Moe Norman

Converting to a Single Plane Swing

April 26, 2014 by admin

For the past 50 years, the popularity of golf has built an industry of golf instructors. Instructors face the challenge of teaching human beings how to hit a golf ball, chip and putt so that others can enjoy the game. Or so they think. Over one million golfers begin playing the game each year and 1.1 million gofers quit playing each year. The game has a tendency to be difficult and those of you who have played for a few years know how a walk in the park can easily become a stroll in hell.

As one of the many instructors who spends my energies helping others play golf (I actually consider myself more of a technical swing teacher than playing teacher, I leave that to my brother) I am often faced with “converting” golfers from a Conventional swing to the Single Plane Swing. So let’s talk about the main aspects of this “Conversion.

1) Major Grip and address position changes.

The most significant change is how you address and establish your starting position. The hands are higher (on plane), the lead hand is neutral, trail hand is stronger, the shoulders (spine) is tilted more, the legs are straight and not bent.

2) On Plane backswing

The club often feels like it goes “inside” or on a flatter plane in the Single Plane swing. This is because you are starting “on Plane’ allowing the club to take its natural path in the backing – with no manipulation in the backswing.

3) Less Shoulder Turn and torque on back

The Single plane swing requires less turn and stress on the torso, shoulders and back than the conventional swing. Minimal hip turn and minimal shoulder turn get the club on plane and leveraged which is all you need to hit a ball long and straight.

4) Impact with flexed lead knee and feet on ground.

A significant aspect of the Single Plane Swing is that the you are returning the club to the same plane that you had at address. There is no need to lift he body at impact. The feet can say on the ground and the lead knee can stay flexed and not straighten as you see in a conventional impact position.

5) Release and follow through with feet on ground and club swings through on plane

This is almost a “result” of a pure Single Plane Swing – the feet can stay on the ground as the club fully releases its power through the ball into the finish. Because the movement of the club is on plane and easier on the body, there is less movement throughout the entire Single Plane Swing.

If you read the above paragraphs, follow the bolded text. Use these reminders as your keys on the driving range to convert your conventional golf swing into a pure Single Plane Swing.

MOCAP Shows Biomechanics of Single Plane Swing

January 14, 2014 by admin

Nothing excites me more than analyzing the golf swing with the amazing technology available today. I recently worked with the studios in Orlando Florida to capture the motion of the Single Plane swing in 3D. I am using this analysis to study the simplicity of the motion and teach people how to make golf easier on their backs and body.

Here are a few of my favorite pics:

MOCAP Pos 2 FO Small copy — Top of Backswing

Motion capture analysis is 3 Dimensional whereby the suit I am wearing has various markers placed in triangular planes around the body. Cameras around the room (all dimensions) capture the movement of the points as they move through space. By studying the movement of the plane you can see the movement of the area of the body as it relates to other parts of the body. Amazing Stuff!

The next step is two put skin and bones onto the 3D model. Once the model is animated, we will be able to go inside the body with a camera to see how everything is working. Stay Tuned!

The Best Training I’ve Ever Seen

December 6, 2013 by admin

At a recent 3 Day Premier school in Palm Springs, I experienced a truly amazing transformation of a group of golfers. It was awe inspiring to watch, and as an instructor, very, very exciting to see. Permit me to elaborate.

It was on the 2nd morning of our 3-day school, and the group of students were warming up that morning by practicing our PVC drill. Our group of instructors, 5 of us in all, we walking the tee line, helping each golfer individually. After a few minutes of observation of not only the individuals, but the group in general, we noticed that the majority of the students were doing the drill incorrectly.

Now, if you’ve followed our instruction, you know our firm belief that if a drill isn’t done correctly, it’s doing more harm than good. In fact, practicing incorrectly can be fatal to your game.

We decided to stop the entire group, and circled everyone up. We reviewed each position of the PVC drill, reminded the group of valuable checkpoints at each position, had the group demonstrate correct positioning, and sent them back to the line to “try again”.

What transpired over the next 20 minutes was the best training session I have ever seen. I saw a group of golfers who were intensely focused on each position. These golfers were moving to a position, checking it, and if the position was not correct, they fixed it immediately. It was a truly magical moment to behold. That group improved their swings in that 20-minute session, which is what the schools are all about.

It’s training, and I mean truly training, that makes the golf school experience superior to any other form of instruction out there.

At each and every GGA school program, from the 5 day Build Your Game Camp to the 1-day Single Plane Experience, our focus as an instruction company is helping you learn to train. The fundamentals of the swing, putting, and the wedge game are simple, it’s learning how to train each of those areas – correctly – that make the golf school experience last.

If you are ready to experience exactly what your perfect golf swing feels like, then I encourage you to get to attend a GGA school sooner rather than later. If you are like most of our students, you’ve spent enough time guessing and being frustrated. It’s time to experience it, learn it, and train it under the supervision of a trained eye.

To find a school, CLICK HERE , and we look forward to helping you discover what true golf swing training really is.

Hit em’ straight!

