I was taught this swing 30 years ago. Played some mini tour golf. Won a few. Lowest round 62. I had alot of admirers. My ball striking was solid 95% of the time. This swing is truly a natural move. Muscles seem to just work together. Mr. Knudson in my opinion is the Mickey Mantle of golf. Only if he could have been a better putter. No telling how many tournaments he could have put in his bag. Legend.
Hey Jeffrey, quick question for you. You played on a mini tour, hit a low of 62. At that point, why not try to go pro? Or at least get on the Korn Ferry tour? Just curious
We had a local pro, Frank Kiraly here in Altoona, PA. He beat a young Arnie Palmer in the West Penn Pro Am, mid-1950’s. Frank told me he quit professional golf because the paychecks were too low. Concentrated on giving lessons for 50 years. At a golf lesson, I mentioned the “Sweet swinging George Knudson.” He replied, “Ah, Georgie. It was too bad.” I think he was referring to his untimely death. My Father and I watched all the golf tournaments in the 1960’s. Of course only the “biggies” were showcased on camera. The few times George Knudson was followed were pure joy. A lot of work went into that “effortless swing.” Enjoy your day. Best wishes from central Pennsylvania
My Mom and her side of the family were born and raised in Altoona! Spent many a summer in Altoona, loved the area!! Thank you for sharing your story!! 🙏🌞🏌️⛳🏌️🌞🙏
George Knudson is the most unsung, underrated player that ever existed. BAR NONE!! When Lee Trevino compliments your ball striking, you are a Michelangelo with a golf club. Knudson spent a great deal of time with the incomparable Ben Hogan. It shows in this beautiful action. Notice too how he draws his right foot so far back. More so than any other player I've seen. This is one aspect of his genius that truly stands out. What this clearly does is allowing a player far greater rotation. AND SMOOTHNESS. Had Knudson been a solid putter, he could have won eight dozen tournaments. instead of the eight he is credited with. His putting was as frightening as his swing was beautiful. As for his swing, few could stand comparison to this Maestro of the links.
In 1972 I watched him play a match at the Earl Grey golf club in Calgary, Alberta with Al Balding, against Bruce Devlin and Bob Charles. I remember it like it was yesterday.. George hit seventeen greens, and I mean most of his putts were under 20 feet. He could stop the ball on the greens when the others couldn't get the ball to stop very well. He shot 71 with 35 putts..he like Hogan didn't like putting. I remember one impressive shot: the 9th hole was around 225 yards, a pretty narrow entry with trees right and left and bunkered, that was a long par 3 with the persimmon woods they used in those days, the wind was howling from the 10 o'clock position left, I was standing directly behind him on the tee. He stood focussed over the ball for awhile , and I thought: When will he swing? If you came off the shot even a little , you'd lose it to the right, which the others did. He nailed an absolute missile of a three-wood that drew slightly into that wind and landed on the back left of the green. Masterful!
George's only book, "The Natural Golf Swing," has all the information you'll ever need on the subject, and it's become my swing bible. Nice video tribute. Thanks.
Sean, I love his concepts: The swing is a motion to target not ball. The Swing is a means to connect the starting position the finish position. Everything performed in balance. Power from the body through weight transfer and rotation to the clubhead. Footwork carries the club. He simplifes the swing so we are concerned with only a few factors, leaving all the minutiae behind.
Fantastic ball striker, a lot of Hogan and Snead in his action, George made no secret of his admiration for the Hawk. Loved watching him on Shell's wonderful world of golf, a perfect gentleman 👌
I don't know exactly how to put it into words, but this is so beautifully Canadian. We get the sweetest swing crushing the ball down these long and beautiful Canadian fairways and it literally just looks like this how the game is meant to be
Knudson had long been a heavy smoker and was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1987. He recovered well enough to compete at the 1988 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf Senior tournament. Shortly thereafter, it was discovered the cancer had spread to his brain. George Knudson died in January 1989 at age 51 and was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto.
Had a friend that witnessed Mr Kundson play an exhibition round at the historic Harvard University golf club. It was the mid 60’s and he played the perfect round. He hit every fairway and green that round. Had machine like consistency
I found out from a pro who took lessons from him when he was young that George taught him to address the ball off of the toe of every club. George said [basically] the swing expands energy as it is swung and “thin shots can still work, but fat shots will not.” I started addressing the ball off of the toe of the clubface and found this to be correct in that my big miss, fat shots, were virtually eliminated and the percentage of solidly struck shots improved dramatically. My putting improved with this technique as well. Try it…it may work for you as it did for me. My swing feels so much free-er.
