At the top of the backswing, Sam has swung the club shaft past parallel to the ground, making too long of a backswing. This makes it harder to control the club on the downswing and consistently deliver a square clubface at impact, producing straight shots.--GS.
I really like Snead's hip action. To me, it looks like he turns his hips along with the upper body together... right from the start of the swing. Huge hip turn!
The point here folks is that if you want to play great golf, work on rhythm, grace, tempo and balance. It'll do a hundred times more for your game than worrying about the technical aspects of your swing.
I have never seen before, i cant believe, it's like watching myself... I had no idea how much i truly owed & missed my coach, Sam... He was a wonderful friend also and i feel bad that i fell out of touch with him.
I was taught by a man who knew Sam Snead, and shared his secrets with me over the course of 2 years back in 2000, His name was ironically was Sam as well, Sam Heiserman to be exact. I subsequenty took some big life blows and stopped playing golf. After 10 years i recently started hitting balls again. I very easily used the foundations of what i leaened from Sam, (both of them)...
Im hitting them about 80% as well as i did then. But im improving and playing... Now with these clips of Sam i h
You know when I first heard of sam snead? When i live in HIS HOUSE in hot springs, va on the one street that runs through ashwood; I lived in the victorian white house that had, in its kitchen, a breakfast nook that has the "S" letter enscribed in its one support. Those were the best times of my life for the friends I had.
I sincerely wish I would have kept those OLD golf clubs out in the shack in the back; we didnt have an Ebay then :)
I think I can hear the ball crackle on some of these, even without the sound. The guy was pure murder. In '37, he won the tour's long-drive contest with three shots averaging over 320, with that old equipment (modern tour players tested on equipment from the '60s hit it about 250-260 on average). It wasn't unusual for guys like him (or de Vicenzo, or a few others) to pipe it out there 350 or more. Try it sometime with balata and persimmon from 60 or more years ago.
Left hip and left knee move out of the way at the speed of Woods or Nicklaus, in the younger Snead--no matter what fawning announcers say about Woods having the "fastest hip clearance in history" (not even close to true). But to Sam, this was just a natural consequence of what any athletic person would do when trying to swing the club with force. He said once he was aware of the clearing, and he'd describe it in his instructional books, but never worked a day in his life on using his legs.
More golfers would be better golfers if they learned everything they could from Snead.
Great thing about it is that Snead never got technical with it all. He just swung the damn golf club. Too many golfers get TOO technical in search of a good swing. I know I have before!!!
Golf is a much, much easier game when you approach it the way Sam did. Your job is to swing the club, not hit a bunch of swing "positions."
I watched Sam play 36 holes up close at a US Open qualifier in 1970. He was 58 years old at the time, playing a course he'd never seen before. I don't recall him missing a single fairway.
I watched this clip the night before my round and shot a 74, my lowest ever. When I stood over the ball I just envisioned Sam's swing. Thanks Mr Snead. Nick G
His rhythm was the best I've ever seen, but I've always thought the best part of his swing was the transition to the downswing. He always squared up the face of the club perfectly, allowing him to make a powerful attack. It's a classic "body" swing that was far better in the old days with the clubs they had.
Just the best swing in the world. Poetry. Tempo. Power. Accuracy. Grace. Fluidity. There's not one thought in that head of his, and not one bit of tension or hint of rushing anywhere. At one with the club, the ground, the ball and the target. It's like he's dancing with the club.
He actually takes the club back way to the inside then outside on the down swing, like swinging a sledge hammer 3:21 and 4:04 and especially 4:20 This is opposite from a swinger like Miller Barber. This swing was probably developed because his club was too heavy as a youngster. A great way to learn how to swing the club.
Looping to the outside is a good way to swing the club? I think this may be a case of taking a quirk and making a recommended technique out of it. Snead's rhythm and the pure swinging motion of his arms and club (not to mention huge clearance with the lower body) allowed him to overcome what would otherwise be an over-the-top move that causes people a lot of grief.
@emncaity Yes I do believe taking the club from the inside to out is a great way to swing the club. It's easier to make a loop in the swing weather you take the club outside in like couples or inside then out like Snead or Nicklaus. Incidentally they were two of the greatest 5 golfers to ever play the game. Snead's move allowed a more free arm swing because the elbows were away from the body early in the down swing compared to getting stuck with a outside in swing. Jim McLean agrees...
