By Ken Martin, PGA, Director of Instruction

Our 2nd Fundamental is called the Single Plane Setup.  This setup is the KEY to our method and provides the launching pad for the most direct strike in golf, the Natural Golf Single Plane Swing.  It is defined as aligning the arms on plane with the clubshaft.  We use two different views to clarify what we mean by this.

The first view is face-on.  Here you can clearly see that the clubshaft is aligned perfectly with the lead arm (left arm for right-handers).  This positions the hands just forward of the clubhead, ideally mimicking the perfect impact with hands leading the clubhead.

The second view is down-line.  Here you can clearly see the bottom of the clubshaft aligned with the bottom of the trail forearm (right forearm for right-handers). This alignment perfectly mimics the natural alignment of the clubshaft and trail forearm during impact.  This alignment happens during all high speed swings and is a function of centrifugal force, the outward pull of the clubhead away from body center when in motion.  By setting up in this position, the range of motion required during the swing is minimized in order to return to this alignment during the swing.  This is the advantage of the Natural Golf Single Plane swing, starting where we will most naturally return during the swing with our arms aligned ON PLANE with the clubshaft.

Up until June of 2006, Natural Golf stated Wide Stance as our 3rd Fundamental.  It was originally defined as the inside of the feet as wide as the outside of the shoulders. Many Natural Golfers took this stance width to all parts of their game, from short pitch shots to full driver swings.  The result was that many lost a natural mobility of their body, limiting fluidness and natural weight transfer from trail foot to lead foot.  To rectify this, we changed the term Wide Stance to Stable Stance, and instead of making this a stand alone Fundamental, we included Stable Stance in our definition of Single Plane Setup.  It simply made more sense to talk about stance when dealing with the setup.  We now define Stable Stance by a width that allows the golfer to maintain stability and balance according to the length of shot they are playing.  Guidelines range from outside of hips to outside of feet for partial swings like chip and pitch shots, outside of hips to inside of feet for full swings with short irons through hybrids and fairway woods and finally, up to outside of shoulders to inside of feet for full driver swings.

These are guidelines and subject to variance per individual. The key for you to pay attention to is that your swing, regardless of its length or speed, should be on balance. Balance is defined as stability and stability is found as weight stays generally centered on the lead foot for partial shots or transferring from the inside of the trail foot to the center of the lead foot for full swings. Checkout these pictures of Moe Norman below - here you can clearly see he is stable and on balance throughout his swing.

So there you have it, our 2nd Fundamental is now called The Single Plane Setup and it includes aligning your arms ON PLANE with the clubshaft and assuming a Stable Stance.

Let me know if you have any questions...see you down the middle!

Ken

 Ken Martin was certified in February 1995 and is a PGA member.  Ken teaches in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Ken's personal motto on the golf course is: "Experience and Enjoy".

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