God Bless you & your family. I trust ya'll are doing well. I am a linguist & most thoroughly enjoy this most classic American accent, very much so. It is one of those, like so many, that are unfortunately getting lost to time. Cheers to you & your kin 🍻
Some of you guys are spot on, I think. If you take out the few hickory-related and anachronistic stylistic elements (dragging the club back at first, handsiness at the top), it's really astounding how little has changed in the central engine of the swing. Jones could hit it absolutely stupid distances, for his equipment. I mean crazy. Watching some of his old film, it's no wonder why.
It's actually amazing how modern this advice is, given that Jones was swinging hickory. Even the idea that the hips "shift" slightly on the downswing (or "bump" from the right-thigh axis to the left-thigh axis), but turn after that (no leaning or lateral bowing out), is echoed in almost all modern golf theory. Then you have the differential between the open hips and the shoulders staying on a line well closed to the hip line as the club approaches impact. Just so solid and smart.
Just mind-boggling that the same faults that existed among amateur golfers 100 years ago still exist today. There is no doubt in my mind that if Bobby Jones were in his prime today with modern equipment he'd be a dominant player. Elite golf talent is elite golf talent, regardless of the era.
This "hip cleaing" is exactly what I am desperately working on. I do just what Bobby said. My hip stops in the downswing, and my arms get disconnected. I'll keep working on it, but videos like these really help.
Look for some hip mobility and stretching exercises. If still can't clear the hip, then look for ways to open your left foot before the start of the downswing. I find that to move MY hip freely i almost need my left foot to be pointing at the target. Since that wouldn't be very good for the backswing I setup normally instead and only just before the top of my backswing i slide my left heal as close as i can to my right heal without moving my toe. (so my left heal lifts a little and rotates to open my foot as much as possible before planting it back down to initiate the downswing) give it a try with some short irons first to see if that works for you, it takes a bit of time to get used to it but after a while you start doing it without thinking.
My go to guy for learning the game! A genius that was way ahead of his time. He IS EASY TO LISTEN TO AND UNDERSTAND if he had todays equipment forget about it.
...coming back here again and again to see the beauty of the thing, not to mention the timelessness. You could learn everything you needed to know about the swing, the short game, the mental game, and competition from reading Jones's books, provided you made the relatively minor adjustments from hickory to steel. You just can't believe how similar the principles are to what Nelson, Hogan, Snead, Nicklaus, and now the modern players employ.
What is noteworthy in this video is how the lateral movement of hips towards target plus side bending of spine changes the direction vector of the mass of the left arm from rotary around body to linear and parallel to target line. Without the lateral move of the hips, which is triggered via side bending as shoulders turn parallel to target line in downswing - moves absent from the swings of many (most) recreational golfers nowadays) the left arm the left arm and hands will swing out away from the body not under the shoulders parallel to target as momentum pulls it off the chest when the lateral move of hips and side bend abruptly hips and slow shoulder turn. The physics acting on the swinging left arm mass, which is what is actually dragging the club down to the ball, is similar to what happens to an unbelted car passenger in a crash. Mass of car (body) stops, but mass of passenger (left arm) flies off seat (chest) in the direction the car was moving (towards target due to the lateral hip shift to target in the downswing. Moe Norman also brilliantly used the same physics in his swing to hit dead straight shots. Golfers who don’t know how to laterally shift support to front foot at the start of the downswing or side bend the spine tend to hit pull-slices because left arm swings out too far out from body causing club head to moves outside the ball more than at address, then left arm swinging now around body in an arc ( not on a straight parallel track with target line) drags club head with open face outside-in across outside of ball. Most swing instruction focuses on what the hands and club head mass is doing but it is actually controlling the vector of the swinging left arm mass in the downswing which is critical for dragging face back down square to target as it releases the ball. Clearing the left hip out of the way with the lateral hip shift and turn clears the path for the left arm to swing straight towards target instead of whipping and dragging club left.
The GOAT speaks! His record his unsurpassed! 13 majors between 1923 and 1930; all as an amateur and as a part-time golfer. He remains the only golfer to win the Grand Slam in one calendar year (1930) He retired at 29 yrs old
***** Perfectly stated man! A lot of people today just don't comprehend the importance of Bobby's achievements or his incredible comprehension of the dynamics of the swing.He was truly a beautiful man who loved the game so much that he did not want to defile it by bringing money into the mix. And I'm not insinuating that pro golfers are vile or shouldn't be paid, but simply that Bobby's ideologies just didn't include playing for money. And although Bobby's swing components may be a little hard to emulate, there is no reason to entertain the idea that modern equipment negates his concepts. And most of all, Bobby was a total gentleman and a man of honor in every context and aspect of his life. Now there's something to strive for!
+the1realanalogman Modern equipment modifies some of what would be advisable relative to what you see here, but not as much as most people think, and the underlying fundamentals are mostly (or all) the same. As for playing for money, you have to remember that pros back then barely made a living, and Jones really wasn't too crazy about the idea of an itinerant lifestyle for not very big bucks. Not when he could make a living in the long term with his mind, as a lawyer (and writer, actually). But yeah...what a gentleman, what a literate, amazing, multidimensional guy who was -- as someone said later -- a legend in his spare time. This, not Tiger Woods (and a few others you could name), is what the true game is about.
+stephen f Yeah, Bob had degrees in lit, engineering and law. He passed the bar before he finished law school. And it is well documented that above all else, he was totally against playing golf professionally and not because of any potential for earnings. He simply didn't agree with it because he thought it defiled the game. Golf instruction must constantly reinvent itself (just as equipment does) to keep the cash flowing. And in general, the "innovations" in equipment are targeted for the recreational players. Pros can always get any club modified to any whim and are tuned into their game well enough to know what might actually help. And some years ago, I saw Ernie Ells switch to an antique persimmon driver during a clinic (Jack Nicklaus whipped it out!) and immediately hit it with very minimal degradation. When they say "these guys are good", few realize the depth of that statement. Hey man, have fun and may all your shots obey your will!
