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.

Originally Posted by Yoda 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.

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?

Originally Posted by airair I remember.
BTW here it's a little more han 6 hours to 2011. But that's nothing to brag about. In Australia it's already been next year almost 4 hours!

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.

Originally Posted by Yoda 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!

Go to the 1 minute mark - not quite the Alpaca but still a great seat!
Happy New Year everyone!!

Originally Posted by mb6606

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

Originally Posted by O.B.Left 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.

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

Originally Posted by Amen Corner 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?

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.