Single Plane Golf Swing

The Single Plane Address

November 7, 2017 by admin

I’ve taught thousands of students the Single Plane Swing of Moe Norman. One thing that is consistently true about learning Moe’s swing is the importance of the Address position. Moe was right when he said:

“If you haven’t got a good address position, you haven’t got anything”.

– Moe Norman

Moe also said, “give yourself a chance“.

As I continue to research the swing, Moe’s comment is glaringly more exact. Why? Mostly because the effects of a bad address are now measurable. I can quantify the mistakes and find the causes. Many times the reasons are at the beginning of the swing – address position.

I hope that this article will help you understand that you must consistently check your address position. There are quite a few elements to it including the alignment of the feet, hand position, arm and leg position, spine tilt and bend and rotation. It can quickly get off track.

As usual, I don’t mean to overanalyze the address. It’s very simple. As I always say, just model Moe. But even modeling Moe can be tricky – because what you see can be deceiving. What you see is not still what you feel. Take for example the tilt and bend of the spine.

There are two tilts of the spine, the forward angle which is toward the golf ball and the side bend, which is the tilt away from the target. The trick is that you must have both inclinations to position the shoulders correctly so the arms can extend in the proper position.

Here is a picture of Moe at address – side bend (away from the target) is 20 degrees.

Moe Norman Address — Moe Norman side bend of twenty degrees at address

In my opinion, the side bend is the most difficult to feel and accomplish because it is entirely contrary to the conventional address position of having your arms hanging below your shoulders. With the proper side bend, you need a few other elements including the first foot rotation and trail leg braced.

Once you have the lead foot and trail leg in position, you can quickly align the club and first arm.

In many ways, the grip is a function of this address position. When you have the body in the proper side-bend, the lead holder lifts. This raises the first arm. When you grip the club, the arm is higher and rotated, aligning the back of the hand and wrist to the target. The trail shoulder is lower. When you lift the side to the club, it is rotated under the organization – creating an alignment to the single plane where the trailing arm aligns with the shaft.

Moe Norman — Moe Down the Line Address – Single Plane

You can see in the Down-the-line view what Moe’s legs are straight. His lead arm is higher than his trail arm – both essential variables to the ideal Single Plane Swing.

In this position, the shoulders appear to be “closed” or pointing to the right of his feet line. In actuality, his shoulders are open at address.

The fact that his body is open at speech is significant. At address, Moe’s shoulders are approximately 15 degrees open. When he rotates to the top of the backswing, he will turn about 65 degrees. Making the total turn 80 degrees. Why is this important?

When Moe returns to impact, his shoulders and hips will be 35 degrees open – 20 degrees more than at address. By opening the shoulders through impact, the hands can lead – give the club speed and proper angles into the ball to create compression.

My suggestion is that you consistently monitor and check your address position in a mirror or by using video. The address position sets up the golf swing, and as Moe mentioned, without it, you don’t have a chance.

The Single Plane Golf Swing

August 14, 2017 by admin

Moe isn’t the only player to swing on a Single Plane.Today, there are numerous players that I consider Single Plane Golfers. Bryson Dechambeau and Steve Stricker are the main players that resemble what I consider Single Plane golfers on tour while I find Moe Norman as the ideal Single Plane model.

I find Moe Norman’s golf swing model. He simplified the Single Plane even further with a few changes in his address position. Moe adjusted his spine a bit more the address to resemble the spine angle at impact.

These placed the trail shoulder closer to the plane at address, removing rotation in the backswing and simplifying the entire swing. Notice that Moe stands a bit further from the ball. These allow him to move more downward to reach impact rather than a lifting action.

Here is Reed Howard, one of my students from address to impact.

Reed has mastered Moe’s movement to keep the spine stable and reduce the stress on the back. When I met Reed, he had high rotations in his hand’s positions and over rotation of his body as a result.

Reed’s over-rotation of his body helped his hands lead through impact – however, the club lagged behind the rotation causing an extreme de-lofting of the golf club. My first question was “Do you always hit it that little?”. The first thing I changed was to neutralize his lead hand position, making it neutral so he could place the club face. The swing starts from the grip. Your hands determine the rotation of the lead arm and clubface. By changing Reed’s hand position, it simplified the motion of the first arm. From there, I could begin focusing on the rotation of his torso.

