George's 4 wood.
 

Hey guys.

There's a resurgence in interest in all things George Knudson, a golf ball striker supreme. Perhaps more on some other web sites but Id thought Id post this here for all to see ..... Happy new year to all and to all the best for the coming year.

When I was a kid I recall a golf magazine in which George was identified as the best fairway wood player of all time .....as selected by Ben Hogan. Cant remember which magazine it was . I recently saw a video on Sevam's site in which Jackie Burke said Ben preferred to hit his 4 wood , so he could trap it and hit down on it. Well George as most people know had a great affection for Mr Hogan , made a study of him actually and I can report that his 4 wood was beyond well worn whereas his 3 wood was relatively unscathed.


Here are some photos of George's 4 wood from my club makers shop, a man who worked on Georges clubs for years. Upon George's death they refinished his woods and racked them for prosperity . Here are the photos for your enjoyment.

The four wood is heavy its head filled with lead, the butt end counter balanced with a threaded rod stuck into a feril and then glued into the but end.........It swing weights at D1 but would be about D4 without the counter balancing. The overall weight is 14.5 ounces , about 2 ounces heavier than normal...doesnt sound like much but its really hefty to the hands.

To manage this weight its shafted with what Im told is one of the stiffest shafts going an old Brunswick FM 8 , tipped. This despite the fact that George was not a long hitter or brisk loader.

Its an old Mizuno persimmon but the super heavy feel when you swing it is seductive. Like a sledge hammer. Despite its small head I had the feeling that I could hit anything with it........just plow through the ball.

Not sure why the photos are upside down......weird .....cant seem to get them right side up . Sorry.

George on My Mind
 

Best Seat In the House
 

George Knudson would Finish in perfect balance as in the photo above. Then, he would relax his arms and bring his hands down in front of him to waist high with the clubshaft vertical.

George called this last position the "best seat in the house", i.e., the ideal place from which to watch the ball streak toward that clubhouse flagpole at St. Charles. He wanted to see the ball coming straight down the flagpole -- neither drawing in from the right nor fading in from the left -- as it returned to earth.

I teach "Best Seat" as Phase II of a three-phase Finish. Phase I is the "Arrow through the Ears" (see above photo). In Phase III you relax the grip and allow the club to simply slide down through the hands. If you really like the shot and want to add a bit of flair, give the clubhead a little twirl as you release it.

:golfcart2:

Happy New Year!
 

I have to keep pushing the golf cart with my right leg! :)

Knudson was a Swinger, I take it? Moe Norman seemed to respect Knudson a great deal.


ICT

I read his book a year ago or so. Very interesting for someone like me that has a tendancy to overcontrol and steer, you need some faith to just "let it go" but I never could really swing like that for more than a practice session.

Then I read the yellow book and learned from this site, going through the basics... then one day during a practice session I suddenly wondered how would the "natural swing" do with what I've learned... At impact fix I setup the flying wedges, an then just turned and turned... that felt so good.. that's the way the natural swing can work: setup your machine and then trust it. Sonehow from this time I always wondered how close this swing would be from what McHatton teaches.

I wonder what Bucket would say about his hips here? 1968 Canadian Open at St Georges in Toronto. His weight or force is so far onto his left side that he can drag the inside of his right sole ..........something he loved to do, by design. You can not hang back and drag at the same time. Something he observed in Hogan's swing I believe.

And the attached article where he describes pulling a rope length ways with his lower body doing the work sounds familiar too. Hmmm cant remember where I heard that one before...maybe Lynn will know.

Mr. Cool Before 'Cool' Was In
 

Would love for someone to put a photo of George in his "Best Seat" Finish position.

Preferably in his shades and an alpaca sweater.

Thanks in advance!

:cool:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbdbju07IDo
Go to the 1 minute mark - not quite the Alpaca but still a great seat!
Happy New Year everyone!!

Knudson's Best Seat
 

Thanks, MB. 'Preciate it!

:salut:

Flat left foot , right foot dragged , upright , balanced , what he called his center facing the target. Like he could stand there all day. Comfortable. The left foot turned enough to make it comfortable.....something different for everyone given left foot flexibility and adjusted accordingly. Id say he had a RFFW theory too although not described in those terms, adjusted adress, three stations, lagging takeaway .........beautiful.

