Product Description

"Jim Hardy is the most knowledgeable teacher in golf. This extraordinary book will be the most revolutionary instructional book since Ben Hogan's Five Lessons."
--Peter Jacobsen, Seven-time PGA Tour event winner

Voted one of "America's 50 Greatest Teachers" by Golf Digest and ranked in the "Top 100 Teachers" list of Golf magazine, Jim Hardy is a veritable scholar of swing. He's been fixing the swings of professional and amateur golfers since 1977, and in The Plane Truth for Golfers, he makes his groundbreaking concepts available to you for the first time.

Hardy's revolutionary approach is simple: There are two sets of fundamentals to the swing, not one. There is the one-plane swing, for more athletic players, and the two-plane swing, suitable for players of all abilities. Understanding these concepts is crucial to your improvement, and Hardy breaks them down into easy-to-follow steps, complete with dozens of photographs.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #76336 in Books
• Brand: Booklegger
• Published on: 2005-03-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Features

• Swing
• Paper Back

Review
"Jim Hardy is the most knowledgeable teacher in golf. This extraordinary book will be the most revolutionary instructional book since Ben Hogan's Five Lessons." - Peter Jacobsen, 7-time PGA Tour Event Winner

From the Back Cover

"Jim Hardy is the most knowledgeable teacher in golf. No other instructor has his understanding of golf swing techniques and what makes them work. Any golfer, regardless of ability, who has the opportunity to listen and work with Jim will benefit and improve."
--Peter Jacobsen, Champions Tour player and winner of seven PGA Tour championships

Voted one of "America's 50 Greatest Teachers" by Golf Digest and ranked among the "Top 100 Teachers" list by Golf magazine, Jim Hardy has been fixing the swings of professional and amateur golfers since 1977. In The Plane Truth for Golfers, he makes his groundbreaking concepts available to you for the first time.

Hardy's earth-shattering philosophy is quite simple: Everything you've learned about swing fundamentals is wrong. There are two sets of fundamentals to the swing, not one. There is the one-plane swing, for more athletic players, and the two-plane swing, suitable for players of all abilities. Every player falls neatly into one of these two categories and one of them is guaranteed to work for you.

In this easy-to-follow handbook, complete with dozens of instructional photographs, Hardy breaks down the two methods into simple steps you're sure to learn in no time. Once you get a grip on Hardy's plan, you'll be able to:

• Determine whether you're a one-plane or two-plane swinger and how to avoid the dangerous mixture of having elements of both in your swing
• Step into the proper starting position for both swings
• Understand the real truth about the backswing
• Master a whole new technique for the downswing and defeat the competition
• PLUS: You'll also get plenty of exercises and drills to help you perfect the proper on-plane movements and correct common faults

Like no other how-to book, The Plane Truth for Golfers exposes the flaws of current golf instruction and reveals the secret to playing good golf.

About the Author

Jim Hardy is a golf instructor par excellence. A former PGA Tour professional, he is a teacher's teacher and a mentor to many of today's PGA Tour stars. He lives in Texas.

John Adrisani is the former senior editor of instruction at Golf magazine and the author of nearly 30 books.

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Customer Reviews

How to Find the Golf Swing that Works Best for You.
JIm Hardy offers unique insight and perspective into the two basic golf swings in general use today. One is what he calls the "one-plane" swing as used by Ernie Els, Ben Hogan, and Michelle Wie. The other is the "two-plane" swing used by David Toms, Bobby Jones, and Davis Love. After helping the reader identify which swing he or she is using (or should be using), the author provides an in-depth look at the keys to making either swing work. For newer golfers, the book will help establish the fundamentals of the swing chosen. For more advanced golfers, the author provides an excellent framework for identifying exactly what belongs in your swing and what doesn't. This is especially important given all the conflicting instruction, books, articles, and television commentaries on "the" golf swing. Owning over 200 golf-related books, I can say that this is probably the most valuable one I've read to date. In the first week after reading it, I've already been able to modify a few things that don't belong in my swing and a few things I need to add to become more consistent. I strongly recommend this book to any serious golfer.

Saying up is up, down is down.
It has been said that most golf instruction is patching together a swing with a bunch of tape. When one thing breaks with such a patchwork swing, the whole thing goes wrong, leaving the student nothing to get back on the wagon with. All he can do is go back for another piece of tape, and plod on.

Golf instruction books are not too much different. Many will be based on a particular person's swing, but they will have one or two extra "accepted" facts about the swing. For example, a book may say that the head should move somewhat back and forth during the swing, that there is a large weight shift forward at the end, and that the hands should agressively release the club. Then they say that the swing plane itself should be flat and the club should not come past parallel at the top (you are still expected to make a "full shoulder turn", though). What happens? Your slice or hook magically returns, you hit all known varieties of shots, and are only saved by your putting... when that works.

Jim Hardy's theory of there being two basic swing types which all golfers fall into is perhaps a little too clean cut. He himself admits that there are any number of "hybrid" swingers out there. However, he is, as far as I know, the only one to succesfully seperate two general classes of swing and divide up what swing fundamentals work best with which. This is an accomplishment in itself, and will likely set the standard for golf instruction from here on out.

His conclusions, to infer from the book, seem to point to the idea that most swing ideas are OK, so long as they match the individual's swing style. This itself is a standard notion amongst teachers. However, too many teachers fall short in their ability to say why, or at times even which set of ideas fits what kind of swing. Hardy makes it clear what works for what swing, and why. He also goes the extra yard by saying what happens by "mixing" advice.