Not even close to true. Only somebody marinated in the culture of "if it didn't happen in this generation, if I didn't know the other players, then it doesn't matter and couldn't have been good" could say something like that. Still, as many good players as there were in that time, the game did change quite a bit once two things happened: A full-time tour where good players could afford to make a living playing tournaments, and the steel shaft. Those two developments make it hard to compare eras. But it's not as hard to compare eras from the Hogan-Nelson-Snead generation, to Palmer-Nicklaus-Player-Trevino, then Nicklaus-Miller-Watson, then Norman-Faldo-Price, on into Woods and beyond. The fundamentals have stayed very similar -- not literally identical, but very similar -- throughout all those years, and the money has been good enough that all of the top players were able to make themselves wealthy at the game. But none of that makes Bobby Jones any less irreplaceable. Not only does he belong on the short list of immortal champions and great thinkers about the swing and the competitive mentality, to read the profound wisdom, grace, and decency in his books is to understand what the game is and should be about, and also to realize how far the modern pro game has stumbled away from that attainable and worthy ideal. Which is to say, the pro version played today -- with its promotional and marketing appeals, hype, celebrity culture, declining personal responsibility for the rules, capitulation to the idea that there is such a thing as "off-the-course behavior" that should be ignored -- is really some kind of golf-like sport that has only a limited amount of overlap with the actual game as it was always intended.
@Nightwing690 Are you asking because you think clearing the left side generally leads to a fade? If so, generating power from the ground up and clearing is critical to getting the club coming at the ball from the inside on a relatively shallow approach (so the force goes mostly forward instead of being dissipated into the ground). You _can_ hit a draw by coming over the top (which involves little lower-body motion), or hit a fade by coming over the top and holding on...
As for Jones' across-the-line position at the top, that tends to happen with a handsy backswing coupled with a big turn. Then there's a tendency for even good players to compensate by aiming a little right and pulling the ball back on target (cf. Snead, who started on wood shafts). It's not fatal to guys like Jones and Snead (who was less handsy, as you know) as long as the pull isn't too extreme and isn't accompanied by a "quit," as Jones illustrates here, where the lower body stops moving.
If you listen and learn, this swing. It is natural and it is repeatable. It causes no pain. This is the best example of using all the power available from your body. With today’s equipment and this swing, golf is easy, relaxed confident and fundamentally sound, with Practice Real Golf is easy, as riding a bike, or driving a nail. The smooth supple swing of this Original Master of the Game, is the foundation for excellence. What a treasure this is! I been watching this movie here for years, Thanks for putting this up last decade ☘️❤️
Nobody today knows anything about the incredible flex they had with those hickory wood shafts. He was doing what he needed to do to make the equipment he had work for him.
To clarify: Some differences have to do strictly with hickory. E.g., it seems to me the looser appearance at the top (left heel up, etc.) is necessary rather than stylistic because creating more resistance between upper and lower halves makes too strong a braking action at the top and way too much shaft bend with hickory. You have to be a little gentle on the backswing and transfer the power on the downswing more gradually. If you've ever swung hickory, you know what I'm talking about.
I love Jones's holistic approach to golf than many other legends; same can be said with Sam Snead, they are natural talents. And I love a more natural and less technical approach on the craft!
With this swing and the way he putted, Bobby Jones could have played in any era and would have been a force in the battle. This is not to mention his deep knowledge of the swing. Amazing!
Left foot off the ground, club past parallel, moving weight back, its amazing how bad this swing would be analyzed today. This goes to show you that any swing will work as long is everything square at impact. There is no perfect golf swing. Only the perfect golf swing for you.
@emncaity Yeah, there is a lot to be said for how equipment effects the game. To be fair, a player is going to make his swing fit the current technology so when they get a swing to perform with lightweight oversized high moi clubs it will not be as optimum for a heavy steel shafted little wooden head. But I liked the old equipment better in a lot of ways since it's unforgiving and may require more skill. They should play one tournament a year with old equipment. That would be fun to watch.
I was just thinking the same thing. Hickory had everything to do with it. It would stand to reason, I guess, that once you set the downswing in motion--that is, once momentum had built along the entire club--from that point on the club might play about like steel. The guys who played both, or who straddled both eras, in other words (like Snead), say the biggest differences were when you first set the club in motion in a specific direction--takeaway and start of the downswing.
His engineering background helped him understand centripetal force and acceleration . John Daly has similar a action especially in his younger days . The difference is Jones understood the how and why , John , don't bother me with the details .
@robertschelly Yeah, it's Riviera. Shot there because back in those days if you wanted to "make a movie" it had to be in Hollywood, or close to it, because that's where they had the cameras. Plus, he would get old school celebrities like WC Fields to be on his golf instruction show.
Hitting backhanded is the easiest way to play the game. That's why you wear the glove on the left hand. It's a backhanded game. A left arm/left side dominant swing relies on centrifugal force to hit the ball. We've all heard terms like " let the club do the work" and " effortless swing". That's a left side dominant swing. The weight of the clubhead hits the ball.
Very much so--but that was common in Jones's time because of the way hickory had to be swung...looser in the lower body and in the hands, relatively gentle change of direction, etc. Plus, he came a little over the top (like Snead). But as for the power source, if you look from about shoulder-high to shoulder-high, it's amazingly similar to a modern swing, esp. in its from-the-ground-up quality.
stephen f I agree with most every thing u say except coming over the top he took it way inside and looped it back inside to the ball. But for me over the top means crossing the Ball target line to the outside
Oh, and get this: Decades ago, Jones was already talking about how he figured out that you want to reduce excessive backspin on tee shots, and to do that, he experimented with as deep-faced a driver as he could and teed the ball high. This was in the '20s and '30s. And here we are, talking about spin rate today and building big-ass drivers you need to hit high on the face. (Check his "On Golf," pp. 129-130.)