Incidentally, Nicklaus did this too--more noticeably when he was young (check the photos in The Greatest Game of All, for instance, and remember he hit mostly fades)--but I know of no prominent teacher who would advise seeking it out as something you want to _try_ to do. All of which is to say, as with other great players, it's not positions or isolated moves you want to try to copy, because any single one of them might not be ideal, but the feel and flow of the whole swing.
Sneads hips don't fully turn until the top of his backswing. You can see how little his hips turn at first from the front on view. He is focused on making a full shoulder turn on the backswing and firing his hips on the downswing. No one comes close to Snead but Fred Couples and Geoff Ogilvy are similar.
If you can get a good shoulder turn and drop the club into position, letting you legs start the downswing you are in good shape. I think alot of people turn their shoulders first on the downswing causeing an inconsistant strike and they should consentrate on making a good shoulder turn then letting the legs hips start and the hands drop naturally.
well, said. I agree but would add that along with a full shoulder turn is weight shifting completely on your back leg in the back-swing. As long as you STAY IN BALANCE (the biggest mistake i see with hackers is poor or inconsistent set-up and a lack of balance) and do what you mentioned your should have a great swing.
Don't forget, these old timers had to play with mud on their ball, from tee to green. No cleaning balls back then. Also, these fellas' had to make the ball skip over another on the greens since they couldn't mark them on the greens. No technology advancements in any of the clubs either. The Golf courses were tougher especially the majors. The fairways were much tighter, no second cut, nothing but thick hairy rough lined the fairways and the greens. The greens were bumpy and bunkers were tough.
These old timers did not have sponsors, they had to pay for everything, even the range balls. Most of these guys had jobs outside of tournament golf to pay for their bills, most of them were Head Professionals at your local golf course. The purses were meager which made winning a tournament extra special, it was all about pride and beating your opponent. Today we have guys who make a million a year on tour without winning a tournament, what a joke!
Thank's for posting this bunch of clips: I try to copy it, but unfortunately I'm not that intelligent, I suppose. Well, I must promote another clip that has so few viewers. And I wonder why? Because Jack N. and Sam S. had a similar left foot at back swing (lift the heal). See clip: Jack Nicklaus (Young) Driver FO. Sam & Jack - that's power!
He reminds me of a young Tiger the way he snaps the left knee straighter to trigger the downswing (or seems to?) - amazing power! Remember, Slammin' Sam nailed his drives an average of 270-280yds with an old persimmon...I'd be happy with that with the latest Titleist driver! - Timeless class.
Young Nicklaus used to do exactly the same--and meant to do it.
Snead just boggles my mind every time I think about the guy. He won tournaments in--what, six or seven consecutive decades? Shot 60 when he was 70-something, missing a couple of short putts on the last two holes? Scholarshipped for multiple other sports, freakishly fast runner, boxer...geez. Too amazing.
Yes, your correct emncaity, a slight heel lift has help me out a lot especially with the long irons and driver. The reson a lot of golfers have problems with long irons, 3 woods, and their drivers is that they don't rotate the hips enough in the back swing, and as a result, the club cuts across the ball slicing it.
Hogan had better footwork. Balance to be specific. While Snead "sometimes" finished on a flat left foot, Hogan most always did. Hence, a "slightly" better ball striker because of it. If the "base" of any motion is stable then the motion shall be more repetitive and on the "same plane" Who knows why Snead never came to the same conclusion as Hogan?
Does it really matter? He won more times than anyone on tour, and he lasted longer than anyone. Hogan had more accuracy; Snead had more power, and a swing that LITERALLY lasted him a lifetime. I would take Snead's free flowing powerful swing over Hogan's grinders stroke.
I'd take either one of those swings. They're not as completely different as they've been discussed. Every good swing has a lot of common elements, and a lot of the discussion by 'philes focuses really intensely on differences that aren't really all that significant.
Sam's left foot is not what caused him to be less accurate than Hogan. Sam nearly always played a pull draw that would sometimes get a little hot. Great for powerful, but not ideal for accuracy. I must say that Snead was definitely one of the most accurate long hitters...he had to be! Different game than we have now, where the rough is a safety zone.
