Did Tiger Change His Swing Again?

[colin007]

or is this a continuation of the Haney Project?

from what i saw, his backswing now has this weird flip about halfway up, hes taking it too far straight back at first, and then needs to flip the club up and behind himself to get to the flat position he likes. i dont seem to remember this move in the past, i dont think he was doing it last year.

actually on saturday i saw him hit a bad shot (a pull i think) and immediately after he slow mo rehearsed just that flip part of the backswing...

[DavidFehertysBike]

Yeah i noticed that too. Its probabaly just a combo of rust and the swing tempo being too quick. Tiger eliminates those kinds of nagging faults quickly.

[iacas]

or is this a continuation of the Haney Project?

It's not necessarily flat, but it's laid off. He wants it laid off - why, I don't know. He thinks it's going to eliminate "getting stuck" for him, and it does so much so that he now comes over the top with his driver. That's why he hits big flares right and dead pulls well left - he's trying to time a flip at the bottom and it's costing him.

Before Hank, Tiger's stock shot with a driver was a little draw. A lot of good players hit little draws as their stock shot because they hit the ball while the club is still moving out, forward, and down. From what I've seen for the past few years - including watching most of his rounds at The Memorial last year - Tiger can't hit a little stock draw much anymore. He hits a pull-draw or a pull-fade 95% of the time... I have my doubts that he EVER gets stuck anymore. I think he just has a horrible time getting the timing right on his hand flip. He's over the top and has to time that just right. I highly doubt he's "stuck" and for a guy that said he wanted to "own" his swing, I think he's moving in the opposite direction. P.S. Last year I gave him credit for finishing higher in majors with Hank than with Butch. His winning percentage is higher, yep. But I think that's more about how Tiger's learned to win with his B game than having an A game more often. Tiger wins now with his B and sometimes C game, whereas with Butch it took his A game or at least a high B. Tiger's improved high finishes are a result of improved course management, being more familiar with the courses, better being able to sense when to risk something and what score is required to win, etc. So I'm somewhat shifting my opinion there. Tiger no longer wins in blowouts because he rarely has his A game anymore. The last few majors he's won he's done so by avoiding hitting driver off the tee. I think Hank is on thin ice if not on his way out.

[MrKadash]

I think Hank is on thin ice if not on his way out.

That's OK. Hank has his hands full with Barkley and Romano. I agree with the rest.

[colin007]

for being a smart guy, do you think tiger realizes this? it seems like he is doggedly following hanks advice when he could be ok on his own...

[sonicblue]

I noticed this particular move, too. It's very odd, for someone that's been playing this game at such a high level for so long, to still be constantly tweaking and fighting what seem to be obvious, and serious, flaws. Tiger's unusual in that, you tend to eliminate 'tournament conditions' as an issue b/c he's so mentally strong. At times, I think, "Geez, Tiger, just throttle back and hit it 290 straight, can't someone who's been swinging a club since the age of 3 do that pretty easily?"

[uttexas]

I find it ironic that Tiger, who looks lost with the driver, has Hank Haney, who had a terrible case of driver yips, as his swing coach.

[mcfc_nick]

i still feel that splitting with butch was a huge mistake for tiger

[Randy4h]

In years gone by, other players had a tendency to "fold" under the Sunday pressure, leaving Tiger as the only one standing at the end. That is no longer the case.

He is a great front runner, but not great at coming from farther back. There was a graphic on the broadcast that showed that, when he didn't lead going into the final round, he didn't win. Think of the times he used to make miraculous pars out of the treesbecause of poor drives. That's fine if every else is making bogeys, but you won't win unless the leader(s) back up. And that is not happening any more.

[Zeph]

You should send him a complimentary greeting, along with a subscription for Evolvr.

I haven't seen Tigers swing worse than it was this week, especially the driver, but he also hit some poor iron shots, most likely for the same reasons. Being the worlds best and having the money to buy just about anything, he should definitely be able to sort this out. He's an extraordinary player, when he's on fire he can knock down pins like anything. Only problem are all the terrible shots that make up his rounds. He even popped up a couple of 3 woods on Sunday, how often do you see that?

Some stats from the tournament:

Phil Mickelson: 16 birdies, 3 eagles, 6 bogeys
Tiger Woods: 17 birdies, 4 eagles, 14 bogeys

Phil and Tiger are probably the two most talented players out there. This week, Phil managed to limit his errors better than Tiger, and consequently won.

[onthehunt526]

Tiger is either getting stuck or looking like he's working on something new... he had a C- game this week, and D at best around the greens... I think he's close to his A game again... It seems as if he fixed it after the drive on 13... and play the last four holes solid... I think he's taking it back a touch farther than he was even last year... that's why he's getting "stuck"... his timing is off... i think he'll get it figured out by the United States Open at one of his favorite courses in the world...

[michaeljames92]

Well if you look at tiger's stats for this week. He made 8 more bogeys than phil did with 14 compared to phils 8. The truth is he just made too many bad swings and as a result made bogies and didn't win.

[Three Putt]

His swing was awful. Almost looked like a 10 handicapper in a 4 man scramble swinging out of his shoes on every tee shot?!?! Dude hits with a lot of anger and rage....

[Tiger Spuds]

Dude hits with a lot of anger and rage....

That's an accurate description, he was trying to kill drives.Looked like he was turning through way too fast, tempo was way off.There was an interesting article on it on Golf.com that compared his tempo circa 2002 to now.Around then he was a machine, almost exact same tempo on every swing.Needless to say he's all over the place now.When he figures that out himself, bye bye Hank Haney.

And here's the article http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/...981005,00.html

[Cussin hacker]

I don't know if he changed anything, but as for his driving it sucks. Looks like if he backed off his hard swing a bit he could keep it in the FWY. My .02 anyway.

[colin007]

so you all agree that it looked way different this past week than it did even last year?

[iacas]

so you all agree that it looked way different this past week than it did even last year?

No. I think it's basically the same.

[Zeph]

He struggled last year too, hitting a whole lot of push and push fades with the driver. Now he's come over the top and just pull a lot left. It's mostly his long clubs that is the problem. He doesn't hit it to 10 feet all the time of course, but he often looks like he shanked the ball when it lands 20 feet from the flag. He just sets a really high standard for himself.