@Nightwing690 ...but a better fade comes from the same inside path a draw comes from, just with a slightly open clubface relative to the path. That's what Nicklaus used to do. Trevino did too. In Nicklaus's case, he ended up getting steeper and steeper, though, and in '79-'80 had to go back to thinking about inside path, shallow approach, etc. Later on he said he thought that happened partially because of the tendency to underuse the lower body as you age. Anyhow...FWIW.
I don't see how Jones kept on plane or square at all at impact with the way he moved his feet and hips... in fact, from the waist up his position at the top and unwinding motions on the downswing remind me of Tiger Woods. His swing was just his brand... timeless beautiful motion.
thank you who uploaded this the modern swing shit these days r crap imo. stack and tilt gives u no power. the other modern swing of almost no shoulder turn and keeping the left foot down is bull****. the old time teechniques like jones, watson, and nickalous r the best. gives u accuracy, power and is easy to keep from injury by getting over ur back foot with lifting up ur left foot
@rappug He definitely does not come over the top of the ball. They have a swing plane view at 1:22. His downswing is on plane. Jones played a draw. If his swing was over the top, his ball flight would have been a pull hook. The only things that have ever mattered in the golf swing are the plane of the club on the downswing and the impact position, as these are the only two things that affect the flight of the ball.
Bobby confuses me in the first 15 seconds of this video. He puts in "the big punch" with the right hand yet he then states "even then I find it best when thinking of only using the left." How do you "put in the big punch" with the right if you "don't think about it"? Seems to me that such a thing would be a major swing thought To me it's like saying that a boxer thinks only of throwing a jab just before putting in the big punch with the right. Any thoughts?
Its a good point - I started using Bobby's style of swing with a notable 'punch with the right hand' (Tom Watson advocates this, as does Wild Bill Mehlhorn) and now am loads more consistent and beating Par frequently as the clubhead releases - read Nick Faldo's books, when he did his swing change, it was all about moving from a left side dominant stroke to a right side with a right hand punch. If you listen to Butch Harmon talking about chipping its the same - the right hand controls the motion but it almost hits against the left hand as it comes into impact. That stops you flipping the clubhead over and hooking, and I think it is that, that Bobby is trying to communicate here. A quote from Bobby Jones On Golf book is this from the man himself, "Let us simply say that the left arm must keep the swing on track; the right hand must be responsible for timing and touch." I hope that helps
It matters how you push with the right hand. If it's with the palm and maybe the last 2 fingers there may not be much danger of hooking, but when the thumb and index finger get active it's easy to go left. I think Hogan practiced sometimes with his right thumb and index finger totally off the club.
Two answers: 1. You can do it (right hand) without thinking about it. It's one thing to be aware of the fact that it happens, another to make it your main focus or try to do it. One of the smartest things anybody ever said about the golf swing was said first by Seymour Dunn, I think, and then picked up by others: "Don't confuse something that happens in the golf swing with something you have to try to do." I've definitely had the sensation of the right hand being very powerful through impact when I was doing everything I could to control and lead with the left arm and side. 2. "I find it best when thinking of only using the left": I think some of this lack of clarity comes from exactly _when_ we're talking about "using the left" or "punching with the right." If you "punch with the right" from the top of the swing, it'll destroy your swing. The lead side needs to be in control from the top at least until you near impact. Some great players feel it to be even beyond that; others feel irresistible centrifugal force released in a way that compels the right side to be the final conduit for that force to travel out to the clubhead, but only once sufficient momentum has been imparted with the lead side (mostly while the arms and club are in their single-plane phase during most of the downswing, with all elements pulling in plane). If you read his books, it'll get clearer. You'll also find it amazing how on-point he is with modern instruction, with only a few minor allowances -- hardly noticeable unless you're really aware of what's going on -- for the difference between hickory shafts and steel. Not only his grace, love for the game, and literacy come through; it's also his brilliance and way-ahead-of-his-time genius.
When the hands remain passive through the transition at the top, gravity will pull them toward and through the strike zone. Being the closest to the ground, the legs lead the downswing and if the hands remain passive, they will fly effortlessly through the strike zone.
You didn't. I did, as part of the response to your post regarding the possibility of holding a tournament with only the old equipment. Point was--I think you'll see it below--that the Tour would never allow it, because it would tarnish their product, because the players are _not_ as flawless as the Tour makes them out to be, and game-improvement equipment is part of what helps create that illusion.
Different language, different terms, etc.; there's a lot of money to be made in pretending there's a "new secret" or "new system." But if you look at Jones's books, you'll see everything about starting the downswing from the ground up, keeping the lead side in control (contrary to the popular myth that hickory players like Jones "threw their hands at the ball"), keeping the head back, restraining the movement of the shoulders on the downswing while the lower body leads...
look at his right foot and right knee action to clear the hips. all the great ball strikers are the same, right knee drives towards the target and no gap between the knees. youre probably driving the knee towards the ball leaving a gap between the knees
Being great at hitting a golf ball with any equipment is all about hand-eye coordination and practice. Being great at golf is about being great at hitting the golf ball and being in complete control of the 6 inches between your ears. My point was that the "Tiger is only great because he has better equipment" argument is nonsense. I don't think he invented golf(that is nonsense as well), but I do believe his success has led to a change in the game(both commercially and in the way it's played)
You wanna check your facts again, genius? Even if you had been right (which you're not), what you fail to see is that this can just as easily be read as evidence for the fact that Woods' top competition isn't what it was during the Nicklaus or Hogan eras. Looking at objective comparisons of scores on similar courses, adjusting for irons hit into greens and course conditioning, etc., the picture becomes even more clear. (ct'd)
@smithersandburns State of the art for the day, but I know what you mean. You may have heard of the time one of the equipment vans (I think it was MacGregor) brought out some of the old blades-persimmon-and-balata for some of the modern pros only a few years ago. Not one of them could hit those clubs as far or as straight as Nicklaus could--and that equipment was miles ahead of hickory, of course, depending on how you look at it.
take it from an old duffer who just learned the importance of this. lol The reason we don't do it is because we don't trust it. It takes a great deal of trust to allow your weight to go fully to the left before you hit thru. High and to the right means you're not doing this, period!
