HB,

The Lag Pressure Feel is good not only at Impact but from Start-Down all the way down to the Both Arms Straight Position (Follow-Through 8-11). And I do mean you should feel like you are going down, down down all the way to Both Arms Straight. On my best Strokes I feel Lag Pressure to the very end of my Finish. Remember, the Clubhead Lag has no release point (6-C-2-A).

Everybody thinks they understand the Plane Line. You know...We 'trace' it. We 'point' at it. We swing 'along' it.

Here's my message: Obliterate it!

You don't swing 'down along it!' You swing down and through it. Remember, this is just a line on the face of an Inclined Plane that actually extends into the ground. And in that ground is another Plane Line, the Low Point Plane Line. You don't 'see' that one on the top of ground.

That first Plane Line is easy. You're always reminded of that one because it usually sits on top of the Target Line. And when we get to it we usually just skim right along it! But this one -- this LowPoint Plane Line -- you've got to think about and then take the Lag Pressure all the way down to it. It's one of the best things you'll ever do for your game.

Now, even though you now know this, the problem isn't going to automatically go away. Two stumbling blocks remain:

1. You've got learn to do it subconsciously, and that takes purposeful practice and Translation per 1-J and 3-A/B;

2. Your Magical Right Forearm/Elbow Action (7-3) is no doubt nowhere near what it could be. Therefore, you don't have a 3-dimensional Backstroke (Up, immediately as well as Back and In). As a result, you don't have a truly 3-dimensional Downstroke (Down, Out and Forward 2-F). Read that last paragraph in 7-3 until you know it by heart.

And then do what it says! Practice that Right Forearm/Elbow Action from Fix. First without a club. Then with a club -- or better yet a headless shaft or a wooden dowel -- but without a ball. Then with a Ball but only with the Basic Motion (12-5-1). Again, start from Impact Fix (8-2 and 7-8 ) and get the Club Up and Back with your Right Elbow and Forearm.

Stay on your Left side as you do this. Stand still. Stationary Head. With your Left Wrist Flat and your Right Wrist Bent (Impact Alignments), use that Right Elbow to take the Right Forearm Flying Wedge (6-B-3-0-1) Up the face of the Plane. From the Top, Load the Lag, and Drive the whole Power Package assembly and its Lag down to the Both Arms Straight Position. These are the Key moves.

When you have it, go to Stage 2 (Acquired Motion). Hit thousands of balls with your sand or pitching wedge with no bigger Stroke than 12-5-2. Think about that Magical Right Forearm and Elbow. Take the Club Up in Start Up. That's why it is called Start Up!

Feel the Lag Load at the Top. Take the Lag all the way down to the Both Arms Straight Position. Make sure at the Finish that your Left Wrist is still Flat and your Right Wrist is still Bent. You can't about all those things at the same time! Choose one, and work on it for a while. Then move to another. But The Golfing Machine is all about obliterating the Plane Line with your Loaded Lag and your Flying Wedges Assembly with its Flat Left and Bent Right Wrists. Once you've got that down, Total Motion (12-5-3) is a piece of cake.

Your thoughts on Extensor Action (6-B-1-D) are good, but do you really understand the Flying Wedges (6-B-3-0-1)? Those alignments are crucial to your understanding your Machine, how it all works together and how you can utilize the Power Package structure to Drive the Lag Down and Through.

Finally, read 3-F-6 and do your best to get better and better at those things.

You won't get better all at once. But get better you will. And it will gradually dawn on you that you really are doing it. And then the fun really begins!

There is no conflict between the Swing Plane concept and my advice to "obliterate" its Base Line on your way Down to the Low Point.

That said, over the years I have seen a number of variations on the 'Plane board' as a Feel training device. Some good and some not so good. Other than to reiterate Homer's position that the Plane should be viewed as rectangular and with a Base Line that extends to infinity in both directions (2-F), I have no recommendations to offer in that area.

However, I can tell you that Homer Kelley thought it was very important that each student spend at least some time "in the Plane." That is why he built one -- the same one you see in The Book that was the centerpiece of the mini-range in his converted garage -- and insisted that his Authorized Instructor candidates hit little pitches from inside it. We would do this, and the plastic material of the Plane's Face would 'rustle' as our Clubs went back and through.

He told me:

"I built the Plane, and...Sheesh! I couldn't believe how it felt!"

The photographs I shot of Homer in his red sweater and white knit golf shirt buttoned at the top, standing inside the Inclined Plane with his Clubshaft resting on its Face, are among my most prized possessions.

How prized?

Well, let's just say you won't be seeing them on Ebay any time soon!