Moe Norman’s: Swing Secretsmembers.singleplaneacademy.com/downloads/SPG-Magazine... · 2017. 10. 21. · Single Plane Golfer does not accept unsolicited submissions. BUSINESS Publisher

Never-before-released vintage video shows legendary golf genius Moe Norman teaching his closely-guarded secrets to owning the

picture perfect swing he called “The Feeling of Greatness”

Moe Norman’s: Swing Secrets FROM A LEGEND

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The never-before-released video: Todd’s Practice Notes!

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SPG Volume 1, Number 4 // 2014

EDITORIAL

Editor // Tim O’Connor

Instruction Editor // Todd Graves

Art Director // Kari O’Neill

Contributing Writers // Tim Graves, Scott Renfrow, Dr. Ronald Cruickshank

Contributing Photographers // Dave Prentice, Wendy Stubbs, Dale Stroud

Website // www.moenormangolf.com

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GGA Hall of Fame Spotlight

10 GGA Schools—Shining a little light on the coaches who inspire breakthroughs.

18 Follow the secrets of our over-achieving best and take your game to the next level.

25 Alaska’s Bill Arnold enjoys sizzling breakout season. By Tim O’Connor

Instruction

12 The PCP Principle of the Short Game. By Tim Graves.

14 The Seven Principles: Don’t rust this winter—become a good putter. By Tim Graves.

28 Smashing! How to grip it, rip it, belt, bomb, pipe and pummel your driver. By Todd Graves

34 Move that lead knee so your swing sings. By Scott Renfrew

Columns

6 Todd Graves // What makes a hall of fame student?

8 Tim O’Connor // Tales of transformation. I believe! I believe!

Feature

36 The Single Plane Swing is the Future of Golf in China.

Departments

18 GGA Equipment—GGA Grips: So good you’ll think you’re cheating. By Todd Graves

32 GGA Clubfi tting—Proper shaft fl ex your best chance for great golf.

38 Memories of Moe—Moe fi nds his voice, and the guts to use it. By Tim O’Connor

CONTENTS

Cover photography: Dave PrenticeCover design: Kari O’Neill

THE SINGLE PLANE GOLF SWING

Play Better Golf the Moe Norman Wayby Todd Graves with Tim O’Connor

Pre-Order Today

The two greatest ball-strikers I have ever seen are Moe Norman and Todd Graves. This book is your

opportunity to learn Moe Norman’s Single Plane Golf Swing from its greatest living practitioner and teacher.

- Rick Carlisle (Head Coach, Dallas Mavericks)

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(Over 200 pages of instruction)

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FOR MOST GOLFERS, BECOMING A BETTER BALL-STRIKER, lowering your handicap by 10 strokes and shooting career scores is just a dream.

But there are golfers who achieve their dreams. I am extremely proud and humbled when our students achieve signifi cant breakthroughs, and we honor them by placing them in the Graves Golf Academy Hall of Fame.

In this issue, we are celebrating their successes so that you can learn from them and realize your own ambitions. I believe that in life, the journey is more important than the destination—that the lessons learned along the way by these students are profound and life changing.

These tenacious players all have unique attributes, but I also believe they share three key ingredients of transfor-mation:

A willingness to change and try something newIt would be easy to assume that former touring profession-al Jerilyn Britz—winner of the two LPGA Tour events, including the 1970 US Women’s Open—would be hesitant to change her swing, especially at the age of 70. But Jer-ilyn was open to change and she thoroughly understood the process. This willingness and openness enabled her to learn how to reliably swing on plane, enjoy the game again and overcome decades of frustration.

To learn new skills, you must practiceWhen I met Moe Norman after watching him hit balls for the fi rst time, I asked him “How did you learn to do that?

His response was immediate. “Hard work. You can’t buy it.”

Moe knew that practice is the investment you must make to build a skill. There are no secrets. Chris Ander-son, Matt Ross and Steve Clay put enormous time and effort into practice. Their work ethic has made them hall-of-famers.

Train smart when you practiceOne of the greatest gifts that Moe gave to us was a model of golf swing perfection. Mike Wilson, Robb Murphy and Pat Sweeny followed Moe’s model. They trained correctly using GGA Drills and spent their practice time wisely. All three transformed their games.

Practicing wisely includes using video for feedback, per-forming drills and practicing at home or the offi ce where you can focus on ideal movement rather than just bashing range balls. This approach to practice adheres closely to the core prin-ciples of deep practice outlined by Dan Coyle in his book The Talent Code, which we highly recommend.

I believe that golf provides an opportunity to help us to learn more about ourselves and to make breakthroughs to being who we truly are—both on and off the course. I am honored to have helped my students who are open and willing to work hard to become their best selves. They are hall-of-fame worthy. What about you?

Todd [email protected]

6SPG November Issue // singleplanegolfer.com

SPG VOICES TODD GRAVES Graves Golf Academy

Co-founder

What makes a hall of fame student?


ASK ANY PERSON WHO QUIT SMOKING OR DRINKING. Nothing changes until you believe 100 percent in making the change. That includes changing a golf game.

While I believe with certainty the Single Plane Swing is the best swing for most amateurs, I had

gotten to a 6.5 index with the conventional swing. (I’ve been writing about golf and hanging with golf pros for about 25 years.) I switched to the Single Plane Swing in January 2014 to learn more about it as editor of Single Plane Golfer and so I could speak credibly as co-author with Todd of The Single Plane Golf Swing: Play Better Golf the Moe Norman Way, to be released in February 2015.

However, I still harbored a core belief that Moe’s swing mainly benefi ted older golfers with increasingly infl exible bodies and frustrated people who adopted the swing as a last resort.

Well, working on this issue, which focuses on GGA Hall of Fame Students, has led me from darkness to light. Their stories of transformation with the Single Plane Swing are inspirational.

Jerilyn Britz is not just a former LPGA Tour player, she’s the 1979 U.S. Women’s Open champion. Robb Murphy went from a 4 to 0 handicap. This past summer, Bill Ar-nold won the Alaska senior amateur title and senior state match play championship.