I went to Harding Park in San Francisco in the mid 1960's to watch Arnold Palmer play. He played that day with a guy from Canada I was not familiar with. Arnie was made to look mediocre that day by George. Yes, I remembered the name. I believe he won about eight tour events despite being probably the worst putter out there.
that swing looks so nice, a real natural action, like his body is reacting to what he is trying to do, hit a golf ball. that's why i question some of today's teaching where they have it the other way around.
Proper swing with proper clubs at a proper ball, wearing proper shades. A master player until he reached the green. What a great video. Fantasy foursome: Trevino, Sanders, Knudson. Three of the most beautiful swings ever.
Front foot slightly in front of rear on the drives especially , I do this if I’m having trouble with my driving more control and it seems to encourage my right side to come through at impact and beyond
The swing is so on plane. Not sure I can swing like this - I love his backswing but it's a lot harder than it looks because it's on the limit with regards to not taking the club too far on the inside
Knudson looks so much like Hogan in that they moved to the right on the backswing and forward on the downswing in a perfect rhythm. Seems stack and tilt tries to keep weight forward and make the swing less dependent on having such a perfect rhythm.
Right off I noticed that low handed backswing /high follow through..very similar to an older Ben Hogan like in the old Hogan versus Snead Shell's golf show.
Takes the club back on the inside, rolls it open, lays it off a bit more at the top. As did Ben Hogan and Moe Norman, arguably the other two best ball-strikers ever. Modern teachers tell us this was all wrong!
@@whetedge Can't argue with that, though he rotated the left forearm on the downswing, as did Locke and Couples. Jones achieved it all as a part-time amateur. Locke might have been a contender for GOAT but he was barred from playing in US, allegedly because he was too good.
I totally agree about the old swings... I've studied many of them... Bobby Jones was so natural.. Freddy Couples is amazing to watch... Paul Wilson TH-cam teacher is very natural... May be worth watching some of his videos...
@@jimmurphy834 Agreed, works for him, don't knock it. There is no "correct" swing but so many pros tell us that we have to swing like Will Zalatoris, twist our old, unfit bodies into impossible shapes, what could possibly go wrong?
I saw a video with modern players trying to hit a persimmon driver with a balata ball. Was very comical as none of the top players trying could get it out there. One goes: how did they even play with these things? One of them, do not remember who, hit it 260.
Lower half doesn't stop moving, his hands and arms are passive. Give up control to gain control as the great man said. If people looked to imitate George's pelvic rotation back and his hip and leg lateral shift through and drill that alone in their living room or office without a club and arms folded across chest, they will become better ball strikers over night guaranteed.
Thanks for the comment. No, it is not. Some key differences, like for instance. In the setup, S&T recommends 55-60% of weight on the front foot with the hands slightly forward. Knudson recommends 50-50% weight distribution between the feet and hands in a neutral setup position. Other things like S&T keeps the weight on the front foot during the backswing and Knudson does not. But yea, different motions and philosophy.
Watch how long his arms trail (lag) his upper body thru the downswing, only 'catching up' with his chest long after the ball is gone. That's some serious lag.
He was a good player but his swing was not perfect. A great ball striker but he took the club to the inside and then brought it out and over. It worked for him. It also worked for Bobby Jones and Sam Snead.
Proper swing with proper clubs at a proper ball, wearing proper shades. A master player until he reached the green. What a great video. Fantasy foursome: Trevino, Sanders, Knudson. Three of the most beautiful swings ever.
I was taught this swing 30 years ago. Played some mini tour golf. Won a few. Lowest round 62. I had alot of admirers. My ball striking was solid 95% of the time. This swing is truly a natural move. Muscles seem to just work together. Mr. Knudson in my opinion is the Mickey Mantle of golf. Only if he could have been a better putter. No telling how many tournaments he could have put in his bag. Legend.
@aMiFiii read his book
@aMiFiii robert Johansson golf. He's a jerk but knows how
Hey Jeffrey, quick question for you. You played on a mini tour, hit a low of 62. At that point, why not try to go pro? Or at least get on the Korn Ferry tour? Just curious
@@joebro391he did go pro. Playing mini tours is still a professional golfer. I played myself for several seasons.
One of the greatest for sure. And a true friend of Moe Norman ...
