The Single Plane Golf Swing: Moe Norman's Method

The single plane golf swing puts the club shaft and your lead arm on one straight line at address, then returns the club on that same plane at impact. Made famous by Canadian ball-striker Moe Norman and taught today by Todd Graves, it strips a moving part out of the swing to make contact more repeatable. It suits players who value accuracy over raw distance, especially seniors and anyone protecting a sore back.

Most golfers chase a swing that looks like the tour. Moe Norman built one that felt like nothing could go wrong, and it made him arguably the purest striker the game has seen.

What a single plane swing actually is

In a conventional swing, your arms hang down at address while the club angles up toward the ball. That creates two planes: the arm plane and the steeper shaft plane. On the way down, you have to shallow the club to reconnect the two. It works, but it is a timing move, and timing is what fails under pressure.

The single plane swing removes the gap. You stand slightly taller, push your hands up and out, and let the shaft and lead arm form one line running straight to the ball. Because the club starts on the plane you want to hit from, there is far less to shift or re-route coming down. Moe Norman described the resulting strike as “the feeling of greatness,” and Todd Graves’ method is built entirely around reproducing that setup.

Single plane vs a conventional two-plane swing

The two swings differ from the ground up, not just at impact.

Element	Single plane (Moe Norman)	Conventional two-plane
Hands at address	Higher, pushed out toward the ball	Lower, hanging under the shoulders
Planes	One (arm and shaft aligned)	Two (arm plane plus steeper shaft plane)
Downswing move	Return on the same plane, little shallowing	Shallow the shaft to reconnect planes
Main payoff	Consistency and accuracy	Speed and distance potential
Typical driver distance	Slightly shorter	Slightly longer
Back strain	Lower	Higher
Best suited to	Seniors, bad backs, inconsistent ball-strikers	Athletic players chasing speed

Who the single plane swing suits

This is not a swing for everyone, and honest teachers say so. If you already strike your irons well and you are chasing clubhead speed, the single plane will likely cost you yards without solving a problem you have.

Where it earns its place is with two groups. First, players who fight inconsistency, the golfer who flushes one and chunks the next because their downswing timing wanders. Removing a plane removes a variable. Second, anyone managing back issues. The setup reduces the secondary spine tilt and violent rotation a conventional swing loads through the lumbar spine, which is why it comes up so often in discussions of the best swing for seniors and bad backs.

My view: treat the single plane as a repair, not an upgrade. If your ball-striking is erratic or your back complains after a range session, it is worth a serious trial. If neither is true, the effort of rebuilding your setup rarely pays off.

The trade-offs nobody sells you on

The single plane’s biggest cost is distance. That taller, hands-forward position slightly delofts the longer clubs and limits how much lag and speed you can store, so most converts give up a few yards with the driver and long irons. You are buying fairways with yardage.

It also feels alien at first. Standing taller with your hands pushed out contradicts years of muscle memory, and the first few range sessions can feel worse before they feel better. Give it weeks, not swings.

If you are still deciding whether a swing overhaul is even the right move, start by making sure your equipment is not the culprit; our guide to golf clubs for beginners and the golf grip size chart rule out the two easiest fixes before you rebuild anything.

The bottom line

The single plane golf swing is a legitimate method with a genuine pedigree, not a gimmick. Moe Norman proved the ceiling is high, and Graves Golf has taught the pattern to thousands. Just go in clear-eyed: you are trading a little distance for a lot of repeatability. For the right player, especially one whose back has started to talk back, that is a trade worth making.