A swing plane light stick is a do-it-yourself golf swing plane training aid. I first was introduced to this by a professional using lasers. These are my versions using small flashlights. Let’s take a look.
What is a light stick? It’s a homemade PVC tube with a flashlight in both ends.
The object is to point the lights at the floor during setup, take away and follow through.
This really does work well. I use the training aid all the time.
I use the tile floor in my kitchen because it’s an obvious place with straight lines on the floor.
The swing plane for your 7 iron is different than the one for your driver, etc. I use different markers on the floor to adjust for club length. See the video below.
Here is a great video showing you how to use them.
I have a couple Maglite flashlights similar to the ones in the video, but did not like the focus.
Note: I’d suggest not swinging them really fast. I haven’t had a light fly out yet. Try a snug fit. It’s really about training the motion and not the speed.
Three versions
I do not show the laser version of this because it is a narrow beam and also I’m not crazy about shining lasers around the room.
1 – What I use now
PVC and Flashlight
Electrical tape holds the focus lens out
and provides a snug fit
- Schedule 80 tubing from Amazon. Two adjustable flash lights from Amazon.
- Schedule 80 PVC – 25mm (.984″) Outside Diameter, 21mm (.827″) Inside Diameter, 650mm (25.6″) long $23.99
- 2 Pack of XPE+COB Tactical Lights – 3.6″ long x .800″ barrel diameter 2 for $12.33
The outside diameter of the flashlight(s) is .027″ smaller than the inside diameter of the PVC. I used electrical tape to add to the diameter of the flashlights to produce a snug fit.
The upside is that this is the brightest flashlight I have that also focuses to a “narrow’ beam.
I had to tape the focus slider to the extended position to keep the light focused narrowly throughout the swing.
The down side is that the on/off switch is on the back of the flashlight. That means you have to remove the light to turn it on and off every time you use it.
The narrow bright focus outweighed the downside for me.
Also, an important factor is the total length of the training aid with the lights and PVC is a little over 28 inches in length.
Why is that is important? If you are swinging this in the house, that’s about the maximum length you would want.
Electrical tape around top
2 – Maglite option
- Schedule 40 tubing from Amazon. Two adjustable flash lights from Amazon.
- PVC Pipe – PVC Pipe Schedule 40 – .500″ White 36″ length $9.68
- Maglite (2) – These are 3″ inches” long x .500″ in diameter. $13.99 each x 2
I was afraid these wouldn’t fit together, but the PVC pipe is actually about .580 inches in diameter. I had to wrap electrical tape around the lights because they really are .500 inches.
The good news is they turn on by rotating the focus lens. That means you can leave them in the PVC pipe all the time.
The down side is that the lights don’t focus well and the PVC is too long at 36 inches. (2 foot would be better)
Electrical tape around middle
3 – First attempt
Don’t do this…it’s not a good idea. It’s just for reference as it’s 6.5 lbs. See photo.
I like the grip trainer, but this is too heavy
Beam Photos
This would be the starting position and take away for the L to L drill.
This is a photo of both light sticks focused at about 7 iron length on a tile floor. I prefer the narrower beam as I mentioned above. You will see that the focus stays tighter as your rotate in the 2nd photo.
It’s tighter beam of light
This is a simulated backswing position or take away.