What I Said Then…..What I Think Now
In the Summer 1999 edition of American Golf Pro (now Golf Teaching Pro), I wrote an article on alternative swing methods. The article detailed my experiments with these methods, and my subsequent beliefs regarding them. What I wrote was not without controversy. One of our teaching professionals at the St. Lucie Range (which the USGTF operated at the time) was quite upset with me. He had made a serious study of Moe Norman’s method over the previous few years and adopted it for his own swing. He even took the time to mentor me when I was using the method. His sense of betrayal when he read what I wrote was understandable, but at the time he was quite young, which helps to explain his reaction in part. Now, almost 15 years later, I have the benefit of many more lessons given, many more books read, and just good old experience. Below, I highlight some of the things I wrote in that article, and what my beliefs are today.
What I said then: “If Moe’s swing and/or principles are better and sounder on paper, why did they not translate into the real world for me? I’m not the only one who failed to improve by adopting Moe’s methods. For an answer, I turned to the USGTF’s sports psychology consultant, Dr. Gregg Steinberg. Gregg said that people learn best through trial and error. Since the ‘conventional’ swing is the one that’s evolved, it must fi t the human body the best, even if on paper it’s not the simplest biomechanically.”
What I think now: Dr. Steinberg is correct, but I want to add one thing which I’ve come to believe is crucial: The general characteristics you started with are the ones you need to keep. For example, a person who starts playing the game with a narrow stance, relaxed posture, and arms hanging down is unlikely to be successful making wholesale characteristic changes to Moe’s method, which involves a wide stance, straight legs, and arms reaching out towards the ball. Conversely, someone who started naturally with Moe’s characteristics would probably fare better keeping them, instead of adopting a more conventional look at address. This doesn’t mean that people cannot change or cannot improve, but it means they (and teaching professionals) need to be careful about what they’re doing.
What I said then: “Feel – During my experiment with Moe’s grip and stance, I found that the palm grip simply did not give me adequate feedback, thereby lacking feel. I would therefore like to offer the potentially controversial opinion that Moe Norman had to hit hundreds of balls a day, because his method lacked feel.”
What I think now: In researching the matter, I found it is somewhat of a myth that Moe Norman held the grip in his right palm. He actually held it pretty much conventionally, except that his grips were built up, giving him the appearance of holding the grip in his palm. I now don’t think that Moe’s method lacked feel; we now are pretty sure that Moe’s obsession with hitting golf balls was due to his personality. He was very shy towards people (unless you knew him), and some believe he was a savant and maybe somewhat autistic.
What I said then: “Muscular control – If I were to design a machine to hit balls, I may well base it upon alternative swing methods. But a lever in a golf machine does not have muscles that relax and contract. It does not have to consciously guide the club throughout its movement; a human being does.”
What I think now: I still believe this. The differences between a conventional golf swing and Moe’s are so drastic in some respects that to change from one to the other is folly. I can say that from personal experience. Dramatically changing from one method to another is very difficult, involving learning a whole new set of muscular movements.
What I said then: “What I learned is this: Alternative swing methods are fine if people show an inclination towards that particular method. For example, if someone genuinely feels comfortable with Moe’s grip and extended-arms setup, then Natural Golf might be the best method for him or her. But in all, teaching ultimately comes down to the basics of training a student to have a consistent clubpath and consistently square clubface angle, and removing excess motion from the swing. These are the basics that will never change.”
What I think now: Couldn’t have said it better myself. Oh, wait…