Oh, yeah. The "more wins at younger age" standard that has never been applied to any golfer in the history of the game, until everybody needed to name Tiger as "best ever" before he earns it. Then you add the insurance: Even if he doesn't win 19 majors, he's _still_ the best ever. I mean, believe whatever you want to believe, I guess.
@dschultz6072 Welllll...not _just_ on the weekends, but your point is still right. There are multiple milllions of dollars to be made in complicating the swing and the game, you know. "Follow the money" is a good principle in this matter, as in so many others.
Capturing 13 majors, playing in the era of no lift, clean, place on the green , winning percentage of 46%, then retired at the ridiculous age of 28 all while not touching a club for months each year. That's unrepeatable.
Tiger already has more wins than Jack did his entire career at age 36. Tiger had the better amateur career as well. Even if Tiger does not win 19 majors he is obviously the greatest player of all time.
Mike S put them both in Bobby's era and they might make the top ten. Could not lift the ball on the green to clean it then. Jack might give Bobby a run. But tiger couldn't use the equipment. Put Bobby in today with his swing arc and modern equipment. He'd be driving the ball 450yards
Tiger changed the game! The equipment argument against him is garbage. Golf courses have changed in order to limit the advantage gained from playing with better equipment. I remember when they were "Tiger proofing" courses all over the place just so that he wouldn't make the game look like child's play. I don't think that they ever "Jack or Bobby proofed" any courses when those two were out there tearing it up. Tiger has raised the bar, and hopefully Rory will raise it again. EVOLUTION!
The whole notion of the S&T swing is inapplicable to a hickory-shaft-era player, even if it may be true that Jones hits some of the "positions" or makes moves as described by S&T advocates.
And your proof of that is...? Certainly he didn't always, or even often, shoot record scores--despite vastly superior equipment and better course conditioning, near-perfect greens, laser-marked yardages, and most of the time hitting shorter irons into greens because of the huge differences in distances with the driver and the ball (not with the irons, for Woods--he's never played irons with any game-improvement features, and hits it flush terrifically well).
Woulda-coulda-shoulda. Since he doesn't have to play against guys of that quality, or even guys the quality of the top competition in the Hogan-Snead-Nelson era or the Nicklaus era, I guess we'll never know. Except that we do.
@smithersandburns I'd pay to see it, but the PGA Tour would never allow it. They have too much invested in the perpetual "these guys are good" campaign. I mean, those guys _are_ good, but not for the typical reasons most amateurs think.
Crushed? lol, give me a break. And I know plenty about the game as a single digit capper and fan of the game since before Tiger showed up on the scene.
@smithersandburns They miss shots; they didn't make a "good play" by aiming at a tiny area to the right of the green and getting a good bounce (despite what TV announcers say); etc. But they do save par all the time when they miss a green, hardly ever incur penalty strokes, rarely make more than a one-stroke mistake, and rarely three-putt. But that truth is too boring for public consumption, so the Tour and its sponsors play into the myth of near-perfection, nowhere more so than with Tiger.
I gave this the first 👍🏿15 years ago. I just gave it another to discourage the BEAST 🎃🙉🙈🙊🕊☘️🦁🐂🦅🌝
I LOVE YOU BOBBY 👍🏽
Growing up in Georgia, this was how all my older relatives spoke at family reunions.
God Bless you & your family. I trust ya'll are doing well.
I am a linguist & most thoroughly enjoy this most classic American accent, very much so.
It is one of those, like so many, that are unfortunately getting lost to time.
Cheers to you & your kin 🍻
Some of you guys are spot on, I think. If you take out the few hickory-related and anachronistic stylistic elements (dragging the club back at first, handsiness at the top), it's really astounding how little has changed in the central engine of the swing.
Jones could hit it absolutely stupid distances, for his equipment. I mean crazy. Watching some of his old film, it's no wonder why.
It's actually amazing how modern this advice is, given that Jones was swinging hickory. Even the idea that the hips "shift" slightly on the downswing (or "bump" from the right-thigh axis to the left-thigh axis), but turn after that (no leaning or lateral bowing out), is echoed in almost all modern golf theory. Then you have the differential between the open hips and the shoulders staying on a line well closed to the hip line as the club approaches impact. Just so solid and smart.
Just mind-boggling that the same faults that existed among amateur golfers 100 years ago still exist today. There is no doubt in my mind that if Bobby Jones were in his prime today with modern equipment he'd be a dominant player. Elite golf talent is elite golf talent, regardless of the era.
This "hip cleaing" is exactly what I am desperately working on. I do just what Bobby said. My hip stops in the downswing, and my arms get disconnected. I'll keep working on it, but videos like these really help.
Look for some hip mobility and stretching exercises. If still can't clear the hip, then look for ways to open your left foot before the start of the downswing. I find that to move MY hip freely i almost need my left foot to be pointing at the target. Since that wouldn't be very good for the backswing I setup normally instead and only just before the top of my backswing i slide my left heal as close as i can to my right heal without moving my toe. (so my left heal lifts a little and rotates to open my foot as much as possible before planting it back down to initiate the downswing)
give it a try with some short irons first to see if that works for you, it takes a bit of time to get used to it but after a while you start doing it without thinking.
@@oliverizzard8751 great tip , thank you .
My go to guy for learning the game! A genius that was way ahead of his time. He IS EASY TO LISTEN TO AND UNDERSTAND if he had todays equipment forget about it.
Few people know Bobby Jones got a degree in mechanical engineering...he designed a club and was able to consistently hit 340!
Mr. Jones was amazing.
NOT ahead of his time. OF his time, which was a superior time.
...coming back here again and again to see the beauty of the thing, not to mention the timelessness. You could learn everything you needed to know about the swing, the short game, the mental game, and competition from reading Jones's books, provided you made the relatively minor adjustments from hickory to steel. You just can't believe how similar the principles are to what Nelson, Hogan, Snead, Nicklaus, and now the modern players employ.