George Knudson's ideas about the golf swing have salvaged my game. I could watch this video 100 times and not get sick of it.
love to hear it mate. Thanks for the comment
T
We had a local pro, Frank Kiraly here in Altoona, PA. He beat a young Arnie Palmer in the West Penn Pro Am, mid-1950’s. Frank told me he quit professional golf because the paychecks were too low. Concentrated on giving lessons for 50 years. At a golf lesson, I mentioned the “Sweet swinging George Knudson.” He replied, “Ah, Georgie. It was too bad.” I think he was referring to his untimely death.
My Father and I watched all the golf tournaments in the 1960’s. Of course only the “biggies” were showcased on camera. The few times George Knudson was followed were pure joy. A lot of work went into that “effortless swing.”
Enjoy your day.
Best wishes from central Pennsylvania
You are right, he's just a pure joy to watch swing a golf club. Great story John, thanks for sharing that.
My Mom and her side of the family were born and raised in Altoona! Spent many a summer in Altoona, loved the area!! Thank you for sharing your story!!
🙏🌞🏌️⛳🏌️🌞🙏
George Knudson is the most unsung, underrated player that ever existed. BAR NONE!! When Lee Trevino compliments your ball striking, you are a Michelangelo with a golf club. Knudson spent a great deal of time with the incomparable Ben Hogan. It shows in this beautiful action. Notice too how he draws his right foot so far back. More so than any other player I've seen. This is one aspect of his genius that truly stands out. What this clearly does is allowing a player far greater rotation. AND SMOOTHNESS. Had Knudson been a solid putter, he could have won eight dozen tournaments. instead of the eight he is credited with. His putting was as frightening as his swing was beautiful. As for his swing, few could stand comparison to this Maestro of the links.
Best montage of Knudson swings I've ever seen. Just fantastic!
Cheers and thank you
I don’t know how good he is at golf, but shiiiit he’s got an unparalleled aesthetic
"The Knud" Could watch this all day long:) Thank you! Long Live George Knudson!
Thank you and take care my friend!
sweetest swing I've seen. looks so comfortable, effortless. Todays players may hit 350 yards, but most amateurs would do well to copy this guy!
Totally, real golf! The Knud! I've been teaching is stuff for years!
Nah, Steve Elkington wins that one - a thing of beauty...
Todays equipment *ALLOWS* todays players to hit it 350
One of my favorite swings ever. Bought his book. Awesome!
A truly wonderful book! Cheers!
Saving this to watch over and over. Thanks
Thanks for the comment Mike
The many shades of a Legend.
This is a treasure trove. Any time I feel my backswing getting too long I try my best to channel the great George Knudson. What a swing!
His swing is powerful, yet gentle. Beautiful
Greatest 3/4 swing ever. Lots could learn from this motion.
Great swing and a very stylish dresser!
Yes. And for some reason I liked it better when they didn't wear hats....
Smooth swing and that sound of a persimmon wood striking a golf ball!
Poetry in motion. Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks for the comment
Can’t imagine what he would do with today’s equipment. Legend.
In 1972 I watched him play a match at the Earl Grey golf club in Calgary, Alberta with Al Balding, against Bruce Devlin and Bob Charles. I remember it like it was yesterday.. George hit seventeen greens, and I mean most of his putts were under 20 feet. He could stop the ball on the greens when the others couldn't get the ball to stop very well. He shot 71 with 35 putts..he like Hogan didn't like putting. I remember one impressive shot: the 9th hole was around 225 yards, a pretty narrow entry with trees right and left and bunkered, that was a long par 3 with the persimmon woods they used in those days, the wind was howling from the 10 o'clock position left, I was standing directly behind him on the tee. He stood focussed over the ball for awhile , and I thought: When will he swing? If you came off the shot even a little , you'd lose it to the right, which the others did. He nailed an absolute missile of a three-wood that drew slightly into that wind and landed on the back left of the green. Masterful!
What a great moment and a great story. Truly an incredible ball striker. Thank you for sharing this!
@C. Buck Hyres Great comment. Thanks for the insight Buck!
Thanks for the comment!❤️❤️❤️
So cool, great story!
Thanks for sharing. What a great story. What I would give to see him In person
George's only book, "The Natural Golf Swing," has all the information you'll ever need on the subject, and it's become my swing bible. Nice video tribute. Thanks.
Mine to and screwed up with this new edge stuff lol
Sean, I love his concepts: The swing is a motion to target not ball. The Swing is a means to connect the starting position the finish position. Everything performed in balance. Power from the body through weight transfer and rotation to the clubhead. Footwork carries the club. He simplifes the swing so we are concerned with only a few factors, leaving all the minutiae behind.
The bible
Hand action through the strike is awesome to me
Passive hands and arms. The hand action is a.. by the way happening as George describes it. He's doing nothing conscious w his arms or hands.
