The Time Machine: Sam Snead / Bob Toski Clinic
 

We at Lynn Blake Golf are pleased to present this excerpt from a private clinic with Sam Snead and Bob Toski. But don't just 'watch' this video. Instead, engage the full power of your visual and auditory senses and an alert, inquiring mind. Only in this manner will you experience the wealth of information it contains.

Afterwards, I encourage each of you to post your observations and revelations. C'mon...post! The act of writing will crystallize your thoughts and 'cement in' what you've learned. Plus, we will all benefit from the distillations of the 'collective mind.' After a day or so, I'll weigh in with my own thoughts.

And now...

Step into our Time Machine and pull up a chair front and center. Soon just a few feet away will be two of the greats of golfing history telling you and showing you how they get the job done.

Ready? Buckle up...

Here we go!

www.lynnblakegolf.com/Video/SneadToski1.wmv

Yet another genuine 'thank you'! Wonderful to see such legends in motion.

Such pure 'swingers' of the club. Gems of knowledge - from the 'building' of speed, to the driving right side and knee, to 'lag' and low point manipulation and so much more. I've always like Sneads "key" of the holster - returning the hands to 'impact', and Toski's "How to Feel a real Golf Swing" is one of my personal favorites.

Not from the clip, but my favorite Toski quote - "The feel is in the hands and the feet"

sums it up quite well

And the crisp sound of true impact.... click.... click.... click.....


gotta love Sneads way of saying things.... "swing down and up at the same time"

pure 'feel' descriptions, and very accuarate ones IMO

Great stuff!! Can't wait till the next in the series of Blakebuster videos!

Snead's got a silky smooth swing...great tempo.

Keith

From Sam's description... he feels as if he is swinging on one plane, or track. I could see and sense the effortless power in his swing. He takes it back nice and easy, then pours it on at the ball.

I could see his flat left wrist at the TOP, or END.

His stationary head is just so great to see....

I love the down and up at the same time .... I thought it was interesting with him talking about the clubface being open at address as it should be for the swinger.....

Great video - these are just so great - really thank you....

Mr Blake these videos are great. I can't thank you enough. Watching the videos brings your words to life. Understanding things on an intellectual level only gets you so far watching the various videos brings your words and the book to life. Thanks and keep the videos coming.

Sifting through the horrible audio, I think I heard Sam say there are two reasons why one hits at the ball instead of through the ball. One is too much right arm and not enough participation from the left arm which causes the hands to stop at waist or chest high. Second , one's backswing is too fast, which encourages the right arm hacking motion. Acceleration occurs on the downswing, not the backswing.

Toski chimes in to add that lack of body rotation also contributes to hitting at the bal instead of through the ball.

More of a what goes on in a proper swing instead of a how to. Not helpful IMHO. Great swing. Dearth of instruction.

The Horn Of Plenty
 

As I stated in my introduction, you must bring not only your ears to bear on this video, but also your eyes and (trained) intellect. When you do, then the 'dearth' of instruction becomes a veritable cornucopia, as I will demonstrate with my own promised observations.

38 meg :shock: my poor little 56k modem just went into hiding :)

I don't know what year this was done it, but it does bring back some memories of days of old and greats (now they refer to them as of the past).

Found it interesting, terms not quite the same but you could may a great deal of this into TGM terms and validate the principles.

Boy his swing was fluid......wow!

Thanks and looking forward to your observatons...

If a swinger holds the club at impact fix, the club will be open at address like the video clip mentioned. If the club is held in the classic mid-body position (left wrist bent, right wrist straight) at address, the club will be slightly closed.

Do You See What I See?
 

Oh, why wait? Let's start with this:

One month ago in The Golfing Machine -- Basic Forum, I revealed Homer Kelley's most important swing thought: Tracing the Delivery Line with the Right Forearm. Thirty seconds into this video, while he is being introduced, Sam Snead proceeds to Trace the Delivery Line with his Right Forearm Flying Wedge.

Not once...

Not twice...

But thirteen times.

Did you see it?

Did anybody see it?

How important is it to learn that the #1 Swing Thought of the greatest Golf Mind of all time -- Homer Kelley -- has just been validated by one of the greatest Golf Performers of all time -- Sam Snead?

That was in the first minute.

There is more...

Re: Do You See What I See?
 

I noticed it right away, because after watching Trevino closely you know to look for these kinds of things. Would have liked a little more maintaining of his Wedge instead of the 'hit' he adds at the bottom, but nice nonetheless. These natural acts by great players confirm what they are doing in their strokes.

And I remember you saying a while back that his 'hit down and up at the same time' comment is in reference to striking down while the clubface lays back - our good friend the vertical hinge.

re: did you see what I see?
 

Yoda

There has been plenty of comments in the past on Snead's "Squat" and
big hip turn.


Take a close look at Snead's abnormally long arms.

It looks like his big pivot supports his arm swing and the club goes along for the ride.

And One More Thing...
 

"Learn to SWING THE HANDS, MONITOR THE HANDS. Some players use the Club only to develop its TOTAL equivalent in Lag Pressure Point Feel."

