Tiger's current swing

[Plox]

I thought this deserved it's own thread rather than being tacked on to other ones.

What are people's opinions on his current swing and where he should head post Haney? I've been looking closely at some of his 'peak' vids of around 2000 (Butch era) and not only was it more aesthetically pleasing, it yielded more distance and accuracy (e.g I think it was 2000 when he was top 5 in distance and top 20 accuracy). It's something that seems to have been overlooked slightly, but watching Tiger tee off these days is nowhere near the same 'event' it was in years gone by. This can partly be attributed to a general improvement of distance on tour, but he is getting comfortably outdriven these days by the likes of Phil Mick (I remember watching Tiger knock his 3 wood past him a good few times when he was paired with him at the Masters years ago).

I'm no teacher, but there seems to be far too many moving parts in his swing now, which puts a lot of pressure on his hands compensating at impact. I'd love to see him simplify things, almost start from scratch and have one or two key swing thoughts during his round; honestly, these days he's like a modern day Faldo, obsessing about swing planes during his many practice swings. His scrambling is as good as anyone, but I'd love to see a return of his pure ball striking days of Harmon, where his posture and everything else just looked so fluid. An interesting take on tw's swing:

[jamo]

First off, I still disagree with the statement that he was longer with Harmon. His longest driving year was 2005, with Haney. Not that I think his swing with Haney is better, just stating a fact. Tiger's swing under Harmon was much more hip oriented. He emploed a much faster hip turn through impact and also pushed his hips forward a little more. The things with his hands is that under Harmon he was free to make that aggressive hands move, while today he either makes the move and pull hooks it or doesn't and hit blocks to the right. Here is a recent golf.com article on his swing . I don't agree with all of it, but I think slides 3 and 6 are pretty good. The current swing of Tiger's that they use in the slideshow is one where he comes over the top a little, but he has been so inconsistent with that, sometimes he actually comes down under plane, and that OTT move is why you see slides like #8 and 10.

[CG031]

What I find is hilarious is when Tiger struggles every announcer and golf opinion out there talks about his head movement throughout his swing...then when he wins you never hear about it.

Whenever someone swings that hard with their driver, do they really expect to have fine accuracy? They shouldn't.

[DavidFehertysBike]

Its the double standard that tiger has pretty much always had to deal with. Since ive been watching the game, pundits, fans, or whomever have always self righteously over-anyalized everything about Tiger. But when the only standard set is yourself, its pretty dificult to escape from that.

[mck]

it really is something to see a guy being outdriven today by guys he used to hit his little steel shafted driver 30 yards past. During the final round of the open I was thinking of the 2000 Mercedez Championship when Els and Woods were in the playoff and Woods was making Els look short but yet today 40 year old Els is longer than him. Without that length advantage I don't see how he can be the same player he was ten years ago.

[Plox]

^^ Exactly. In net terms, Tiger has fallen back in to the pack in terms of distance off the tee, and also his irons. I remember Tiger consistently launching it 30 yards past Davis Love III back in the 1997 major winners tournament. At most, 4 or 5 players were longer than Tiger; now, you're realistically looking at over 20. Phil is comfortably longer with the driver, and I'd say a good club longer with the irons. I think it's fair to say Tiger is currently 'short' and crooked off the tee.

He's always had a fairly 'rigid' looking swing, but it looks too tight these days and mechanical.

[PEZGolf]

Tiger has been a great Champion, and we know that with his work ethic, he will hit many practice shots trying to get his game back. However, once a player gets "off track", it is often very difficult to get back to the swing mechanics that worked so well. Besides losing his distance advantage over the rest of the field, the most worrisome stat is that he is missing both to the left and right, and not just blocked shots to the right.
The photos and analyses in the golf.com link are very interesting, especially the laid off position at the top. With his tremendous swing speed, it is not surprising that his missed fairways are more off-line than they have ever been. The rest of the year should be interesting to see if his swing gets corrected. While he is struggling to make the changes, the intimidation factor that used to work so well to his advantage is not there.

