A DAY AT A NATURAL GOLF SCHOOL

By Roy Love

Aug. 15,2000

Feet wide apart at address - Slide your hips - Hit the ball with a hammer.

Doesn’t sound like anything I’ve ever heard. But, you know there is something to this unorthodox approach toward hitting a golf ball. And that something is - results. If you follow the principles of this swing you will definitely hit the ball straight.

I met Jack Kuykendall at Hilton Head in 1991. Jack is a scientist, a very accomplished golfer and the founder of Natural Golf. While Jack was elaborating on his system a Canadian golf pro said, "Hey - that swing is just like Moe Norman’s." "Who is Moe Norman?" was Jack’s reply. Jack later found out that Moe Norman is the golfer that Lee Trevino described as "probably the best striker of a golf ball there ever was and ever will be". Unlike Moe, Jack developed his swing system from a scientific base. Both Jack and Moe developed their theories about striking a golf ball completely independent of each other. The interesting part is how similar each of their theories are. So much so that Jack being impressed by Moe - brought him to national recognition and Moe is now the spokesman for Natural Golf

Tom Herskovits thought so too. "I discovered Natural Golf two years ago. my game went from a 15 to a 9."  Tom became so convinced that he and a group of other believers bought the company. Tom is now Chairman of the Board of the Natural Golf Corporation.

Back to the school:

Bill Gaines Sr., is one of Natural Golf’s instructors. He came all the way from MacClenny (near Gainesville) FL to teach us the principles of this unusual golf swing. It was a one day affair held at the Plantation Golf Range in Tampa. I  attended  the school with GTE Executive Bill Boland. We started at 9:00 AM and didn’t finish until dark. This guy Gaines is a exceptional golf instructor. He'll go to any length to help you develop your game. I really think he would have stayed there all night if we asked him to.  Bill is one of the most dedicated golf instructors that I’ve ever met.  Right out of the box, he said;

 "Most people aim their golf club like a shotgun. They aim in the general direction rather than at a specific target. Optics being the most dominant sense, the bottom of the club head is the only thing that your eyes can relate to. Line your club to the target then line your body up to the club. Your brain sends only two signals to your muscles – either contract or expand. Therefore if you grip the club so that your palms face each other, your hands will be equally balanced. The signals from the grip to the brain will be equal. If not, the signals will go to either the left or the right side of your brain.  When your hands are not equal its a guess as to which side is going to get the feedback." 

To illustrate: 
When you hit the ball to the right, it’s a good bet that your the next shot will go to the left. That's because the subconscious mind will try to correct the mistake and will invariably overcompensate. 
When faced with this situation, it's a good idea to take a couple of practice swings before you hit your next shot. That way you will get that mistake out of your mind - get that push out of your body. This exercise will insure that your brain is getting equal signals."

MY OBSERVATION:

"Because of Moe Normans unorthodox approach to hitting a golf ball and the similarity of the Natural Golf’s teaching methods, many traditionalists in the game are quite skeptical. Granted, there are some untraditional parts of this teaching method, but in my opinion, it really doesn’t stray from the basic principles that are taught by most teaching professionals."

FOR EXAMPLE

THE HORIZONTAL DRILL:

Hold the club straight out in front of you. Widen your stance (that part is different.) Now turn your shoulders to the right with your left arm extended at the top of the takeaway. By doing this your right arm will be forced to fold close to your body almost touching your right rib cage. (Sounds familiar to me.) If you want to get your hands higher turn your shoulders – then your body. Do not try to turn with your hands; it will cause the left arm to break down.

ROTATE YOUR SHOULDERS:

To get your hands higher just rotate your shoulders. Try to keep your thighs straight to the target. Make sure that the club head is still in plane at the top of the back swing. It should be in the same position at the top of the swing as it is at the address. (nothing really different here)  Your right elbow should be close to your side. – not poked in, but just close to your side.

THE SHOULDERS START THE BACK SWING:

To initiate the back swing the left knee moves. (starting to get different now) Then your elbow comes into your side and you straighten your right arm. When you pull back with your right hand your club will be in plain at the top of your back swing: Do not pull back with both hands - pull back with the right hand only.

