Executive Producer Todd Graves admires the 'best hands in golf'
A cast of Moe Norman's hands on a golf club
Striking golf balls with Moe Norman on two particular occasions in 1998 still stick with me the most.
One session involved getting hands-on instruction from Moe himself, and the other produced one of my most prized possessions to this day—a cast of Moe's hands on a golf club.
The first was at Copetown Woods in Western Ontario. Incidentally, this is the same course where I would play my last round of golf with Moe years later.
On this occasion, Natural Golf Writer and Photographer Rick Johnson was taking our pictures. I asked Moe to show me a few things and give me a lesson. He turned and grabbed my arms to move me into a backswing.
“You need more of this” Moe said, pulling my arms back around me as he held my shoulders. It felt as though he was going to break me.
Moe Norman gives Todd Graves an on-range golf swing lesson
He grabbed my hands and moved my arms more inside—pushing my shoulders down. His instructions were forceful and deliberate. Moe was very strong. His hands were like a vise.
“More up and down, up and down,” Moe commanded.
When he showed me his swing movements, his instructions were more demonstrative than explanatory. Moe thought words interfered with feelings and believed showing the movement was a better way to explain it. Moe would rather show than tell. Sometimes what Moe showed wasn’t exactly what he did, but rather what he felt.
That same year, I was with Moe and Natural Golf President Larry Olson in Titusville, Florida. We were meeting with Dale Wilson, a sculptor who wanted to make a mold of Moe’s hands. Dale mixed a bucket of solvent and punctured a hole in the bottom, sliding in it the grip of a golf club.
In order to cast the mold, he asked Moe to reach his hands in the bucket and hold the grip for five minutes until the solvent hardened. Once it did, Dale would pry Moe’s hands free of the hardened mixture. Dale could then pour plaster into the impression left by Moe’s hands.
Moe was reluctant to place his hands in the bucket. He said:
“I’m a golfer, not a dipper."
“I’ll do it,” I said, hoping it would put Moe at ease. I dipped my hands in the goo, and after a few minutes, the mixture molded around my hands. Dale then, with some effort, set me free.
Moe resisted.
“Oh no, I’m a golfer, not a dipper.”
Finally, after some convincing, Moe placed his hands into the bucket—giving us a priceless plaster mold of Moe’s hands—which Sam Snead said were the ‘best hands in golf.’
Regrettably, Moe didn’t grab the grip exactly the way he actually held the club during his golf swing. It turns out, Moe was right—he’s a golfer, not a dipper. But, to this day, I can still admire the best hands in golf.
Todd Graves was a personal friend of Moe Norman's who learned the Single Plane Golf Swing directly from Moe. Todd is the Co-founder of the Graves Golf and teaches Moe's swing method.
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