Thanks O.B

Interesting.... do you know what lie angle and shaftlenght he had on it... Seeing him swing in older clips (on youtube) he looks like having more kneebend than many others in his era. But in MB´s clip he stand taller.

Does the clubmaker perhaps have more info on that?

I'm in the process of reading Mr. Knudson's book Natural Golf and enjoying it very much. The way he discusses not rolling and getting on the middle of the left foot reminds me a lot of how YODA teaches balance.

Kevin

Hey Amen Corner

I didnt measure it or check the lie angle. Ill check it out and ask about his iron set up for you too.... I do know the iron heads were custom ordered heavy and the shafts were Brunswick super stiff, tipped and the butt end counter balanced back to a more normal swing weight. The added weight making the shaft more bendy. George wasnt a long hitter so its an interesting set up.


There's a youtube video of George playing golf in the Shells Wonderful World of Golf series ......I think in South America maybe. Anways its image is "stretched" for some reason and as such Georges posture looks a little weird to the eye. Perhaps this is the clip you are referring to?

I think George goes over knee bend in the video that accompanied his book, Natural Golf , not sure if that part made it onto youtube or not. To my recollection it wasnt very bendy, he was a short man but he stood tall.......like Hogan. Got his right forearm on plane too. He liked to stand to a longer shot with his foot line closed (not plane line just foot line) which if you then square the knees from a DTL view will give the appearance of two bendy knees when it really just the right. If you know what I mean. Also kind of Hoganish.

While I never had a lesson with George (what a stupid I am) I did have a few with one of his old teaching assistants who teaches stance in that manner, balance, "rotate to load", dragging the right foot , what we'd call the Three Stations of which impact isnt one, pretty much pure CF (in theory anyways...... but thats another story for another day maybe)



All the best for 2011 Amen.


PS If you're really interested in his play you can contact Shell via their website. They will reproduce any show from their catalogue and send you a dvd for a small fee. George played several matches during its run on TV. My personal fave is his match against Gene Littler at my old club The Royal Ottawa. Maybe just for memory sake but Gene the Machine was great to watch too.

Fearful Symmetry
 

In this video George tells us that the trunk of the body is the centre of the force and that the arms, hands and the golf club
merely extend from the centre symmetrically. Can someone describe the symmetry he is referring to please?

Symmetry
Definition 1: (Physics) the property of being isotropic; having the same value when measured in different directions

Definition 2: The correspondence in size form and arrangement of parts on opposite sides of a plane, a line or a point

I dont know Strav......he's talking about the trunk as the center of force and the arms, hands and club extending from the center (trunk) symmetrically.

Couple of things I do know .....he visualized what we'd call Adjusted Address, mid body hands,, centered head as two trianlges one on top of the other , symmetrically arranged. The top triangle being formed by the level shoulders and similarly aligned arms. An equilateral triangle. The bottom triangle formed by the ground and legs. Ground parallel to shoulders. No built in axis tilt as was popular back then. So there was symmetry there.

I can also tell you that he believed the ball went the "center" or chest pointed at Finish. Cant remember whether this made his book or not? But a pull to Georges mind was caused by the over rotation of the trunk to the left of the target. Take a look at his finish position , best seat in the house pause......his chest is pointing straight down the fairway.

He put a lot of stock in moving that center as the basis of the swing. So did Homer as well but with a more clearly defined understanding of what the hands should and should not do. Georges book is like a love poem to the pivot. Homers book is more about the Hands but doesnt produce a Handsy swing.

I personally dont think George really swung a club the way he suggested........his hands were educated, they were doing some manipulating. But thats just me. Who's to say maybe he was a True Swinger?

I remember.
How was the rhythm again? Count to 3 (2?) thru the ears, one for the best seat and one on the slide down?

