Laid Off Vs. Across the Line

[12 piece bucket]

I saw some T.V. people today commenting on different players at the TOP or END. One mentioned that Bo Van Pelt was "laid off", but still got the club in a good place coming down. The other conversation had to do with V.J. Singh. They seemed to think that the reason he is struggeling now is because he has the club "laid off" at the TOP or End.

It seems like that the T.V. guys usually talk like the "laid off" position is a poor position. They rarely mention the "across the line" people as even having a problem.

Do you think there is some merit to what they are saying, or do they really not understand what an ON PLANE club and shaft should look like?

As I understand PLANE in this regard... the club should point either to the line the ball is on, or be parallel to that line.
If the club is not PARRALEL TO THE GROUND at the END, then it will appear to many to look "laid off". If the club goes BEYOND PARALLEL TO THE GROUND, it should be "across the line".

Now... according to this way of describing plane... Nick Price is "across the line" when his left arm is parallel to the ground on the BACKSWING. Raymond Floyd, at about the same place, is "laid off". At the Top or End... Jack Nicklaus, Bobby Jones, John Daly, Davis Love, Larry Nelson, and probably about at least 80% of tour players are "across the line". Ben Hogan(especially with his irons), and Peter Jacobsen, along with a few others appear "laid off" when they finish the backswing.



Discuss when these positions are OK, and when they are actually a problem. For example, I remember Mr. Yoda saying that Larry Nelson's "across the line" position at the finish of his backswing was actually OK for him, since he is a HITTER.

Annikan Grandmaster of Chapter 10 Skywalker had a great post on this a while back. He gave several great reasons as to WHY one would be "across the line." I think the 4 main culprits are 1. a Start-Up that doesn't have enough UP e.g. under plane 2. a Right Forearm that is ROLLED at Top and not TURNED to the Plane 3. Too deep shoulder turn 4. A COCKED Right Wrist.

Not Yoda, but I think the reason L. Nelson is "across-the-line" is because he is a hitter employing the surrogate 10-5-E Plane Line (Cross-Line Angle of Approach).

And another thing . . . a person that has an End at Top, the club SHOULD have a laid-off look if it is pointing at the geometric Plane Line.