Moe Norman

Tough Love – I Better See You in February

December 2, 2017 by admin

It’s Coach Todd here. I have my coaching hat on. I’m not here to discuss your swing technique. I’m here to talk about you. We need to have a heart-to-heart.

I get worried this time of year because we plan our spring schedule, and our schools fill quickly. We have limited seats. Then I hear later in the year that students missed out, and they wait an entire year to come to a school. A whole year! That’s way too long.

Single Plane Golf Schools — Graves Golf School Chipping Instruction

If you are planning on coming to a GGA school, you need to register now. Don’t wait. I don’t want you to miss out. If you haven’t made up your mind yet – I have some profound unsolicited advice for you. If you plan on attending a GGA School, we expect you to –

Raise your standard and your expectations about your golf swing.

That’s right. You need to stop accepting your current golf game. Right now you are taking it to easy on yourself. You agree to mediocrity. You complain that golf is hard and you struggle every year but you don’t do anything about it. It’s time to do something. You need to change. It’s time to get some real results. Now. Let me ask you.

If not now, when?

Look, you and I aren’t getting any younger. We are on the same trip – traveling on the same planet – our ship is headed in the same direction. The only opportunity we have is today. It takes time to make changes, and you need to start now.

Graves Golf Schools — Graves Golf School Notebook

By the way, this isn’t just my advice. This guidance was given to me by Tony Robbins a few years ago when I was sleeping through my life. His no B.S. approach woke me up, and he was right. I was accepting mediocrity and making dozens of excuses about why I wasn’t successful. I was telling myself lies, and I believed them. Things like “I don’t have the time” or “I’m just not strong enough.”

Today I am involved in one of the most successful golf schools on the planet – because I raised my expectations. I stopped making excuses. I raised my standards. Thank you, Tony.

He showed me that the things I was telling myself were B.S. I know because I went to work and overcame them. I realized that my beliefs, the stories I was telling myself, weren’t right. Once I realized this, my entire world changed.

But, you know what the best thing about it was? It helped the people around me too. That’s right. When you raise your standards, the people around you grow their standards also. Their lives get better because I decided to stop suffering. It’s a win/win! But it only happened once I stopped telling myself lies.

I’m telling you that right now, at this exact moment, you are lying to yourself about your potential – and you are suffering because of it. I promise.

So what are you going to do about it? Here is an excellent place to start. Let’s find out what you are telling yourself about your golf game.

1. Old dogs can’t learn new tricks.

I’ve heard this one thousand times, and I’ve taught hundreds of old dog’s new golf swings. I witness hundreds of transformations at the schools. We get thousands of testimonials each year from golfers who were transformed from learning the Single Plane Swing. I promise that you will learn something new within the fifteen minutes of a golf school or I’ll give you your money back.

2. I don’t have the time.

You know it as well as I do, you always have time if you want to have time. I told this one to Tony, and he said that it wasn’t that I didn’t have the time it was that I didn’t want it bad enough. Heck, twenty-three years ago I drove across the United States to watch Moe hit balls so I could learn his swing. If you want something – you do it. It’s that simple.

3. I don’t want to change my swing – it will take too long.

This excuse makes no sense to me. Would you somewhat suffer forever than make a few changes? Do you want to look back at your life and say “I should have?”

4. I don’t like to practice

At one-point, practicing wasn’t fun anymore. Tony told me was asking the wrong question. He then asked – “What if you loved to practice. What if you couldn’t wait to get up every day and get to the golf course to practice?” What would your life be like? What would your golf game be like?

Not only do we lie to ourselves, we ask ourselves the wrong questions. Instead of saying “I can’t do something” ask yourself “What if you could? “. This simple change in how you frame things changes everything.

Bunker Instruction at the Graves Golf School

Here’s the deal. I want to help you. The entire GGA Team wants to help you and see you succeed. We will do everything in our power to help you – if you will raise your standards and see us.

I want to come to a school, and I want to be tough on you. Why? Because I want you to raise your standards, I want you to change and I want results.

The Single Plane Address

November 7, 2017 by admin

I’ve taught thousands of students the Single Plane Swing of Moe Norman. One thing that is consistently true about learning Moe’s swing is the importance of the Address position. Moe was right when he said:

“If you haven’t got a good address position, you haven’t got anything”.

– Moe Norman

Moe also said, “give yourself a chance“.

As I continue to research the swing, Moe’s comment is glaringly more exact. Why? Mostly because the effects of a bad address are now measurable. I can quantify the mistakes and find the causes. Many times the reasons are at the beginning of the swing – address position.

I hope that this article will help you understand that you must consistently check your address position. There are quite a few elements to it including the alignment of the feet, hand position, arm and leg position, spine tilt and bend and rotation. It can quickly get off track.