Look at that footwork! This was the best practice golf swing for 100 years. Bobby is a GOLF GOD.
What is noteworthy in this video is how the lateral movement of hips towards target plus side bending of spine changes the direction vector of the mass of the left arm from rotary around body to linear and parallel to target line.
Without the lateral move of the hips, which is triggered via side bending as shoulders turn parallel to target line in downswing - moves absent from the swings of many (most) recreational golfers nowadays) the left arm the left arm and hands will swing out away from the body not under the shoulders parallel to target as momentum pulls it off the chest when the lateral move of hips and side bend abruptly hips and slow shoulder turn. The physics acting on the swinging left arm mass, which is what is actually dragging the club down to the ball, is similar to what happens to an unbelted car passenger in a crash. Mass of car (body) stops, but mass of passenger (left arm) flies off seat (chest) in the direction the car was moving (towards target due to the lateral hip shift to target in the downswing. Moe Norman also brilliantly used the same physics in his swing to hit dead straight shots.
Golfers who don’t know how to laterally shift support to front foot at the start of the downswing or side bend the spine tend to hit pull-slices because left arm swings out too far out from body causing club head to moves outside the ball more than at address, then left arm swinging now around body in an arc ( not on a straight parallel track with target line) drags club head with open face outside-in across outside of ball.
Most swing instruction focuses on what the hands and club head mass is doing but it is actually controlling the vector of the swinging left arm mass in the downswing which is critical for dragging face back down square to target as it releases the ball. Clearing the left hip out of the way with the lateral hip shift and turn clears the path for the left arm to swing straight towards target instead of whipping and dragging club left.
One of the best golf videos on YT
The GOAT speaks! His record his unsurpassed! 13 majors between 1923 and 1930;
all as an amateur and as a part-time golfer. He remains the only golfer to win the Grand Slam in one calendar year (1930) He retired at 29 yrs old
***** Perfectly stated man! A lot of people today just don't comprehend the importance of Bobby's achievements or his incredible comprehension of the dynamics of the swing.He was truly a beautiful man who loved the game so much that he did not want to defile it by bringing money into the mix. And I'm not insinuating that pro golfers are vile or shouldn't be paid, but simply that Bobby's ideologies just didn't include playing for money. And although Bobby's swing components may be a little hard to emulate, there is no reason to entertain the idea that modern equipment negates his concepts. And most of all, Bobby was a total gentleman and a man of honor in every context and aspect of his life. Now there's something to strive for!
+the1realanalogman
Modern equipment modifies some of what would be advisable relative to what you see here, but not as much as most people think, and the underlying fundamentals are mostly (or all) the same.
As for playing for money, you have to remember that pros back then barely made a living, and Jones really wasn't too crazy about the idea of an itinerant lifestyle for not very big bucks. Not when he could make a living in the long term with his mind, as a lawyer (and writer, actually).
But yeah...what a gentleman, what a literate, amazing, multidimensional guy who was -- as someone said later -- a legend in his spare time. This, not Tiger Woods (and a few others you could name), is what the true game is about.
+stephen f Yeah, Bob had degrees in lit, engineering and law. He passed the bar before he finished law school. And it is well documented that above all else, he was totally against playing golf professionally and not because of any potential for earnings. He simply didn't agree with it because he thought it defiled the game. Golf instruction must constantly reinvent itself (just as equipment does) to keep the cash flowing. And in general, the "innovations" in equipment are targeted for the recreational players. Pros can always get any club modified to any whim and are tuned into their game well enough to know what might actually help. And some years ago, I saw Ernie Ells switch to an antique persimmon driver during a clinic (Jack Nicklaus whipped it out!) and immediately hit it with very minimal degradation. When they say "these guys are good", few realize the depth of that statement. Hey man, have fun and may all your shots obey your will!
Well back then there were like 20 people playing golf. You can't say he was the GOAT.
Not even close to true. Only somebody marinated in the culture of "if it didn't happen in this generation, if I didn't know the other players, then it doesn't matter and couldn't have been good" could say something like that.
Still, as many good players as there were in that time, the game did change quite a bit once two things happened: A full-time tour where good players could afford to make a living playing tournaments, and the steel shaft. Those two developments make it hard to compare eras. But it's not as hard to compare eras from the Hogan-Nelson-Snead generation, to Palmer-Nicklaus-Player-Trevino, then Nicklaus-Miller-Watson, then Norman-Faldo-Price, on into Woods and beyond. The fundamentals have stayed very similar -- not literally identical, but very similar -- throughout all those years, and the money has been good enough that all of the top players were able to make themselves wealthy at the game.
But none of that makes Bobby Jones any less irreplaceable. Not only does he belong on the short list of immortal champions and great thinkers about the swing and the competitive mentality, to read the profound wisdom, grace, and decency in his books is to understand what the game is and should be about, and also to realize how far the modern pro game has stumbled away from that attainable and worthy ideal. Which is to say, the pro version played today -- with its promotional and marketing appeals, hype, celebrity culture, declining personal responsibility for the rules, capitulation to the idea that there is such a thing as "off-the-course behavior" that should be ignored -- is really some kind of golf-like sport that has only a limited amount of overlap with the actual game as it was always intended.
@Nightwing690
Are you asking because you think clearing the left side generally leads to a fade? If so, generating power from the ground up and clearing is critical to getting the club coming at the ball from the inside on a relatively shallow approach (so the force goes mostly forward instead of being dissipated into the ground). You _can_ hit a draw by coming over the top (which involves little lower-body motion), or hit a fade by coming over the top and holding on...
As for Jones' across-the-line position at the top, that tends to happen with a handsy backswing coupled with a big turn. Then there's a tendency for even good players to compensate by aiming a little right and pulling the ball back on target (cf. Snead, who started on wood shafts). It's not fatal to guys like Jones and Snead (who was less handsy, as you know) as long as the pull isn't too extreme and isn't accompanied by a "quit," as Jones illustrates here, where the lower body stops moving.
left knee bend allow for the natural hip turn....been a flat footed golfer for years, that little forced knee bend changed my entire swing..
