The Inside Path
To Higher Scores

All pictures were taken at Ocean Trails Golf Club, which is now Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles, in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

Over the previous five pages I've discussed some problems of an upright swing plane and how manipulations are necessary to correct for those problems. Manipulations are very timing dependent, which puts great pressure on a golfer's coordination, and there is no way to have an upright swing without the need to manipulate! But this doesn't mean you should go to the range and flatten your swing without knowing what you're doing.

Logically, the ideal swing is a swing without manipulation and, in a perfect world, that would be true. However, a swing that requires no manipulation is a very demanding swing in which all of the parts work seamlessly as a whole. This means that all of the movements have to be performed correctly in order for it to work to maximum effect, and there are few golfers dedicated enough to develop a swing of this type.

For golfers who want to get away from an upright swing, I want to warn you of the most likely error you'll make. In the first picture, the problem is very evident—I've let the club get much too far inside. I've drawn arrows to show the typical path the club will follow once it has moved inside (anything more than just a little inside can cause serious problems). As you can see, at the top of the backswing (top arrow) the club will most likely be pointing somewhere to the right of the target. Thus, the inside takeaway still ends up in a very upright swing plane as is evident in pictures two and three, both below.

In picture three (above) I point out again why the upright swing plane is problematic (remember, this time I arrived at this position by going inside at the beginning of the takeaway). There is no way I can come down by following the swing plane I am currently in (the red arrow) because I would be swinging into my body. I either have to correct the swing plane by flattening it before I start down, which most golfers can't do, or I have no choice but to come "over-the-top".

Ideally, when the shaft gets to horizontal somewhere around hip high on the way back, the shaft should point to the target if it is in the correct swing plane. In picture four, I am exaggerating a position that is too far outside, but if one is to err, this is the side on which to be. The right elbow can still get into a decent position (pointing down) because it isn't getting pushed back and up as in pictures two and three, and as the upper red arrow (above and left of my head) shows, the club is not as likely to get into as steep a plane (pointing to the right of the target) as it gets to the top.

 

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Casey Eberting Golf Instruction

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