Steve Stricker's "Best Seat"
 

I snapped this last January during the Golf Digest photo shoot at the Kapalua Golf Academy in Maui, Hawaii.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lynnblak...44522661997538

After a strong Finish, almost all professionals assume some variation of this balanced, rock-solid position. Most amateurs, on the other hand, finish in a teetering, off balance body position and soon have the club in only one hand (usually the right).

I strongly recommend that you practice swinging to the classic "Arrow through the Ears" Finish (see the Knudson video above at 0.05). Then, as you watch the ball streak toward fairway or flag, lower your arms into George's comfortable "Best Seat in the House".

:golfcart2:

Yes so true Yoda, thanks.

I might have mentioned this a while back but George would get his students his hold this "best seat in the house"position for quite some time and then ask them what if anything was uncomfortable. From there he'd adjust the flare of your ideally flat left foot or the amount you dragged your right foot etc .......that dragging right foot can allow an old geezer to finish like a young whippersnapper with rubbery hip flexors.

I personally find the praying like position of the hands comes in very handy as well.

Assembled from YODA's pictures.

Stricker's "Best Seat" -- Face-On View
 

Thanks, Kev.

:salut:

Here's another view . . .

http://picasaweb.google.com/lynnblak...44841749060706

What could be more natural?

Or, more comfortable?

:golfing_banana:

Good eye Yoda , never noticed that till you pointed it out.......but you've seen them both up close and in person many times I believe.

Remembering George Knudson
 

I loved to watch George each year at The Masters.

In my mind's eye I can still see him on the range to the right side of Magnolia Lane. No place on earth is more beautiful than Augusta National on a crisp, sunny spring morning, and George is preparing for his round. Nearby stands his golf bag, crafted in a rich, red leather with the word Spalding emblazoned in white script. He is rifling fairway wood shots, and with each swing, I hear the resounding "Crack!" as the turf flies and the ball hisses. His caddy stands in the distance, shag bag in hand, catching the incoming missiles on the first or second bounce. Even after all these years, that memory could not be more vivid.

The word "cool" is cliche, but I can think of no other that better describes George. No doubt influenced by his hero, Ben Hogan, he was a sharp dresser. Not 'sharp' as in loud or flamboyant, but elegant. Like Ben, he loved his whites, blues and grays. But, unlike Ben, he also loved his reds, especially in his sweaters.

George had a penchant for the buttoned alpaca cardigans, as did many of the guys in "those days". You don't see them much anymore; everybody now wears pullovers. But they were in style then, and George was style personified.

Sunglasses, on the other hand, were rare on the fairways of the PGA Tour. In fact, George was almost the only player who wore them. The remaining other was Miller Barber, who could not be recognized without his large aviators that earned him the nickname, Mr. X.

Ah, "Those were the days, my friend. We thought they'd never end." But end they did, and in George's case, far too early. But while he was with us, he was the consummate professional: he worked hard, played hard, and did it all with his own inimitable flair. Set to music, his life's lyrics would be those of My Way.

In everyone's life there are many people one can remember.

There are only a few one cannot forget.

In my life, I will never forget George Knudson.

:salut:

Thank you Lynn.

You honour us with the memory of two fine Canadians...Misters Knudson and Anka. Paul, being from my old home town of Ottawa Ontario.

Thank you very much.

If Tom Tomasello were with us right now I think he'd probably come in with ....
ah something like this... maestro....

"Yes, there were times, Im sure you knew
When I bit off , more than I could chew
But through it all , I was no mouse.
I had the best seat , in the house.
I faced it all and I stood tall and, did it, My Way. "

(well George borrowed a little bit from Hogan along the byway but what the heck)

His Way
 

I knew Paul Anka wrote My Way, but I didn't know he was Canadian. Learn something new every day. Thanks, O.B.!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo9TdF8xUN8

:salut:

Mr. Anka also wrote the theme for The Tonight Show back in Johnny Carson's day. Minor threadjack---back to George Knudson!

Separated At Birth
 

"I did not know that!"

-- Johnny Carson

P.S. You guys ought to hear and see O.B. deliver that line. Facial expressions, the works. A dead ringer and priceless!

:laughing9

No worries dcg, you can hop off the bus and then hop right back on.......

Here's another guy with a nice Finish.

"Hi OH! "