Just watched SD 1.0 for the second time. Brian is right (obviously): Nicklaus' swing IS the soft draw, except Jack plays the ball far up in his stance and swings slightly more left. His 'final point' is not at the target; other than that, it looks so much like the pattern Brian is teaching - takeaway, backswing, toss, finish.
Soft Draw Summary and Review (and NICKLAUS' Swing) - by Jack
- Thread starter fronesis
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Simple effective swing for the ages - other than the double shift it doesn't get any better than this.
self-mastery
New
What is wrong with a double shift?
Little Brit
New
Haven't seen Youtube from Jack. Really nice. Thanks for posting.
rogerdodger
New
Great swing, unfortunately it was misinterpreted in the 70's. Those of us who tried it typically drove the legs too much. Brian perfectly describes the lower-body movement in this video. I wish I saw it in 1977, when I started playing this crazy game. In my opinion, I think Jack could have given Rocco a run for his money in a playoff for the open too.
birdie_man
New
Cool.
I wonder if Jack tried too hard to keep his head still or if it just happened.
I wonder if Jack tried too hard to keep his head still or if it just happened.
Jack tried very hard, very consciously, to keep his head still. In his Golf My Way video, the 'steady head' was his number one principle. Using today's language I'd say that what Jack really did was get a lot of axis tilt with his first move from the top, and that for this reason it was really important for him to maintain axis tilt and keep his head *behind* the ball (not really 'still').
Little Brit
New
He didn't have any choice
Jack Grout held his hair so if he moved he got a major headache.
self-mastery
New
He didn't have any choice
I've read that Jack Grout never really did that!
Young Jack didn't have that retarded center pivot. Look at my avatar!
Nothing but why complicate things in an already difficult game? IMHO the less plane shifts the better.
Little Brit
New
In his book (although written by Ken Bowden) Revised edition.
he says that "when nothing else would work he had his assistant Larry Glosser, stand in front of me and grab my hair while I hit shots. My scalp still tinglesat the thought of those sessions. I cried tears of pain many a time, but by the time I was thirteen I had learned to keep my head in one place, not matter how hard I tried to hit the ball"
I would have thought that if it wasn't correct it would have been changed for the revised and updated version. Sounds too descriptive to have been made up to me.
Ok. I have just seen the article saying that Jack Grout says he never did that. I guess we will have to decide for ourselves.
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birdie_man
New
For the thread:
Jim Kobylinski
Super Moderator
Shifts aren't bad if you do them naturally, trying to eliminate shifts is a bad thing if you do it fine already. Pretty much the best players in history all double shifted.
self-mastery
New
For the thread:
I would love to see a young Jack N play golf against Tiger, Phil, and the rest of the brat pack.
Throw in Sammy!
His Perception
From the Golf My Way book
*The reasons the head must stay steady are so obvious to me that I feel a little foolish enumerating them.
1. The head, or at least the neck or the top of the spine, is the fulcrum or hub or axis of the swing.
2. Any shifting of the head, at any point from address to impact, will alter the arc and plane of the swing.
3. Movement of the head changes the line of vision…very difficult to hit any object you are not looking at
4. As the heaviest part of the body, relative to size, the head has a strong influence on balance
*If you can improve your body pivot going back, there is a good chance that that will automatically take care of your head movement.
*I have been talking about a steady head, not a stiff or rigid one
*Let the head swivel and rise only when the natural momentum of the through-swing forces it to do so.
*Many tour professionals swivel the chin away from the target on the backswing but seldom do they shift it sideway or upward. The sheer momentum of his downswing often cause the good golfer’s head to move slightly backward, and sometimes a little downward through impact and beyond. Such movements are tolerable, so long as they are slight enough to allow the neck or top of the spine to continue to serve as a fixed swing axis.
Of course he had help with the book from Ken Bowden
For the thread:
From the Golf My Way book
*The reasons the head must stay steady are so obvious to me that I feel a little foolish enumerating them.
1. The head, or at least the neck or the top of the spine, is the fulcrum or hub or axis of the swing.
2. Any shifting of the head, at any point from address to impact, will alter the arc and plane of the swing.
3. Movement of the head changes the line of vision…very difficult to hit any object you are not looking at
4. As the heaviest part of the body, relative to size, the head has a strong influence on balance
*If you can improve your body pivot going back, there is a good chance that that will automatically take care of your head movement.
*I have been talking about a steady head, not a stiff or rigid one
*Let the head swivel and rise only when the natural momentum of the through-swing forces it to do so.
*Many tour professionals swivel the chin away from the target on the backswing but seldom do they shift it sideway or upward. The sheer momentum of his downswing often cause the good golfer’s head to move slightly backward, and sometimes a little downward through impact and beyond. Such movements are tolerable, so long as they are slight enough to allow the neck or top of the spine to continue to serve as a fixed swing axis.
Of course he had help with the book from Ken Bowden
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birdie_man
New
Ya I know he kept it still. (as in that little sequence) But with long clubs......at least it is still and BACK.
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