Both were very good ball strikers, the reason why the left foot sometimes came up was to facilitate a better shoulder turn on a steeper angle. Lifting the left foot does not interfere with the fundamentals of the swing. Hogan in his five lessons book makes mention of lifting the left foot, so long as does not interfere or hinder other parts of the swing
Not only does it not hinder, sometimes it helps. Depending on the posture and plane of the individual player, a moderate lift of the left heel (in reaction to the movement of the rest of the body, not as a forced move) can allow the hips to turn rather than tilt, as Nicklaus describes with some of his '79-'80 swing changes that left him hitting the ball more cleanly and with more versatility than he'd ever had before.
amen to ur comments.. take a look at his swing plane.. dead on throughout.. Sam and Ben Hogan were few of the players who understood what it took to keep the shaft on the same angle throughout the swing.. teachers today tell us to resist with our lower bodies going back.. the last thing anyone should do is resist anything from turning on the back swing.. best swing ever in my opinion..
you are so right- the modern teacher's should be sued for the garbage they have taught golfders the past twenty years- and i am only 28 years old- try hitting the old clubs es[pecially a 2-iron while not turning your hips- impossible
You are absolutely right modern teachers have fucked so many people up with the "modern" golf swing in which the weight shifts back and comes forward...Sam's swing was simple and powerful, weight forward, left shoulder pointed down, spine tilted left at impact...His body never moved off the ball...You are right, he and Hogan had it figured out...they owned their swings
I agree that modern teaching has messed some things up, mostly the learning process in my opinion. You mention his spine tilting LEFT at impact? I don't quite see that...I see it definately tilting away from the target.
Yes, my mistake, his spine is tilting away from the target, not left at impact. At impact his spine was actually moving away from the target and extending as he faced the target on his follow through....
Fantastic talent. Missed meeting Sam Snead at the '97 players championship by a few minutes. He was helping VJ hit wedge shots. That would have been great to see! I did get to meet Byron Nelson who was as kind as you always hear.
At the top of the backswing, Sam has swung the club shaft past parallel to the ground, making too long of a backswing. This makes it harder to control the club on the downswing and consistently deliver a square clubface at impact, producing straight shots.--GS.
TheGolfSage 5 days ago
My favourite swing is at 4mins 38secs
Noallegiance 2 weeks ago
Thanks for this video. It's the best one I've found so far for showing Snead's swing while he was in his prime. Thanks again.
WEBERFOOT 3 weeks ago
I really like Snead's hip action. To me, it looks like he turns his hips along with the upper body together... right from the start of the swing. Huge hip turn!
smoothswinging14 3 months ago
The point here folks is that if you want to play great golf, work on rhythm, grace, tempo and balance. It'll do a hundred times more for your game than worrying about the technical aspects of your swing.
putting4party 3 months ago
I have never seen before, i cant believe, it's like watching myself... I had no idea how much i truly owed & missed my coach, Sam... He was a wonderful friend also and i feel bad that i fell out of touch with him.
Thanks Sam-
-Scott
hutch71 4 months ago
I was taught by a man who knew Sam Snead, and shared his secrets with me over the course of 2 years back in 2000, His name was ironically was Sam as well, Sam Heiserman to be exact. I subsequenty took some big life blows and stopped playing golf. After 10 years i recently started hitting balls again. I very easily used the foundations of what i leaened from Sam, (both of them)...
Im hitting them about 80% as well as i did then. But im improving and playing... Now with these clips of Sam i h
hutch71 4 months ago
You know when I first heard of sam snead? When i live in HIS HOUSE in hot springs, va on the one street that runs through ashwood; I lived in the victorian white house that had, in its kitchen, a breakfast nook that has the "S" letter enscribed in its one support. Those were the best times of my life for the friends I had.
I sincerely wish I would have kept those OLD golf clubs out in the shack in the back; we didnt have an Ebay then :)
Antianythingism 5 months ago
A lot of pressure @ 4:34 teeing off with a fat guy wearing a kilt and a sombrero on the 1st tee.
clipboardcrotch 6 months ago
2nd one is at the first tee of the old white course
harrybasile456 7 months ago
what a great compilation. thanks so much for putting it together
drjeffholmes 8 months ago
i'm gonna stop taking lessons and watch this video 2 hrs before i play every time. classic brilliance!
tabbyybbat 8 months ago
He's a muscley son of a bitch. What was the waltz he whistled? Was it just a waltz or was it a particular waltz?
