Not sure where to start? Ask a question
Tyler Ferrell is the only person in the world named to Golf Digest's list of Best Young Teachers in America AND its list of Best Golf Fitness Professionals in America.

Understanding Tension and Plane at the Top of Your Swing

After this video, you'll be able to:

  • Identify the differences between one-plane and two-plane swings
  • Learn how to create and maintain tension throughout your backswing
  • Understand how body tension can improve timing and consistency in your swing

In this video, you'll explore the concepts of swing plane and body tension at the top of your swing. Understanding these elements is crucial for achieving a more connected and powerful golf swing.

Video Transcript
WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.620
This concept video is discussing plane vs tension at the top of the swing.

2
00:00:09.620 --> 00:00:15.750
So I had a good question come in about the kind of the plane of the arm at the

3
00:00:15.750 --> 00:00:16.160
top of

4
00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:17.160
the swing.

5
00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:22.350
So there was a system by Jim Hardy that looked at kind of one plane, two plane,

6
00:00:22.350 --> 00:00:22.640
which was

7
00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:27.840
essentially if you had the angle of your shoulders from the down the line

8
00:00:27.840 --> 00:00:28.920
camera angle, is it

9
00:00:28.920 --> 00:00:33.520
better to have the arm kind of in line or above.

10
00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:37.690
And essentially there were a couple of different patterns and depending on

11
00:00:37.690 --> 00:00:38.720
where you were at

12
00:00:38.720 --> 00:00:43.640
the top of the swing, you had to adopt certain pieces of this pattern.

13
00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:47.920
And basically he was asking which one kind of fits the stock tour swing model.

14
00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:53.960
And I would say that the stock tour swing model looks at the swing differently.

15
00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:58.730
The stock tour swing model is going to look at more tension in the body as one

16
00:00:58.730 --> 00:00:59.220
of the

17
00:00:59.220 --> 00:01:01.360
goals at the top of the swing.

18
00:01:01.360 --> 00:01:07.460
Typically when you don't have tension then you have slack and that slack has

19
00:01:07.460 --> 00:01:08.400
been described

20
00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:12.160
as more requiring more timing.

21
00:01:12.160 --> 00:01:16.270
It can feel like the club gets lost, they're stuck or like there's wobbles, it

22
00:01:16.270 --> 00:01:17.120
just doesn't

23
00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:21.000
feel like everything is working as one unit, it feels like there's too much

24
00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:22.120
timing involved.

25
00:01:22.120 --> 00:01:25.920
So one of the goals is to create tension at the top of the swing.

26
00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:31.120
Given people's different anatomy, when they create tension, they could create

27
00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:31.400
tension

28
00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:35.920
in a similar way and it could look differently or they could look the same and

29
00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:36.960
not have tension

30
00:01:36.960 --> 00:01:38.120
in the same way.

31
00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:43.240
So the tension and the connection is a little bit more of the goal.

32
00:01:43.240 --> 00:01:46.700
So during the backswing we're trying to load up this line of tension all the

33
00:01:46.700 --> 00:01:47.280
way from the

34
00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:52.640
foot through the leg, up through the core, up to the shoulder girdle and all

35
00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:53.480
the way through

36
00:01:53.480 --> 00:01:54.640
the arms into the club.

37
00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:57.400
So we have this kind of unified feeling of tension.

38
00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:03.160
So I thought we'd do a quick little exercise to help you feel tension in a, and

39
00:02:03.160 --> 00:02:04.320
to understand

40
00:02:04.320 --> 00:02:09.520
a little bit better kind of the connections of how you, what you do at

41
00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:10.400
different parts

42
00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:13.940
of your body will affect the tension at the place that you're looking to

43
00:02:13.940 --> 00:02:14.640
improve.

44
00:02:14.640 --> 00:02:17.680
So we're going to do a quick little exercise where we're going to feel tension

45
00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:18.680
on the shoulder,

46
00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:20.340
kind of the inside of the armpit.

47
00:02:20.340 --> 00:02:22.910
So you're going to bring your arm out to your side and you're going to

48
00:02:22.910 --> 00:02:23.880
externally rotate

49
00:02:23.880 --> 00:02:27.600
or kind of turn your palm up like this and then you're going to bring your arm

50
00:02:27.600 --> 00:02:28.680
back until

51
00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:32.240
you feel tension kind of across the front of the shoulder.