Matthew Ross was a PGA of Canada teaching pro-fessional who carried a plus 4 handicap and loved to compete. But under tournament pressure, he was prone to derailing snap hooks. “It was to the point I thought of

walking away from the game,” recalled Ross, 33, who grew up about an hour from Moe’s hometown of Kitchener in southwestern Ontario.

As a fan of Moe, he decided to try his swing. Ross began his odyssey at a GGA camp in 2009 and quickly grasped the brilliance of using Moe as a model.

“Moe perfected how to hit a golf ball, and Todd (Graves) perfected teaching you how to build your swing to mirror Moe so there is no way you can hit the ball poorly. With the conventional swing, there are lots of different theories about how to swing. But with Moe’s way, you’re either doing it right or wrong. It’s easy to identify problems and fi x them,” said Ross, a reinstated amateur and insurance executive. (He tired of the golf business.)

Ross plays once a week now and carries a plus 1.3 index. He has shot 29 twice—which he’d never done—and 30. As an amateur, he’s won two pro mini-tour events with respective scores of 66 and 69. He’s had fi ve rounds where he hit every green in regulation.

“When I switched over to the Single Plane Swing, I wanted to hit the ball better with less practice, and that is exactly what I got.”

Matt Ross is a believer. So am I.

Tim O’[email protected]

SPG VOICESTIM O’CONNOR

Single Plane Golfer Editor

Tales of transformation:I believe! I believe!

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GGA COACHES DO NOT TAKE CREDIT FOR THE SUC-CESS OF THEIR HALL OF FAME students such as Steve Clay, who went from a 20 handicap to a 6.

GGA coaches taught Steve the Single Plane Swing and the short game, but Steve did the work, putting in the time and practicing smart to achieve his break-through.

Steve says GGA coaches have consistently gone the extra mile over the 14 years he’s been working with them. “What I have truly loved most is that all of the

Graves Golf Academy coaches are great people who re-ally care that all their students get better,” said Steve, who lives in Akron, Ohio.

In this issue, we’ve highlighted some GGA Hall of Fame students, so we figured we’d introduce you to the coaches who’ve helped them. You’ll meet these coaches when you attend a GGA school, watch GGA webinars, read articles in SPG or receive their advice via the GGA Online Academy.

Todd is passionate about Moe Norman and the pursuit of ball-striking perfection. Todd believes the pursuit of a great golf swing is more rewarding than a number on a scorecard. Todd’s greatest thrill is help-ing people master the Single Plane Swing so they can experience the joy of accomplishment and enjoy play-ing golf.

Through his relationship with Moe Norman, Todd became the world’s best-known teacher of Moe’s Sin-gle Plane Swing. A former player on the Canadian and Asian professional golf tours, Todd became known as “Little Moe” for his ability to replicate Moe’s swing.

In 2000, Todd and his brother Tim Graves co-found-ed the Graves Golf Academy, the only golf program dedicated to teaching Moe’s approach to golf. The academy has taught more than 5,000 students at its golf schools across North America.

An expert in the short game and putting, Tim Graves believes all golfers can learn to score within 100 yards. Tim is also an expert in Single Plane club-fitting and ensures the latest advances in technology are passed to our students.

After a sterling amateur golf career, Tim turned professional in 1997 and became a Class A pro-fessional in 2005. Along the way, he’s chalked up a number of significant honors and victories in the South Central PGA Section of Oklahoma, including Teacher of the Year in 2012, winning the Match Play championship and Team championship three times each, and the individual championship. A two-time Dakota Tour champion, Tim was named Oklahoma Player of the Year in 1993, 1996 and 1997, he’s won more than 150 tournaments, and set nine competi-tive course records.

Tim is a contributing author to PGA.com, and is a member of the PGA Council for Growing the Game of Golf.

GGA SCHOOLS SCOTT RENFROW GGA Director

Schools Programs


SHINING A LIGHT ON COACHES WHO INSPIRE BREAKTHROUGHS

Todd Graves // GGA Co-founder Tim Graves // GGA Co-founder

Chandler is an accomplished player who, through his own passion for swing development, has an astute eye for helping GGA students improve their golf swings and realize their potential through proper practice.

Todd and Tim got to know Chandler while he prac-ticed at their Learning Center in Edmond, Oklahoma for high school competitions.

During his college golf career—split between Texas Tech and Wichita State—he enjoyed 15 top-20 finishes in Division I tournaments, and won the Missouri Valley Conference Championship individually in 2014.

Chandler is enrolled in the PGA of America program and he plans on playing as a touring professional in 2015 with the Single Plane Swing.

For more information about GGA School Experiences or to enroll, please call 866.377.2316 (inside the US) or 405.562.9225 (internationally). Visit www.moenormangolf.com/schools or email [email protected].


Chandler Rusk // GGA Instructor

Scott trains and organizes our instructors and ensures our customers’ needs are met. Hav-ing instructed more than 3,000 GGA students, Scott goes the ex-tra mile to motivate our students and help them match our swing model so they can enjoy success.

Scott has walked in the shoes of his students, having trans-formed his game as a student of Todd and Tim’s. He is always excited to see “regular” golfers take their game to levels they never imagined.

Scott Renfrow // GGA Director Schools Programs

Although he was a three-time club champion, Clay became a student of Todd and Tim’s in 2004 and determined the Single Plane Swing was the simplest and most repeatable swing in golf. After a 35-year career with General Motors, he retired in 2005 and completed the PGA of America program in 20 months.

Clay (AKA Captain Video) is GGA’s Online Coach. “My pas-sion is helping students world-wide reach their potential and accomplish their goals of master-ing the Single Plane Swing,” the GGA Master Instructor says.

Clay teaches at GGA schools and provides individual lessons at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Or-lando, home of GGA winter golf schools. Once a month, Clay also teaches a school in The Vil-lages north of Orlando.

Clay Farnsworth // GGA Master Instructor // GGA Online Coach

An avid student in his own right about fitness, biomechan-ics and learning, Trent loves in-spiring our students and helping them improve their games.

