I came across a video clip on Youtube – it is a home movie taken in 1956 at a golf club called Lakeview, with Sammy Snead, Porkie Oliver and Moe Norman hitting shots in an exhibition round.
I have already shown WAX Nation Moe’s swing from the 50’s where he had a conventional Classic Golf Swing action complete with the full hip and leg action with a lifting leading heel, and he’s doing the same in this clip.
I have talked about how, when I began my golf swing research, I had chosen Moe Norman’s swing to study because of how it was always being called the “perfect swing.”
I have of course concluded that, while he could strike a ball nearly perfectly straight time after time, it wasn’t an optimal golf swing.
It is now becoming evident to me that, out of all of the issues that people investigate with regards to swing modelling (ball position, stance, etc.), the grip is most overlooked part of it all.
I have spent years believing simply because he set the standard over a century ago that Harry Vardon’s grip was the correct one to employ.
It doesn’t matter that the swing action most people associate with Moe Norman is the quirky, arm-out half-swing from his later years.
He had a more traditional-looking swing when he made his name in the game of golf, winning 2 Canadian Amateur titles which then earned him a berth at the Masters two years running in the 1950s.
WAX Golf 