52
00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:35.400
Now with that tension, we're going to extend the wrist, you'll feel a little

53
00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:36.720
bit more tension.

54
00:02:36.720 --> 00:02:42.640
We're going to slightly decoap the shoulder, kind of push the shoulder away.

55
00:02:42.640 --> 00:02:45.930
We're going to lengthen the spine by picking up your rib cage, but not by arch

56
00:02:45.930 --> 00:02:46.400
ing your

57
00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:47.400
back.

58
00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:48.400
You'll feel the tension increase.

59
00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:52.470
And then we're going to turn our head and our chest a little bit away from the

60
00:02:52.470 --> 00:02:53.080
shoulder

61
00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:54.080
like this.

62
00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:58.150
So now you probably feel a pretty good amount of stretch or tension through the

63
00:02:58.150 --> 00:02:58.840
front side

64
00:02:58.840 --> 00:02:59.840
of your shoulder.

65
00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:04.260
And if you maintain that as you turn, your arm and your body would move as one

66
00:03:04.260 --> 00:03:04.880
unit.

67
00:03:04.880 --> 00:03:08.990
Now if you felt the tension in your shoulder, you could maintain that and you

68
00:03:08.990 --> 00:03:09.800
could soften

69
00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:10.800
a couple of different parts.

70
00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:14.670
So there I soften the arm and the wrist and then I soften kind of the lower

71
00:03:14.670 --> 00:03:15.200
back and

72
00:03:15.200 --> 00:03:20.780
core, but my shoulder still has tension, so it's going to move more as one unit

73
00:03:20.780 --> 00:03:21.080
.

74
00:03:21.080 --> 00:03:25.600
As opposed to if I have my arm kind of here, then you'll see as I go to turn,

75
00:03:25.600 --> 00:03:26.320
the arm and

76
00:03:26.320 --> 00:03:30.240
the body are almost working as two independent units.

77
00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:35.430
So part of when we get up to the top of the swing, where this angle is, is just

78
00:03:35.430 --> 00:03:35.520
going to

79
00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:40.880
change where the tension is in the left shoulder and in the right shoulder.

80
00:03:40.880 --> 00:03:46.620
And depending on where you have that tension, it will support doing different

81
00:03:46.620 --> 00:03:48.000
body movement.

82
00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:53.830
So in general, I would say most players are going to have some amount of lift

83
00:03:53.830 --> 00:03:54.960
and angle.

84
00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:59.690
Like if I'm all the way down here, I lack some of the tension and if I'm way up

85
00:03:59.690 --> 00:04:00.080
here,

86
00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:06.630
I have more tension kind of in the vertical component of the shoulder as

87
00:04:06.630 --> 00:04:07.280
opposed to the

88
00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:08.280
horizontal.

89
00:04:08.280 --> 00:04:12.360
So somewhere around here, there's kind of a point where I feel like the whole

90
00:04:12.360 --> 00:04:12.960
shoulder

91
00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:18.190
is engaged and supported and that's kind of how I teach trying to find your

92
00:04:18.190 --> 00:04:19.240
optimal angle

93
00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:21.800
at the top of the swing for the students that I work with in person.

94
00:04:21.800 --> 00:04:25.640
It's a little harder to experiment with on your own, but hopefully this concept

95
00:04:25.640 --> 00:04:25.840
kind

96
00:04:25.840 --> 00:04:30.120
of helps you understand the general principle.

97
00:04:30.120 --> 00:04:33.840
You could look identical to another golfer, but if you don't have the same

98
00:04:33.840 --> 00:04:34.520
tension that

99
00:04:34.520 --> 00:04:38.920
they have, you're not going to have the same level of connection and repeat

100
00:04:38.920 --> 00:04:39.680
ability.

101
00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:42.040
And so ultimately, it's not going to work out.

102
00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:46.550
I would tend to focus more on feeling the connection at the top of the swing

103
00:04:46.550 --> 00:04:47.280
rather than

104
00:04:47.280 --> 00:04:52.080
getting the arm and the club in the perfect position down to the degree.