As a PGA program intern, Trent attended a GGA school to shadow Tim and Todd. “By the third day, I was complete-ly hooked on the Single Plane Method,” said Trent, who loves passing along his enthusiasm to our students.

A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Trent became a PGA of America Professional in 2012.

Trent White // GGA Master Instructor // GGA Coaching Program Director

Photography: Dale Stroud

SPG INSTRUCTION TIM GRAVES Co-founder

Graves Golf Academy


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GOLFERS WHO ARE SERIOUS ABOUT IMPROVING THEIR GAMES GET IT: The key to scoring is to improve their short game. They know that good players—the pros especially—miss a lot of greens but they still get up and down the majority of time.

So these aspiring amateurs work on their putting, chipping and pitching technique. Even so, most golf-ers still fail to get up and down for par most of the time, and they get frustrated.

The problem is that most golfers don’t know how to select the proper shot for various situations.

Here’s the solution: Follow the PCP Principle of the short game. It is based on years of experience of dealing with the elements of rough and green, know-ing how the ball reacts and rolls, and how to work the percentages in your favor.

When you are trying to determine the shot to hit around the green, fol-low this PCP Principle:

The foundation of the PCP Principle is this simple truth: An average putt will usually finish closer to the hole than a good chip, and an average chip will be closer than a good pitch.

Let’s define the different shots.

The PCP Principle of the SHORT GAME

P – Putt when you canC – Chip when you can’t puttP – Pitch when you have too.

Putt—You may be sur-prised to learn that your putter can be extremely effective off the green when you are on the fairway or in short rough, and from rela-tively far off the green.

Chip – A chip has mini-mal air time and maximum roll. A chip typically flies less than 20 percent of the total distance and rolls more than 80 percent of the way to the hole. Ideal-ly, you want a chip to land just on the green and roll to the cup. Club selection can vary from a 5-iron to a lob wedge. Choose the club that will fly the ball to the edge of the green so it rolls most of the way to the hole.

Pitch – A pitch has max-imum air time and mini-mum roll. A pitch typically flies more than 80 percent of the total distance to the hole and rolls less than 20 percent. A pitch shot is typ-ically hit with your wedges. A pitch can be a a shot that hits and rolls a few feet or a shot that hits and stops quickly (a flop shot).

Now, let’s consider some statistics for the average golfer and how miss-hits affect the outcome of these shots. Factoring in miss-hits helps you to determine the shot to hit. Considering this kind of data gives you a solid foundation in making your choice from the PCP guide.

We all hope we hit perfect shots, but average golfers rarely do. Let’s consider an average golfer—a male who shoots around 95 and a woman who shoots around 105. Statistics show that for a greenside shot about 50 feet from the hole, the average golfer will leave a putt about 10 feet from the hole, a chip about 15 feet from the hole, and pitch about 20 feet away. That could be long, short or wide of the hole. (You can reduce or increase these numbers proportionally depending on your ability.)

Consider, for example, a greenside shot in which the ball is about 20 feet off the green, either in the fairway or in the first cut of rough—

the grass is low—and you have 80 feet to the hole in total.

Using the PCP guide and factoring in the variance for miss-hits, the average player would putt this shot—again, if the rough is fairly short. You might be surprised by that, given the ball is 20 feet off the green, and presume you needed to loft the ball onto the green with a chip or pitch.

But consider the scenario and factoring in the variance for miss-hits. A miss-hit putt might leave you 10 to 15 feet from the hole. A miss-hit chip might leave you 20 to 25 feet away, and a miss-hit pitch might only go a few feet (you hit it fat) or blade it over the green. Therefore, a putt is your best option. And, there is also a chance you’ll hit it great and get it close.

To summarize, most aver-age golfers cost themselves shots on the golf course by selecting the incorrect shot to play when they are within 30-40 yards of the green. By following the PCP Principle, you have a guide to select the shot that will provide the best outcome.

Tim Graves is a PGA of America member. [email protected]




DON’T RUST THIS WINTER–BECOME A GOOD PUTTER

IN GOLF, YOU WILL ONLY BE AS GOOD AS THE WEAKEST PART OF YOUR GAME. And for most golfers, that’s their short game, particularly putting.

But if you want to reach your poten-tial as a golfer, you must build your entire game. That’s the foundational philosophy of the 7 Principles.

And this brings us to No. 3: Become a Good Putter.

Although the season has ended in much of North America, winter is a great time to focus on the mechanics of your stroke. Come spring, you can focus on what’s important—making putts.

The cornerstone of winter putting practice is a practice station, which ide-ally includes a putting mat (or smooth carpet in your house), yardstick, Sharpie marker, two rubber bands, EyeLine Putting Mirror and Line-M-UP Pro Ball Marker device. (The last two products are GGA Putting System Training Aids.)

Create your station by drawing a straight line on the putting mat from the middle of the hole to the end of the mat—at least 6 to 8 feet. (You’re better off with a mat. Drawing a line on your carpet may not be good for spousal relations.)

Photography: Wendy Stubbs

SPG INSTRUCTION TIM GRAVES Co-founder

Graves Golf Academy

Order online at www.MoeNormanGolf.com/offers/spg-7p

The 7 Principles Of Golf Improvement

(The Anatomy Of A Scratch Golfer)

It’s like getting our instructors all to yourself – virtually an “all-day workshop in a box”

The Seven Principles of Golf Improvement; anatomy of a scratch golfer instructional videos series is a 6 Volume set encompassing all aspects of golf improvement, from the ideal grip to managing your mind on the course. At over 7 hours in length, the 7 Principles series leaves no stone unturned in the quest for golf improvement.The series teaches the entire Seven Principles philosophy of the Graves Golf Academy:

1. Develop a Sound, Repeatable, Powerful Swing of Ease based on Moe Norman’s Golf Swing2. Develop an ef cient Short Game (50% up and down)3. Become a good Putter (under 30 putts per round)4. Buy or build Clubs that t your game5. Learn to Play on the Course using Developed Skills (Course management)6. Learn How to Practice ef ciently7. Learn How to Think

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GGA EQUIPMENT

Wrap two rubber bands on your putter face about one to two inches apart. The sweet spot of your putter should be centered between the bands. Leave twists in the bands so the ball goes off-line if you hit them. Practicing with the bands on your putter proves whether you are contacting the sweet spot, and it helps you hit the sweet spot more often. Strikes off the heel and toe result in inconsistent distance control.

