“The sole purpose of the golf swing is to produce a correct repetitive impact. The method employed is of no significance as long as it is correct and repetitive.”
– John Jacobs
Philosophy
The purpose in swinging a golf club cannot be summed up more succinctly. It is the motto that The Plane Truth Golf Institute has adopted since its inception in 2006.
In the years since John Jacobs said those words – as well as in the years prior – the word “method” has always been a polarizing term in golf instruction. It implies there is a single way to do something, likely exclusive of other ways.
But just by looking at the variety of swings of successful players in golf, it is obvious that many methods work.
So how do you begin to understand what makes each swing work? Further, once you understand each swing, how do you develop an approach to most efficiently correct it when it invariably stops working? And improve it?
That is one of the missions of The Plane Truth. But the story behind The Plane Truth doesn’t start in 2006. It goes back to a conversation Jim Hardy had with John Jacobs back in 1977 about an observation he made on Ben Hogan’s golf swing…
In 2005, Jim Hardy published a book called “The Plane Truth for Golfers”. In it, he postulates that there are two categories in which all swings can be divided and analyzed – two sets of fundamentals. The elements in each set of fundamentals works together to optimally create that correct, repetitive impact
Jim termed those two sets as the “One Plane Swing” and the “Two Plane Swing”. The book hit the New York Times Best Seller list in the sports category and went on to spawn a second book, “The Plane Truth for Golfers: Master’s Class” and a DVD series.
Jim describes the story behind the development of the concept of these two swing systems – One Plane and Two Plane – beginning with a discussion with John Jacobs that took place in 1977.
The method that John Jacobs personally employed and taught was what he would often describe as swinging your arms up and down as you turn your body—two turns and a swish. The arms swinging up and down while the body turned were done on two separate planes. The body would turn on a somewhat horizontal plane, revolving around a fairly erect spine angle. The arms, meanwhile, would swing on a more upright plane as the body turned.
On one occasion, I asked him about Ben Hogan’s swing. His response was short but accurate. “He swung everything on one plane.” That remark, made in 1977, was the genesis of a very long search, the search for the one-plane swing.
Over the course of that search, Jim realized that all golf swing techniques, no matter how varied, fell into one of two categories. You either swing your arms in somewhat the same plane as you turn your body, or you don’t. If your arms swing up from address to around your body on about the same plane as your shoulders turn, Jim called that the “One Plane” technique. If your arms swing up more vertically, not in the same plane as your shoulders turn, but on a steeper plane, Jim called that the “Two Plane” technique. It’s that simple.
Pluses & Minuses
When applying his concepts in his teaching, he realized that all golf mistakes result in a golf swing where the bottom of the arc produces an impact that was either too wide and too shallow, or too narrow and too steep.
Further, he realized that when a student produced a swing that was one of the two, he simply balanced out the swing by adding an opposite element to the swing. As he continued to refine this, he realized that he could very quickly and simply “neutralize” the student’s impact with phenomenal consistency.
To clearly communicate this, he simply called too narrow and too steep a “Plus” and too wide and too shallow a “Minus”. In 1990, Jim gave a presentation
Seminars
To learn about the final piece of the Plane Truth Golf Institute, we rewind to 2003. Jim’s work had started getting exposure in the golf instruction community. He encountered a large demand from fellow golf instructors to share his ideas.
Many were interested in his concepts, his thought processes behind them, and the latest developments he was working on.
The interest and enthusiasm shown by his peers reminded Jim of the same enthusiasm he had many years ago when he started tutoring under John Jacobs. The amount of time and effort John invested in helping Jim left a lasting impression and inspired in Jim the desire to do the same for others. He wanted to give back. So in 2004, Jim began conducting small seminars for golf instructors. The two day sessions were packed with instructors looking to share ideas and improve. It helped Jim realize there was an intense need in the industry for this type of program. But one of the challenges that Jim saw was that it was extremely difficult to communicate the vast amount of information needed to both understand and teach the concepts that he had spent years developing.
Often times, he would see talented instructors leave the seminars still having not fully understood what he was teaching. He was unable to find a way to create the resources necessary to equip the instructor to improve.
The Matrix
That all changed in 2007. The evolution of technology enabled Jim to find ways to clearly communicate his life’s work in an organized, understandable way.
Together with a talented golf instructor tutoring under Jim named Chris O’Connell and a technology executive and former college teammate of Chris’ named Mike Crisanti, they created a concept that they simply termed “The Matrix”. This “Matrix” became the foundation around which they built the Plane Truth Certified Instructor program. Using this technology, they developed an entire education program around Jim’s ideas – a program they continue to evolve today.
Now in its 6th year, the program has been joined by well over 150 instructors from more than 10 countries. It is unique and continues to grow and influence many around the world.
Learn More
We founded the Plane Truth Instructor Certification Program to be a resource for the Instructor to continuously grow and learn. We believe it to be the most comprehensive and innovative Instructor Certification Program in the game of golf.
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