11-20-15 portions of Book II by Dan Norwood : Joe Norwood Golf Swing Book 2 excerpts

11-20-15 portions of Book II by Dan Norwood

by Daniel Norwood on 11/20/15

04/27/12 Dad told me today the reason why Gramps wanted to have a singular method of teaching is due to Walter Hagen and Harry Vardon were working with Joe Norwood in early 1900’s. Vardon and Hagen wanted Norwood to find and adopt a golf swing based teachings of the Scottish and English teaching Professionals. This would have taken place around 1910 through 1915. Walter Hagen and Harry Vardon both felt that Joe Norwood was the one to bring to the golfing community a golf swing that could be simple and repeatable. 

excerpt from Book II

Joe Played golf with many of the famous early golfers – Francis Quimet and Walter Travis to start with. 

It was in 1913 that Joe met and played with the still famous Walter J. Travis.  Oe’s all time favorite professional was Walter Hagen. Hagen had every shot in the bag according to Joe and the Haig would walk into the locker room and ask those present “Who would becoming in second in the tournament.” 

In the early part of his career he worked for the Wright & Ditson Company. He serviced about ninety pros, and in those days he hefted clubs by hand in order to assemble a matched set. He has huge hands and to this day has the touch and feel of a fine surgeon. He has a correspondingly advanced knowledge of the anatomy as it relates to golf. He is more privileged to teach knowing anatomy as he does. 

To paraphrase Joe when he relates what one old time pro way back in 1911 said to him in trying to teach him how to teach. “ Tell them anything, the won’t know the difference. When you finish your three weeks with me you will be the first pro to teach the pros how to teach.” There seems to be a vast number of convenient phrases that seem to fit a great number of errors, valid or not, still in use today. 

Golf is still taught as it was before Joe was born. His greatest desire is to see the PGA adopt a uniform method of teaching instead of the individual theories confusing the public. 

In a matter of minutes Joe never fails to get an exciting response out of a student. “Mr. Magic” ... every few minutes someone is getting a thrill from a new sensation. “When you come to Joe, just bring your arms and legs, leave your body at home” is a standard instruction to one and all.

He is prone to say, “Take the mystery out of the swing, keep it simple.” He subtracts from what the pupil brings to him and of course starts by reducing the greatest error first. 

Joe has several patents on some really great mechanical aids that give one an immediate feel of what takes place in the action of the swing. One in particular is fifty years old. He is the proverbial bottomless well. There seems to be no end of information he has about what goes into the golf swing or how a shot should be made. He is just as alert today regarding new ideas about golf as he ever was, and he is still searching. 

He permits no one the luxury of indulging in negativity, and he believes in self –confidence, but he feels you had better have a good golf swing and not rely too much on confidence. No one dares to say “can’t.” He scolds them and tells them to say, I took it out of use” instead. 

He gives you the mechanics to work with. He wishes he could rent out his feelings or put them in pill form. He is apt to chide someone with the observation, “ If it was so simple to teach I would need a staff of thirty secretaries and an office on Wilshire Boulevard to handle all the customers.” Usually this is directed to a dejected player. 

First and foremost, Joe is giver of himself. He was content to dedicate himself to being a teacher. Money has to be forced upon him when lesson time is over. He never fails to look you over for errors when you are there for a practive session and oftentimes spends a considerable amount of time do so, gratis.

 The arc is a half circle going and coming:

 AND SO IS JOE’S SWING!

 

The tremendous centrifugal force is being generated. The sliding door has none of these good features ---JUST THE OPPOSITE, in fact. 

The arc of the swinging door is constant and there is no change in dimension from the hinge to the leading edge. The golf swing should travel in the same manner. 

Joe’s blueprint for the golf swing has:

1.    A hub

2.    A constant radius

3.    It generates centrifugal force with very little effort

4.    It repeats itself continuously

5.    It is dependable.

 

Unfortunately most golfers break the arc in trying to go to the ball, hitting from the top, swinging around the hips instead of under the hips.

 

Joe’s swing is two half circles and one must come down the same track as the backswing takes going up.

 

Emphasize this thought:

 

In all shots from the drive to the putt, hold the left arm and smack it with the right arm.