To determine proper ball position, place the EyeLine mirror on your mat and put a ball in the front channel of the mirror. When you look down at the re-fl ection, you should not see your left eye (for right-handers). The ball will block the refl ection of your lead eye. You will see your trail eye just behind the ball in the refl ection. This is a foolproof way to make sure the ball is under your eye line and slightly forward in your stance. Both

eyes should be directly over the middle line on the EyeLine Mirror. This ball position works for short, belly and long putters.

Using the Line-M-UP Pro Ball Marker, draw a T on a few balls with the Sharpie. (You also use this T-mark when you play and for out-doors practice.)

Now it’s time to perform the Line Drill. Line up the ball in the Eye-Line with the short lines aligned with the centerline on your putting mat. The longer line on the ball is perpendicular to the line. (It also shows if your putter is square to your line.)

When you putt on your station, check these four points: As you examine your putting stroke in the off-season, you might

experiment with other styles of putting grips or even with a putter of a different length. If you anchor your stroke, winter could be a good time to change your style given the USGA’s ruling that bans anchoring in 2016.

As you strive to Become a Good Putter as part of the 7 Principles, you might keep my line in mind: “I have never seen a good player with a bad short game, and I have never seen a bad player with a good short game.”

To learn more and to order the seven-hour, six-volume DVD series The Seven Principles of Golf Improvement, visit www.moenormangolf.com/store.

1 BALL-STRIKING: Develop a sound swing

2 AN EFFICIENT SHORT GAME

3 Be a GOOD PUTTER

4 Have clubs that FIT your game

5 COURSE MANAGEMENT

6 PRACTICE effi ciently

7 Learn to THINK on the course

7 PRINCIPLES

Game Got You Down?

Let the GGA TEAM give you a hand...

Sign up for a school near you! www.MoeNormanGolf.com/schools

Call 1-866-377-2316 to secure your spot right now

Hurry – spots are limited and they ll up fast


SPG INSTRUCTIONTODD GRAVES

Graves Golf Academy Co-founder

GGA Gear

Photography: Wendy Stubbs

USING THE GGA GRIP IS LIKE A GUILTY PLEASURE. It helps you play better but it’s approved by the USGA.

Colored markings on the GGA Grip indicate where to place your hands on the club correctly, which is a crucial fundamental for novices and experienced players alike. A good grip creates ideal hand action, club and clubface move-ment, and hand speed.

GGA Grips help you master the three main functions of proper hand position: placement, hand rotation and unifi cation.

Placement

Ideal hand action results from placing the hands on the grip correctly. The lead thumb is placed along the trail side of the center of the shaft, and the club rests under the heel pad; this allows the hand to hinge forming a 90-degree angle between the shaft and lead arm. The index fi nger of the trail hand acts like a pressure point, creating a lever that generates hand speed.

Hand Rotation

The lead hand is considered neutral because the back of the hand mirrors the leading edge of the club. The trail hand is rotated under the club slightly to allow for “non-rotation-al” hinging and unhinging of the wrists.

Unifi cation

The hands and wrists must be unifi ed and work together. When the hands are molded together securely and the trail pinky overlaps the lead index fi nger, the wrists can easily work together and hinge. When the hands are separated, the wrists tend to work against each other and cause the club and hands to move improperly.

The only grip designed for the Single Plane Swing, the GGA Grip absorbs shocks, helps you feel connected to the club, and manages moisture.

It’s important to note that the pre-formed grip on the GGA Feeling of Greatness Training Club helps you learn a perfect grip quickly. However, it is not approved for use in USGA-governed play because it is molded for the hands.

Try the GGA Grip. Golf without guilt never felt so good.

For information and to order, visit www.moenormangolf.com/store.

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The Hand Speed Trainer™ e e e h e e e e e e e

Speed, Power and Performance.

What’s included in the box:

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The Hand Speed Trainer helps Singe Plane golfers develop arm and hand speed. The HST is superior to all other speed training products in that it helps golfers through

resistance training, helping you develop speed without affecting your golf swing technique. I think the HST is the best speed training product on the market today

Tim Graves

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Hand Speed Trainer


SPG INSTRUCTION

Game post-GGA: I learned to practice the short game at least as much or more than the long game… I practice more without a ball than with a ball… Prac-ticing the set-up and doing the PVC Drill is a great way to take a break during the day. I do a lot of fl exibility exercises, which are very important, particularly as you age… For practice, I use an align-ment tool and focus on one change at a time. I never rush… On the range, I always warm up by hit-ting the fi rst 20-25 balls with my wedges… This adds short game practice and helps me to warm-up with slower swings… I always take a break from hitting balls every 15-20 minutes to rest and to avoid speeding up my swings.

ROBB MURPHYHome: Omaha, NebraskaAge: 691st GGA Academy: September 2004Index pre-GGA: 4Index post-GGA: 0Frequency: Play 1x week, practice 4x-5x weekly

Highlights: Since being introduced to GGA, I have won the Omaha Metro area senior match play four times and Masters match play three times.

Game pre-GGA: I had back surgery in 2003… lum-bar micro endoscopic discectomy to relieve pain caused by herniated discs… I took up the Single Plane Swing as a way to protect my back… I could not control my irons, particularly my wedges, and my short game was inconsistent.

GGA experience: The instruction was very clear and personalized… I have attended a GGA school or had a lesson from Todd or Tim 21 times over the past 10 years… They are amazing! Each year they signifi cantly improve their teaching.

and take your game to a new level

Follow the secrets of our over-achieving best

THE MAJORITY OF OUR STUDENTS IMPROVE. Then there are those students who transform their games and achieve their golf dreams.

