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Thread: Natural Golf
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06-25-2005 09:11 AM #1
Natural Golf
Natural Golf
By NatGolfer as submitted to the OttawaGolf Forums
Natural Golf is a method of swing the golf club virtually identical to the greatest ball striker of all time, Canada's Moe Norman. Many of you by now have seen the Natural Golf infomercial on The Golf Channel, and therefore have some idea of what this method is all about.
After playing golf using the conventional swing for 34 years, I switched to Natural Golf during winter indoor practice in December of 1994 and have now completed five full seasons using it. My current RCGA handicap index is 1.7. I am firmly convinced that Natural Golf will enable every golfer, regardless of their scoring range or handicap, to play better, is much easier to learn, and is less likely to cause back problems, that many golfers presently have using the conventional method.
Normally, after taking a lesson or series of lessons using the conventional method, a golfer regresses before making slow progress. With Natural Golf, improvement begins almost immediately and progresses quickly from there.
The system was "invented," independently of Moe Norman, by Dr. Jack Kuykendall, a physicist, whose goal it was to qualify for the Senior PGA Tour. He practiced for two years using the conventional method, used all the latest equipment and his golf game worsened. He then decided that there must be a better way of swinging a golf club and using his knowledge of physics, anatomy, neuroscience and kinesiology put together the Natural Golf system. He was later introduced to Moe Norman through Mark Evershed, a friend of Moe's and a professional from the Toronto area, and Moe then began working with the Natural Golf Corporation. To quote Moe, "I always knew that I was right, now I understand why."
Natural Golf has four unique fundamentals:
- The club is gripped in the palms of the hands and not the fingers,
- The stance is very wide stance,
- There is a single axis of the dominant arm and the clubshaft,
- The body faces the ball at impact.
- How difficult is it to "unlearn" the conventional swing and have this swing feel "natural" to you?
Like any athletic motion it takes awhile for the new electrical programming in your brain to take place before it becomes part of your subconscious, so it depends on how much you practice and work on the drills. I believe that a golfer will learn this motion faster if the emphasis is on slow motion swinging and/or slowly moving from one static position to the next in the swing, over hitting thousands of practice balls. When I first changed to Natural Golf I noticed, literally, immediate improvement. It "felt" very awkward, but those feelings dissipated very quickly. It felt "natural," pun intended, within a month of starting indoors, and when I first hit balls outdoors in the spring, the ball striking improvement was confirmed. My handicap, which at the time I changed, was, I believe 2, did not go up as it might have if I would have made a big change using the conventional swing. While I can still address the ball using the conventional Vardon grip and set-up and feel reasonably comfortable, I can no longer swing that way. In fact, I cannot get the ball off the ground, so Natural Golf is in my subconscious. Therefore, I would suggest that it would take 1 to 3 months before it felt natural, with daily practice or swinging. Improvement is almost immediate.
- Can you just have your current clubs regripped for "Natural Golf" I know that the grips on "Natural Golf" clubs are much thicker, to fit in the palms, but are there any other modifications to a standard set of clubs?
I did not buy the clubs that Natural Golf sells. I simply measured how much farther down the shaft my right hand was using the NG palm grip compared to the Vardon grip, and then I made all of my clubs that much longer. For most golfers this is 1 to 2 inches. My reasoning was that if I shove my right hand down the shaft I am effectively playing with shorter clubs. For example, if I hit a 5 iron 170 yards with a normal swing, and then I choke down on the shaft 2 inches and swing normally, I will hit the ball a shorter distance because there is less leverage. So, if I make my Natural Golf clubs a little longer, then that should make up for this loss of leverage. Consequently,the distance I hit each club did not change. Secondly, I built my grips up significantly by wrapping roughly 30 layers of masking tape underneath before installing Golf Pride's Tour Velvet Wrap, .600 grips over top. I made the underwrapping thicker at the bottom of the grip than near the butt and the net result was a thick, non-tapered grip which feels wonderful. One can buy grips from Natural Golf or you can buy Tackimac Equalizer grips from Golfworks(Canada)as well.
- Do you hit the ball as far? The hype is mostly about accuracy.
If you make the adjustments that I mentioned above to the length of the clubs because of the right hand being naturally farther down the shaft, you will not lose any distance and the accuracy is much better. By the way, because of the thicker grips and the build up tape at the butt end, the clubs' swingweights change very little, if at
all. The technicians at Dynacraft told me that a longer club with the same swingweight will play a little stiffer. As with a conventional set the lie angles need to be checked and altered if necessary. Most Natural Golfers have more upright lies.
- Any changes to the putting / chipping game?
Perhaps the biggest improvement in using Natural Golf occurs in the short game. Because the release through the ball is that of the right arm straightening as opposed to its rotating through the ball, accuracy on chips and pitches increases and the ball rolls straight after landing, seldom jumping sideways as with the conventional stroke. Lastly, putting. I tried the "Thing", Natural Golf's putter, only briefly, before I retired it to the garage. However, I do recommend Dave Pelz's "Putting Bible" as the best book on putting that I have seen and being a mediocre putter at best, I have tried a lot of strokes. This one is the best because like Natural Golf it is based on science(physics) and not on perception and feeling.