Scott

Thank You Conventional Golf

August 31, 2013 by admin

What do I say to all of the teachers of conventional methods, and any golf instructor NOT teaching the Single Plane Swing?

I would say – thank you. Thank you for the job security.

Your job is difficult because not matter what you do, you are at a disadvantage teaching a method that no matter what you do will be difficult for the average golfer to achieve. The conventional, arms hanging below the shoulders address position makes your job almost impossible.

You are also at a disadvantage because the amount of practice it takes to become skilled enough to achieve consistent swings to impact from the conventional address position takes extraordinary amounts of practice, timing and this still doesn’t guarantee success.

Golf is a difficult game – the goal should be to make it easier not more difficult.

The unfortunate part of this conversation is that you, the conventional student is the one who suffers. I see it every day – golfers who are frustrated because of disadvantaged mechanics. They blame the instructors but it’s not really their fault. I Their instruction isn’t necessarily bad – just almost impossible for the average golfer to achieve.

Let me say first of all that, contrary to what many believe, the golf swing is NOT rocket science, even if it seems extremely difficult for many of you. It has become so difficult because you are at a fundamental disadvantage – which can easily be corrected. Here are some of the conventional to Single Plane adjustments that can transform your conventional swing into an easier Single Plane Swing.

1) Move away from the ball and align the club with the arms – on the Single Plane.

This is the foundation of simplifying your swing because it sets the club on the same plane that you impact. It establishes a straight line to impact as opposed to starting on one plane and impacting on another.

2) Tilt your spine away from the target so you trail shoulder (right if you are right handed is lower than the left)

By lowering the trail shoulder, your hands can lead into impact, eliminating the over the top and release early. The Tilt of the spine gets the lower body moving first in the downswing allowing the hands to lead into impact to compress the ball.

3) Rotate the hips but keep the feet on the ground.

Because you are on a Single Plane, you are now able to keep the spine in the same tilt from address, to backswing to impact. You no longer need to lift your body into impact as required in the conventional golf swing. By keeping the spine in the original “tilt” your feet will stay on the ground as you rotate your hips in the backswing and downswing.

Here are a couple of my keys to great Single Plane ball-striking:

1) Build an A-frame out of the legs at address.

2) Brace around the trail leg in the backswing (do not let the knee move)

3) Rotate the hips into the downswing into a flexed lead knee

4) Keep the feet on the ground into impact

One of the “secrets” to the simplicity of the Single Plane Golf swing is how the back (spine) is being moved during the golf swing. The hips control the spine so as you rotate the hips in the backswing around a stable trail knee and then into a flexed lead knee, your spine moves forward but stays in the same tilt from start to release. I consider this “posture” where the spine tilt maintains throughout the swing.

By maintaining “posture” the shoulders also stay on plane where the trail shoulders position (lower than the lead shoulder) can get the hands leading to the left side of the body into impact.

As difficult as it is to describe the golf swing mechanics with words, you can understand that the goal of a golf swing is to achieve a perfect impact position. Therefore, simplifying your movement from address to impact is should be where you spend your time.

If you have learned a conventional method of golf instruction, consider this an invitation to help you simplify your movement and make golf easier. If you haven’t tried the Single Plane swing – give it a try. You might wonder why you haven’t tried it sooner and you might even say what many of our students say – “It just can be this easy”.

It’s Not Just Me

July 19, 2013 by admin

What if I told you that one of the best “conventional” golf teachers in the world today said this: “Modern golf instruction has a long way to go”, “Moe Norman had as perfect mechanics as any person who has ever played and more players, even tour players, should swing like him”. Does this catch your attention?

When I say that Moe’s swing is easier, has less moving parts and all golfers can learn from him, my perspective is biased. I believe everyone should swing like Moe. But then again, I am “Little Moe” and why would I say anything other than Moe’s single plane, the way I play, is the best way? However, when Jim Suttie, a top 100 instructor who might be the only PGA Professional instructor with a PHD in Biomechanics says it, I think it’s time for all golfers, of all levels, to listen.

I recently had the pleasure of spending the day with Jim Suttie, who everyone calls “Doc”. Doc has forgotten more about golf than I have ever learned. He’s been teaching for almost 40 years and coached some great players including Paul Azinger, Fred Funk, Mike Small, Chip Beck, Kevin Streeleman, Jeff Sluman and dozens of other players have taken instruction from Doc.

It is no surprise that Doc and Moe were good friends. Every winter as Moe migrated south to Florida, he would travel through Pine Needles, and stop by the academy where Doc would watch him hit balls. As Doc put it, “there was nothing more fun than to just sit back and watch, Moe was a great showman”. In 1992, Doc shot a video with Moe hitting and answering questions about his swing. In one part of the video, Doc tells Moe that he swings on a Single Plane. I would credit Doc for recognizing Moe’s Single Plane setup before any other teacher. With his background in Biomechanics this makes sense – Doc has a great sense of the mechanics of the golf swing – even with Moe who was considered awkward and unconventional.

I find it more than a coincidence that Moe was awkward and unconventional yet is considered biomechancally perfect by a Doctor of Biomechanics.