They shoot career scores, win club tournaments and dramatically lower their handicaps; players such as Chris Anderson who went from a 12 to a 3 and Steve Clay who went from a 20 to a 6. Or they win state championships such as Alaska’s Bill Arnold (see page 24).

To celebrate their success stories, we created the GGA Hall of Fame. These Hall of Famers are inspirations to our teachers and students alike. You can learn a lot from their stories.

By following their examples and advice, you could also transform your game and achieve your own hall of fame golf dreams.

TIM O’CONNOR Single Plane Golfer

Editor



JERILYN BRITZHome: Luverne, MinnesotaAge: 711st Graves Golf Academy: September 2013Index pre-GGA: ScratchIndex post-GGA: ScratchFrequency: 3x-5x weekly in summer

Highlights: Won 1979 U.S. Women’s Open, Won 1980 LPGA Tour Mary Kay Classic

Game pre-GGA: My game was in decline… signifi cant loss of distance… inconsistent contact on sweet spot… ball fl ight too low… not enjoying game, lost passion, thinking might be time to give it up… I was curious about Moe Norman’s swing for years.

GGA experience: The school helped my game… gave me fresh concepts and ideas to work on and implement… renewed my interest and enthusiasm for golf.

Game post-GGA: I have made steady progress since the school … my ball-striking has im-

proved… allowed better scoring… and I again com-fortably play the back tees with the men at my home club. Most signifi cant for me was beginning the golf swing in the same position as impact… on the same plane… it really simplifi ed the backswing for me … and eliminated a lot of unneces-sary moves and compensa-tions to get back to impact… the leverage bag was very helpful in feeling impact po-sition… use one a lot during the winter.

PAT SWEENEYHome: Novato, CaliforniaAge: 561st GGA Academy: 2006Index pre-GGA: 13Index post-GGA: 6.9Frequency: 50 rounds per year

Highlights: Before GGA schools, I rarely shot in the 70s. I shot 74 three times in 2014, and in 2010 I fi nal-ly shot par 72. In 2013, I scored my fi rst hole-in-one.

Game pre-GGA: My game before GGA was decent but every year would disappear in the winter… I’d have to

rediscover it in the spring… I was ready to quit golf unless I found a better way to do it… With the traditional swing, I was never confi dent where the ball would go.

GGA experience: At the fi rst school, I was sure I would learn the secret to pounding the ball down the middle… I left over-whelmed with new ideas and techniques… It wasn’t until the second school that I understood the swing better and could start implementing the new proce-dures properly.

Game post-GGA: After the sec-ond school, I realized my swing was a hybrid of Single Plane and traditional… Todd corrected my distance from the ball, my stance width and grip… He im-proved my set-up and body tilt by pushing my hips toward the target at address… This allowed me to swing from the inside instead of coming over the top. I did the GGA swing path drills for years to build them into muscle memory… I swing my GGA custom-fi t Perfect Impact Trainer almost every day to reinforce swing path and perfect my grip…. Now I have confi -dence that my ball will go where I aim.

In addition: A stranger called me “the straightest hitter” he’s ever seen. My buddies often say, “Don’t you get tired of going down the middle?” It’s wonder-ful to hear it and better to do it.


MIKE WILSONHome: London, OntarioAge: 611st GG Academy: September 2003Index pre-GGA: 22Index post-GGA: 8Playing frequency: 2x-3x weekly

Highlights: Twice won C flight in his club championship, shot par 71 on his course, and made three holes-in-one.

Game pre-GGA: I had a wicked slice… I had a bad back and needed a seat on my pull cart so I could rest during a round… The back pain was aggravated by golf. Twisting my spine while I tried to clear the hips and lift my body certainly was a factor.

GGA experience: The slice was an easy fix with the club starting at square and impacting at square... Practicing the positions really does help… Swinging with a slight hip slide now doesn’t cause me pain like in the past.

Game post-GGA: The Graves Academy made me more consistent… my slice is gone and I don’t have back pain any more, which means I can golf more! I also attended five-day school in 2011.

Key to improvement: My reliance on video… If you don’t use video, you never know exactly what is happening during your swing… you only see the results… video shows where your swing is devi-ating from the Moe Norman model or Todd’s…. comparing my swing to the model made me more consistent! I pur-chased V1 software so that the Graves coaches could review my swing often and it’s helped me see more moments of Greatness.

STEVE CLAYHome: Akron, OhioAge: 541st GGA Academy: Septem-ber 2013Index pre-GGA: 20Index post-GGA: 6Frequency: 1-2x weekly

Highlights: Won three events in his flight on 2014 Golf Channel AM Tour. Finished low scoring average for his division and was birdie lead-er on par 4s and 5s.

Game pre-GGA: I mostly shot 90-plus… I could hit it pretty well; just all over the place… my short game was non-existent… I needed to learn the entire game.

GGA experience: In 1999, I went to a Natural Golf school in Ohio… I wanted to meet the guy in the red shirt who made it look so easy. It was Todd.

Game post-GGA: I rarely play more than once or twice a week and prac-tice even less. But the greatest thing is I understand my swing… I practice the PVC drill and it keeps me in play… I’ve shot 69 twice and 66 once. Now I want to do that in a tournament… winning is awesome … I play better than I did 10 years ago.


GGA experience: The most memo-rable part about attending a GGA school was the friendship I devel-oped with the guys… They took me under their wings and treated me like one of their own… They have tremendously impacted my golf game and my entire life... There is not another outfit in the world that knows as much about the golf swing as these guys.

Game post-GGA: The most criti-cal factor to my improvement was putting... I don’t three-putt nearly as much as I used to…. The game and scoring becomes so much easier when your par putts are generally inside two feet... Becoming a good putter has taken a lot of pressure off of the rest of my game.

Key to improvement: I play in lots of tournaments… the most important thing the GGA guys taught me is how to prepare for a tournament. They instructed me to: 1. A week before a tournament, stop all work on technique. 2. Focus only on play-ing using your creativity, visualiza-tion, and imagination. 3. Leading up to the tournament, work on your short game (from 50 yards in) and getting up and down different situa-tions. 4. Focus on putting. Putt with a practice string and burn the image in your mind of the string going to the hole.