Fantastic ball striker, a lot of Hogan and Snead in his action, George made no secret of his admiration for the Hawk. Loved watching him on Shell's wonderful world of golf, a perfect gentleman 👌
One of the best swings I have ever seen 🙌
I don't know exactly how to put it into words, but this is so beautifully Canadian. We get the sweetest swing crushing the ball down these long and beautiful Canadian fairways and it literally just looks like this how the game is meant to be
Knudson had long been a heavy smoker and was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1987. He recovered well enough to compete at the 1988 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf Senior tournament. Shortly thereafter, it was discovered the cancer had spread to his brain. George Knudson died in January 1989 at age 51 and was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto.
just discovered Knudson. Love his swing going to give it a try even though I'm a newbie
Is there any better swings.Thank you showing the gift you have👏😍
Agreed. Thank you for the comment :)
I thought I'd seen every video clip of Knudson on TH-cam, then I see this! Thank you for editing this!
Thank you for the comment my friend
it was so good, i'm gonna watch it again,thnx.
Glad you liked it!
Had a friend that witnessed Mr Kundson play an exhibition round at the historic Harvard University golf club. It was the mid 60’s and he played the perfect round. He hit every fairway and green that round. Had machine like consistency
fantastic! Thank you for the story
This is so good. Thank you
I found out from a pro who took lessons from him when he was young that George taught him to address the ball off of the toe of every club. George said [basically] the swing expands energy as it is swung and “thin shots can still work, but fat shots will not.” I started addressing the ball off of the toe of the clubface and found this to be correct in that my big miss, fat shots, were virtually eliminated and the percentage of solidly struck shots improved dramatically. My putting improved with this technique as well. Try it…it may work for you as it did for me. My swing feels so much free-er.
What a great video. Well done.
I went to Harding Park in San Francisco in the mid 1960's to watch Arnold Palmer play. He played that day with a guy from Canada I was not familiar with. Arnie was made to look mediocre that day by George. Yes, I remembered the name. I believe he won about eight tour events despite being probably the worst putter out there.
that swing looks so nice, a real natural action, like his body is reacting to what he is trying to do, hit a golf ball. that's why i question some of today's teaching where they have it the other way around.
Yea thats a great way to put it. Thanks for the comment Steve
Definitely one of the best dressed golfers of his era.
I love this video, music is perfect.
Great ball striker and a cool cat.
What a lovely swing
It really is
Awesome video. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the comment Ed. Glad you enjoyed it
Great video and soundtrack. I see some swing similarities to his fellow countryman-Moe Norman.
Thanks for the great comment. They were two of the very best at swinging a golf club.
Beautifully done
The Maestro 💯🇨🇦
Golfs Mr Cool wow what a ball striker
Thanks
Proper swing with proper clubs at a proper ball, wearing proper shades. A master player until he reached the green. What a great video. Fantasy foursome: Trevino, Sanders, Knudson. Three of the most beautiful swings ever.
A little like Hogan! Very cool!!!
Beautiful video. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the comment. Also thank you for posting that Shell's match with Knudson, Archer and Elder. Its one I watch all the time.
@@TrevorStymie my pleasure. Another one appeared within days!
Thank you. Knudson is one of my favorite golfers, whose swing I try--but alas fail--to imitate.
Right there with you AL. Thanks for the comment
es tremendo me quedaria horas mirando este swing simple claro logico que mas golf puro . dios aqui miguel vendecime !!!
Front foot slightly in front of rear on the drives especially , I do this if I’m having trouble with my driving more control and it seems to encourage my right side to come through at impact and beyond
Thank you George. RIP
The swing is so on plane. Not sure I can swing like this - I love his backswing but it's a lot harder than it looks because it's on the limit with regards to not taking the club too far on the inside
His under plane takeaway is interesting. It’s frowned on in today’s instruction, but it used to be common.
I don't consider his take away "under plane". His arms are exactly where they would be by simply rotating the torso and leaving the arms alone.
It's exactly that initial move that sets up all the rest of the swing. Knudson knew how to swing the club.
best video on youtube
Anything with Knudson is great. Thanks for the comment my friend!
Knudson looks so much like Hogan in that they moved to the right on the backswing and forward on the downswing in a perfect rhythm. Seems stack and tilt tries to keep weight forward and make the swing less dependent on having such a perfect rhythm.
I think in his book he said his closed stance was to accommodate that his trail leg was 3/4" shorter than his lead leg.
