
to switch planes during the swing; thus, the term “one-plane
swing.”
Teaching application: If you have a student who feels
more comfortable gripping the club in the trailing palm,
who tends to set up with a wider-than-normal stance, and
who tends to reach for the ball, Natural Golf may be a better
option than trying to get them to adopt a more conventional
set-up and swing. Info: www.naturalgolf.com.
In years past…
As noted in the beginning of this article, golf has always
seen new or different swing methods being touted. Most of
them have gone by the wayside. Some maintain a dedicated
following to this day. Among the methods that have been
popular in recent decades include
Golf Swing of the Future:
This method was touted by British professional Mindy Blake in his
1972 book of the same name. He advocated a very strong, four-knuckle
lead-hand grip with both feet angled left of perpendicular to the
target line (in order to prevent backswing hip rotation). The
backswing was what would now be described as three-quarter. This
method never gained popularity among professional golfers, although
Paul Azinger’s swing somewhat
resembles this action.
Square-to-Square: Noted instructor Jim Flick touted
this method in the late 1960s, culminating in a book by Dick Aultman titled The Square-to-Square Golf Swing: The Model
Method for the Modern Player. The key to this method was
forming a straight line, or “square,” relationship between
the back of the left hand, wrist, and lower forearm almost
immediately after takeaway, with the idea being to maintain
this relationship throughout the rest of the golf swing.
Because it was somewhat of an artifi cial method and diffi cult
for most players to execute, it fell out of favor fairly quickly.
Connection:
Jimmy Ballard popularized the method of
having the arms “connected” to the body throughout the
entire swing. At the time, swinging the arms without too
much regard to what the body was doing was the preferred
method. The most famous drill associated with Ballard is
putting a handkerchief, or some other similar item, under the
left arm and keeping it there throughout the swing. Although
Ballard maintains a full teaching schedule to this day and still
works with some tour players, his public profi le is not what
it was in his heyday of the 1970s and 1980s.
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