As usual, I don’t mean to overanalyze the address. It’s very simple. As I always say, just model Moe. But even modeling Moe can be tricky – because what you see can be deceiving. What you see is not still what you feel. Take for example the tilt and bend of the spine.

There are two tilts of the spine, the forward angle which is toward the golf ball and the side bend, which is the tilt away from the target. The trick is that you must have both inclinations to position the shoulders correctly so the arms can extend in the proper position.

Here is a picture of Moe at address – side bend (away from the target) is 20 degrees.

Moe Norman Address — Moe Norman side bend of twenty degrees at address

In my opinion, the side bend is the most difficult to feel and accomplish because it is entirely contrary to the conventional address position of having your arms hanging below your shoulders. With the proper side bend, you need a few other elements including the first foot rotation and trail leg braced.

Once you have the lead foot and trail leg in position, you can quickly align the club and first arm.

In many ways, the grip is a function of this address position. When you have the body in the proper side-bend, the lead holder lifts. This raises the first arm. When you grip the club, the arm is higher and rotated, aligning the back of the hand and wrist to the target. The trail shoulder is lower. When you lift the side to the club, it is rotated under the organization – creating an alignment to the single plane where the trailing arm aligns with the shaft.

Moe Norman — Moe Down the Line Address – Single Plane

You can see in the Down-the-line view what Moe’s legs are straight. His lead arm is higher than his trail arm – both essential variables to the ideal Single Plane Swing.

In this position, the shoulders appear to be “closed” or pointing to the right of his feet line. In actuality, his shoulders are open at address.

The fact that his body is open at speech is significant. At address, Moe’s shoulders are approximately 15 degrees open. When he rotates to the top of the backswing, he will turn about 65 degrees. Making the total turn 80 degrees. Why is this important?

When Moe returns to impact, his shoulders and hips will be 35 degrees open – 20 degrees more than at address. By opening the shoulders through impact, the hands can lead – give the club speed and proper angles into the ball to create compression.

My suggestion is that you consistently monitor and check your address position in a mirror or by using video. The address position sets up the golf swing, and as Moe mentioned, without it, you don’t have a chance.

The Single Plane Golf Swing

August 14, 2017 by admin

Moe isn’t the only player to swing on a Single Plane.Today, there are numerous players that I consider Single Plane Golfers. Bryson Dechambeau and Steve Stricker are the main players that resemble what I consider Single Plane golfers on tour while I find Moe Norman as the ideal Single Plane model.

I find Moe Norman’s golf swing model. He simplified the Single Plane even further with a few changes in his address position. Moe adjusted his spine a bit more the address to resemble the spine angle at impact.

These placed the trail shoulder closer to the plane at address, removing rotation in the backswing and simplifying the entire swing. Notice that Moe stands a bit further from the ball. These allow him to move more downward to reach impact rather than a lifting action.

Here is Reed Howard, one of my students from address to impact.

Reed has mastered Moe’s movement to keep the spine stable and reduce the stress on the back. When I met Reed, he had high rotations in his hand’s positions and over rotation of his body as a result.

Reed’s over-rotation of his body helped his hands lead through impact – however, the club lagged behind the rotation causing an extreme de-lofting of the golf club. My first question was “Do you always hit it that little?”. The first thing I changed was to neutralize his lead hand position, making it neutral so he could place the club face. The swing starts from the grip. Your hands determine the rotation of the lead arm and clubface. By changing Reed’s hand position, it simplified the motion of the first arm. From there, I could begin focusing on the rotation of his torso.

Due to his firm grip and over-rotation of his body, Reed had developed a “late hand action” in his backswing. Why is this a problem? The backswing also has a sequence where you turn your body and then the upper torso continues to turn as the lower body stabilizes. As you turn and the lower body stops, the hands hinge as the chest becomes. Having a late hook of his hands is usually a result of too much turn of the torso. Too much turn makes it difficult to time the downswing into impact.

Learning the Single Plane Golf Swing

I believe that with Bryson’s and Reed’s continued success, the light will begin to shine on the Single Plane swing mechanics. The Single Plane swing will become a household conversation and an accepted way to play golf. The golf world will analyze it and compare it to the tradition of conventional golfers.

The simplicity of the swing has its roots in biomechanics. When it comes to the Single Plane Swing, I claim and profess that the swing is easier than every method that exists and I feel compelled to prove it.

I am not saying that golf is easy nor am I saying that swinging the golf club is easy to learn. What I am saying is that the Single Plane Golf Swing has fewer variables – making it an easier way to play golf.

I told you so – Bryson DeChambeau

July 17, 2017 by admin

Originally published 2 years ago…. Now even more pertinent with Bryson’s first PGA Tour win yesterday.

Congratulations Bryson!!!