If you listen and learn, this swing. It is natural and it is repeatable. It causes no pain. This is the best example of using all the power available from your body. With today’s equipment and this swing, golf is easy, relaxed confident and fundamentally sound, with Practice Real Golf is easy, as riding a bike, or driving a nail. The smooth supple swing of this Original Master of the Game, is the foundation for excellence.
What a treasure this is!
I been watching this movie here for years,
Thanks for putting this up last decade ☘️❤️
Nobody today knows anything about the incredible flex they had with those hickory wood shafts. He was doing what he needed to do to make the equipment he had work for him.
To clarify: Some differences have to do strictly with hickory. E.g., it seems to me the looser appearance at the top (left heel up, etc.) is necessary rather than stylistic because creating more resistance between upper and lower halves makes too strong a braking action at the top and way too much shaft bend with hickory. You have to be a little gentle on the backswing and transfer the power on the downswing more gradually. If you've ever swung hickory, you know what I'm talking about.
He had a perfect swing. He would be a 300+ yd hitter today, even with that easy swing.
The greatest golf swing ever!
Close. I’ll take Hogan or Snead for $1000 Alex
@@joshuahymer15 who are Hogan or Snead for $1000, Alex! 🤣🤣
I love Jones's holistic approach to golf than many other legends; same can be said with Sam Snead, they are natural talents. And I love a more natural and less technical approach on the craft!
Natural talent is a term that gets thrown around a lot. To me it translates to “ they worked harder than anyone else”
@@joshuahymer15 One needs both natural talents and hard work to become legends; hard work along will not cut it!
His swing would not look out of place on the tour today. his position at impact looks about perfect.
With this swing and the way he putted, Bobby Jones could have played in any era and would have been a force in the battle. This is not to mention his deep knowledge of the swing. Amazing!
the greatest.
Greatest golfer of all time.
Main differences have to do with the lower body action on the backswing--specifically, how much resistance you want there with steel v. hickory.
Left foot off the ground, club past parallel, moving weight back, its amazing how bad this swing would be analyzed today. This goes to show you that any swing will work as long is everything square at impact. There is no perfect golf swing. Only the perfect golf swing for you.
Perfectly said 👌
Said like a know all. LATEST TEACHING IS EXACTLY THIS SWING,,, WATCH THE LONGEST AND MOST ACCURATE PLAYERS, VERY SIMILAR,,,,,
Gary Player thought it was the best swing he had ever seen.
Not moving weight back at all, moving around not back away from target
This is a joke right?
@emncaity Yeah, there is a lot to be said for how equipment effects the game. To be fair, a player is going to make his swing fit the current technology so when they get a swing to perform with lightweight oversized high moi clubs it will not be as optimum for a heavy steel shafted little wooden head. But I liked the old equipment better in a lot of ways since it's unforgiving and may require more skill. They should play one tournament a year with old equipment. That would be fun to watch.
He wasnt exactly hittin proV 1s if you know what im sayin...what a beast!
I was just thinking the same thing. Hickory had everything to do with it. It would stand to reason, I guess, that once you set the downswing in motion--that is, once momentum had built along the entire club--from that point on the club might play about like steel. The guys who played both, or who straddled both eras, in other words (like Snead), say the biggest differences were when you first set the club in motion in a specific direction--takeaway and start of the downswing.
His engineering background helped him understand centripetal force and acceleration . John Daly has similar a action especially in his younger days . The difference is Jones understood the how and why , John , don't bother me with the details .
EVen with the equipment changes. Average handicaps have changed little in the last 40 years.
素晴らしい❗ヒッコリーシャフトでなー🎵
@robertschelly Yeah, it's Riviera. Shot there because back in those days if you wanted to "make a movie" it had to be in Hollywood, or close to it, because that's where they had the cameras. Plus, he would get old school celebrities like WC Fields to be on his golf instruction show.
P.S. Any of the greats could beat another on any given day.
My back is almost square to the hole🏌️♂️Golf 🙄. How can you be square before a hole that is round?
Hitting backhanded is the easiest way to play the game. That's why you wear the glove on the left hand. It's a backhanded game. A left arm/left side dominant swing relies on centrifugal force to hit the ball. We've all heard terms like " let the club do the work" and " effortless swing". That's a left side dominant swing. The weight of the clubhead hits the ball.
Yeah, he comes in over the top.
Armed with my "modern" swing, I would have no problem losing 10 and 8
PC LOAD LETTER not over the top he swings back way inside then loops it back a little steeper but still inside the ball target line
Very much so--but that was common in Jones's time because of the way hickory had to be swung...looser in the lower body and in the hands, relatively gentle change of direction, etc. Plus, he came a little over the top (like Snead). But as for the power source, if you look from about shoulder-high to shoulder-high, it's amazingly similar to a modern swing, esp. in its from-the-ground-up quality.
stephen f I agree with most every thing u say except coming over the top he took it way inside and looped it back inside to the ball. But for me over the top means crossing the Ball target line to the outside
Greatest golfer ever and he was part time. 13 majors in his spare time. Think about that for a minute
Oh, and get this: Decades ago, Jones was already talking about how he figured out that you want to reduce excessive backspin on tee shots, and to do that, he experimented with as deep-faced a driver as he could and teed the ball high. This was in the '20s and '30s. And here we are, talking about spin rate today and building big-ass drivers you need to hit high on the face. (Check his "On Golf," pp. 129-130.)
stephen f yea what did he call it the dreadnaught
finally someone fixed my fat shot problem!! thanks bobby jones
+Nick Casella Yea.. he is a very good TH-cam teacher! I believe he is coming out with a new video next month
Robert Tyre Jones was the Man.!.
hard to believe this has almost 500k views but only 575 likes smh
Most people today are shameless chronological snobs. Hence they’re unaware that Bobby Jones was a superior man in a superior time.