Not only a graceful swing, but the man had impeccable style; gotta love the 60s. 0:34 2:51
How stylish as well.
Poetry in motion
Such flow and fluidity.. stylish man 👨..
Love the music what is it please??
Purest swing of all time.... there I said it.
Right off I noticed that low handed backswing /high follow through..very similar to an older Ben Hogan like in the old Hogan versus Snead Shell's golf show.
Takes the club back on the inside, rolls it open, lays it off a bit more at the top. As did Ben Hogan and Moe Norman, arguably the other two best ball-strikers ever. Modern teachers tell us this was all wrong!
Don't forget the GOAT, Bobby Jones!
@@whetedge Can't argue with that, though he rotated the left forearm on the downswing, as did Locke and Couples. Jones achieved it all as a part-time amateur. Locke might have been a contender for GOAT but he was barred from playing in US, allegedly because he was too good.
I totally agree about the old swings... I've studied many of them... Bobby Jones was so natural.. Freddy Couples is amazing to watch...
Paul Wilson TH-cam teacher is very natural... May be worth watching some of his videos...
Rahm is doing this.
@@jimmurphy834 Agreed, works for him, don't knock it. There is no "correct" swing but so many pros tell us that we have to swing like Will Zalatoris, twist our old, unfit bodies into impossible shapes, what could possibly go wrong?
Swing like a cradle , sting like a bee..
That's Knudson..
He was stylish too
Another great swinger who takes the club way inside on the backswing. This is taboo by today's teaching methods yet it looks so natural to me.
He lifts the right and left heel and bends both elbows.
Swing to the slot and
Sling it through
How amazing would it be if golfers had to go back to playing equipment like this
I saw a video with modern players trying to hit a persimmon driver with a balata ball. Was very comical as none of the top players trying could get it out there. One goes: how did they even play with these things? One of them, do not remember who, hit it 260.
Very Hogan like but taller. Very nice swing to watch and have.
Agreed Jon
I’m between him and CLAMPETT ❤️
Why was a great ball striker standing here 0:39 ? Just kidding, this is one of my favorite swings next to Hogan.
May I have the music link? It's so peaceful. Like his swing
Sure. It's Believer by IamDayLight
@Trevor Bradley Golf thank you sooo much!!
I bought his book in 1991..seems like such a long time ago, lol. Such wonderful memories now. I have it somewhere; I must find it
Hogan-like beauty
All I’m going to say is this. Swing your own swing.
Strong left hand, close to neutral right?
Lower half doesn't stop moving, his hands and arms are passive. Give up control to gain control as the great man said. If people looked to imitate George's pelvic rotation back and his hip and leg lateral shift through and drill that alone in their living room or office without a club and arms folded across chest, they will become better ball strikers over night guaranteed.
best comment so far.
Interesting, he had the Hogan type stance.
Drooped the right foot and took the club back waaaaay inside… my man was drawing shit into a different plane of existence
Every shot is played in a "closed" stance. My swing evolved into a closed stance because I sliced a lot. A LOT...
It looks just like the swing of Mickey Wright.
Golf was pure then.
Takeaway is same as Hogan.
If only he could putt like bob Charles.
Is his swing stack and tilt?
Thanks for the comment. No, it is not. Some key differences, like for instance. In the setup, S&T recommends 55-60% of weight on the front foot with the hands slightly forward. Knudson recommends 50-50% weight distribution between the feet and hands in a neutral setup position.
Other things like S&T keeps the weight on the front foot during the backswing and Knudson does not. But yea, different motions and philosophy.
Looks like he dropped his right foot back a bit at setup from down the line view
It didn't make any difference how cool those sunglasses were in a nerdy sort of way, he wasn't making it into a Steve McQueen movie.
Great swing but never heard of him
Swing your swing
Looks like his right foot is slightly back of his left. A closed stance.
Fuck yeah.
Watch how long his arms trail (lag) his upper body thru the downswing, only 'catching up' with his chest long after the ball is gone. That's some serious lag.
His stance is extremely closed at times ... the opposite of Trevino's set-up.
Poetry
And a terrible putter. If he was an average putter he would have won The Masters twice.
Such a sweet swing. We can only imagine how great he could have been if he learned how to putt!!
He was a good player but his swing was not perfect. A great ball striker but he took the club to the inside and then brought it out and over. It worked for him. It also worked for Bobby Jones and Sam Snead.
Proper swing with proper clubs at a proper ball, wearing proper shades. A master player until he reached the green. What a great video. Fantasy foursome: Trevino, Sanders, Knudson. Three of the most beautiful swings ever.
Moe Norman