- The club is gripped in the palms of the hands and not the fingers,
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05-23-2009 10:26 PM #2
- Join Date
- May 2009
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- Ottawa
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The thing - Natural
It's been four years since this item was posted, so unlikely that your "The Thing Natural Putter" is still in the garage. But if it is, would you or anyone else have one for sale?
Thank you
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06-08-2009 12:17 PM #3
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- Aug 2002
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- 103
Quick question. Has anyone ever gotten a "natural golf" lesson from John Ollson at the range in Barrhaven?
As I've mentioned on here in the past, I've been using one form or another of NG from the beginning as it was just happened to be what I was taught in a City of Ottawa program.
I have struggled over the summers with trying to "get it". A few summers ago I took some lessons from Pat Laderoute, and learned some good things from him, but he never really went over the grip, ball position, or the like. Perhaps he saw me hitting the ball and thought I didn't need it? The focus was on alignment, hitting the ball out to the right to get a feel for the in-out club path, and learning how to "learn from the ball flight:.
I never mastered the woods tho, as I still sliced them.
Long story short, I found the site www.swinglikemoe.com which is run by Gary? Graves, and it had some online instruction. I've since tried to change my grip to what's on the site, and things are working better, *except* this summer I canNOT hit anything higher then my 5 iron. I have a hybrid 3 and 4, and i constantly seem to be chopping down and hitting the ball off the heel (i'm right handed).
The woods are the same. It seems that once i grab a club with a heavier head, it throws me off my swing and rhythym. Last summer, I couldn't hit my irons well, but was ok with the hybrids and woods?!
Anyway, I was intersted in perhaps seeing John for a lesson to see if it's something basic I'm screwing up, or if i'm totally off the mark and have just grooved a swing that seems to work with shorter irons and nothing else?
Has anyone else gone to John?
I'm just curious of it's worth the $79 per 45 minutes he charges for Natural Golf lessons.
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06-14-2009 09:40 AM #4
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- Feb 2004
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07-09-2009 10:51 AM #5
- Join Date
- Aug 2002
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Well, I'm having a lesson with John at Thunderbird on Friday night. It seems a bit pricey for 45 minutes, but I'm hoping he can find what the heck i'm doing wrong, and that it's only one or two things for me to fix! (ya right!)
Based on what's happening lately, I think I'm swinging out-in on longer clubs, result in mis off the toe, or pulled shots. Short irons are ok, but then again lately I seem to be duffing a lot of them as well.
I'll report back and let you know how things go, and if the teaching is good!
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07-14-2009 01:04 PM #6
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- Aug 2002
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- 103
Well, had my lesson on Friday. Man, was it hot! Or maybe I'm just not used to heat during this crummy summer?
Short version, lesson was good, john is a nice guy, and if you have taken a hockey clinic with his group as I have, he's way calmer on grass then he is on ice.
The main things he showed me and that I'm trying to focus on is footwork..... (he wants my feet square to the target line, whereas I have a habit of going "duck foot") keeping my lead hand in front of the ball at address, and also focusing on hitting in front of the ball.
That last part is the tricky thing for me, though it makes sense. He had a tee in the ground in front of the ball, and kept getting me to try hitting that, and completely ignoreing the ball. The ball just gets "in the way"...... Sure enough, I hit some nice 9 irons (for me anyway, mostly straight, not all that long) when i pulled it off consistently.
The other tip he told me is club face alignment at address. He told me to line the bottom edge of the club square to the target. From "up above" it looks open to me, but it makes sense that in reality, it's what you should do.
So far the only practice I had was at the range last night, and i tried hitting some clubs other then the 9. I found on my longer clubs I had a decent slice. I don't think it's from an out-in swing.... but rather an open clubface at impact as nothing started off left of target line....
I'm wondering if I need to move the ball forward a bit, as with the longer clubs it takes an extra half inch to bring the club around and square it up?
But all that being said, I made good contact on most of the bucket, which I will take! A slice 150 yards down fairway is better then topping the ball and not even making the ladies tee.
The project continues!
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08-31-2009 10:54 AM #7
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- Aug 2002
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- 103
Here's a question that probably applies to all golf swings.......
John taught me that at address, the back of my lead hand should be in a line with a spot right in front of the ball, as this should be the low point of my swing. By this set up, the club should strike the ball first, and leave a divot that's in front of the ball.
However, what I am finding mostly is that the low point of my swing is still behind the ball, which is where my head is. Should I try lining up more with my head always over the ball, and only affecting "ball position" by changing the width of my stance?
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03-17-2010 05:59 AM #8BasilGuest
Taking golf coaching can really help you in perfecting your swings and getting better at the game. Without golfing lessons it is very difficult for one to get better at the game. It will take a lot of time to figure out what is wrong and then correct it.
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