A Golf Lesson on Matching Swing Plane and Body Type

By Jack Moorehouse

The theory of matching swing plane to body type isn't a new, but it is helpful in refining your swing. If your plane angle and body type are mismatched it's hard to create a repeatable swing. One key to this match-up is the angle the club assumes at address (lie angle) in relation to the body and the ground. To produce straight shots, the club's sole in relation to the ground at address needs to be re-created relatively closely at impact. If you can do this, you'll create a powerful, consistent swing that drives the ball every time.

But matching body type and swing plane isn't easy. The problem, as I tell students taking my golf lessons, is two fold: Everyone is different when it comes to body types. Some people are mesomorphs, some are ectomorphs, and some are endomorphs. Each of these body types has a different swing plane angle. What's more, each club has a different lie angle. Thus, every swing plane is slightly different for every club, so each club has a slightly different swing plane. To find consistency, golfers must match body type, swing plane, and lie angle, if they want to drive down their golf handicaps.

Body Types
The three body types are mesomorph, ectomorph, and endomorph. Each has different physical characteristics beneficial to golf. The ectomorph is long and lean and features a great deal of flexibility. The mesomorph is husky and muscular and combines strength and flexibility. And the endomorph is stocky with a protruding abdomen. He features strength and thickness, but significantly less flexibility. Keep in mind that these are extreme body types, the perfect example of each type.

Obviously, not everyone has an extreme body type. Most people fall into the "in-between" category, meaning they have a relatively "average" build with a combination of varying degrees of strength and flexibility, which adds to the complexity of matching swing plane and body type. If you have this type of body, you'll need to develop a swing that takes advantage of your combination of physical attributes.

No matter how much we practice, though, we're limited a great deal by these physical characteristics. In other words, our bodies limit what we can do. We can't swing a club like an endomorph, if we're an ectomorph and expect to be consistent. That's why we must match swing plane with our body type. The easiest way to do this is by matching our body type with the swing type appropriate to our body types. Let's look at the various swing types.

Swing Types
There are roughly three swing types—the leverage swing, the arc swing, and the width swing. The leverage swing emphasizes balance, coordination, and symmetry. It's simple and easy to repeat. It's what you'd see on the pro tour. It's swing plane lines up with the lie angle almost perfectly. The arc swing has a fairly steep swing path that comes a bit over the swing angle established at set up as the club reaches the top of the swing. The width swing takes the club head away from the ball slightly to the inside and then reaches a position at the top of the swing that looks quite low in comparison to the other swing types.

Several elements must work together for any of the three swing types to function properly. Let's take hip action. The easiest way to know how and when to rotate the hips of your swing is to remember that the longer the backswing the more time you need to a low the hands to drop the club to the plane. In addition, the higher the position at the top, the more lateral hip movement you need to provide this critical time. Each of the swing types, then, requires a slightly different hip action. If this is off, your swing plane will be off at impact.

Matching Swing to Body Type
Given these variables, how do we match them up? The solid mesomorph's swing plane is best served by a leverage swing. He should strive to attain a position at the top of his swing that mirrors the downswing and backswing. It's also critical that the mesomorph develop a swing plane that's true to the lie angle of your club at address.
                         
The ectomorph's swing plane favors the arc swing. She should strive to attain a position at the top of the swing that has the hands and club over the plane. On the back swing the player should try to reach a high hands position by taking the club back on a fairly steep plane. On the downswing, the club should flatten to get back on the roper plane.

The thick-chested endomorph matches up with the width swing. This player predominately uses muscle strength during the swing. She's a "slasher." She gets the best results from a swing plane that requires a low hands position at the top and a lot of extension. She needs to take the club away on a slightly flatter plane than either the mesomorph or endomorph.

That, in a nutshell, is the theory behind matching swing plane to body type. In reality, it's more complicated that what we've explained here, so you may need to take a few golf lesson from your pro to coordinate everything. And you'll need to visit the practice range to make the necessary changes. But if you can successfully match body type and swing plane, you'll hit longer, straighter shots more consistently and you'll knock your golf handicap down a few notches.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book "How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros." He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.