 

Snatching the club will only result in wild variations of swing patters and will not lead to building a repeating golf swing.

Unless the parts of the swing are known, it is futile to watch the pros. They simply are too smooth to be able to detect what is happening during the swing. When the parts of the swing are known, errors or departures from good form are easily spotted and the end result can be predicted when a departure is made. It is a case of cause and effect. 

The essential point in learning the Joe Norwood Golf Swing is to be able to hold the parts and discipline oneself to make the moves.

The Seal of the wrist

 

The right hand is an oscillator, and being so can hardly repeat a move with any consistency. The hand is always willing and anxious to get into the act; it’s almost impossible to keep it from doing so. 

The hand becomes triggered like the release of a slingshot.

·       How does one keep the hand from casting, and what delays the hands in shot making?

o   Physically the hand is like a wet noodle compared to the power of the arm. Therefore is it quite obvious that the arm is what should be used to strike the ball.

o   Extension of the arm cannot be furthered by the hand.

§  This is not true. The left arm can be extended with a convex left hand. The extension of the left arm will go from the end of the left wrist to the 1st knuckle of the last finger. This extension to a convex left comes from the seal of the right hand into a concave position. The concave of the right forces the convex of the left.

Casting with the hand will not extend the arm but extending the arm first will delay the hand.

·       The hand shoots out the second the arm stops its extension.

·       The power of the arm is lost when the hand is cast.

·       Full power of the arm is achieved by making a full extension.                              

Most golfers still have one or two inches of extension left at impact, and being robbed of added power and distance that is rightfully theirs, as the added extension requires no additional effort. 

Lack of extension also permits the hands to roll over, causing erratic shots.

(This can only mean wrist flip or wrist break as the hands rolling over (as in pronation) is caused by the forearm rolling the hands. The wrists can only go two ways and these are up and down, right and left, to and frow, the wrist is not three dimensional and is not based to a wheel rather to bone so when the hands roll over they do so with the help of the forearm muscles twisting the hand and wrist around the arm and the elbow does not move) 

The club head never passes the hands in any good shot, nor should the shaft move in any shot. Simply put the hands move the club and prevent the arms from performing to the best which is to hold tight and trigger the piston action in the shoulders. The hands are sealed at the address and must be practiced as they release easily. The shaft moving is when the handle moves away from the protection of the arm. This is called a wrist flip.

·       Active hands will make the shaft move, and the club head will pass the hands, exaggerating any pull already begun by the knees, body, and shoulders.

·       To reduce variations, the shaft must remain still – otherwise the hands will oblige you with a choice among a:

o   Hook

o   Slice

o   Skied Shot

o   And even a whiff.

The arm will produce the action that will result in hitting a ball straight. This is covered in another chapter. 

The right wrist is set down in a very slight move this is down and inward. This elevates the thumb and forefinger, putting the index-finger knuckle higher than the thumb.

The act of setting the wrist down will elevate the toe of the club a fraction, and the inward press of the wrist will hood the club face.

·       This is why your clubs must have the lie adjusted 2.5 to 3 degrees flatter than the standard lie.

Practice the setting down of the right wrist without a club and be sure you don’t lift the thumb and forefinger. The seal of the wrist is made by setting the wrist down. There is a great difference in the way this is done. 

The Seal:

·       Gripping the club with the thumbs down at 11:00 as relative to the shaft.

·       The setting of the right wrist in a concave position, the wrist cocks into the forearm.

·       The final part of the seal happens during the 1st few moves of the backswing and the right hand begins following the right elbow it does a final fold into the right elbow thus creating a perfect concave right wrist and a perfect convex left wrist.

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Welcome to my page dedicated to the 2nd book to be published on the Joe Norwood Golf Swing. Golf-O-Metrics will not be republished in its current form. I will convert it to a PDF file when all the books are sold. The 1st editing of the 2nd book was completed in 2013 and is still a work in progress. The words in black either standard or bold are all from GOM and my Clarifications are in Blue, Brown or Green.  GOM tried to bring forth Joe Norwood's knowledge. Book II is an upgrade and clarification of his swing and knowledge. I hope you'll enjoy and learn