Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Why did Moe Norman set up with the clubhead six inches — sometimes a foot — behind the golf ball? It looked strange, but it was pure genius, and it's the simplest secret to effortless shaft lean.
You can learn the swing here: theintelligentgolfswing.com
Here's the answer: Moe was placing the club where it would be at IMPACT, not at the ball. Since the only real difference between address and impact is rotation, setting up "at impact" meant he barely had to change anything — he'd just turn, and the shaft leaned, the ball compressed, and he took a divot, all without manipulating his hands forward. That's the whole shaft-lean myth flipped on its head: you don't force the hands ahead through impact. You build the club-to-body relationship at address and keep it the entire swing. Start the club right at the ball like conventional golfers and you have to find that lean by manipulating the shaft somewhere in the swing; start it behind the ball like Moe and impact is already built in. As Todd puts it, Moe never lost his club-to-body relationship from address to impact.
What you'll learn:
- Why the "get your hands forward" cue leads golfers astray
- What Moe was really doing by setting up behind the ball
- Why address-to-impact is "nothing more than rotation"
- The club-to-body relationship that made Moe a pure ball striker
- A simple setup fix if you struggle to take a divot or compress your irons
If your strike is inconsistent, this is a setup change that makes impact almost automatic.
CHAPTERS
00:00 The "idiosyncrasy" that was actually genius
00:30 The shaft lean myth: you don't force the hands
00:47 Why an iron is built for hands-forward (vs. a driver)
01:02 The conventional mistake: starting the club at the ball
01:17 What Moe did: club 6-10 inches behind the ball
01:31 Why - he set up where impact actually is
01:48 Address to impact is "nothing more than rotation"
02:19 The real reason Moe struck it pure: club-to-body
03:21 The day Moe said "I can't hit it from there"
Why did Moe Norman set up with the clubhead six inches — sometimes a foot — behind the golf ball? It looked strange, but it was pure genius, and it's the simplest secret to effortless shaft lean.
You can learn the swing here: theintelligentgolfswing.com
Here's the answer: Moe was placing the club where it would be at IMPACT, not at the ball. Since the only real difference between address and impact is rotation, setting up "at impact" meant he barely had to change anything — he'd just turn, and the shaft leaned, the ball compressed, and he took a divot, all without manipulating his hands forward. That's the whole shaft-lean myth flipped on its head: you don't force the hands ahead through impact. You build the club-to-body relationship at address and keep it the entire swing. Start the club right at the ball like conventional golfers and you have to find that lean by manipulating the shaft somewhere in the swing; start it behind the ball like Moe and impact is already built in. As Todd puts it, Moe never lost his club-to-body relationship from address to impact.
What you'll learn:
- Why the "get your hands forward" cue leads golfers astray
- What Moe was really doing by setting up behind the ball
- Why address-to-impact is "nothing more than rotation"
- The club-to-body relationship that made Moe a pure ball striker
- A simple setup fix if you struggle to take a divot or compress your irons
If your strike is inconsistent, this is a setup change that makes impact almost automatic.
CHAPTERS
00:00 The "idiosyncrasy" that was actually genius
00:30 The shaft lean myth: you don't force the hands
00:47 Why an iron is built for hands-forward (vs. a driver)
01:02 The conventional mistake: starting the club at the ball
01:17 What Moe did: club 6-10 inches behind the ball
01:31 Why - he set up where impact actually is
01:48 Address to impact is "nothing more than rotation"
02:19 The real reason Moe struck it pure: club-to-body
03:21 The day Moe said "I can't hit it from there"
