Recreational golfers who find it difficult to avoid too upright a backswing plane don't need to strive to fix their swing problem. That swing fault can be a definite advantage.

No golfer can get the club on the correct plane every time. Tour pros and advanced players tend to allow the butt end of the handle to point to a spot somewhere between the ball-target line and their toeline halfway back, whereas amateur players tend to get the butt end of the shaft to point to a spot somewhere outside the ball-target line.

You are also likely to err one way or another during the swing and if you are to make a fault, it is better to err like good players who get the club slightly steep going back.

Swinging the club on a tad upright plane is relatively easy and simple to adjust it by dropping the club onto a flatter plane at the early stage of the downswing.

However, allowing the backswing plane to get overly flat calls for severe compensation during the downswing, leaving you with no option but to throw the clubhead outside the ball-target line.

That forces the clubhead to work on a path that is from outside to in, causing an over-the-top move, which, in turn, leads to an out-to-in swing path. When that happens, a straight pull, pull-hook or pull-slice is thrust upon you depending on the clubface position at the moment of impact.

To swing the club on a perfect plane you need to ensure that the butt end of the club points to a spot somewhere along the ball-target line extended rearward on the ground at the halfway point going back and coming down.

Allowing the cap of the handle points to a spot somewhere too much inside the ball-target line toward the toeline halfway back causes the swing plane to get too steep.

Conversely, allowing the butt end of the handle to point to a spot somewhere outside the ball-target line at the halfway stage of the backswing causes the swing plane to get too flat.

In either case, you cannot hit the ball firmly on a consistent basis as you are off plane. This is particularly true of golfers who set up in an upright posture and thus should make a two-plane swing.

In a nutshell, too flat a backswing is hard to adjust on the forward swing as it never listens but you can talk to a swing that is relatively vertical.

Therefore, you'd better make a slightly steep backswing plane, and then simply loop the club to the inside as you change direction from backswing to downswing. That is an easy way to not just swing down onto a correct line that is parallel to the original shaft line created at address by your posture, but also encourage shot consistency and accuracy.

Incidentally, looping the club to the outside at the beginning of the downswing in an attempt to hit the ball hard with your hands and arms causes pull or pull-slice. Swiping at the ball hard from the top with the hands leads you to jut your shoulders toward the ball-target line at the start of the downswing, forcing you to cast the club outside the ball-target line.

A good way to avoid this fault is to make an intentional error by slightly steepening the shaft on the backswing so halfway back the clubshaft is in an almost straight up-and-down position, and then flatten it at the start of the downswing by swinging the club to the inside so that halfway down the butt end of the club points correctly to a spot somewhere along the ball-target line extended rearward on the ground.

For golfers having difficulty taking the club away from the ball on the correct path, it would be better making this error on purpose and adjusting later at the start of the forward swing to avoid too flat a backswing, which is hard to correct during the downswing.

Better yet, that enables you to make a more powerful golf swing. For a solid, powerful shot the clubhead needs to be delivered to the ball squarely on a path that is slightly more inside than the path it took on the backswing; this can be easily attained when you steepen and flatten your swing plane.