Due to his firm grip and over-rotation of his body, Reed had developed a “late hand action” in his backswing. Why is this a problem? The backswing also has a sequence where you turn your body and then the upper torso continues to turn as the lower body stabilizes. As you turn and the lower body stops, the hands hinge as the chest becomes. Having a late hook of his hands is usually a result of too much turn of the torso. Too much turn makes it difficult to time the downswing into impact.

Learning the Single Plane Golf Swing

I believe that with Bryson’s and Reed’s continued success, the light will begin to shine on the Single Plane swing mechanics. The Single Plane swing will become a household conversation and an accepted way to play golf. The golf world will analyze it and compare it to the tradition of conventional golfers.

The simplicity of the swing has its roots in biomechanics. When it comes to the Single Plane Swing, I claim and profess that the swing is easier than every method that exists and I feel compelled to prove it.

I am not saying that golf is easy nor am I saying that swinging the golf club is easy to learn. What I am saying is that the Single Plane Golf Swing has fewer variables – making it an easier way to play golf.

Converting to a Single Plane Swing

April 26, 2014 by admin

For the past 50 years, the popularity of golf has built an industry of golf instructors. Instructors face the challenge of teaching human beings how to hit a golf ball, chip and putt so that others can enjoy the game. Or so they think. Over one million golfers begin playing the game each year and 1.1 million gofers quit playing each year. The game has a tendency to be difficult and those of you who have played for a few years know how a walk in the park can easily become a stroll in hell.

As one of the many instructors who spends my energies helping others play golf (I actually consider myself more of a technical swing teacher than playing teacher, I leave that to my brother) I am often faced with “converting” golfers from a Conventional swing to the Single Plane Swing. So let’s talk about the main aspects of this “Conversion.

1) Major Grip and address position changes.

The most significant change is how you address and establish your starting position. The hands are higher (on plane), the lead hand is neutral, trail hand is stronger, the shoulders (spine) is tilted more, the legs are straight and not bent.

2) On Plane backswing

The club often feels like it goes “inside” or on a flatter plane in the Single Plane swing. This is because you are starting “on Plane’ allowing the club to take its natural path in the backing – with no manipulation in the backswing.

3) Less Shoulder Turn and torque on back

The Single plane swing requires less turn and stress on the torso, shoulders and back than the conventional swing. Minimal hip turn and minimal shoulder turn get the club on plane and leveraged which is all you need to hit a ball long and straight.

4) Impact with flexed lead knee and feet on ground.

A significant aspect of the Single Plane Swing is that the you are returning the club to the same plane that you had at address. There is no need to lift he body at impact. The feet can say on the ground and the lead knee can stay flexed and not straighten as you see in a conventional impact position.

5) Release and follow through with feet on ground and club swings through on plane

This is almost a “result” of a pure Single Plane Swing – the feet can stay on the ground as the club fully releases its power through the ball into the finish. Because the movement of the club is on plane and easier on the body, there is less movement throughout the entire Single Plane Swing.

If you read the above paragraphs, follow the bolded text. Use these reminders as your keys on the driving range to convert your conventional golf swing into a pure Single Plane Swing.

Thank You Conventional Golf

August 31, 2013 by admin

What do I say to all of the teachers of conventional methods, and any golf instructor NOT teaching the Single Plane Swing?

I would say – thank you. Thank you for the job security.

Your job is difficult because not matter what you do, you are at a disadvantage teaching a method that no matter what you do will be difficult for the average golfer to achieve. The conventional, arms hanging below the shoulders address position makes your job almost impossible.

You are also at a disadvantage because the amount of practice it takes to become skilled enough to achieve consistent swings to impact from the conventional address position takes extraordinary amounts of practice, timing and this still doesn’t guarantee success.

Golf is a difficult game – the goal should be to make it easier not more difficult.

The unfortunate part of this conversation is that you, the conventional student is the one who suffers. I see it every day – golfers who are frustrated because of disadvantaged mechanics. They blame the instructors but it’s not really their fault. I Their instruction isn’t necessarily bad – just almost impossible for the average golfer to achieve.

Let me say first of all that, contrary to what many believe, the golf swing is NOT rocket science, even if it seems extremely difficult for many of you. It has become so difficult because you are at a fundamental disadvantage – which can easily be corrected. Here are some of the conventional to Single Plane adjustments that can transform your conventional swing into an easier Single Plane Swing.

