Tiger's new wing

[DrBrown]

This past week at the championship I was noticing how much he has changed his follow-through. I am not sure why he changed this time but he had the best swing in golf before and its scary that he is better now heh. To me it looks like a more effortless swing. Before it looked like he was really swinging fast at impact but now its like a effortless push up and down. Oh and he is hitting the driver 350+ on every long par 5. :faintthud

I seriously dont understand how he does that. How can someone swinging so smoothly be swinging 130+mph w/out really forcing the issue?? I have played with a swing speed machine and the smoothest fast swing I can produce is 105mph. Im no slouch with the driver but man o man. I cant imagine hitting a driver that far because all the par-4's would become 3's haha.

Anyway I was just curious if anyone else was impressed with the new swing like I was.

-Dan

 

[P_102]

Seems to me it's a more gradual acceleration. Instead of starting off fast on the downswing he seems to start a little slower but accelerate even more as the downswing progresses. This tends to smooth out a swing while adding power.

P_102

 

[dave.]

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2005/11/03/sports/20051104_woods_graphic.html

effortless power comes from timing,i.e coiling up power and releasing it,Fred Couples is a far better example than Tiger

 

[EnglishGolfer]

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2005/11/03/sports/20051104_woods_graphic.html

effortless power comes from timing,i.e coiling up power and releasing it,Fred Couples is a far better example than Tiger

I've not seen the swing on the TV but that article was quite interesting. The plane looks too flat for me, but that's because I used to have a very flat swing and found it very inconsistent. The new plane seems a little like Ian Woosnams swing but I could do with seeing it in action before judging further.

I love this technical swing stuff! (how sad am I?)

 

[IrishGolfer]

The plane looks too flat for me...

I agree, it looks very flat, I'd be worried about "hooking the bayjesus" out of it if I tried that carry-on.

However I do subscribe to the club on plane all the way through, and to the club pointing down the line on the way back. I didn't realise that TW was poining off to the right.

TW has always had a powerful swing. This looks more compact with less moving parts. His "big muscles" must be like well oiled pistons.

I have no idea how these dudes get 120+ club head speed and still keep their balance. I fall over at about 105mph...

 

[bdcrowe]

With that plane, the only real danger of hooking is if the hips get lazy and the swing is too armsy.

If the hips don't clear there is no room so you have to roll the wrists to get through.

This plane does away with the need to "marry" the movements of the lower/upper body. On a more upright swing, you have to time the action of the lower body until after the upper body reconnects. With the arms on generally the same plane as the shoulders, they remain connected, so-- in a very real sense-- the movement of the hips actually begin the upper-body movement into the ball. Try it in the mirror and see. If you keep the arms connected and move your right hip towards the ball, see what the upper body does-- it moves into the ball automatically, and does it on plane.

The danger of this is if you get lazy on your takeaway and come inside too soon. Then you end up TOO flat, never get on plane, and can't really get back to plane. Another danger is that it is easy to reverse-pivot in this rotational-type backswing, so care must be taken there.

my 2 pence...

 

[IrishGolfer]

Try it in the mirror and see.

Mrs. IG banned the mirror years ago....;-)

Jeesh BD, I had to read your post a few times and I still don't know what the hell you are on about "marrying this to that". At some point my brain goes into Ctrl, Alt & Del when the golf jibberish gets too deep.

If I tried all that carry-one I'd be left at the 1st tee hysterical, on the ground curled up, whimpering and gnashing my teeth!!

 

[bdcrowe]

All the golf jibberish is merely for the mirror work when Mrs. IG is away and all of your nighties are dirty. Not for thinking about during play.

What I meant, was an upright swing has to be timed moreso than a flatter one. Since the arms never disconnect from the body (ala VJ Singh's drill of the headcover in the armpit while swinging), the timing necessity decreases. An upright swing causes the arms to raise higher than the shoulder plane, so you can't fire the lower body until they reconnect.

Personally, I don't think much about all of this detail. I work on my takeaway, which puts me in position. I practice swinging with my feet together, which takes care of timing and weight shift. That's pretty much it.

For all the overkill, I just thought I'd offer a possibility of why Tiger doesn't have big hook problems (nor did Hogan) from this position. I'll return to my corner and be quiet now.......

 

[IrishGolfer]

I'll return to my corner and be quiet now.......

Do you have a mirror there?

 

[bdcrowe]

Well, I wouldn't be very quiet then, now would I?

 

[DaveE]

Don't know about all the technical swing stuff but after reading the title of the thread I went home last night and had some extra spicy buffalo wings. Yummy.

 

[dave.]

Being flat isn't the issue imho,its the position of the clubface at the top.You can still swing flat and have a square face,if its closed,as a flat backswing can cause,you rely more on timing to square the face,hence why some players find they are more inconsistent when swinging flatter.Its not the 'flatter' that is doing the damage,its the arched wrists and thus closed face.

 

[DrBrown]

Well I just tried the point they were making about the left arm being on the same plane as the shoulder line... yea thats not very good! I have watched tiger in person with this swing and on TV, he isnt really that flat at the top. I actually thought he had a more upright swing than before. He used to really drop the shaft behind his back at the top, now its right over his shoulder. Maybe its just because most times Ive really looked at this backswing he was hitting a high cut, which would make for a more upright take away. I dunno all that lingo just confuses me because the article doesnt match up to what he really looks like.

If I put my left arm parallel to the shoulders the shaft points left of the target and its extremely flat. The only way I can correct this is by bending the left wrist which screws everything up when your trying to be consistant. I guess since Tiger spends hours at a time on a digital screen analyzing his swing he knows what works. And seeing as he's been at least twice as consistant as last year, props to him for improving!

 

[dave.]

If I put my left arm parallel to the shoulders the shaft points left of the target and its extremely flat. The only way I can correct this is by bending the left wrist which screws everything up when your trying to be consistant. !

hmmmm,not really imo,you will be worse for a while but ultimately if you have worked on wrist set to get the face square and club in-line you will end-up being more consistent in the long term.

 

[bdcrowe]

You also have to consider posture, if you swing flat with an upright posture, you are extremely flat. If your posture is a bit more bent at the hips, it puts the shoulders more upright, and thus your arm plane.