Hardy does not write in over-defined terms. He constantly reminds the reader that the way he lays out for a particular swing style is subject to individual tendancies and body structures. He makes it clear what must be done, and then allows the reader to adjust to his own idiosyncracies. This, as well, is vastly different from other instruction tracts that speak of only one, highly precise, "correct" way. There is nothing vague or even abstract about Hardy's writing, but he knows that, as an example, for most golfers a certain type of grip may be right, but that the individual may need one that is weaker or stronger than standard.

One extra note on the book: it only covers the full swing. There is nothing here about chipping, putting, etc.. This would have been way off topic, and there are already people dominating the market in this kind of research (Pelz, for example).

If you are frustrated with most golf instruction, or find yourself going back to your pro every other week because the tape came loose on your swing, this book may be a good answer. If you are an instructor, it will help to at least be familiar with Hardy's thinking, as it may prove useful when trying to customize lessons to different students.

An incredibly lucid full swing guide for all golfers
Being a part-time golf instructor, I picked up this book merely to acquire another book to add to my abundant collection, figuring that I could perhaps pick up some new techniques. Little did I know that what I found was an absolute gem in the way of material on the full golf swing. It leaves all the other 4 and 5 star rated books far behind in the dust ... truly an eye opener even for someone who has spent quite a bit of time analyzing the golf swing.

Jim Hardy is right on when he says that there is a lot of good instruction that is not applicable to a certain swing type, thus resulting in confusion and frustration for many golfers. Seldom is a swing technique ever framed around the type of swing one is trying to make. Jim Hardy frames these techniques perfectly. Without framing the techniques around the swing type (such as instruction or commentary such as that offered in magazines and guests on the Golf Channel), these techniques are contradictory and in many (most) cases detrimental to your particular swing type. Do you know what swing type you are? Do you know the techniques applicable to your swing type? If you are like to average golfer I've run across, probably not. Most golfers I know don't even know that there are different swing types and in actuality I knew about the Bobby Jones swing and the Hogan swing, but I also didn't have as fine as distinction between the two swings as provided by Jim Hardy in this book.

This book is well organized and extremely lucid for golfers who have spent anytime at all trying to figure out how to hit the ball with any consistency. After my initial purchase, I ordered 5 more copies for my students and am ordering an addition 5 now. The feedback and results I've received from my students has been fantastic. Most have gone from the traditional classic swing to the one-plane swing. They are all saying that they hit the ball more solidly, straighter, and longer.

My personal experience has been equally satisfying. Since I switched to the one-plane swing and applied the techniques provided by the author, I no longer have those one or two hole a round where the swing leaves you and you end up with a double or worse. My ball flight is consistently straight or with a slight draw (I get goose bumps just thinking about it). The occasional poor shot usually is hung a little right, but I know the cause is due to using a two-plane technique with a one-plane swing; generally I can correct this immediately on the next shot. I'm consistently hitting better shots, fairways and greens; no more struggling trying to figure out what I did wrong while still trying to play the course. I now have very few swing thoughts and can focus more on scoring. At the end of June, I was struggling in the high seventies and had the militaries, left, right, left, right ... sound familiar? One month later, I'm in the mid to low seventies and have broken par on a couple of occasions. The thing is, I think I can get even better than that.

As an instructor more interested in having his students learn and enjoy the game than the cash, I've also seen my students progress quickly. I highly recommend that my students buy the book and understand the concepts and techniques. We discuss the book and techniques in our sessions and my students walk away from each session knowing what to do and what to work on, and they have a reference in the book to guide them, i.e., pictures, words, and swing key. The author breaks down each swing separately into various parts of the swing sequence, i.e., setup, backswing, transition, impact, and follow through. There is a narrative on each segment, followed by a simple to follow list of swing keys. My students can easily understand each swing key; they end up having to take fewer lessons making them happier (and actually me happier that they are improving and enjoying the game). I still believe that professional instruction provides significant value, however, the value is added to the value provided in this book, not in and of itself.

It took me a bit to fully understand the illustrations. I probably read and reviewed these sections at least 20 times, but don't be discouraged. Pay attention to them and don't try to get too creative. Have someone look at you and get yourself video taped to ensure that you have these down. They'll pay impressive dividends. If you are like me, you may find yourself thinning a few shots initially on the one-plane swing. I think this is due to getting on a flatter plane. Interestingly enough, after the first go round, my ball flight is significantly higher that it was with my two-plane swing and I have better carry than I've ever had.

The first of July, at the TPC in Dearborn, I followed Peter Jacobson for several holes (Peter is a converted two-plane to one-plane swing that eventually won the tournament and the pro associated with this book). I noticed the techniques he was using were not quite as pronounced as those in the illustrations. I've also taken a look at Vijay, Tiger, and Ernie and notice the same thing. After observing that, I did not exaggerate as much as the illustrations and noticed better results ... I was probably just overdoing it.

I've done some Internet searching to determine if Mr. Hardy offers any golf schools, but as of yet I have not found one. If I found one that he certified, I'd be first in line to sign up. Definitely buy this one. It's a one hour read once you figure out what type of swinger you want to be.

I think the only negatives I can think of is with the illustrations I mentioned, and with the recommendation on what type of swing is right for you. He does recommend the one-plane swing, mainly because there are less moving parts and more easier to control under pressure. I also think the narrative on the differences between the two swings is that good, but that is extremely minor. I see ex baseball, hockey, and cricket players better suited to the one plane swing. They typically rotate their hips and lower body more quickly are are already use to this type of timing aggressive make contact with the ball, puck, on a flatter plane. If you are not that strong, haven't had much sports training, or are not that athletic, the two-plane swing is probably more suited for you.