1) Move away from the ball and align the club with the arms – on the Single Plane.

This is the foundation of simplifying your swing because it sets the club on the same plane that you impact. It establishes a straight line to impact as opposed to starting on one plane and impacting on another.

2) Tilt your spine away from the target so you trail shoulder (right if you are right handed is lower than the left)

By lowering the trail shoulder, your hands can lead into impact, eliminating the over the top and release early. The Tilt of the spine gets the lower body moving first in the downswing allowing the hands to lead into impact to compress the ball.

3) Rotate the hips but keep the feet on the ground.

Because you are on a Single Plane, you are now able to keep the spine in the same tilt from address, to backswing to impact. You no longer need to lift your body into impact as required in the conventional golf swing. By keeping the spine in the original “tilt” your feet will stay on the ground as you rotate your hips in the backswing and downswing.

Here are a couple of my keys to great Single Plane ball-striking:

1) Build an A-frame out of the legs at address.

2) Brace around the trail leg in the backswing (do not let the knee move)

3) Rotate the hips into the downswing into a flexed lead knee

4) Keep the feet on the ground into impact

One of the “secrets” to the simplicity of the Single Plane Golf swing is how the back (spine) is being moved during the golf swing. The hips control the spine so as you rotate the hips in the backswing around a stable trail knee and then into a flexed lead knee, your spine moves forward but stays in the same tilt from start to release. I consider this “posture” where the spine tilt maintains throughout the swing.

By maintaining “posture” the shoulders also stay on plane where the trail shoulders position (lower than the lead shoulder) can get the hands leading to the left side of the body into impact.

As difficult as it is to describe the golf swing mechanics with words, you can understand that the goal of a golf swing is to achieve a perfect impact position. Therefore, simplifying your movement from address to impact is should be where you spend your time.

If you have learned a conventional method of golf instruction, consider this an invitation to help you simplify your movement and make golf easier. If you haven’t tried the Single Plane swing – give it a try. You might wonder why you haven’t tried it sooner and you might even say what many of our students say – “It just can be this easy”.

A Swing of Disastrous Distortions

October 24, 2012 by admin

When I watch golf swings, even swings of great players such as Rory Mcilroy, it makes me cringe a bit inside my body. Don’t get me wrong, like everyone who loves golf, I enjoy watching him play golf, hit towering drives and win tournaments. I am a big fan of Rory. But I don’t see how the average golfer can really look at Rory’s golf swing as a swing model. Rory is in his early 20’s. He’s young, flexible and fit. He has hit thousands of golf balls to work through his swing movements and motions. His body has developed around his movements. Do I see some good things in his swing? Absolutely. But one thing that troubles me about paying too much attention to young tour players is that many people will try to model Rory – which can be a big mistake. Let’s look at some particulars.

Without going into a complete breakdown of Rory’s entire golf swing, it is interesting to look closely into his downswing move. Keep in mind that I am not looking for positions here, I am looking for the stress it places on the body in regards to the task of reaching impact. (Impact is the goal of all great ball strikers). The perspective I take is that all golf swings are to achieve a perfect strike on the golf ball. The ability to reach impact starts at address. In other words, if you start in a misaligned position you must adjust during your swing to make an impact. The more misaligned you start the more contorted you swing. The problem here is that contortions are not efficient, repeatable or consistent. And these contortions can be disastrous to good ball-striking. Even worse, they can be extremely painful if you are not a 20-something year old Rory.

If you notice in the third picture in the sequence, you can see the crunched look of Rory’s right arm against his body. His right shoulder is jamming upward toward his head as his arms move downward. As the sequence continues, his lead leg straightens and his body move up as his arms move down – further crunching his shoulders against his torso that is moving upward due to his leg straightening. Once again, I am a huge fan of Rory, but I don’t think that this is the easiest way to get the job done for a 50 year old golfer. What I see here is a great athlete with mobility. Let me compare this with Moe Norman.

What you see from the movement forward is what I call “arm freedom”. You can see with Moe the arms have released as the lead knee has remained flexed. This shows that the arms have gone down with the body contrasting what you see with Rory where the lower body has lifted (straighten left leg) pushing the upper body up as the arms go down – crunching the shoulders and causing Rory to lean backward. This creates a reversing of the upper body or Reverse “C”.

