Jim Hardy explained that the simplest way to think of the differences between the two swings is this: In a two plane swing, the arms and shoulders swing on two different planes at the top of the swing, in a one plane swing the arms swing up to be more or less on the same plane as the shoulders. For the two plane swing, imagine Davis Love III or David Toms. Their arms swing more upright while their shoulders rotate fairly level. For the one plane swing think of Ben Hogan, David Duval or the new Tiger Woods. In general, their swings are more around with the arms swinging on the same plane as the shoulders at the top of the swing.
One Plane Swing
Setup: Shoulders more bent over, greater spine angle to allow the shoulders to rotate around the body and stay on plane. This, in turn allows the club to swing up. The hands at set up are going to be, or should be under the chin. The hands will look further away from the body.
Backswing: In the one plane swing, the arms will swing up slightly to a position where they are on plane with the shoulders at the top of the swing. There are far fewer "moving parts" because the left arm never leaves the chest to swing up on a steeper plane. Because the swing is more "around" than "up", the body may stay more to the left with less lateral shift, if any, to the right. This reduces the need to have a large slide back toward the target during the transition. The key in the one plane swing is swinging the arms around behind the body rather than lifting of the arms in front of the body. Ben Hogan advocated that the right leg not move back at all during the backswing, keeping the body very centered throughout the swing.
Transition: Because your arms are always on plane and never lift, there is no need to wait for them to drop. Your body can begin to rotate back toward the target as aggressively as you like and the arms should simply follow. The natural instinct at the top of the swing is to get the club head back to the ball as fast as possible in order to strike it with authority. Of course, this is the key detriment to swinging on two planes where you simply must create some sort of delay during the downswing to let the arms fall back down on plane in a position to strike the ball. Hardy points out that in a one plane swing, all you do from the top is rotate the body back to the left after setting your weight more on your left side. Everything rotates together, reducing the dependency on timing and rhythm to blend the upright swinging of the arms and the flatter turning of the body. Unfortunately, many golfers swing their arms "up" on the backswing and then try and rotate their bodies back to the left as hard as they can. In essence, they are combining characteristics of the two swings, which doesn't work and creates the dreaded "over the top" move creating a pull slice.
Downswing: In the one plane swing, the arms, club and shoulders are already on the proper plane, allowing the golfer the freedom to simply rotate the body back to the left. With the left arm velcroed to the chest, the body can rotate as hard it likes without ever worrying about trying to control the arms. It is important that the golfer properly use his body to swing the club and not the arms. Golfers who are accustomed to swinging their arms to generate power often find this one of the biggest challenges. No longer requiring the arms to try and control the club, the golfer can do what he instinctively wants from the top of the swing - swing hard. You'll quickly find that this swing will feel more natural, more like hitting a baseball off a tee. A downswing mantra would be "swing left".
Two Plane Swing
Setup: The spine angle tends to be more upright at address in a two plane swing. This erect address position causes the shoulders to rotate on a relatively flat plane, more level to the ground. The arms will tend to hang a bit more vertically compared to the one plane setup where the arms will tend to be slightly further from the body and the golfer will tend to stand closer to the ball.
Backswing: The biggest difference in the two swings is seen here. In a two plane swing the arms will swing up on a more upright plane than that of the shoulders and the club swings well above the plane and to the outside of the turn. In order to do this, the left arm must disconnect from the left chest muscle and then reconnect on the downswing. Also, there is a more pronounced shift of the body to the right creating the need for a greater lateral move back to the target during the transition. This shift creates width in the backswing which is necessary because of the tendency of the two plane swing to be too narrow with the arms swinging more up than around.
Transition: This is where things get tricky. Swinging the arms up on a more vertical plane than the shoulders requires that, at some point in the swing, the arms must drop back down on plane before the rotary motion of the body can be used to generate power by aggressively rotating back to the left. In order to do this, there needs to be either a lateral move toward the target with the body that gives the arms time to drop back on plane before the body begins to clear left, or the hips must simply "wait" to turn until the arms have dropped the proper amount. Depending on your instructor's school of thought, you may have heard to swing your arms down faster from the top to get them back down on plane or you may have been told to wait and let gravity do the job, or you may have been told to not turn the body and swing the arms back in front of you, either way, these are two plane swing ideas. You've no doubt seen drills that talk about dropping the right leg back at address (for righties) so that you can slow the rotation of the hips. As you can imagine, trying to time these moves consistently proves very difficult over time. This places a high demand on timing and rhythm, which vary from day to day. In a one plane swing, you will see that the inconsistencies that are caused by this motion are far less of an issue. Not that timing and rhythm are things that can be disregarded in either swing, but in a one plane swing you are far less susceptible to bad golf when your timing is a bit off.
Downswing: It is critical for the arms to drop back down on plane before the body begins to rotate back to the left. Many two plane golf instructors teach a "looping" motion in the swing where the club swings up on the backswing and is then "flattened" on the downswing in order to get the club back on the proper plane. Jim Furyk is an extreme example of this, but most all two planers will due this to some degree. The difficulty is getting the amount of drop correct as well as the timing of the drop, not to mention the patience required to not "hit" the ball from the top of the swing - where the body begins rotating back to the left before the arms have dropped. Those that don't resist the "hit" urge and begin rotating back to the left before the arms drop on plane will swing "over the top" if the arms didn't drop at all or be in a "stuck" position if the arms didn't get back in front of the body.
“THE PURPOSE OF THE GOLF SWING IS TO REACH GOOD SOLID IMPACT; THE METHOD EMPLOYED IS OF NO CONSQUENCE, AS LONG AS IT IS REPETITIVE.”
The two plane swing is going to be steeper, because it is being swung up to down and not around the body like a one plane swing would be.
The one plane swing is powered by the body, with the left arm close to the body you can't pull with the arms and hands like you would do in a two plane swing. In a two plane swing you have the arms and hands further away from the body at the top of the backswing, from there you are able to pull the club more with the arms and hands.
The point is this: BOTH WAYS ARE EFFECTIVE, but you cannot randomly choose a set-up position when deciding which swing is for you. Personally, if I were forced to choose, I think the one-plane swing is more consistent, but it does demand more physicality than the free swinging action of the two-plane swing.
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