@Nightwing690
...but a better fade comes from the same inside path a draw comes from, just with a slightly open clubface relative to the path. That's what Nicklaus used to do. Trevino did too. In Nicklaus's case, he ended up getting steeper and steeper, though, and in '79-'80 had to go back to thinking about inside path, shallow approach, etc. Later on he said he thought that happened partially because of the tendency to underuse the lower body as you age. Anyhow...FWIW.
I don't see how Jones kept on plane or square at all at impact with the way he moved his feet and hips... in fact, from the waist up his position at the top and unwinding motions on the downswing remind me of Tiger Woods. His swing was just his brand... timeless beautiful motion.
How do you hit the ball with that swing?
He was born to golf.
Yeah seriously. I would never hit that ball if I did that whole set up. I would screw myself up as a novice golfer.
Biggest hip-turn you're ever likely to see ... virtually 90 degrees! Weird takeaway ... but a beautiful finish.
This is from a clinic with jack nicklaus 04,
it's just a summary of his shots
thank you who uploaded this the modern swing shit these days r crap imo. stack and tilt gives u no power. the other modern swing of almost no shoulder turn and keeping the left foot down is bull****. the old time teechniques like jones, watson, and nickalous r the best. gives u accuracy, power and is easy to keep from injury by getting over ur back foot with lifting up ur left foot
@rappug He definitely does not come over the top of the ball. They have a swing plane view at 1:22. His downswing is on plane. Jones played a draw. If his swing was over the top, his ball flight would have been a pull hook.
The only things that have ever mattered in the golf swing are the plane of the club on the downswing and the impact position, as these are the only two things that affect the flight of the ball.
do you think you can put this up some time?
cheers!
@emncaity When did I say they didn't miss shots?
Hips turn ahead of the stroke. Got it.
Notice at address how relaxed his left arm is and his left wrist is cupped. You'd never see that nowadays.
nice shot!!!
Awesome vid
Bobby confuses me in the first 15 seconds of this video. He puts in "the big punch" with the right hand yet he then states "even then I find it best when thinking of only using the left."
How do you "put in the big punch" with the right if you "don't think about it"? Seems to me that such a thing would be a major swing thought To me it's like saying that a boxer thinks only of throwing a jab just before putting in the big punch with the right. Any thoughts?
Its a good point - I started using Bobby's style of swing with a notable 'punch with the right hand' (Tom Watson advocates this, as does Wild Bill Mehlhorn) and now am loads more consistent and beating Par frequently as the clubhead releases - read Nick Faldo's books, when he did his swing change, it was all about moving from a left side dominant stroke to a right side with a right hand punch. If you listen to Butch Harmon talking about chipping its the same - the right hand controls the motion but it almost hits against the left hand as it comes into impact. That stops you flipping the clubhead over and hooking, and I think it is that, that Bobby is trying to communicate here. A quote from Bobby Jones On Golf book is this from the man himself, "Let us simply say that the left arm must keep the swing on track; the right hand must be responsible for timing and touch." I hope that helps
It matters how you push with the right hand. If it's with the palm and maybe the last 2 fingers there may not be much danger of hooking, but when the thumb and index finger get active it's easy to go left. I think Hogan practiced sometimes with his right thumb and index finger totally off the club.
Two answers:
1. You can do it (right hand) without thinking about it. It's one thing to be aware of the fact that it happens, another to make it your main focus or try to do it. One of the smartest things anybody ever said about the golf swing was said first by Seymour Dunn, I think, and then picked up by others: "Don't confuse something that happens in the golf swing with something you have to try to do." I've definitely had the sensation of the right hand being very powerful through impact when I was doing everything I could to control and lead with the left arm and side.
2. "I find it best when thinking of only using the left": I think some of this lack of clarity comes from exactly _when_ we're talking about "using the left" or "punching with the right." If you "punch with the right" from the top of the swing, it'll destroy your swing. The lead side needs to be in control from the top at least until you near impact. Some great players feel it to be even beyond that; others feel irresistible centrifugal force released in a way that compels the right side to be the final conduit for that force to travel out to the clubhead, but only once sufficient momentum has been imparted with the lead side (mostly while the arms and club are in their single-plane phase during most of the downswing, with all elements pulling in plane).
If you read his books, it'll get clearer. You'll also find it amazing how on-point he is with modern instruction, with only a few minor allowances -- hardly noticeable unless you're really aware of what's going on -- for the difference between hickory shafts and steel. Not only his grace, love for the game, and literacy come through; it's also his brilliance and way-ahead-of-his-time genius.
When the hands remain passive through the transition at the top, gravity will pull them toward and through the strike zone. Being the closest to the ground, the legs lead the downswing and if the hands remain passive, they will fly effortlessly through the strike zone.
The "big punch" with the right happens automatically/reflexively/instinctively if the rest of the swing is done appropriately.
Mr. Jones was amazing, just imagine him with modern equipment.
You didn't. I did, as part of the response to your post regarding the possibility of holding a tournament with only the old equipment. Point was--I think you'll see it below--that the Tour would never allow it, because it would tarnish their product, because the players are _not_ as flawless as the Tour makes them out to be, and game-improvement equipment is part of what helps create that illusion.
Well I told you. And FTR Jones won all four "majors" in one year and I never said The King was better than him.
what dvd is this from?
There were no DVDs in the 1930's bud.
Great share on this thanks
All the lessons are on DVD now. Bobby Jones "How I play Golf", a 3 disc set digitally re-mastered.
Yes, they do.
Different language, different terms, etc.; there's a lot of money to be made in pretending there's a "new secret" or "new system." But if you look at Jones's books, you'll see everything about starting the downswing from the ground up, keeping the lead side in control (contrary to the popular myth that hickory players like Jones "threw their hands at the ball"), keeping the head back, restraining the movement of the shoulders on the downswing while the lower body leads...
look at his right foot and right knee action to clear the hips. all the great ball strikers are the same, right knee drives towards the target and no gap between the knees. youre probably driving the knee towards the ball leaving a gap between the knees
Being great at hitting a golf ball with any equipment is all about hand-eye coordination and practice. Being great at golf is about being great at hitting the golf ball and being in complete control of the 6 inches between your ears. My point was that the "Tiger is only great because he has better equipment" argument is nonsense. I don't think he invented golf(that is nonsense as well), but I do believe his success has led to a change in the game(both commercially and in the way it's played)
You wanna check your facts again, genius?