At address your clubface will be at a 45-degree angle – at the top of your back swing, your clubface will also be pointing up at the same 45-degree angle. To make your hands go higher just rotate your shoulders.

THE TOP OF THE BACK SWING

When your left elbow is too close to your right side it will cause your left arm to collapse rather than stay straight. This will also cause the club head to go off plane.
When making the shoulder turn be careful not to turn your hips: The hips should turn only as a result of the shoulder turn, not during the take away. If you want your hands any higher, just turn your shoulders. Your hands go higher by your shoulder rotation not by pushing them up.

(Now this is where it gets really different:)
THE DOWNSWING:

After you reach the top of your back swing you initiate the downswing.
The conventional teaching pros advocate turning your hips to the left. The Natural Golf swing advocates bending the left knee forward causing the hips to slide to the left rather than rotating. This move accomplishes two things.

1. It reduces the tendency to cast the club from the top causing an outside in swing.

2. It enlarges the distance of the "flat spot" (The" flat spot" is the space where the clubface is 90 degrees to the target.) The flat spot is usually about two inches before impact and about three inches after.

Bill says, "By bending the left knee forward and sliding the hips to the left the Natural golf swing enlarges the flat spot as much as 18 inches thus allowing the golfer to hit the ball consistently straighter."  After initiating this move all you have to do is drop your elbow down to your right side and straighten your arms out.

At that position the impact position both feet will be solidly planted to the ground and your club head will be at the same 90-degree angle that you had when you were originally at address. When you reach the striking position all you have to do is something that you have been doing since the first year of your life. 
That is STAND UP.  In this "stand up position", let all the stored energy release and fly out toward the target. You will get increased momentum in the lower body thus picking up additional club head speed. As you turn through to the finish your hands will be high and your belt buckle will be pointing either at the target or to the left of the target. Your weight will be transferred to your left side causing your right heel to be pointing straight up. Go on through and stand up. The reason for the wide stance to create stability.

GRIP PRESSURE:

Grip pressure should be very light.  Take the right hand and wrap your fingers around the grip – do not squeeze. Do the same with the left hand, again do not squeeze. The effect will be just like a Chinese Handcuff. The more you pull on it the tighter the fingers lock on the club.

 As you swing the club - even though there is sixty to seventy pounds of inertia weight pulling on them the hands will not let the club fly away.

RELAX YOUR LOWER BODY

Stand in a relaxed position with your knees locked. Slightly flex them forward. The slight flex will allow the bones in your legs to continue to hold you up. Too much flex and the muscles will take over.. You want the bones in your legs to hold you up - not the muscles. Unlike muscles bones will always come back to the same place, muscles will not.

BALANCE:

Stand straight up with your knees flexed slightly forward. Just as if you were sitting on a barstool.  When you do that,  your weight goes back on your heels. Rock your body slightly forward so that your shoulders are over the soles of your feet and your knees are over your shoelaces. You will have 80 percent of your weight on your heels and 20 percent on the soles of your feet.
This position puts you in perfect balance. Without balance you will spray your shots all over the golf course. When you set up think 80-20 -SOLID   Your feet should be solid to the ground, not rooted to the ground.

TEMPO:

Bill recommends, one tempo for every club. Your hands should travel at the same speed regardless of what club you use.   To get different distances and different trajectories change your clubs, not your tempo.  A wedge makes the ball go higher. A three-iron lower. The swing speed of the hands should be exactly the same. The speed of the club head at impact is in direct proportion to the length of the club and the flex of the shaft. That’s why a driver’s club speed can be over 100 mph, while a 5 iron will be about 85.  The longer the club the faster the club head speed, but the hands should swing at the same speed at all times.

But,  wait there' s more.

Things like:
HOW TO PRACTICE ON THE RANGE:

THE MUSCLES - WHAT THEY DO

SHOULD YOU USE YOUR FAVORITE CLUB?

HOW TO CHIP EFFECTIVELY:

LINING UP AND PUTTING

These will be covered in the second installment of this article.

Bill did a fine job of explaining just what the Natural Golf Swing is all about. It may be different but it works.