105
00:04:52.080 --> 00:04:58.420
Okay, so as a quick little, the more that I have kind of tension up vertically,

106
00:04:58.420 --> 00:04:58.980
that's

107
00:04:58.980 --> 00:05:07.260
going to tend to support a little bit more early extension for lack of a better

108
00:05:07.260 --> 00:05:07.800
term.

109
00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:12.350
Or it's going to require, it's hard to get that vertical tension all the way

110
00:05:12.350 --> 00:05:12.840
out to

111
00:05:12.840 --> 00:05:16.400
the arm, so I'm going to tend to have a little bit more of a shallowing

112
00:05:16.400 --> 00:05:18.720
movement in transition.

113
00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:22.920
And that's part of where that extra early extension will tend to come in.

114
00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:29.330
So if it's much more vertical up there, you can still hit it pretty well, but

115
00:05:29.330 --> 00:05:30.120
you will

116
00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:33.040
have a little bit more of a feeling of slack.

117
00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:37.150
Now if it's too flat, this can encourage, I've run out of room in my shoulder

118
00:05:37.150 --> 00:05:37.680
and this

119
00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:42.840
can encourage a little bit more of an upper body dominant transition.

120
00:05:42.840 --> 00:05:48.690
So, and I've limited the distance that I can move the club, so it potentially

121
00:05:48.690 --> 00:05:49.440
loses out

122
00:05:49.440 --> 00:05:52.840
on a little bit of speed if I would say below the shoulder.

123
00:05:52.840 --> 00:05:58.060
So somewhere kind of in that range is going to give me a feeling of tension

124
00:05:58.060 --> 00:05:59.040
through the

125
00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:04.630
shoulders that I can then use with the rotation of my core to kind of slingshot

126
00:06:04.630 --> 00:06:05.680
the club down

127
00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:11.760
at the bottom, kind of more like that.

128
00:06:11.760 --> 00:06:16.250
So both of them can work, you just have to understand how one piece is going to

129
00:06:16.250 --> 00:06:16.760
affect

130
00:06:16.760 --> 00:06:19.040
the other.
Related topics
This video hasn't been assigned to any topics yet. Browse all topics in the sidebar.
Tyler Ferrell is the only person in the world named to Golf Digest's list of Best Young Teachers in America AND its list of Best Golf Fitness Professionals in America.

Understanding Tension and Plane at the Top of Your Swing

After this video, you'll be able to:

  • Identify the differences between one-plane and two-plane swings
  • Learn how to create and maintain tension throughout your backswing
  • Understand how body tension can improve timing and consistency in your swing

In this video, you'll explore the concepts of swing plane and body tension at the top of your swing. Understanding these elements is crucial for achieving a more connected and powerful golf swing.

Video Transcript
WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.620
This concept video is discussing plane vs tension at the top of the swing.

2
00:00:09.620 --> 00:00:15.750
So I had a good question come in about the kind of the plane of the arm at the

3
00:00:15.750 --> 00:00:16.160
top of

4
00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:17.160
the swing.

5
00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:22.350
So there was a system by Jim Hardy that looked at kind of one plane, two plane,

6
00:00:22.350 --> 00:00:22.640
which was

7
00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:27.840
essentially if you had the angle of your shoulders from the down the line

8
00:00:27.840 --> 00:00:28.920
camera angle, is it

9
00:00:28.920 --> 00:00:33.520
better to have the arm kind of in line or above.

10
00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:37.690
And essentially there were a couple of different patterns and depending on

11
00:00:37.690 --> 00:00:38.720
where you were at

12
00:00:38.720 --> 00:00:43.640
the top of the swing, you had to adopt certain pieces of this pattern.

13
00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:47.920
And basically he was asking which one kind of fits the stock tour swing model.

14
00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:53.960
And I would say that the stock tour swing model looks at the swing differently.

15
00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:58.730
The stock tour swing model is going to look at more tension in the body as one

16
00:00:58.730 --> 00:00:59.220
of the

17
00:00:59.220 --> 00:01:01.360
goals at the top of the swing.

18
00:01:01.360 --> 00:01:07.460
Typically when you don't have tension then you have slack and that slack has

19
00:01:07.460 --> 00:01:08.400
been described

20
00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:12.160
as more requiring more timing.