-- Homer Kelley (5-0)

Re: And One More Thing...
 

Snead's swing or anyones swing is nothing without hand direction.
Hands are your only hope of connecting the shot at hand to your brain.

Snead takes the club back inside and under and directs his arms and
Hands on a direct line from the top to the ball.

Snead Toski Observations
 

Per Yoda's request, my impressions of the video.

What jumped right out at me was the impressive
sound of compression Snead was creating.

WHOMP WHOMP WHOMP

And that was with a pitching wedge with the petal
nowhere close to the metal.

Next was Snead saying he set up with an open clubface,
and kept his hands ahead of the clubhead through impact.
Got LAG?

The third thing that struck me was Snead saying multiple
times about returning the club to near- address postion
through impact. PLANE.....

The fourth most striking impression was Snead's emphasis
on letting the ball get in the way of a good swing. His action is
the epitome of smooth unhurried acceleration.
There is certainly nothing dainty or hurried in Snead's
motiion. Precise, deliberate, and heavy.

I look forward to hearing more from y'all.

I just had a chance to watch the video, and one of the key points they make towards the end is keeping the club on plane.

Another thing that is evident, is Sam's swing going down, forward and out.

beautiful action
 

I love watching great swings!

This might be the best video in the gallery.

Snead's right hand grip, bent right wrist, right hand paddlewheel, right forearm tracing the plane line , horizontal hinge in my mind is the simplicity that is The Golfing Machine.

Certainly one could argue that he was the best player of all time.
Some highlights below:

In 1937, his first year on the Tour, he won five events, including the Oakland Open in California.

In 1938, he first won the Greater Greensboro Open, which he won eight times, the Tour record for victories at an event, concluding in 1965 at the age of 52, making him the oldest player to win a PGA Tour event.

1939 was the first year he choked at the U.S. Open, the only major event he never won.

He won 11 events in 1950. No one has since won more.

In 1974, at age 62, he shot a one-under-par 279 to come in third (three strokes behind winner Lee Trevino) at the PGA Championship at Tanglewood in Clemmons, North Carolina.

In 1978 he won the first Legends of Golf event, which was the impetus for the creation two years later of the Senior PGA TOUR, now known as the Champions Tour.

In 1979 he was the youngest PGA Tour golfer to shoot his age (67) in the second round of the 1979 Quad Cities Open. He shot under his age (66) in the final round.

In 1983, at age 71, he shot a round of 60 (12-under-par) at the Homestead in Hot Springs.

In 1997, at age 85, he shot a round of 78 at the Old White course of The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Records
Most PGA Tour victories: 82
Most PGA Tour victories at an event: 8 at the Greater Greensboro Open (1938, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1955, 1956, 1960, 1965)
Oldest player to win a PGA Tour event: age 52 years, 10 months, 8 days at the 1965 Greater Greensboro Open
First PGA Tour player to shoot his age: 67 in the second round of the 1979 Quad Cities Open
Oldest player to make a cut on the PGA Tour at age 67 years, 2 months, 21 days at the 1979 Manufacturers Hanover Westchester Classic.

A good quicktime clip of Snead can be found here:
http://golfdigest.com/instruction/sw...8samsnead.html

Another bit of interesting quote I found on Snead:


Woods couldn't clear a narrow stream in front of a par 3, then played out of the shallow water and made bogey. Snead beat him with a par, and was duly impressed, talking about Woods and his favorite subject -- the swing -- years later.


"You watch his backswing, and it comes right down on that same line,'' Snead said. "A lot of fellows come over the ball or dip around. Hogan said, 'I got something I'll take to the grave,' but I knew what it was. It was the right arm that would point toward the flag. You're not going to get off track very far. And that's the same with Tiger.''

Well, seeing Snead trace the delivery line was huge for me.

Also, later, when demonstrating pitches, Snead explains:

"I try to make my swing up here and down the same path."

"That's the whole thing. Keeping your swing up and down that same path."

The Plane Truth
 

It doesn't get more important than the Inclined Plane, Tarkus, and you've mentioned two huge keys to stay on it.

Welcome aboard and congratulations on your first post. Keep'em comin!

my novice atttempt
 

To me I notice how he sets his right arm in line with the shaft at address. which I guess it the begining of assembling the right forearm wedge.

I think he was displaying a hitting procedure when he was talking about Craig Wood(SP?) and a closed clubface, looks like he is vertical hinging at the end of that stroke.

Also I think he is displaying different hinging actions from his regular swing, his short pitches, low pitches and when he talks about hitting it high. If I am correct and if I was still not a novice I would venture to match up which hinges went with each shot.

Could watch him swing all day.

Payyin' Attention
 

Very attentive on all counts, GFLNVEG. Congratulations!

Where's that Homer Kelley video??
 

Help! I watched that Homer Kelley video a while ago and now I can't find it. Where the heck did I see that??
Thanks, whoever helps me.

http://www.lynnblakegolf.com/forum/v...se_images&g=14


Gallery under - Legends of the game