CHRIS ANDERSONHome: Macomb, MichiganAge: 291st GG Academy: November 2010Index pre-GGA: 12Index post-GGA: 3Frequency: 5x weekly

Highlights: 1st ace in June 2011, won my club’s 2011 Member/Member tournament. Shot 69 in 2013 (lowest round to date)

Game pre-GGA: Before attending a GGA school, my game was a to-tal mess… I lacked consistency… I wasn’t sure how I was going to play from one day to the next. I lacked precision and at times I struggled to get the ball airborne… I took lessons but after watching Todd’s video on The One Mistake, I decided that setting up on a single plane made so much sense.

Key to improvement: The PVC drill by far… It teaches me the Single Plane Swing… Practicing the motion is more important than trying to dig it out of the dirt… I used to hit buckets upon buckets and didn’t get as much out of it than practicing the PVC drill… I finally learned how to practice the short game with purpose… It made the short game practice a lot of fun.

In addition: Here’s why I will always play the way Graves Golf Academy teaches the swing. In August, I suffered a heart attack while playing golf with my buddies. One of them gave me an Aspirin and it saved me. I got a stent put in, I lost 12 pounds and now I feel better than I have in years. I couldn’t play for five weeks. During my first game back, I was apprehensive, but I whacked my driver 260 right down the middle. My short game was rusty but the ball-strik-ing was there. It was awesome. I learned from Graves Golf that if you maintain your fundamentals and keep the swing simple, you can keep your game sharp. Graves Golf Academy has given me a blueprint on how to get better.


Not only that, he was also medalist at the U.S Amateur Public Links Championship qualifier in Alaska and repre-sented the state at the final Pub Links national championship this summer in Kansas. (Fol-lowing this year’s APL, the USGA discontinued the event.)

A JOURNEY THAT STARTED WITH A SEARCH FOR A SWING that would allow Alaska’s Bill Arnold to contin-ue playing golf after back surgery has culminated in a blizzard of championship victories.

The 58-year-old certified public accountant, who ad-opted the Single Plane Swing about 12 years ago, had a breakout year in 2014, winning the Alaska State Senior Amateur Championship and the Alaska State Senior Match Play Championship, his first-ever victories in state championships.

Alaska’s Bill Arnold enjoys sizzling breakout season

SPG PROFILETIM O’CONNOR


Photography: Loren Holmes



Breaking through was significant considering he had en-dured three straight runner-up finishes in senior state cham-pionships. “He did not let it get him down,” says instructor Tim Graves, who has worked extensively with Arnold at Graves Golf Academy schools. “He knew he was close and kept pushing.”

“I’ve been working and working at my game, and it all just came together,” says Arnold, who lives in Anchorage. “One win would have been fine, but three!”

Arnold believes that practicing all elements of his game during his five practice sessions a week—he plays twice a week—made a difference and increased his confidence. “By practicing equal amounts of everything, all of my game improved together. It was a huge revelation. I looked for-ward to playing tournaments because I was so secure in my fundamentals.”

Bill’s long years of dedication to swinging like Moe Nor-man paid off this summer.

Since taking up the game as a young teenager and having played golf at a fairly high level through college into his 30s, he had back surgery in 1992 due to degenerative disks. He couldn’t play golf at all in 2000 and 2001 because of an elbow problem caused mainly by tennis.

“At that stage, my goal was to be able to play golf at 50,” he says. “I was looking for a body friendly swing.”

In 2002, he began to adopt the methodology of Natu-ral Golf, which taught a swing similar to Moe Norman’s. He was a 5-handicap golfer in 2004, but his short game was weak, he was prone to hitting hooks, and he was still concerned about pain. In 2005, he attended a Graves Golf Academy five-day school in Oklahoma City.

“I thought I knew a lot about golf. At the camp I quickly realized how much I didn’t know. After that first camp, my handicap went down from a 5 to a 3. I shot a 67 that sum-mer. My short game got better and my scoring got better,” says Arnold, whose process of improvement continued as he attended more schools—he has attended three five-day schools and two three-day schools.

GGA Master Instructor Tim Graves says that Arnold’s success stems from setting goals that are “hard to reach which keeps him focused and going constantly forward.


“He took it step by step, knowing the end product was a sum of the parts and that his fundamentals need to be as close to perfect as possible,” says Graves. “Probably most important, Bill gave more time and practice to the short game than the long game.”

After years of making improvements to his game, Arnold says becoming effi cient when he practiced was a key to this year’s break-through. At the range, he doesn’t beat balls and takes breaks when he tires or his mind wanders. Notably, he always uses “tools” such as a putting string or an alignment rod when he practices. “Otherwise, you don’t know if your aim or alignment is off,” he says. “I al-ways go back to what Todd Graves says: Just do it right.”

Due to the short season in Alaska—cours-es open in May with temporary greens for a few weeks, and close in September—Arnold doesn’t want to wait to get his swing in shape. Over the winter, he swings a club indoors or does some kind of drill every day, usually with a mirror, and he chips and putts on the carpet. “By practicing indoors, I can make a fast progression out of winter,” he says.

There’s another key component to doing it right—committing to using Moe as a model.

“You have to believe in the model. If you say, ‘I’ll try it out and see what is going to happen,’ you have not mindfully committed to the process. You have to be all in, you have to believe!

“That requires trust and the Graves Acade-my has earned my trust and they have accept-ed that responsibility.”

[email protected]

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How to grip it, rip it, belt, bomb, pipe and pummel your driver

KNOCKING IN LONG PUTTS IS NICE, HUNTING FLAGS with irons is sweet, but for raw blood-pumping viscer-al thrills there is nothing like smashing a driver on the sweetspot and watching the ball sail—past your buddies’ balls.

And, it turns out that drive for show, putt for dough is not true. Your driver is the most important club in the bag. Every golfer knows that when you spray your driver all over hell’s half acre, golf is not fun and you cannot score. Sta-tistics tell the tale. On the PGA Tour, the only ball-striking statistic that correlates with money won is Total Driving, which measures both accuracy and distance.