21
00:01:12.160 --> 00:01:16.270
It can feel like the club gets lost, they're stuck or like there's wobbles, it

22
00:01:16.270 --> 00:01:17.120
just doesn't

23
00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:21.000
feel like everything is working as one unit, it feels like there's too much

24
00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:22.120
timing involved.

25
00:01:22.120 --> 00:01:25.920
So one of the goals is to create tension at the top of the swing.

26
00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:31.120
Given people's different anatomy, when they create tension, they could create

27
00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:31.400
tension

28
00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:35.920
in a similar way and it could look differently or they could look the same and

29
00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:36.960
not have tension

30
00:01:36.960 --> 00:01:38.120
in the same way.

31
00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:43.240
So the tension and the connection is a little bit more of the goal.

32
00:01:43.240 --> 00:01:46.700
So during the backswing we're trying to load up this line of tension all the

33
00:01:46.700 --> 00:01:47.280
way from the

34
00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:52.640
foot through the leg, up through the core, up to the shoulder girdle and all

35
00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:53.480
the way through

36
00:01:53.480 --> 00:01:54.640
the arms into the club.

37
00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:57.400
So we have this kind of unified feeling of tension.

38
00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:03.160
So I thought we'd do a quick little exercise to help you feel tension in a, and

39
00:02:03.160 --> 00:02:04.320
to understand

40
00:02:04.320 --> 00:02:09.520
a little bit better kind of the connections of how you, what you do at

41
00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:10.400
different parts

42
00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:13.940
of your body will affect the tension at the place that you're looking to

43
00:02:13.940 --> 00:02:14.640
improve.

44
00:02:14.640 --> 00:02:17.680
So we're going to do a quick little exercise where we're going to feel tension

45
00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:18.680
on the shoulder,

46
00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:20.340
kind of the inside of the armpit.

47
00:02:20.340 --> 00:02:22.910
So you're going to bring your arm out to your side and you're going to

48
00:02:22.910 --> 00:02:23.880
externally rotate

49
00:02:23.880 --> 00:02:27.600
or kind of turn your palm up like this and then you're going to bring your arm

50
00:02:27.600 --> 00:02:28.680
back until

51
00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:32.240
you feel tension kind of across the front of the shoulder.

52
00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:35.400
Now with that tension, we're going to extend the wrist, you'll feel a little

53
00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:36.720
bit more tension.

54
00:02:36.720 --> 00:02:42.640
We're going to slightly decoap the shoulder, kind of push the shoulder away.

55
00:02:42.640 --> 00:02:45.930
We're going to lengthen the spine by picking up your rib cage, but not by arch

56
00:02:45.930 --> 00:02:46.400
ing your

57
00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:47.400
back.

58
00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:48.400
You'll feel the tension increase.

59
00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:52.470
And then we're going to turn our head and our chest a little bit away from the

60
00:02:52.470 --> 00:02:53.080
shoulder

61
00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:54.080
like this.

62
00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:58.150
So now you probably feel a pretty good amount of stretch or tension through the

63
00:02:58.150 --> 00:02:58.840
front side

64
00:02:58.840 --> 00:02:59.840
of your shoulder.

65
00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:04.260
And if you maintain that as you turn, your arm and your body would move as one

66
00:03:04.260 --> 00:03:04.880
unit.

67
00:03:04.880 --> 00:03:08.990
Now if you felt the tension in your shoulder, you could maintain that and you

68
00:03:08.990 --> 00:03:09.800
could soften

69
00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:10.800
a couple of different parts.

70
00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:14.670
So there I soften the arm and the wrist and then I soften kind of the lower

71
00:03:14.670 --> 00:03:15.200
back and

72
00:03:15.200 --> 00:03:20.780
core, but my shoulder still has tension, so it's going to move more as one unit

73
00:03:20.780 --> 00:03:21.080
.

74
00:03:21.080 --> 00:03:25.600
As opposed to if I have my arm kind of here, then you'll see as I go to turn,

75
00:03:25.600 --> 00:03:26.320
the arm and

76
00:03:26.320 --> 00:03:30.240
the body are almost working as two independent units.

77
00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:35.430
So part of when we get up to the top of the swing, where this angle is, is just

78
00:03:35.430 --> 00:03:35.520
going to

79
00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:40.880
change where the tension is in the left shoulder and in the right shoulder.