One thing to note here is that Rory is a minimal example of this. He actually shows must less of this distortion than most conventional golfers. And as I have said in previous descriptions, this is all caused by an improper “two-plane” address position. The two plane swing comes in many forms, some more pronounced than others, sometimes in disastrous amounts. In all cases, however, the distortion of the upper body/lower body stress is a problem. I consider it a spatial problem where the conventional golfer is too close to the golf ball to start with. This results in stresses and problems reaching impact.

These things can be eliminated with the Single Plane golf swing of Moe Norman. And when they are eliminated, reaching impact is more consistent and repeatable resulting in better ball striking. The goal is to eliminate the lower body upward push. The way to do this is to get the appropriate distance from the golf ball where you start the club on the same plane at address as impact.

The True Moe Norman Golf Swing

February 20, 2008 by admin

The True Moe Norman golf swing and How Clubs fit into the Single Plane Golf Swing Theory, Anatomy and a Simple Understanding

In 1993 I was finished with golf. Working with the best instructor in the United States had worsened my ability to play the game I loved so much. My frustration had grown so great that I decided to quit playing and find another direction with my life.

This new direction didn’t last long. I couldn’t stay away from the game. One year later, I found my mind asking a question that would result in the founding of the Graves Golf Academy. The question was this: “What is the easiest and best way to hit a golf ball to play the game of golf”.

Many take this question for granted looking at the PGA tour for the answer considering the tour players are the best ball-strikers. However, I had played my share of tour events to know that this was not true. The guys on the PGA tour were some of the best scorers in the game but they were not the best ball strikers.

This question also implies that there is a simple way and that simple is better. I assumed that simple was better because so far golf was difficult. Who wouldn’t want and easier way to play the most difficult game on the planet?

This question also suggests that there is a best way. Best, in my opinion, meant relative to physics, kinesiology, and science.

By asking this question, I was trying to do what few had ever done in the game of golf, solve the mystery of why everyone did not swing the same way.

Ironically, the best players in the world; my tour playing friends, led me to my answer. It came in the form of Moe Norman and his single plane golf swing.

During a clinic, watching the amazing ball striking that my friends raved about, the very first words I ever heard Moe speak were: “It’s so simple it’s laughable”.

Moe Norman: Anatomy and Kinesiology Meet a Golf Club

It is a fact that Moe Norman swung the golf club on a single plane, which simplified the golf swing. This simplification made Moe one of the greatest ball strikers in the history of the game. To see a further explanation of Moe’s single plane, click HERE (will open in a new window).

After years of knowing Moe, analyzing, practicing and discussing with him his golf swing, my knowledge goes beyond just conjecture. Moe was the best ball striker so far in the history of the game because he moved the golf club in such a way that made it easier to get the clubface square to the golf ball, more often. As Moe put it, “I have the fewest moving parts”.

I discovered Moe’s genius for myself. Not only did Moe have the fewest moving parts, he also had the most efficient moving parts. It was this simplicity and effortless that allowed Moe to hit a golf ball so efficiently. Because of his swing mechanics, Kinesiologists would agree, that Moe had an advantage.

So what was the Kinesiology behind Moe’s swing?

The answer to this question reaches beyond a simple grip change and is the magic to Moe’s single plane, simplifying golf and helping you achieve Moe-Like results.

Before we go too far into the technical aspects of Moe’s perfect biomechanics; a simple, Todd Graves, understanding of anatomy will help. It is relatively painless and goes something like this:

Your hand is attached to your arm, which is attached to your shoulders, which are attached to your torso, and spine, which is attached to the pelvis, which is attached to your legs, which are attached to our feet.

That is all you really need to know about anatomy to understand Moe’s genius and if you have questions about the golf swing or club design, this understanding will help you realize how Moe intuitively learned a golf swing that used his anatomy most efficiently. This understanding will also help you understand that improperly fit equipment can be destructive and harmful to your ability to Swing Like Moe.

Swing Plane

The term swing plane is often used and often confused when discussing the golf swing, yet swing plane is not a mystery. Using some simple logic, you can understand that swing plane is directly related to club design, which makes sense. In other words, the way the club relates to the body is swing plane. This relationship is in the form of the club length and lies angle. Knowing that simple understanding leads to what might be the most important question that you can ask:

How does the club design relate to Moe Norman’s single plane golf swing and the single plane?