SPG INSTRUCTION TODD GRAVES Graves Golf Academy

Co-founder

How to kill your driver

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With the longest shaft and least amount of loft, the driver moves the fastest with the highest possibility of sidespin, a combination designed to maximize distance. Due to those factors, swing problems are exaggerated with a driver. If your 9-iron is one-degree open or closed at impact, the ball will disperse fi ve yards left or right of your target. But a one-degree error with your driver creates a 30-yard dispersion left or right.

Hitting your driver accurately and far is mainly a matter of mastering a few basics—mostly in the address—and making a fundamentally sound swing that moves the club on a correct path at the highest speed.

The goal is to create the ideal launch angle and spin rate based on your swing speed. You pro-duce the ideal launch and spin by optimizing four main variables. The fi rst three are related to the address position: ball position, tee height, stance, and club loft.

SPG November Issue // singleplanegolfer.com

29

BALL POSITION

The ideal ball position is inside the lead heel. This allows the driver to reach the bottom of the swing arc and strike the ball at the bottom or slightly upward as the club moves through impact.

TEE HEIGHT

Where you strike the ball on the face deter-mines the amount of spin produced. With the proper ball position (inside the lead heel), you must tee the ball the correct height to strike the ball in the center of the face. Whether you are upwind or downwind, set your tee so half of the ball is above the top edge of the driver. (You’ll hit shorter drives by teeing the ball lower into a headwind; hit-ting it low on the clubface creates excess spin that lifts the ball into the wind.)


STANCE WIDTH

The driver requires the widest stance of any club. For most men of average height, place your heels about 22–23 inches apart and women 20-22 inches. With a wide stance, the ball is positioned in front of the lead shoulder inside the lead heel. A wide stance places your head behind the ball and stabilizes the lower body. Similar to firing a cannon, this creates a solid foundation that allows your hands and arms to move at maximum speed through impact.

SELECTING THE IDEAL LOFT

Based on the ideal launch condition variables, the speed of your swing will determine your ideal loft to optimize the distance you can hit the ball.

As you can see from the chart on page 31, as clubhead speed increases, ball speed increases and spin rate decreases. This com-bination optimizes the distance your ball carries in the air.

If your swing speed is more than 100 mph, hit a driver with 10.5 or less loft. Golfers with slower swing speeds must increase loft to maximize carry. If your swing speed is below 100 mph, you need a driver with 10.5 or more loft.

So what’s the big secret to belting bombs? Actually, nothing all that exciting. Just a good swing, solid fundamentals and deciding on the right loft.


THE 25º ABOVE HORIZON RULE

Here’s a rule that you can apply to your game to optimize carry, which increases distance. Look at the skyline and attempt to visualize a point that appears to be about 25 degrees above the horizon. A driver struck at the ideal launch angle will reach its highest point at this 25-degree mark and begin to descend.

69 100 16.0 - 18.5 3900 - 4200 140

76 110 15.5 - 17.5 3800 - 4050 160

83 120 15.0 - 17.0 3750 - 3900 180

90 130 14.0 - 16.0 3500 - 3800 200

97 140 13.0 - 15.0 3300 - 3550 220

103 150 12.5 - 14.0 3000 - 3300 245

110 160 12.0 - 13.5 2750 - 3200 270

117 170 11.0 - 12.0 2500 - 2700 290

124 180 9.5 - 10. 5 2350 - 2600 310

131 190 8.5 - 10.0 2000 - 2400 330

138 200 7.0 - 9.0 1950 - 2150 350

145 210 6.0 - 8.5 1700 - 2000 370

CLUB BALL OPTIMUM OPTIMUM TYPICAL SPEED SPEED LAUNCH ANGLE BALL SPIN CARRY


HOW IMPORTANT IS HAVING THE RIGHT SHAFT FLEX IN YOUR CLUBS? With a shaft that’s not fi t for you, not only will you lose distance and accuracy, but it can also lead to all manner of bad shots, including topping the ball.

Every part of your equipment should help you hit the ball better, which includes having the right shaft fl ex in your clubs.

Shaft fl ex usually ranges from women’s fl ex to extra stiff—with up to 17 different fl exes between them.

The more fl exible the shaft, the higher the ball will fl y. Golfers with slower swing speeds require more fl exible shafts; golfers with fast swing speeds need stiffer shafts.

Many golfers use shafts that are too stiff for them. This usually causes them to try to lift their shots to pro-vide height that the shaft is not giving them. This lifting causes many problems in the swing, including casting, coming over the top and topping the ball.

Improper shaft fl ex can also lead to improper ball position. Golfers with shafts that are too stiff for them tend to put the ball too far forward in their stance to help them to hit the ball high enough. This can cause a lot of swing issues like a lateral slide, which can lead to shanks.

The most common way to determine your ideal shaft fl ex is to measure your swing speed. You can do this with a swing speed meter.

But you can also determine your swing speed by mea-suring the average distance you hit particular irons. For example, a ball fl ies off the average 6-iron at 1.8 yards per mile. Therefore, if you hit a 6-iron 150 yards on average, you swing the club around 83 mph (150 / 1.8 = 83). This equates to a mid-regular fl ex shaft.

We can fi t golfers to their correct shaft fl ex by using their distances with their 6-iron, 9-iron and driver. A 9-iron fl ies 1.5 yards per mile and a driver 2.7 yards per mile. This includes ball fl ight and limited roll.

With properly fi tted shafts, you can fl ight the ball to achieve maximum distance for each club. Ideal fl ex also allows you to hit the ball from proper ball positions that promote ideal ball fl ight.

The Graves Golf Academy offers free club fi tting. Visit moenormangolf.com/clubs/free-club-fi ttings/

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All clubs will be t to your ingle lane swing speci cations, including

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Each club order comes from the manufacturer custom t straight to your door

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To order clubs, or discuss tting options for your swing, contact Tim Graves

direct by email at [email protected]

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SPG INSTRUCTION

Move that lead knee so your swing sings

DEM BONES IS A GREAT OLD SONG THAT MAKES ME SMILE EVERY TIME I HEAR ITS IMMORTAL LINES: “The leg bone’s connected to the knee bone, The knee bone’s connected to the thigh bone, The thigh bone’s connected to the hip bone, Now shake dem skeleton bones!”