Dear conventional golfers and teachers, I’m having an “I told you so” moment. I have to admit it feels pretty good. For over 20 years I have been answering your questions and your doubts regarding the Single Plane Swing and its validity. Questions such as: “Why isn’t anyone on tour swinging this way?” or “If this is so great why isn’t everyone swinging this way?” Some even question Moe the best ball-striker to ever play the game – asking “If Moe was so great why didn’t he win a major championship”. There have been times when presenting my research and science of the Single Plane, people have attacked me saying that Moe was autistic and a savant. That nobody could swing like Moe.

Now that a Single Plane Golfer, Bryson DeChambeau is now a major champion winning the U.S. Amateur – it feels pretty good to see science (and Moe) prevail. They claim Bryson is the best ball-striker in college golf. I am not surprised one bit.

Now, I want to say something before the golf teachers start justifying that what they have been teaching for 100 years is possibly well, wrong. I want to say to conventional teachers you can’t have it both ways. You can’t claim all successful golfers as another “variation” of conventional swing mechanics. Golf swings are different – because they are mechanically and physically different. Bryson’s swing IS different, in the ways you have been doubting and questioning.

Please, don’t try explaining his Single Plane swing with another predictable “variation of traditional golf mechanics”. Stop painting a broad brushstroke over all golf swings. Let’s face it, conventional golf mechanics don’t explain his swing starting from the beginning – his address. Bryson’s swing is biomechanically superior to conventional swings because of the way he grips the club into the hands not the fingers. Bryson aligns the club with the arms into a straight line. From the start, he has violated two basic tenants of conventional teaching; “grip the club in the fingers and hang the arms below the shoulders in an athletic position”.

Conventionally, with Bryson’s address position, there is nowhere for your instruction to go from here. You can’t explain his swing with traditional methods and how he starts and impacts on the same plane eliminating the need to move the club from two planes into impact when you claim that golfers should start with their hands low.

Oh by the way, just so you know, we have been explaining the alignment of the hands and arms for years. This is the basic principle of the Single Plane Swing. It comes down to simplifying the golf swing and eliminating much of the unnecessary movement of conventional golf swings. You must eliminate the angles at address to simplify the golf swing – exactly what Bryson is doing. You simply can’t simplify the swing from the conventional Two-plane address.

I can’t wait to read the stories of how every conventional golf instructor will try to explain Bryson’s swing. David Leadbetter and Hank Haney will probably publish a book about. Bryson winning a tournament makes it is “safe” to talk about it. I am sure that students will ask about it and many instructors in the PGA will probably change their teaching throwing away everything they have taught for the last 100 years. Just remember that Moe Norman figured this out over sixty years ago. And even though he never won a major championship like Bryson, his ball-striking make it very clear that there is an easier way to swing. It’s called a SINGLE PLANE.

Feel Your Swing

July 12, 2017 by admin

I am very excited to announce our latest product – Inside the Single Plane Swing. What inspired me to develop this product was a thought I had over twenty years ago when I first witnessed Moe hitting balls. Watching what he called “the purity of technique”, I couldn’t help but think:“I wonder what that feels like…what if I could just feel that one time?”

Ironically, Moe called his swing The Feeling of Greatness. I was always curious and wondered exactly what does that really mean? Moe explained it as knowing that he was going to hit it well before he actually hit it. His feelings, as with all feelings, were internal and emotional.

Then I spent years finding various ways to feel like Moe. I modeled and practice Moe’s movements. I copied him on video. I stood next to him and even crawled between his legs when he hit balls. I did everything I could to get INSIGHT into his movements with one goal in mind – to feel his swing.

What does it feel like to swing like Moe Norman?

Yet we all experience feelings every time we play golf and go to the range. We feel the club, the movement of our body and the contact with the ball. This is the kinesthetic “feelings” we get. However, research shows that feelings are more than just kinesthetic. Feelings are actually multi-sensory. This means that what we see and hear affects how we feel too.

To give you an example, years ago a group of professional golfers were asked to test beryllium copper irons against stainless steel. The beryllium copper (BeCu) irons made a much deeper sound, almost a thud, when struck where the stainless irons were louder. The professionals confirmed that the beryllium irons felt softer and the stainless felt harder. Then the club-heads were painted black where the professionals could not differentiate between the two clubs. The professionals were still able to differentiate the BeCu irons form the stainless – still convinced that they were “softer” when struck.

Then the researchers made the professionals wear ear-plugs. With the unpaired clubs, the professionals still confirmed that the BeCu irons were softer. Then to everyone’s surprise while wearing ear plugs and with the clubs painted black, the professionals could not differentiate between the BeCu Irons and the Stainless Steel.

What this research shows are that Feel is subjective to sight and sound as much as the kinesthetic sensations of the body. My research shows that when it comes to Swinging like Moe you must use ALL of your senses to Feel like Moe.