80
00:03:40.880 --> 00:03:46.620
And depending on where you have that tension, it will support doing different

81
00:03:46.620 --> 00:03:48.000
body movement.

82
00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:53.830
So in general, I would say most players are going to have some amount of lift

83
00:03:53.830 --> 00:03:54.960
and angle.

84
00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:59.690
Like if I'm all the way down here, I lack some of the tension and if I'm way up

85
00:03:59.690 --> 00:04:00.080
here,

86
00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:06.630
I have more tension kind of in the vertical component of the shoulder as

87
00:04:06.630 --> 00:04:07.280
opposed to the

88
00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:08.280
horizontal.

89
00:04:08.280 --> 00:04:12.360
So somewhere around here, there's kind of a point where I feel like the whole

90
00:04:12.360 --> 00:04:12.960
shoulder

91
00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:18.190
is engaged and supported and that's kind of how I teach trying to find your

92
00:04:18.190 --> 00:04:19.240
optimal angle

93
00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:21.800
at the top of the swing for the students that I work with in person.

94
00:04:21.800 --> 00:04:25.640
It's a little harder to experiment with on your own, but hopefully this concept

95
00:04:25.640 --> 00:04:25.840
kind

96
00:04:25.840 --> 00:04:30.120
of helps you understand the general principle.

97
00:04:30.120 --> 00:04:33.840
You could look identical to another golfer, but if you don't have the same

98
00:04:33.840 --> 00:04:34.520
tension that

99
00:04:34.520 --> 00:04:38.920
they have, you're not going to have the same level of connection and repeat

100
00:04:38.920 --> 00:04:39.680
ability.

101
00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:42.040
And so ultimately, it's not going to work out.

102
00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:46.550
I would tend to focus more on feeling the connection at the top of the swing

103
00:04:46.550 --> 00:04:47.280
rather than

104
00:04:47.280 --> 00:04:52.080
getting the arm and the club in the perfect position down to the degree.

105
00:04:52.080 --> 00:04:58.420
Okay, so as a quick little, the more that I have kind of tension up vertically,

106
00:04:58.420 --> 00:04:58.980
that's

107
00:04:58.980 --> 00:05:07.260
going to tend to support a little bit more early extension for lack of a better

108
00:05:07.260 --> 00:05:07.800
term.

109
00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:12.350
Or it's going to require, it's hard to get that vertical tension all the way

110
00:05:12.350 --> 00:05:12.840
out to

111
00:05:12.840 --> 00:05:16.400
the arm, so I'm going to tend to have a little bit more of a shallowing

112
00:05:16.400 --> 00:05:18.720
movement in transition.

113
00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:22.920
And that's part of where that extra early extension will tend to come in.

114
00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:29.330
So if it's much more vertical up there, you can still hit it pretty well, but

115
00:05:29.330 --> 00:05:30.120
you will

116
00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:33.040
have a little bit more of a feeling of slack.

117
00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:37.150
Now if it's too flat, this can encourage, I've run out of room in my shoulder

118
00:05:37.150 --> 00:05:37.680
and this

119
00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:42.840
can encourage a little bit more of an upper body dominant transition.

120
00:05:42.840 --> 00:05:48.690
So, and I've limited the distance that I can move the club, so it potentially

121
00:05:48.690 --> 00:05:49.440
loses out

122
00:05:49.440 --> 00:05:52.840
on a little bit of speed if I would say below the shoulder.

123
00:05:52.840 --> 00:05:58.060
So somewhere kind of in that range is going to give me a feeling of tension

124
00:05:58.060 --> 00:05:59.040
through the

125
00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:04.630
shoulders that I can then use with the rotation of my core to kind of slingshot

126
00:06:04.630 --> 00:06:05.680
the club down

127
00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:11.760
at the bottom, kind of more like that.

128
00:06:11.760 --> 00:06:16.250
So both of them can work, you just have to understand how one piece is going to

129
00:06:16.250 --> 00:06:16.760
affect

130
00:06:16.760 --> 00:06:19.040
the other.
Related topics
This video hasn't been assigned to any topics yet. Browse all topics in the sidebar.
Find out what's really causing your miss. Get Your Free Diagnosis