Jeff Ritter - One Plane Swing - Driver

[merckens]

I know this video is more than 2 years old, but every time I see it, I'm always curious about two things: 1) Where do you position the ball in your stance? 2) How high do you tee the ball?

[mobydoug]

Not a terribly flexible golfer. But he's always "connected." Club, hands, arms, shoulders, torso, legs move as one unit. I'll bet he's very consistent, though not an extraordinarily long knocker.

[orkayen]

Joe,

Nice swing. In your swing, as "they" normally recommend, you don't tilt your torso away from the target? Is this a drawback in one plane swing?

[nkalantarians]

This is definitely a better swing for a good number of us who aren't PGA pros. One of the best investments I ever made was taking some lessons from my local pro, who got me on this swing instead of trying to mimic the Dustin Johnsons and Bubba Watsons on TV.

[wonderkevin11]

Can't be a very powerful swing at all...how far do you hit that? It looks like you are turning too much vs. weight transfer to generate a substantial amount of club head speed. Also the club is stopping far short of parallel. You should consider building on the sound mechanics you have developed here and reach for a bit more distance.

[emomagica]

@wonderkevin11 Please stop giving golf advice!

[cpg57]

@wonderkevin11 ıts not about how far but how many...ı would say that thıs swıng ıs consıstantly drıvıng the ball down the mıddle to left portıon of the faırway and green.

short of parallel ıs a consequence of the shoulders slowıng at 90 degs.

[PlottRacing116]

Great swing I keep hooking the driver off the map I started the one plane swing a year ago I can stripe iron shots but I can't hit the driver to save my life please help

[roryhie]

one of the best swing hereon U tube,,, pls teach me how to?

[Callaway1096]

Check out my swing

[fhs205]

omg i hit my 3 wood bent over like my irons but everyone tells me to hit my driver more upright, lol and that why i hit my 3 wood farther than my driver woot!. i always thought i had to have my arms away from my body for the driver, and all i get is a slight slice..

[mrbritvic]

please jeff can we see the driver swing face on for ball position -position at top-hand positions etc-thanks

[144822]

You might be interested to view some of Taly Williams' videos (scoremore05 on this site) especially the one where he explains his swing mechanics and geometry with the driver. His club and arms are pretty much in one plane. My own hands are a little under the plane at address because any higher just doesn't feel right for me.  Really low hands are even worse, and more so with the long sticks.

Yes I understand the one plane arms idea and you do that very well.

[144822]

Your arms are swinging in one plane, Jeff, but the cub shaft is not always in that plane, so there is definitely more than one plane involved.  Moe Norman had a one plane swing or very close to it. Didn't hit it very far either.

[jritter5]

@144822 "One Plane" is only a term used to describe a swing where the arms and shoulders are in the same plane at the top of the back swing and in to the follow through. It was has never been meant to mean anything else. It has always been understood that the club, certainly does not always move on the exact same plane throughout the swing. Modern One-Plane swingers by this definition are Hunter Mahan and Rory McIlroy. Dustin Johnson would be a Modern Two-Plane swinger of the club.

[mazda7171]

@jritter5 I bet Jim Furyk would be regarded as a 15-Plane swinger lol

[cockywatchman1976]

@mazda7171 er no, 2. Arms on one, shoulder on another or same. Can only be one or two plane

[unclePTM]

@jritter5 . hello, please help me with this confusion of mine. how to tell a good one plane swing from a swing that is considered laid off on the top? does one plane swing have to "parallel" the target line on the top? thanks. by the way, your videos are great,,you are very articulate.

[onephenom]

@jritter5 So through impact a One-Plane swing is no different from a two?

[cockywatchman1976]

@144822 That's not the definition of one plane-one plane means arm arm and shoulder on same plane. You are getting confused with a zero plane shift swing-like Moe Norman

[12poon]

Jeff, Do you no your swing speed or ball speed.

[12poon]

Jeff, Do you no your swing speed or ball speed.

[willrob33]

Perfect swing. It looks free of mechanics.

[brunocanto]

Witch are you distance in all your clubs?

[mjb9ab]

Jeff.....I too have been adapting to a one-plane swing, however, I have had a lot of trouble with my driver. Is the transition for the driver the same as it is with irons? (i.e. a slight extra knee flex in the left - or forward - knee?). I just cannot seem to make good contact with a driver. I noticed you have a ton of instructional videos uploaded for one-plane swingers, but nothing on the driver.

[sleegeedoo]

The right arm action looks exaggerated to me. I know Jim Hardy shows positions like that, but his demonstrations are intended to exaggerate one-plane or two-plane characteristics so that the differences are obvious to readers/onlookers. Your right arm looks pinned behind in way I don't see when looking at down-the-line footage of one-planers like Hogan or Price.

You work at it enough that I'm sure you're an accomplished player.

[2xchrome]

Wow. Every swing in this video is almost identical. Very consistant!! Good job!! Yes I know it's a replay. For the idiots that don't see i'm joking.