Even if you had been right (which you're not), what you fail to see is that this can just as easily be read as evidence for the fact that Woods' top competition isn't what it was during the Nicklaus or Hogan eras. Looking at objective comparisons of scores on similar courses, adjusting for irons hit into greens and course conditioning, etc., the picture becomes even more clear. (ct'd)
I see where nicklaus learned the hip turn
did Jones hit a draw or a fade?
Nightwing690 both
@smithersandburns
State of the art for the day, but I know what you mean. You may have heard of the time one of the equipment vans (I think it was MacGregor) brought out some of the old blades-persimmon-and-balata for some of the modern pros only a few years ago. Not one of them could hit those clubs as far or as straight as Nicklaus could--and that equipment was miles ahead of hickory, of course, depending on how you look at it.
always keep your tie angled away from the target 😆
jango, where can we see the last part of the video when Tiger comes on?
take it from an old duffer who just learned the importance of this. lol The reason we don't do it is because we don't trust it. It takes a great deal of trust to allow your weight to go fully to the left before you hit thru. High and to the right means you're not doing this, period!
Oh, yeah. The "more wins at younger age" standard that has never been applied to any golfer in the history of the game, until everybody needed to name Tiger as "best ever" before he earns it. Then you add the insurance: Even if he doesn't win 19 majors, he's _still_ the best ever.
I mean, believe whatever you want to believe, I guess.
Main thing... his head does not move at all.. incredible
His head moves forward in the backswing and backward in the downswing and a little further back at impact.
@dschultz6072
Welllll...not _just_ on the weekends, but your point is still right. There are multiple milllions of dollars to be made in complicating the swing and the game, you know. "Follow the money" is a good principle in this matter, as in so many others.
it is blasphemy to include Tiger Woods in a video with Bobby Jones.
Why!
vikings844 woods unfairly called him a racist which was the farthest from the truth
No one beats Tiger in his prime. From 2000-2001 the best golf ever seen was played by Tiger.
Nonsense.
The greatest of all time after the Golden Bear. Yup.
Ummmm... Tiger Woods, anyone? Show some respect.
Capturing 13 majors, playing in the era of no lift, clean, place on the green , winning percentage of 46%, then retired at the ridiculous age of 28 all while not touching a club for months each year. That's unrepeatable.
quite a few things Sam Snead did in the Jones Swing.
Tiger already has more wins than Jack did his entire career at age 36. Tiger had the better amateur career as well. Even if Tiger does not win 19 majors he is obviously the greatest player of all time.
Mike S put them both in Bobby's era and they might make the top ten. Could not lift the ball on the green to clean it then. Jack might give Bobby a run. But tiger couldn't use the equipment. Put Bobby in today with his swing arc and modern equipment. He'd be driving the ball 450yards
Aware2128 how u like him now
All this advice on his swing just like bubba watson says its all about the shot result &score period!
Sorry I no longer got that it's 2 years ago
Tiger changed the game! The equipment argument against him is garbage. Golf courses have changed in order to limit the advantage gained from playing with better equipment. I remember when they were "Tiger proofing" courses all over the place just so that he wouldn't make the game look like child's play. I don't think that they ever "Jack or Bobby proofed" any courses when those two were out there tearing it up. Tiger has raised the bar, and hopefully Rory will raise it again. EVOLUTION!
The whole notion of the S&T swing is inapplicable to a hickory-shaft-era player, even if it may be true that Jones hits some of the "positions" or makes moves as described by S&T advocates.
And your proof of that is...?
Certainly he didn't always, or even often, shoot record scores--despite vastly superior equipment and better course conditioning, near-perfect greens, laser-marked yardages, and most of the time hitting shorter irons into greens because of the huge differences in distances with the driver and the ball (not with the irons, for Woods--he's never played irons with any game-improvement features, and hits it flush terrifically well).
@Nightwing690 Both, he hit it straight a lot too. Did whatever he wanted. The guy was ridiculously good and had shitty equipment.
Woulda-coulda-shoulda. Since he doesn't have to play against guys of that quality, or even guys the quality of the top competition in the Hogan-Snead-Nelson era or the Nicklaus era, I guess we'll never know. Except that we do.
He won what 13 majors.
And retired from competitive play when he was 30.
I'll take his flawed swing because whatever he did he did it right/
He was retired at age 28, that is incredible.
sounds a lot like Will Patton
"But don't take it from me. I'm just an amateur."
I'me very educated in golf, and I know that Tiger isn't as great as the above-mentioned.
@smithersandburns
I'd pay to see it, but the PGA Tour would never allow it. They have too much invested in the perpetual "these guys are good" campaign. I mean, those guys _are_ good, but not for the typical reasons most amateurs think.
no he doesnt, his left heel is off the ground in the backswing
Crushed? lol, give me a break. And I know plenty about the game as a single digit capper and fan of the game since before Tiger showed up on the scene.
priceless
How could you be so wrong on one point (your other post), and so right on this one? Credit where credit's due.
bobby jones does the stack & tilt swing
tiger in 1999-2001 is hands down the best to ever swing a club.. you're uneducated in golf, sounds like ....
@robertschelly
Has to be.
@smithersandburns
They miss shots; they didn't make a "good play" by aiming at a tiny area to the right of the green and getting a good bounce (despite what TV announcers say); etc. But they do save par all the time when they miss a green, hardly ever incur penalty strokes, rarely make more than a one-stroke mistake, and rarely three-putt. But that truth is too boring for public consumption, so the Tour and its sponsors play into the myth of near-perfection, nowhere more so than with Tiger.