the set-up, Moe vs the Pros

I have been very interested in the recent Moe Norman threads and have always been intrigued with his fantastic ball-striking ability.

After studying his technique, one of the very intereting parts is his set up. His arms and the shaft of the club set-up in a straight line, whilst other swings (Pros and amateurs) tend to allow the hands to drop (say 6 -12 inches from the body) and the shaft then to point at the ball.....this effectively provides for two planes!

I have practised the set-up and swings for a couple of weeks and have noticed the ball-position tends to be 3 - 4 inches further away. However, when swinging, I have probably enjoyed consistently better contact, certainly with less "fatting" and no slicing.

I played 9 holes comp. yesterday and used the technique. I was again pleasantly surprised and had a very good round.

Any thoughts?

Moe swung on a single plane, his arms were outstretched and he held the club through the palms of his hands.

The beauty of his swing was the simplicity of it's path, he returned to the same position at impact as he held at address.

Moe executed the 3SKs perfectly.

Simple arc

downward blow

rotation of the arms


Perfect and simple.

Ian.

Absolutely Ian.

I am so skeptical about this Moe Norman stuff. Does any successful pro use the Norman swing? I think pros will try anything if they think it will give them an edge. Has any successful pro used the swing? I mean the way it is talked about you would expect someone prominent to be using it. What are the drawbacks to the approach?

hi Jambalaya
no top golfer has used Moe' system but that don't mean it don't work. no top pro has used the Mindy Blake system or the Lee Trevino system. most top golfers are coached and taken from teen level through school and if they used the Moe system then there coaches would have then change to there way of golfing.
you will find many people playing happily using the Moe system and clubs all over but i think more in Canada. why are there no top pros playing the Moe way, it one thing COACHING.
cheers
bill

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Moe was the founder of what could be called the one plane swing. The basis of this swing has been incorporated by many now. A more one plane type swing has become the more defacto swing in many if not most top players, they may not swing identical to Moe but adopt the basics.

IMO for the average Joe's like us the more rounded one plane swing is simpler and has less to go wrong so would bring definite benefits to the many.

I only buy that to a certain point. It still doesn't explain why it is not more widely used. Golfers are nuts. They will try anything. There has to be something more fundemental to the approach itself holding it back. One thing that comes to mind for me is that the approach seems to necessarily produce a more shallow swing, more of a sweeping action. Maybe you can't get spin with the swing. Maybe it is harder to work the ball. Gotta be something.

hi Jambalaya
Trevino and Moe are claimed to be the two best strikers of a ball ever in golf and if you take Trevino as an example, he was in the top 3 golfers of his time and he had the likes of Watson, Nicklaus, Player. Palmer. all winning at the same time he was playing. but you don't see anyone copying Trevino, he has a system and it works and i use it and have used his system of and on since 1978 and still using it today. but the pros all have trainers and coaches and every part of there swing is Annalise and tweaked, both Trevino and Moe did not have trainers or coaches and like Trevino said, "If someone can beat me at golf then i listen to him but i have not met at coach that can beat me?"
if you look at Jim Furyk it was his dad that coached him and still does and when he got on tour he got a coach and he tried to change his swing but his game went to hell and he went back to his old swing and his dad coaching him.
no top golf coach wants you to play like Moe or Trevino, not because it not sound but because they cant coach and tweak your swing the same as the can in the leadbetter type system, all coaching schools teach the Leadbetter system or something very like it and the the same with the American college system, that's why so many players swing the same now and look the same.
you wont see a Moe or Trevino or even a Seve balesteros again.
cheers
bill

__________________
ping zing2 metal driver
ping zing2 metal 3 wood
ping eye2 1 iron
ping zing2 3/9 irons
ping ist 47% wedge
ping zing2 52% s/wedge
ping mb 56% wedge
ping c10 G2I broom handled putter
top flight "T" golf balls
white ping bag

Tiger said that only two golfers in history had designed their own swing and that was Ben Hogan and Moe Norman, he went on to say that he wanted to do the same. Wonder if he will?

hi Brian
maybe Tiger never watched Trevino and his own way of golfing.

bill

On today's pro tours ... distance is missing in Moe's swing. He could get it out there about 250yds, which is very short for the PGA tour today. However, he could almost also hit the first ball with the second. So he traded off distance in favour of accuracy.

Old saying from Lee. You play with what you brung. If you slice a bit of the first tee go with it all day.

One other odd swing Eamonn Darcy, very good in his day. Quite orthodox !!

What went before all seem to meet at the right place at impact. It’s an odd game this golf.

Anyone interested in learning more about Moe and his swing this site is worth a read.

http://www.moenorman.com/instruction.htm

Does Moe's straight-armed set up with the ball positioned 3 - 4 inches further away allow a more consistent swing?
Could this be because the club has less chance to go over the top or too far inside because arms are already fully extended and can really only travel on one plane?
Thoughts!