[Paradox]

we all know, its hard to hit it far when you're so focused on hitting straight. My opinion(as if it means much in this situation) is that Tiger just needs to start smashing off the tee and stop thinking about so much mechanically. He is a natural athlete. He should let that shine through instead of trying to force so many things at one time.

[mck]

First off, I still disagree with the statement that he was longer with Harmon. His longest driving year was 2005, with Haney. Not that I think his swing with Haney is better, just stating a fact. Tiger's swing under Harmon was much more hip oriented. He emploed a much faster hip turn through impact and also pushed his hips forward a little more. The things with his hands is that under Harmon he was free to make that aggressive hands move, while today he either makes the move and pull hooks it or doesn't and hit blocks to the right.

wasn't 2005 about the time he switched from a 43.5 steel shaft to a 45 inch graphite?

[nuck81]

Tigers swing is not the problem. He's been swinging great lately, he's lost confidence in his putter. If he was hitting hitting his 10-5 foot putts for birdie that used to automatic for him. We'd be talking about how many tournaments tiger was going to win

[Zeph]

Tiger is making 11% less birdies than the last 5 years, his putting average is right the same as it has been the last 5 years.

His bogey average is up 89%.

[Stretch]

Come on. Tiger has a two way miss going, he's double crossing mid iron shots from the fairway. So, there's nothing wrong with his swing apart from the fact that he doesn't really know where the ball will go.

PS: I agree his putting sucks, too.

[jamo]

Here we go: For 2010 Tiger's proximity to the hole is 37"10'. For 2001 it was 22"11'. For every year from 2002 to 2009 it was between 31" and 35". What does being far from the hole do to you? It make every putt just that much harder, and makes you more susceptible to 3 putts. This year his 3 putt avoidance is 3.27%, highest since 1998 except for 2006. He just isn't making the birdies and he is making a few too many bogeys, as Zeph said.

[trajectory]

Tiger has dug himself into the deepest hole a golfer could......lifting weights for bulk and getting to mechanical. He'll be a 5 handicapper in a few more years.

The constant scrambling will eventually wear on him, his short game will get infected by the mechanical thoughts. Let this be a lesson to all you young guns and junior golfers.....strong legs are good for golf, bulky arms and pecs do more harm. Stay away from heavy weight training!!!

[Leftygolfer]

Tiger has dug himself into the deepest hole a golfer could......lifting weights for bulk and getting to mechanical. He'll be a 5 handicapper in a few more years.

Is this a serious post??? Could Camillo (geez I can't figure out how to spell his last name for the life of me) even be on tour and a winner without getting stronger. Hasn't Phil gotten in the best shape of his life and IMO I think he is better than ever. I just think this has nothing to do with why tiger isn't 'tiger' anymore. If you don't lose flexability size in your upperbody will not hurt you. I agree it isn't going to make you better (well stronger forearms will which is a result of lifting for arms, back and chest) but it isn't going to hurt you.

First off, look at his personal life. That has to be taking energy away from improving. Secondly, he went away from the way he learned how to play when he switched to Hank. He has naturally ultra fast hips and he has never seemed confortable the way he did. I am not a golf instructor. I don't know the answer to why he isn't as accurate as he used to be and looks so ugly at times. I just think he needs to figure out why he was so great, and get back there.

[jamo]

Tiger has dug himself into the deepest hole a golfer could......lifting weights for bulk and getting to mechanical. He'll be a 5 handicapper in a few more years.

What?!? There is no way lifting weights will hurt anybody's golf swing. And Tiger has always been mechanical, he worked with Harmon from his early teen years until 2001. His short game is among the best in the game, but his swing has been poor this year which, like you said, has put too much pressure on it. But the swing isn't off because of lifting weights.

[Divot Tool]

I wish I could pick Tiger's brain regarding the flatness of the left wrist at the top of his swing. Why does he employ a flat wrist, what is his rationale? We know that his grip at address is neutral as was Hogan's but what Hogan did as per Modern Fundamentals: The Five Lessons of Golf, was that he rotated the face open very quickly and got his wrists under the shaft at the top.

Frankly, I don't think his swing has changed all that much in the time that he and Haney split. It's just tough watching a great player struggle so immensely.