[thehurtboy4]

i am a one planer, these videos have helped me so much to lower my scores. the reason he is not all the way on his left side is so he hits a fade. the fade is the easiest shot to hit consistently

ill post again when i win my next tournament ;-)

[jtricoli]

You guys make me laugh. Jeff is one of the most respected golf teachers in the country. He is a contributing author to Golf Tips magazine and is a proponent of the one plane swing (OPS) as envisioned by Jim Hardy. What you see before you in this video is one of the best depictions of the OPS with the driver you will ever see. I only wish he showed the same video from the side on view. Good job Jeff! I'm sure he routinely smokes it well past 300 yrds with that swing!

[delpintoful]

Jeff this is mechanical solid swing. One that is very consistent and easy to reapeat. The downside is that your motion is so confined you aren't realizing the full potential of you're power. You are an athletic and strong individual who right now is probably only hitting it 270. Give your body some range of motion and you'll be smoking it 315.

[naflack]

@delpintoful

the only thing you are impressing upon anyone is how obsurd you are...lol

[thefightbeginswithu]

@delpintoful ill bet he can hit it 320

[mxlevi456]

He's making sure he gets the same feeling for every swing. In one of his other videos, he displays a drill that involves two sponges under the arms. This will considerably increase consistency and that is, what I think, he tries to emphasize while swinging.

[minainlv]

Does anyone else notice he doesn't quite get to his left side as he holds his finish?

[blozzy22]

That's because you hit up with the driver therefore you have to be leaning back to do so... unlike the other clubs which you hit down. If you did you'd be squirting your drives left and right all day.

[minainlv]

I respectfully disagree blozzy22. Hanging back to swing up will lead to compensations such as flipping through impact unless you have a big reverse C finish. Loft of club, high tee, forward ball position is enough to hit up on the ball with the driver. He just needs to finish further left(belly facing further left) at finish. Notice his collapsed left knee and slight dip. His swing looks powerless, but very pretty.

[swingtrade2]

whoops, meant right hip. (i'm left handed)

[swingtrade2]

good stuff

 you are a little flat. that's becasue there is some 'slack in the chain.' you take it away with the arms and the hips tilt a little later. if you just tilted your left hip at the ball and nothing can move faster, then the club is going to be over your shoulder and i bet you hit it harder.

[friendms]

@swingtrade2 your an idiot it's a one plane swing.

[cuthbielad]

What an idiot. I bet Jeff is a million times better at golf than you can even dream of being.

[pcakesxl]

Hi Jeff. Beauttiful swing. How different is this swing from the swing you had before embracing Jim Hardy's ideas? And what changes did you have make to purify your one plane swing? Just curious.

[joeydahlia]

Great swing...

Can you tell me how to lower my ball..I hit very high and straight,but only 250..

If I can get the ball to go lower I can hit alot yards..

right not I have no roll when the ball hits

[durber07]

Place the ball more towards your right foot (if right handed)

[mrchickatees]

you should hit a few balls on a launch monitor , im guessing that your shaft could be causing your ball to spin too much , your pro or somewhere that does custom fitting will have launch monitor that way you can try out different shafts and different degrees on a driver to see what produces optimum launch and spin rate for you

[earthshine2k]

if you hit it high, and the ball lands dead, you're probably hitting a bit of a cut. you could strengthen your left hand grip just a bit to help you 'cover' the ball and put a touch of draw spin on it. That should give you a little more roll out, and if you're REALLY hitting it high, you'll probably get a little more carry with a better launch angle. Kind of like a long jumper that maximizes distance by achieving the right angle of take off. 250 and straight won't hurt you, though.

[jritter5]

My Driver is 10.5

[AlexC01293]

What is the difference of having a lower loft and higher loft of the driver's degrees?

[andypatnou]

getting optimal high launch low spin ratios diffrent lofts,shafts,balls all go along with that

[thisisboringnow]

Hi Jeff.

Do you feel that if you have a tendency towards a naturally flat swing that going the one plane route will be better long term?

I have tried two plane for the longest time and feel I'm fighting my natural tendencies.

Looking at your fantastic one plane action it looks a simple and repeatable method.

[bucknut337]

do u have any problems with creating a high launch trajectory with the driver on a one plane swing? i tend to feel like i have to hang back in order to create a high launch low spin ball flight, which tends to get me in a "stuck position"......which tells me i have to feel like i'm tilting rather than turning in order to get my ideal launch condition. just wandering if i'm the only person that has a problem w/ ball flight when it comes to the driver in a one plane swing.

[taylormadep]

Great swing. Hey guys his website is great theres a book you can print out.

[TheSkilt]

Hey rockstar, two things, one- club head speed on normal swing, two- how's the online teaching going to work and the charges

[gardner4718]

Jeff is it possible to get a face on view of your swing w/ the driver or any club?

[gardner4718]

been waiting for this video for over a year now thanks jeff once again you have moved me from a 15 handicap to a 6 in the past year.

[jritter5]

Amazing! Sorry for the delay on the driver video!!!

[triplechin567]

Amen to that!

[FairwayJack]

What's your driving average ??

[TopFiveGolf]

Hey Jeff you should make a video of the clubs you have

[golfprogress]

Holy crap is that the ball bouncing past you on each drive?

It's such a flat swing plan but it looks very repeatable.

Did you always swing in this one plane style?

[jritter5]

I have converted to one plane over the past 5 years.