The D-Plane ?
D-Plane is a term which is quite new to most people, but it is a term which was coined in 1993 by Theodore Jorgensen who published The Physics of Golf. He referred to D-Plane as 'the plane located between the intersecting lines created by the club face angle and the club head path'. He noted that different variables of club face angle and club head path directly determine the ball speed, launch angle and spin rate of a shot hit by a golfer, and determined weather the shots hit were either straight or off line, accurate or inaccurate. With the development of launch monitors such as Trackman which was invented by Fredrik Tuxen, an expert in dopler radar, it is now possible to accurately measure the D-Plane, among other things which was not possible to do accurately in 1993.
On any impact between club head and golf ball the clubhead path and clubface angle intersect which creates the D-Plane. When you make impact with both club face and club head moving in the same direction the D-Plane will be vertical resulting in a straight shot. The D-Plane will tilt when there are differences between the face and the path, and when the D-Plane is tilted the golf ball will not go straight on a centre face hit.
It is important to note that the initial launch direction is dictated 75% by where the clubface is pointing at impact with an iron ( 85% with a driver ).
Should you live in the Perthshire area and require some help or would like to learn to play golf come and see me at The Blairgowrie Golf club where I work as a teaching professional.
I have been trained and certified by both TrackMan University and The Titleist Performance Institute.
Regards,
Graeme Leggat PGA Advanced Golf Professional