So where does this leave you – the aspiring golfer who is sifting for and easier way to get better at golf? There is no doubt that golf instruction, in its current state is confusing. Even Doc thinks so. He will agree that most people are watching television – learning the “swing of the week” from the latest PGA Tour winner. “The answers aren’t out there. Moe was the closest to perfection of anyone I have ever seen” says Doc. He would agree that many people don’t want to look different but to get Moe like results, you need to take the unconventional leap. Here are some of the main differences between conventional golf and Moe’s Single Plane Swing:

Conventional golf teaches a narrow stance with rotation/Single Plane Golf teaches wide stance with less rotation

Conventional golf teaches an upper body speed with a rotational lower body/Single Plane Golf is upper body speed with a stable lower body.

Conventional golf teaches a straight lead leg at impact causing stress on the back/Single Plane Golf Teaches a flexed lead leg taking stress off of the back

Of course, the key is what Doc refers to as the biomechanics of getting to impact – the most important part of the swing. Doc says that the key to future instruction must be about getting to impact, and finding the easiest way to get there. This is the key to great ball striking. And by the results that Moe produced, it is evident to one of the best teachers in the world that Moe was the best.

Improve Your Move – Its Like Dominos

January 6, 2013 by admin

Improving Your Move

Are you a consistent ball-striker when you play golf? Or, like so many golfers, do you have back problems? Do you slice the ball regularly? Do you sometimes hit the ground behind the ball – hitting it fat? Are there times when you hit the top of the ball hitting it thin? I bet you didn’t you know that improving the movement of your hips and legs (lower body) could fix any and all of these problems.

Here is a picture of Moe Norman at Impact. What I want you to notice is that his lower body has moved both downward and laterally toward the target. You can see the flex in his knees. There is one extremely important understanding that I want you and all golfers to know: how you move your lower body (from the hips down) affects your spine movement – and spine movement is absolutely central to every single movement of your body.

I want you to think of the movement of the body during the swing as similar to dominos stacked into a line. Once you put the first domino in motion, there is a chain reaction. This chain reaction of one domino affecting the next one in line is similar to what happens when you begin the movement of your lower body during the swing. Once you move your legs and hips, you position the lower spine which then affects how you are able to move every other part of your body including your shoulders, arms, hands and ultimately – the club.

There is a critical connection between your lower and upper body

In this anatomical picture, you can see the hip flexors (muscles attached inside the hip joint) attach to the inside of the leg bone (femur) and the attach on the inside of the pelvis. If you look closely at the pelvis, you can see that the lower spine is attached to the pelvis in the Sacrum area.

The muscles that are attached to the pelvis attach to the legs and the spine. This is a critical juncture of your body – what I call the kinetic link. You can see by the numerous muscles and attachments that if you improperly move the muscles of the legs and hips, you directly affect the spine.

This critical connection between lower body and upper body – centered around the hips – is the focus of our latest instructional product – the “Improve your Move” (IYM) Training Video.

Groundbreaking Instruction

If you want to hit the ball better you must move the golf club better and faster, what we consider on-plane. Improving your lower body move gets to the causes of your golf swing problems which makes our latest product the GGA “Improve Your Move” video instructionally ground-breaking. I haven’t been this excited about an instructional product since the best-selling Single Plane Solution Video. Why? Because this video is more than just golf instruction, explaining the mechanics of what to do.

This video shows you how to train the movements you must have during the golf swing. The IYM video trains you, making it a “doing” video.

Good instructional videos show you the important mechanical movements of the swing, the IYM video goes beyond the mechanics, and shows you exactly how to train the movement behind the mechanics. Similar to difference between understanding how the pieces of a motor works, and being the motor, the IYM video demonstrates that you are the motor of your golf swing and now you can start fine tuning yourself for perfect movement.

Here are some of the areas covered inside the IYM Training video:

Specific exercises to help you gain the strength and flexibility of your lower body including: the Knee Roll, Advanced Hip Roll, Squat Stretch, Chair Twists, Leg Swings, Forward Leg Raises, Side Leg Raises/Side Leg Swings, Arm Circles, Arm Swings and the Side Step exercise.

Also included are golf training exercise including: Single Plane Training and Position and Movement training using the PVC Stretch Drill, Weight Shift Drill and Elbow to Hip Drill.

To enhance your golf position training you will also learn to train with the PVC positions including Positions 0-2, Position 0 to 3 and Position 0 to 4 drills. You will also train with a golf club mastering your backswing with posture training. And to master what Moe called his “vertical drop” we have designed the “bag in the chair” drill to help you train the movement of the lower body to get the trail hip forward allowing the arms to drop vertically.

Then, to help you understand how the legs move you laterally, you will learn the “Step Swing to Impact” drill which will Train you how to move into your lead side. All of these drills will help you reach the purpose of the IYM video – which is to separate the upper body from the lower body.

I firmly believe that there is no better training to help you become a better ball-striker (get to impact) than mastering your lower body move. Yes, the grip, hand action and arm motion are very important but nothing will advance you further than if you Improve Your Move with the lower body training found in this video.

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