Watch Moe's Swing Video By Ken Martin, PGA, Director of Instruction Up until mid 2006, the final Natural Golf Fundamental was called Face the Ball at Impact; at that time, it was changed to Drive the Ball to Your Target! The reasoning behind this change stemmed from instructional experiences with our students.  The general consensus has been that most get the fact that setting up ON PLANE with the golf club is the simplest way to position oneself for a Single Plane Swing.  Attaining the Natural Hold and Single Plane Setup is a simple process to understand and with a little practice, the two fall in place quite nicely.

When it comes to the swing itself, the common query is "how can I stop spinning, turning or twisting?"  People who have played baseball phrase the question "how can I overcome my instinctive hip action?"

The simple fact is that we don't want you to have to overcome anything.  We want you to use your natural ability to strike the ball.  This means that you need clarity on what it is that you are doing in order to do it.

Facing the Ball at Impact is a great description for a response to the Single Plane Swing.  And, because it is a response, you have to do something else, you can't just Face the Ball and expect something else to transpire, so we changed the name to the action phrase Drive the Ball to Your Target! So what does that mean?

Simply put, your hands hold the club and your wrists and arms swing the club.  Depending on the speed and direction you choose, your body will move in anticipation of and in response to this speed and direction.

 If your preconceived concept is that you have to turn or twist your body in order to swing your arms, you will always be trying to face the ball at impact, but it won't be possible.  It won't be possible because your concept of swinging is directly tied to moving your body and that contradicts facing the ball at impact.

So you have to change your concept.  Think of your body as being the support structure for your arm swing as opposed to the motor.  Swing the club with your arms back and forward in continuous motion at least 7 times.  What you'll find is that swinging is an arm motion and your body will naturally move to accommodate the swinging motion to keep you on balance.  You can swing slow, medium or fast.  Each speed will dictate how your body moves to support the speed. 

You can also swing the club in any direction you choose if your arms are free to control the motion.  Prove it to yourself by swinging the club out to in, then in to out then from inside to inside (straight).  The choice is always yours.  When you swing the club with your arms past your body, your body will stabilize as it swings past, and it is this stabilization that we call Face the Ball at Impact.  It happens when you swing, if you don't swing, it won't happen!

So swing!  Cut grass as practice.  Walk and swing at the same time.  Swing with your left arm only.  Swing with your right arm only.  Swing with both arms...just swing!

Another great way to practice the arm independence necessary for your Natural Single Plane Swing is to sit on a bar stool and swing our short practice club back and forth on a horizontal (baseball) plane.  When you are sitting, you can't use your body as the power source so you will experience immediately the simple freedom of swinging your arms.

Does this mean the body doesn't add power to the swing?  Not by any means! The body will always amplify the power generated by the intent to swing your arms independently.  The key is to keep your intent and attention on swinging the club with your arms.  Your body knows how to move to support this action, so let it move. 

Remember, you are swinging the club through the ball, past your body so that clubhead momentum pulls you to a balanced finish.  If the club swings past your body through ball impact, you will be facing the ball at that instant.  You do the swing; your body will accommodate in response and face the ball.

Look closely at this video of Moe Norman's swing:

What is swinging?  That's right...the club swings past his stable body...because he swung it with his arms!  Did his body move?  Yes, in anticipation of and in response to the direction and speed of the club that he swung with his arms.

So there you have it...Drive the Ball to Your Target by swinging your arms and I'll bet you'll be Facing the Ball at Impact.

Swing Away!