TheJimmyNewc 1 year ago
I think I can hear the ball crackle on some of these, even without the sound. The guy was pure murder. In '37, he won the tour's long-drive contest with three shots averaging over 320, with that old equipment (modern tour players tested on equipment from the '60s hit it about 250-260 on average). It wasn't unusual for guys like him (or de Vicenzo, or a few others) to pipe it out there 350 or more. Try it sometime with balata and persimmon from 60 or more years ago.
emncaity 1 year ago
@emncaity
Point is, what he would do with today's equipment is terrifying--and the second point is, these eejits who think Tiger invented golf...oy.
emncaity 1 year ago
Young Snead is SO much like the younger Els (mid-20s or so). Els needs to go find that again.
emncaity 1 year ago
Left hip and left knee move out of the way at the speed of Woods or Nicklaus, in the younger Snead--no matter what fawning announcers say about Woods having the "fastest hip clearance in history" (not even close to true). But to Sam, this was just a natural consequence of what any athletic person would do when trying to swing the club with force. He said once he was aware of the clearing, and he'd describe it in his instructional books, but never worked a day in his life on using his legs.
emncaity 1 year ago
More golfers would be better golfers if they learned everything they could from Snead.
Great thing about it is that Snead never got technical with it all. He just swung the damn golf club. Too many golfers get TOO technical in search of a good swing. I know I have before!!!
Golf is a much, much easier game when you approach it the way Sam did. Your job is to swing the club, not hit a bunch of swing "positions."
Goynes42 1 year ago
I watched Sam play 36 holes up close at a US Open qualifier in 1970. He was 58 years old at the time, playing a course he'd never seen before. I don't recall him missing a single fairway.
mlthompson54 1 year ago
I watched this clip the night before my round and shot a 74, my lowest ever. When I stood over the ball I just envisioned Sam's swing. Thanks Mr Snead. Nick G
pilot3155 1 year ago
o: I have an old copy of "how to Hit a Golf Ball from any sort of life" Never thought golf could be so interesting.
fd3srules 1 year ago
His rhythm was the best I've ever seen, but I've always thought the best part of his swing was the transition to the downswing. He always squared up the face of the club perfectly, allowing him to make a powerful attack. It's a classic "body" swing that was far better in the old days with the clubs they had.
79barkingspider 1 year ago
Just the best swing in the world. Poetry. Tempo. Power. Accuracy. Grace. Fluidity. There's not one thought in that head of his, and not one bit of tension or hint of rushing anywhere. At one with the club, the ground, the ball and the target. It's like he's dancing with the club.
Noallegiance18 1 year ago
He actually takes the club back way to the inside then outside on the down swing, like swinging a sledge hammer 3:21 and 4:04 and especially 4:20 This is opposite from a swinger like Miller Barber. This swing was probably developed because his club was too heavy as a youngster. A great way to learn how to swing the club.
jkiene 1 year ago
@jkiene LOL ..Not wanting to retain the mental image...most pros looked the other way when Barber teed off.
bogee4u 1 year ago
@jkiene
Looping to the outside is a good way to swing the club? I think this may be a case of taking a quirk and making a recommended technique out of it. Snead's rhythm and the pure swinging motion of his arms and club (not to mention huge clearance with the lower body) allowed him to overcome what would otherwise be an over-the-top move that causes people a lot of grief.
emncaity 1 year ago
@emncaity Yes I do believe taking the club from the inside to out is a great way to swing the club. It's easier to make a loop in the swing weather you take the club outside in like couples or inside then out like Snead or Nicklaus. Incidentally they were two of the greatest 5 golfers to ever play the game. Snead's move allowed a more free arm swing because the elbows were away from the body early in the down swing compared to getting stuck with a outside in swing. Jim McLean agrees...
jkiene 1 year ago
@jkiene
Incidentally, Nicklaus did this too--more noticeably when he was young (check the photos in The Greatest Game of All, for instance, and remember he hit mostly fades)--but I know of no prominent teacher who would advise seeking it out as something you want to _try_ to do. All of which is to say, as with other great players, it's not positions or isolated moves you want to try to copy, because any single one of them might not be ideal, but the feel and flow of the whole swing.