As a matter of fact, this is exactly why we have so much success at our schools. When you come to one of the GGA schools there are keys that helps students improve in a very short period of time. One of these keys is that we simply help the student “Feel” something new.

The schools give the student a new “experience” of the single plane swing. There are countless times where students will say “that was worth the price of admission“ when I show them were to place the trail hand or show them the backswing. Why? Because I am not showing them. I am helping them experience.

Experiencing the swing is the KEY to learning the it. Experiencing is Feeling because it incorporates all of your senses – which is why instruction is so valuable and important.

Our latest product “Inside the Single Plane Swing” utilizes multiple approaches to help you Feel the Single plane swing. These approaches include:

New overhead camera angels to give you new perspectives – enhancing your visual feedback
Point of View perspectives, that stand you inside the golf swing to see it happening.
Focus points that help you direct your attention to WHERE and WHEN you should feel your body

In addition to the new perspectives and sensations, Inside the Single Plane Swing includes a Pocket Guide that will help you take these instructions to the range and help you focus your attention on the key areas so you can practice correctly and most importantly – Feel the correct swing while you practice.

The Pocket Guide is our way of helping you take a coach to the range with you.

The pocket guide gives you the experience of a Single Plane coach standing with you on the range while you practice.

I believe this product will be revolutionary in the way it teaches you how to practice, experience and ultimately feel your swing.

Student Testimonial

April 28, 2017 by admin

HI,

I have been using Moe’s single plane swing technique to allow me to play golf again.

I had my first spinal fusion in 1980. Before that I played using the rotary swing technique. My surgeon asked me after the surgery if I played golf? I replied, ‘yes’. He replied ‘No yo don’t, now that you have the lumbar fusion’. I had to wait a year before trying to swing a club. My use of the rotary swing style was impossible with my spinal fusion. No lower rotation since my lumbar was now fused. Sprayed the ball every where. So in 1981, I gave golf up.

I had some success from the surgery but in later years started having more issues with pain. In mid 2005, I started getting epidurals to stop or relief of the pain. I asked my new surgeon if the removal of the surgical knot rods could be removed? His reply was that we do not do the surgery. After that I had to have a cage put in at the thoracic L3-L4 along with a plate and screws. THat relieved some of the pain. My step-daughter who is a charge nurse gave me a reference to a surgeon in LIbertyville, Il, Dr Jonathan Citow. I made an appointment and took all my images along with records. My pain was intensifying. Dr. Citow reviewed my records and images along with a physical, he then stated; ‘You need the hardware to be taken out to lessen the pain. Scheduled the surgery and he removed the knot rods at lumbar, screws & plate at thoracic. The cage had to remain because it was fused already.

After all this, I came across a article about Moe Norman and the single plane swing. I started to review all the videos I could find. I found your videos & DVD. Purchased; ‘Single Plane Solution’, ‘Flexibility & exercises’, ‘The Moe Norman Notebook’. After viewing the DVD’s I tried a swing that I modified for my restricted spine.

I took a few of my wife’s clubs (too short) but was able to hit balls. So I purchased a set of irons and continued my training. I purchased a Cobra driver that I felt comfortable to swing. Added a few Hybrids to help me along the course. Repeating my exorcise and swing techniques with a modified single plane swing using my big muscles the best I can. I now play a fair game and surprise my fellow golfers with my repeatability. Sure my distance is not as far as when using a rotary but I am now 39 years older at 69.

I am having fun again swinging a club on the course. People still asked me why I do not follow through to the end top of my swing. This is limited by the fusion lower and thoracic. My swing allows me to comfortably swing. MY grip technique helps me. I do not overlap but I have found my grip. I just need to keep my body steady with a good stance during my swing using the upper big muscle without allowing the fusions to interfere. I know the length of my swing and restrict myself to those limits, if I do not then my swing is not complete but erratic. And I do feel the pain from a poor swing.

Sorry about the long story, left out some details that would have elongated the story.

Just a thank you to all members of the Graves academy for your videos & notebooks that have opened my experiences with a little modification to the technique to suit my physical limitations.

I have decided to try the new King Cobra One Length irons. I feel the set will improve my repeatability and hopefully my distance will equalize for each club as compared to my varied length ‘Ideas’. MY swing speed is rhythmic with slow back and pause at the top with the top of my end swing at 3/4 because of the fusion (mostly due to the thoracic).

Again, Thank you very much for continuing Moe’s proven technique for a single plane swing.

Regards,

Gary S.

Gary,

Thank you so much for your email about your success with the SPS. You are the reason that we (GGA) continue to innovate and spread our message to golfers around the world. It is great to hear that even though you have had some pretty serious back surgeries, you continue to play and love the game. That, in itself, makes my day.

Keep having fun and swinging like Moe!

Todd

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