We continually discuss that Moe’s genius was how he held the club in such a way at address that he aligned the club shaft with his trail arm forming a single plane. You can see a detailed picture of swing plane HERE. This single plane is significant for one main reason; this is where Moe impacted the golf ball. This impact position is where the club design meets anatomy. If you don’t think you need properly fitted clubs, think again.

Where club design meets anatomy suggests that your swing plane is pre-determined. This is true. You have a correct swing plane based on your anatomical structure. Use a highlighter on this sentence; based on your anatomy, properly fit equipment with correct hold (grip) and posture can enhance and will produce your single plane golf swing.

The contrary is also true.

With improperly fit equipment and an improper hold, you will never achieve the simple Moe Norman Single Plane Golf Swing.

So what does it mean to have your golf club match your anatomy?

(As a side note, if you look at our Seven Principle of Golf Improvement Series on your bookshelf (aligning the spine of the DVD covers), you can see Leonardo DiVinci’s Vitruvian Man appear; my way of representing that the game of golf is a blend of the physical and mental.)

The first part of the answer to this question is to look at Moe’s address position to understand the correct anatomical relationships. The one, in particular, is Moe’s alignment of the club with the spine and shoulders. We are going to do that but take note that with Moe being the model, I take nothing that he did for granted. I learned that lesson the hard way. So take my word for it, if Moe does it, then it is correct.

The Trail Shoulder Plane and Spine Alignment

When you look at the clubshaft and spine alignment of Moe’s address position you must take into consideration not only the fact that the trail arm aligns with the club shaft but that this alignment has a relationship to the spine. This relationship is significant. Moe even referred to this relationship when he said “I swing the club underneath me like a pendulum”. Click HERE for a detailed picture.

It only makes sense, based on my earlier anatomy lesson; correct arm movement will result in correct club movement. To achieve Moe’s feeling and this correct club movement, you absolutely must have a correct spine and clubshaft alignment for one main reason; the trail shoulder must be moving parallel to the plane of the clubshaft. If you stand too tall, you can not achieve the proper movement of the trail arm, trail shoulder and clubshaft.

Looking at Moe’s relationship, you see that his spine was tilted between 40 and 50 degrees from standing. This spine tilts forward achieved the correct right shoulder plane and in doing so, also achieved the correct club length.

In other words, Moe did not ever change this relationship of club shaft to spine relationship. If the club was too long or too upright for Moe, he moved his hands down or “choked down” on the golf club to maintain the correct club shaft/spine relationship.

This is an important lesson for all of us. We need not fit the club, the club must fit us. Clubs that are too long and upright do not promote Moe Norman’s golf swing.

Club Fitting, The Single Plane and a Golf Lesson

With an understanding of anatomy and the single plane, it is relatively simple to fit golf equipment to someone wanting to Swing like Moe. A few measurements tell us your hand size, arm length, height and swing speed. With these calculations we can determine how a golf club can fit your anatomy for your Moe Norman Single Plane Golf Swing.

The goal is to fit a golf club to impact where your spine, right shoulder arm and club shaft are correctly positioned. We call this impact.

Impact alignment is the purpose of great golf instruction. The goal of any instruction is to help you achieve correctly aligned impact. Ultimately this is impossible with improperly fit equipment. In fact, during schools we fit clubs with our students to help them achieve correct Moe Norman Single Plane impact alignment.

You can see our online fitting information- Free Club Fitting.

To summarize – your clubs need to fit you. The improper length and lie angles will greatly interfere with your single axis swing as you will not be able to set up properly. In addition, grips that are too big will inhibit release and proper hold on the club – greatly limiting distance (you can see more conversation about this topic on the Moe Norman Forum.

In conclusion, you may have heard us say in the past that we spend the majority of our time teaching the grip (hold) and the setup positions of Moe Norman’s swing. As I hope you will conclude from this article, it is the grip, setup, and having correctly fit clubs that will help you achieve the biomechanical advantage of Moe Norman’s swing. I hope you can also see the relationship of how Principle #1 of the 7 Principles teaching philosophy, is closely related to Principle #4. You must have the correct grip and set-up positions to achieve the ideal swing, just as you must have properly fit equipment in order achieve the correct grip and set-up positions.

Please let us know if you have additional questions /comments – Please feel free to call or email anytime, Good Luck – Remember – “Always Practice with a Purpose”

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