emncaity 1 year ago
awesome fluid swing
katbrookes 1 year ago
@retiredge76
no
nojomen2 1 year ago
wow his keft leg lifts and knee points to the right
teewoods 1 year ago
Notice how Snead does'nt sway (modernists call it a weight shift) through his swing. He stays fairly stable through out.
jbetleydc 1 year ago
i see alot of sam snead in freddie couples
martinkp76 1 year ago
is it jsut me or back then they used ALOT more hips huh.. th ats lost alot in todays golf
helenathena 1 year ago
@helenathena
no, look.
nojomen2 1 year ago
Outside of Mike Austin, the closest thing to the most powerful and efficient motion a human body can make hitting a golf ball.
Snead might be in the top ten nearly every week if he played today. Much easier on the joints than Tiger's swing.
Inmotion70 2 years ago
His backswing is too long and he is a little over top at his transition. He'll never make it as a pro :-)
dave
ps. PLEASE note the smiley face
DaveLeeNC 2 years ago 2
ha...that's pretty funny.
hab41 2 years ago
great awesome video!!! thanks duffy!!!
smoothswinging14 2 years ago
Sneads hips don't fully turn until the top of his backswing. You can see how little his hips turn at first from the front on view. He is focused on making a full shoulder turn on the backswing and firing his hips on the downswing. No one comes close to Snead but Fred Couples and Geoff Ogilvy are similar.
mattym36 2 years ago
Good observation: Couples' swing is very similar to Snead's, a little less brisk and more shoulder turn but fundamentally the same golf swing.
Blackshayde 2 years ago
If you can get a good shoulder turn and drop the club into position, letting you legs start the downswing you are in good shape. I think alot of people turn their shoulders first on the downswing causeing an inconsistant strike and they should consentrate on making a good shoulder turn then letting the legs hips start and the hands drop naturally.
mattym36 2 years ago
well, said. I agree but would add that along with a full shoulder turn is weight shifting completely on your back leg in the back-swing. As long as you STAY IN BALANCE (the biggest mistake i see with hackers is poor or inconsistent set-up and a lack of balance) and do what you mentioned your should have a great swing.
iferraro 2 years ago
guys were just better golfers back then ,,, snead trevino hogan nicholas..if they were aroundwith todays equipmenttheyd probably be better than tiger
lhwood777 2 years ago
Don't forget, these old timers had to play with mud on their ball, from tee to green. No cleaning balls back then. Also, these fellas' had to make the ball skip over another on the greens since they couldn't mark them on the greens. No technology advancements in any of the clubs either. The Golf courses were tougher especially the majors. The fairways were much tighter, no second cut, nothing but thick hairy rough lined the fairways and the greens. The greens were bumpy and bunkers were tough.
1tontomato 2 years ago
These old timers did not have sponsors, they had to pay for everything, even the range balls. Most of these guys had jobs outside of tournament golf to pay for their bills, most of them were Head Professionals at your local golf course. The purses were meager which made winning a tournament extra special, it was all about pride and beating your opponent. Today we have guys who make a million a year on tour without winning a tournament, what a joke!
1tontomato 2 years ago
true, and tiger is still trying to beat the golden bear's record for most majors
jobser12345 2 years ago
Thank's for posting this bunch of clips: I try to copy it, but unfortunately I'm not that intelligent, I suppose. Well, I must promote another clip that has so few viewers. And I wonder why? Because Jack N. and Sam S. had a similar left foot at back swing (lift the heal). See clip: Jack Nicklaus (Young) Driver FO. Sam & Jack - that's power!
petereuropa 2 years ago
He reminds me of a young Tiger the way he snaps the left knee straighter to trigger the downswing (or seems to?) - amazing power! Remember, Slammin' Sam nailed his drives an average of 270-280yds with an old persimmon...I'd be happy with that with the latest Titleist driver! - Timeless class.
tiger2995 2 years ago
Young Nicklaus used to do exactly the same--and meant to do it.
Snead just boggles my mind every time I think about the guy. He won tournaments in--what, six or seven consecutive decades? Shot 60 when he was 70-something, missing a couple of short putts on the last two holes? Scholarshipped for multiple other sports, freakishly fast runner, boxer...geez. Too amazing.
emncaity 2 years ago
Sam Snead had just a great swing. If I or anybody try to copy as much as I/we can, Sam's swing, we are on the right track.
