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on the beginning part of the takeaway, do you bring ur arms out from your stomach or do you generally tend to bring it straight back?

this guy told me that if you draw a line from your address position along the club (swing plane) you should bring your club away from your stomach so that there is some seperation ebtween your backswing and the swing plane line... (your club should be above the line on the takeaway/backswing.)


but when i look at videos of pros and such, it seems like they are right on the swing plane line when they backswing.

That.
Not sure why he'd give you that advice except that it sounds like someone trying to combat a flat swing. Ideally, the swing plane stays the same all the way through.

Shade

yeah... i mean, he's a pga certified instructor so he knows what he's talking about.

he showed me a video of adam scott's swing and adam scott does it BIG time, there's a lot of seperation between his takeaway/backswing and the swing plane line.

I think its easier for us amateurs to stay on the plane so that we can get back to impact point with the least amount of movements and adjustments thus creating a more consistent swing/shot.

The more we get away from the plane the more adjustments we need to do to get back and I'm not sure, us amateurs can handle that every shot, every time

I think its best to stay on plane, but taking the club away to the outside can be a good thing and especially for beginners. Most beginners take the club away to the inside (below the line), which is bad. That can cause you to swing to the outside (above the line) on the downswing. Taking the club away to the outside makes it easier to drop the arms on the downswing and swing on plane or from the inside, which is a good thing. You may want to check with video or have someone else watch you to make sure you’re taking the club away either on plane or to the outside, and that you are swinging on plane or on the inside on the downswing? Most people take the club away to the inside and believe they are on plane, but they are not (just watch people at a driving range). There are some excellent video links on this site posted by “Ringer” that will explain a lot about the swing. Do a search for them.

When you say separate from your stomach, you seem to be talking about lifting your arms as you bring the club back. If you lift in such a way that the shaft of the club gets above the plane you are describing essentially a two plane swing. So sure, there is some separation there. But in the downswing one must get the club back on plane. I looked at some pictures of Adam Scott's swing and he does get a little vertical with the club shaft. I don't know how much you want to do at the beginning though. It should not be very noticeable but rather a gradual thing unless you are someone like Freddie Couples. His lift is very noticeable at the beginning of his swing.