This old timey tune is also perfect for golf in describing the important sequential relationship between parts of the body, and to get you thinking about how correct lead knee movement is a key to producing correct spine movement.

In the backswing, your hips should feel like they are rotating around a stabilized trail knee. As this hap-pens, the lower spine moves forward, which allows the shoulders, arms and hands to move the club back on plane.

In order to rotate your hips correctly, the lead knee must move in a way that frees up the hip to move around a stable trail knee.

The correct movement of the lead knee in the backswing, as illustrated, is back towards the trail foot. The knee also appears to move inward from the target line.

With this correct lead knee movement in the back-swing, the lead knee can transition towards the lead toe in the downswing, creating a stable base for your upper body—namely your hands and arms—to move on plane and create speed through impact.

By moving your lead knee correctly in the back-swing, you’ll swing with greater consistency and pow-er the ball down dem fairways.

[email protected]

SCOTT RENFROW GGA Director

Schools Programs

At address, lead knee is flexed lightly.

In the backswing, the lead knee moves back and inward.



The Single Plane Swing the Future of Golf in China

PRACTICALITY IS A CHINESE NATIONAL TRAIT. It is visible everywhere, even at the driving range where an ingenious 90-foot long hose is pulled behind a ball picker to arrange balls in little piles for easy pickup as the machine makes large concentric circles.

This ethos of practicality helps explain the rapid success of Future of Golf since it opened this past summer in Sanya, China on the island of Hainan. As a licensed affiliate of the Graves Golf Academy, Future of Golf has begun instruction programs and it will eventually offer a similar complement of golf schools, videos and training aids as GGA offers in North America. From this lovely tropical isle in the far south-west of China, known as the Hawaii of Asia, Future of Golf has also put up a website (www.FutureofGolf.cn ) that will mirror the infor-mation-rich GGA website, including an online academy.

“The Chinese golf community is rapidly coming to appreciate the practical advantages of the simpler Single Plane Swing, especially for younger golfers,” said Stephen Xu, CEO of Future of Golf.

“Given that golf will be part of the Olympics starting in 2016, China has officially sanctioned the sport,” Xu said. “This is highly significant be-cause it legitimizes golf for the entire country. Parents are searching for the most effective way for their children to learn golf. Our systematic method for teaching has great appeal to parents and their kids. They see a clear path for development with our program.”

Six-year-old Dixon from Beijing was the first to sign up for Future of Golf’s extensive Black Belt learning program. As a student at the nearby Canadian In-ternational School, Dixon’s mother and father searched for more than a year for the right type of golf program for him.

“Dixon’s mother said she wanted the most practical and rapid method, plus it was very important that he be taught in English by highly qualified instructors,” Xu added. “The long-term goal for Dix-on is to attend school in the West. Being able to learn golf and have his English enhanced by native speakers was really important to his parents.”

“When we visited the beautiful Future of Golf Training Academy at LuHuiTou Golf Course to meet the staff, Dixon loved it and didn’t want to leave,” said Lena Tang, Dixon’s moth-er. “This was a first for him as he is generally shy. But the instructors were great and had him fully participating within a few minutes. It was amazing to watch.”

Dr. Ronald Cruickshank, President and Director of Instruction for Future of Golf, said: “We have a unique op-portunity to significantly and massively impact the development of golf for both adults and children in China.

“It is a new sport here that is not bogged down with conventional in-struction methods that have frustrated golfers around the world. We envision future generations playing golf using the Single Plane Swing and enjoying the sport without the frustrations that are driving people from our sport,” Dr. Cruickshank said.

“With their innate sense of practi-cality, the Chinese are uniquely able to appreciate what we offer. The early results are exciting.”

AN IMPORTANT PERSON WAS MISSING AT THE AWARDS ceremony for the 1955 Canadian Amateur Championship in Calgary, Alberta.

The champion.Moe Norman was hiding down by the Elbow River. The thought

of giving an acceptance speech terrifi ed 25-year-old Moe. He was exceedingly shy.

Moe was a challenge for all tournament organizers. As per tradi-tion, organizers wanted to conclude their events with a trophy pre-sentation and a few well-chosen words from their grateful winner. Moe was not your classic graceful champ.

Moe’s confi dence on and off the course grew in the early ‘70s after Florida golf pro Irv Schloss introduced him to sports psychol-ogy, which he devoured. Although now in his 40s, Moe was still an awkward champion on the Canadian Professional Golf Tour.

At the pro-am dinner for the tour’s 1977 Atlantic Open on Can-ada’s East Coast, Assistant Tourna-ment Director Rick Janes was act-ing as MC when he asked Moe to come to the head table and receive his check. Moe usually accepted his money and quietly slipped out the back door.

But when Moe arrived at the front of the room, he asked Janes if he could take the microphone and say a few words. Moe mesmerized the crowd for fi ve minutes, talking enthusiastically about “the role of the mind” in golf, and what he’d learned from Paul Bertholy, a legendary golf professional. Moe shared long sections of Bertholy’s writings that he’d memorized.

“You could have heard a pin drop in there. It really was some-thing magical to see,” said Janes, who later became the tour’s com-missioner.

When Moe fi nished, everyone in the room jumped to their feet for a prolonged standing ovation. As Moe handed the microphone to Janes, he said: “I’m going into public speaking.”

Tim O’[email protected]

MEMORIES OF MOETIM O’CONNOR


Moe fi nds his voice—and the guts to use it


“With the Moe Norman single plane swing, I’ve improved from shooting in the 120’s to the high 70’s!”

Chuck Carnivale

Two-Disc DVD Set:

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Slow Motion footageof Todd Graves swingfrom multiple angleswith Driver and 6 iron

Todd Graves Practice /Coaching Session

Pre-game Warmup /Stretching routine

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