I love GOLF! It's just a SUPER sport, game, or whatever we name it. Keep swinging!
petereuropa 2 years ago
He really hit the shit out of the ball
timetogo888 2 years ago
Sam's swing looks so effortless. I love his full finish. His arms look like noodles swinging the club.
MikePedersenGolfTips 2 years ago
Comment removed
paulski5 3 years ago 2
Yes, your correct emncaity, a slight heel lift has help me out a lot especially with the long irons and driver. The reson a lot of golfers have problems with long irons, 3 woods, and their drivers is that they don't rotate the hips enough in the back swing, and as a result, the club cuts across the ball slicing it.
brown547 3 years ago
Hogan had better footwork. Balance to be specific. While Snead "sometimes" finished on a flat left foot, Hogan most always did. Hence, a "slightly" better ball striker because of it. If the "base" of any motion is stable then the motion shall be more repetitive and on the "same plane" Who knows why Snead never came to the same conclusion as Hogan?
AOC1983 3 years ago
Does it really matter? He won more times than anyone on tour, and he lasted longer than anyone. Hogan had more accuracy; Snead had more power, and a swing that LITERALLY lasted him a lifetime. I would take Snead's free flowing powerful swing over Hogan's grinders stroke.
DeniedHealthCare 3 years ago
I'd take either one of those swings. They're not as completely different as they've been discussed. Every good swing has a lot of common elements, and a lot of the discussion by 'philes focuses really intensely on differences that aren't really all that significant.
emncaity 3 years ago 2
Sam's left foot is not what caused him to be less accurate than Hogan. Sam nearly always played a pull draw that would sometimes get a little hot. Great for powerful, but not ideal for accuracy. I must say that Snead was definitely one of the most accurate long hitters...he had to be! Different game than we have now, where the rough is a safety zone.
DeniedHealthCare 3 years ago
Both were very good ball strikers, the reason why the left foot sometimes came up was to facilitate a better shoulder turn on a steeper angle. Lifting the left foot does not interfere with the fundamentals of the swing. Hogan in his five lessons book makes mention of lifting the left foot, so long as does not interfere or hinder other parts of the swing
brown547 3 years ago
Not only does it not hinder, sometimes it helps. Depending on the posture and plane of the individual player, a moderate lift of the left heel (in reaction to the movement of the rest of the body, not as a forced move) can allow the hips to turn rather than tilt, as Nicklaus describes with some of his '79-'80 swing changes that left him hitting the ball more cleanly and with more versatility than he'd ever had before.
emncaity 3 years ago
NOWAY
lhwood777 2 years ago
amen to ur comments.. take a look at his swing plane.. dead on throughout.. Sam and Ben Hogan were few of the players who understood what it took to keep the shaft on the same angle throughout the swing.. teachers today tell us to resist with our lower bodies going back.. the last thing anyone should do is resist anything from turning on the back swing.. best swing ever in my opinion..
fontaine32 3 years ago
you are so right- the modern teacher's should be sued for the garbage they have taught golfders the past twenty years- and i am only 28 years old- try hitting the old clubs es[pecially a 2-iron while not turning your hips- impossible
shortgamebull 2 years ago
You are absolutely right modern teachers have fucked so many people up with the "modern" golf swing in which the weight shifts back and comes forward...Sam's swing was simple and powerful, weight forward, left shoulder pointed down, spine tilted left at impact...His body never moved off the ball...You are right, he and Hogan had it figured out...they owned their swings
brown547 3 years ago
I agree that modern teaching has messed some things up, mostly the learning process in my opinion. You mention his spine tilting LEFT at impact? I don't quite see that...I see it definately tilting away from the target.
googs68 3 years ago
Yes, my mistake, his spine is tilting away from the target, not left at impact. At impact his spine was actually moving away from the target and extending as he faced the target on his follow through....
brown547 3 years ago
Fantastic talent. Missed meeting Sam Snead at the '97 players championship by a few minutes. He was helping VJ hit wedge shots. That would have been great to see! I did get to meet Byron Nelson who was as kind as you always hear.
googs68 3 years ago