3 Swing Images from Sam Snead

This is one of those Martin's Bookshelf bits from School of Golf. You can never go wrong copying Sam Snead; the greatest players in the game have said that just watching Slammin' Sam was enough to help their game.

This video includes 3 images from Sam's instructional book Sam Snead Teaches You His Simple "KEY" Approach to Golf.

These pictures are:

1. Put your hands in a holster at setup
2. Lay the club on a bookshelf for a moment at the top of your backswing
3. Throw an apple off the shaft at impact

You can get the details of each from the video -- and they're all extremely useful -- but I would like to mention one thing about each.

1. The holster image is another way of teaching you not to rotate your forearms during your takeaway. If you use this image, the necessary rotation will happen at your lead shoulder and be controlled by the bending of your trailing elbow. You'll be in better position at the top, which means you'll return the club to the ball more consistently.
2. Although Martin is demonstrating the move down with a forward hip shift, Sam actually started down with a squat -- that is, the knees flexed so that they actually separated a little (the trailing knee actually moves slightly AWAY from the target and the lead knee moves slightly TOWARD the target). This wasn't a huge squat -- it's actually very slight -- and he did shift his weight to his lead foot as he swung, but initially your body moves DOWN before moving toward the target. This is what used to be called the "modern" swing as opposed to the Hogan swing. You'll find it easier to use this image if you know that.
3. Finally, this is yet another way to practice carrying your wrist cock later into the downswing. If you get good at this drill, you should pick up some noticeable distance.

I'm glad that Martin Hall spends some time each week sharing things from the old masters. We talk so much about golf history but we often underestimate how much useful information those old masters can still provide for us.