Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer are two of the biggest names to ever play the game of golf.
With 25 major championships between them, Palmer and Nicklaus know a thing or two about how to play the game and all the fundamental swing thoughts that go with it.
Of course, Nicklaus and Palmer had very different golf swings but over the years, were equally as effective given their success.
Key for players like Nicklaus and Palmer, though, is being able to rebuild or recognise if things aren’t going too well.
And according to Nicklaus, that was something both he and Palmer had in common.
What Jack Nicklaus said he and Arnold Palmer understood that other golfers didn’t
In any sport, it’s easy to ride the wave when things are going well and success is flowing.
The key to being a top sportsman and or athlete is knowing what to do when things are going wrong.
And according to Jack Nicklaus, that’s something he and Palmer had when it came to understanding their own golf swings.
“My swing isn’t pretty like Snead’s or functional like Hogan’s. But the most important thing about it, to me, is understanding it, being able to take it apart and put it back together again,” Nicklaus has said previously.
“A lot of players on the tour don’t know what to do about it when something goes wrong with their swing. Arnold knows; I think I know pretty well, too.”
Speaking specifically on alignment, Nicklaus has explained how this is absolutely key when it comes to the shoulders.
“The critical alignment factor is the shoulders. Remember that, unless you make a deliberate effort not to, you will instinctively swing the club through the ball parallel to your shoulders, no matter where your feet may be aligned.”
How Arnold Palmer treated Jack Nicklaus on the PGA Tour
Arnold Palmer is loved in the game of golf and you’d have to go a long way to find someone with a bad word to say about him.
Indeed, with Nicklaus praising his friend in the above comments, it’s worth looking back at what Nicklaus said about Palmer’s treatment of him when he first emerged on TOUR.
“Well, Arnie was the top player in the game at the time,” said Nicklaus. “He had won The Masters earlier in the year.
“He was the guy you had to beat if you wanted to win, and particularly here. It was really kind of funny because I never really heard the gallery. I was a 22-year-old kid with blinders on and not smart enough to figure out that people rooted for people. I just went out and played golf. That’s what I did. I never really considered Arnold as something different.
“Arnold took me under his wing when I turned pro, and he never treated me anything other than as an equal, and became one of the closest friends I’ve ever had in the game.
“We just did… I didn’t look at it that way. He was just another guy that he wanted to beat me and I wanted to beat him, and I guess that’s what happened through the years with the two of us.”
Anytime we can recall stories from players like this is always a pleasure and when it comes to Palmer and Nicklaus, we could listen to or recall their tales all day.
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