3Jack's Translation of TGM: Part IA

I will title some of these posts with a letter that follows a number. For instance, this post is titled as ‘1A’ since I am still in the introduction part of this post. The next post will be titled ‘1B’.

As much as I think it is important to understand what type of person Homer Kelley was in order to help better grasp ‘The Golfing Machine’, I also think it’s important to understand why TGM is actually called ‘The Golfing Machine.’

Quite simply, Homer Kelley looked at the golf swing like it was a machine. Here’s the Webster’s dictionary definition of a ‘machine.’

An instrument (as a lever) designed to transmit or modify the application of power, force, or motion.

So Homer Kelley viewed the Golf Swing as a machine much like you and I would view an automobile as a machine. Homer then delved further into the Golf Swing as a machine that had 24 parts to it, with each part having 3-15 variations. Lastly, there are only 3 imperatives that each golfing machine must have:

- Flat Left Wrist at Impact
- Straight Plane Lines
- Clubhead Lag Pressure Point

The title ‘The Golfing Machine’ describes the main concept behind the book. It’s saying that there truly is no one machine that operates effectively and consistenty (no ‘one way’ to swing the club and hit the ball effectively). Instead, there are almost countless variations of ‘golfing machines.’ But, they all have 3 things in common (the 3 imperatives).

When it comes to the greatest ballstrikers ever, I would arguably point to Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, George Knudson, Moe Norman and Lee Trevino. Here’s videos of their vastly different machines and notice that they all have the 3 imperatives. A machine that worked for Snead may not have worked for Moe which may not have worked for Knudson. These are truly ‘Golfing Machines.’














3JACK