Sam snead talking about Overswinging

[stevepising]

If you look at older footage of snead playing here on YT, you will see him doing an almost Dalyesque overswing. As a younger man he tried to kill every single drive and it was really only in his mid to late 30s that he learnt to throttle back. He had a huge swing in his twenties, not unlike a right handed Bubba Watson, not surprisingly another feel player.

[hempster]

he had no idea that what made his swing work was his kinetic sequencing. He started his downswing by replacing the left heel on the ground which started the knee moving towards the target, that's the key! the left knee starting first. Then the hips begin to ROTATE NOT SHIFT, then the left shoulder and arm, then the hands, then the club. He fired his swing like a 5 stage rocket, from the ground up. But Snead fought centrifugal force by returning the club to were it started at address.

[dschultz6072]

@hempster sounds like you watched the somax video.

[srv29]

@dschultz6072 looool yup.

[MrRyan1789]

link to-->Jamie Sadlowski

[pat52010]

I took off my golf shoes on the driving range today and practiced with the driver. It is pretty amazing how well I started hitting the ball. Here's my swing thoughts; Rythmn, Relaxation, Balance(keep your feet on the ground)--The Secret is in the dirt!!

[normmccabe]

@pat52010 if you're hitting the driver shouldn't the secret be in the air?

[pat52010]

@normmccabe Staying anchored to the ground is what I meant , when I said the secret is in the dirt. If you take a nice rythmical swing without exagerated foot movement you game will improve quickly.

[emncaity]

Kinda interesting--it's like Goalby is just pushing him like crazy to talk about lower-body motion, feet, etc., when Sam always said the hands and arms were the most important thing about the swing, and the rest (torso, legs, etc.) was critical but in a supporting role (cf. Toski, Flick, et al--even early Kostis). Watch toward the end (4:25) when Sam's trying to get Goalby to understand that the shoes-off drill is intended to keep people from throwing the torso and lower body hard at the ball.

[emncaity]

Also: These comments about rhythm and swinging within oneself may seem old-mannish, but they're not. You can't talk about rhythm, timing, and mechanics as three separate things, because they're so closely related and interactive, and a flaw in one may be caused by a problem with another. If your rhythm and timing is bad enough, your mechanics _can't_ be good, despite the nonsensical (and unproven) claim that many gurus make now re teaching a swing where "timing isn't even a factor."

[emncaity]

One of the most impressive things about a guy like Ricky Fowler (who I'm inclined to detest, because of the precious haircut and studied unicolor look, but I _can't_ detest because he seems like a nice kid, he plays like a friggin' demon, and he's obviously interested in wins rather than top-20s) is how he dialed down his swing so many times at the Memorial, absolutely flagging several short-irons from much shorter distances than you'd expect--9-iron from 120, etc. Control. Within himself.

[emncaity]

To the posters talking about Snead's comments re Hogan's overswinging, Hogan himself said he used to overswing and in fact revised his swing in exactly the manner Snead is saying. (Snead also said that few people realize that when Hogan was in his prime, he was a first-rate putter, especially on the makable birdie putts and the shortish putts for par.)

To get an appreciation for Snead, you really have to go look at some of his younger vids and think about who he was beating at the time.

[emncaity]

@dinkipooxa

I'm not often stunned by what I read on YT anymore, but just when I think I've heard it all, along comes this flaming tower of ignorance--the claim that Snead "had no insights to impart." And you do? We'll take your insights, or the insights of whomever you point us to, rather than those of the guy who won more pro tournaments than any American player in history--against Hogan, Nelson, Demaret, Mangrum, Middlecoff, Palmer, Nicklaus, Player, et al.?

[dschultz6072]

@emncaity sam snead don't know a damn thing about hitting a golf ball...but he does it better than anyone else.

[addamsmith]

Hi There

18 Tips from 18 Pros which is now on DVD as well

Hope this helps

Regards

Addamsmith

[stevieray09]

what year was this?

[hanon1492]

addamsmith, Which tape are these clips taken from? Please tell the title to try to get it.Thanks

[EVIEROCKSMYSOCKS]

haha i have a boyfriend called Sam Sneade :L x

[kelvinkloud]

majors are somewhat overrated... hence, this man talking right here was flat out the greatest golfer ever. the most wins + over 40 other non pga events won overseas & in other venues.

[rgmmiller93]

Were Hogan and Snead friends?

[EaglesLair27]

I would say on camera they pretended to be friends. But everyone in the know knew they hated each other's guts. This is what made the rivalry so strong because they had a intense dislike for one another but they did respect each others game. Snead once said when he played with Hogan "he couldn't watch his swing because it was too quick." They said the only thing Hogan ever said to Snead during a round was "You are away". So you can get the feelings between the two of them.

[emncaity]

@EaglesLair27

Just ridiculous. You need to go read more from both men. You're way off.

[H0VA]

Hell no. Sam Snead once said that whenever he played with Hogan he could never stand to look at his swing because he felt it was throw his game off.

[emncaity]

@H0VA

Right, but not as an insult to the mechanics of Hogan's swing; it was specific to tempo, just the "whoosh-whoosh" as he called it.

[petereuropa]

addamsmith = great video, thank's

Sam = super tips, thank's

Where are you Sam? Are you still among us?

[aardvaark069]

That may be but in the Snead montage of him playing actual golf he certainly goes way past horizontal at the top.

[DeniedHealthCare]

Sammy I'm not buying it! I just got through watching a montage of your swing, and you were steady swinging past parallel.

[ironmaiden12111]

Its not about past paralel you see a player like Ben Hogan or Gary Player there swings have perfect body movement, if you watch Jim Furik his back swing is not paralel but on the down swin he shifts if body to a perfect position so the club goes back on plain, its all about how you move your chest and hips nothing else maybe if you try that youll be hitting it very well.

[emncaity]

He definitely had crazy flexibility when he was young--he was a tremendous multisport athlete--and his tendency to make as full a swing as possible is credited with extending his competitive longevity.

Agreed, though--"parallel" is just a checkpoint. Tom Watson won five British Opens (and some other majors too) swinging it past parallel. Faldo didn't win any majors until he cut back on his. So it really does depend on all the other dynamics of the individual swing.

[emncaity]

And for the record--if you're a skilled overswinger like I used to be, you absolutely can still overswing in your bare feet. Trust me.

Having said that, I'm not disagreeing with Snead in principle. And a lesson with Sam--probably the best teacher among all top playing pros ever--would have been the best thing to happen to anybody's game. When you're giving a general tip out on a broadcast like this, the generalities always have exceptions; it's not like getting individualized instruction.

[Evafan133]

A full swing is not bound by parallel, Sam Snead was so strong, he could control the club almost completely even going that far back. Overswinging is swinging so far back that you lose control of the golf club, which is why many people take the club to parallel, or even to 3/4. It's all about what gives you control and power, my friend.

[lhwood777]

he lerned it when he got older... hes one of the greatest players that eer lived

[paulski5]

Thanks for the video...but you cut it off mid-swing!!...you can't do that on Sneaddddd video!!!

;)

[emncaity]

Boy, heard that! Cruel...

[FulviaUno]

Great stuff Addam.. Have to say the swing looks a carbon copy of Jack Nicklaus's. Guess the Bear learned a little from the Slammer!

[golfer2729]

one of the best ever

[SchweizerStolz]

Good post.

What I found rather interesting was that when Snead was swinging in his socks, his left foot remained flat (on the ground) - as opposed to when he was wearing shoes.