Michelle Wie's New Swing Changes

[nevets88]

I don't follow the LPGA as much as I'd like, and am having trouble recalling what her old swing was like, but you can see a side by side video at the bottom of the article. Backswing is much shorter and less upper body forward at the end of the swing.

https://www.golf.com/instruction/2018/10/02/michelle-wie-new-golf-swing-2018-driver-swing-change-video-international-crown-injury

[iacas]

Hmmm.

[Vinsk]

Giraffe.

7 minutes ago, iacas said:

Hmmm.

Never noticed before but she starts her bs with an early wrist break no?

Edited October 4, 2018 by Vinsk

[boogielicious]

7 hours ago, iacas said:

Hmmm.

The one on the right I assume. Looks more fluid at least and she is turning her hips again.

[nevets88]

Maybe a little Tony Finau? Her lead ankle has much more freedom of movement.  

Come on @iacas, tell us what you think Erik! 😁

[iacas]

I think this swing is a step in the right direction for Michelle.

I think she's using her lower body a little bit more, and I applaud the narrower stance. she's turning a bit more, generally speaking, and relying on her arms and wrists and hands less.

I still don't think she's using her lower body enough.

Later wrist set:

More lower body freedom (barely):

Still backswing instead of starting the downswing:

Ditto:

Head isn't drifting back as much:

Still too much lower body restriction, even here:

Stilt style lower body, still not a big fan:

Here's an older video for more comparison. I still like the older swing more. The "Big Wiesy" swing.

 

[mvmac]

12 hours ago, Vinsk said:

Never noticed before but she starts her bs with an early wrist break no?

Yeah and seems to be trying to change that.

 

[nevets88]

So I take it her lead wrist was the injury. Looks like a lot of hard flexion happening in the old swing. You see less of it in the new swing in the still at A8ish. 

Both her swings have that long right arm. She seems like the opposite of "running out of right arm". 

[GolfLug]

I don't understand the still square to almost closed lead foot or the need to restrict hip turn even in the newer softer swing. I can understand limiting sway but what's the logic in restricting turn? It seems ill-advised to my hack eyes but who knows. I think only way I can get that finish with flat feet like that is if my torso has severed from my hips. Mechanics of long limbs and torso are just so foreign to me. 

I think she is golf's version of Tinker Bell, with some obvious mechanical gifts. She always seems like she's at something with her swing, stance (including the tabletop back putting stance), whatever. Not saying continuous tinkering is beneficial but in her case she just seems to come up with a stark change in her swing every couple of years. I think she is almost too creatively inclined for golf.

She has been a trooper through the years though. Seems very resilient, even defiant in trying what she believes in. Thumbs up to that.    

 

Edited October 4, 2018 by GolfLug

[3jacker]

5 hours ago, iacas said:

I think this swing is a step in the right direction for Michelle.

I think she's using her lower body a little bit more, and I applaud the narrower stance. she's turning a bit more, generally speaking, and relying on her arms and wrists and hands less.

I still don't think she's using her lower body enough.

Later wrist set:

More lower body freedom (barely):

Still backswing instead of starting the downswing:

Ditto:

Head isn't drifting back as much:

Still too much lower body restriction, even here:

Stilt style lower body, still not a big fan:

Here's an older video for more comparison. I still like the older swing more. The "Big Wiesy" swing.

 

Ouch.  That stilt-style lower body past impact looks painful.

[nevets88]

I can only imagine what it's like to be a super high visible celebrity and get so much unsolicited advice. It must be mind boggling to try and filter through it all. Ultimately you have to pick something and stick to it long term which must be hard to do. 

[billchao]

3 hours ago, GolfLug said:

I don't understand the still square to almost closed lead foot or the need to restrict hip turn even in the newer softer swing. I can understand limiting sway but what's the logic in restricting turn? It seems ill-advised to my hack eyes but who knows.

Some people have the lead foot square because they tend to spin out the hips too quickly or too early. Not saying that's her issue, but I've seen it in other pros and that's the reasoning behind it.

Looks to me like the new swing puts a lot of stress on her left knee, though.

3 hours ago, GolfLug said:

I think she is golf's version of Tinker Bell, with some obvious mechanical gifts. She always seems like she's at something with her swing, stance (including the tabletop back putting stance), whatever. Not saying continuous tinkering is beneficial but in her case she just seems to come up with a stark change in her swing every couple of years. I think she is almost too creatively inclined for golf.

Is she a tinkerer? I thought she worked pretty exclusively with Leadbetter and he was the one that got her into that swing from last year. I remember there being Instagram videos of them working together and it gave me the impression that she followed what he taught her pretty well.

19 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

I can only imagine what it's like to be a super high visible celebrity and get so much unsolicited advice. It must be mind boggling to try and filter through it all.

Its only hard if you try. I would think the more advice you get, the easier it becomes to filter out because you'd just ignore all of it, kind of like how people in Manhattan don't even make eye contact when they pass each other.

[3jacker]

The lack of hip motion and left foot orientation tells me at some point, maybe way back in her past, she fought overactive hips.  Kind of like Jordan Spieth obviously had a scarring series of experiences involving hooks at some point hence the grip/chicken wing. And they both took measures to ensure they never, ever dealt with that particular issue again.

Michelle's swing looks better.  The oldest one still is my favorite.

Edited October 4, 2018 by 3jacker

[iacas]

1 hour ago, nevets88 said:

I can only imagine what it's like to be a super high visible celebrity and get so much unsolicited advice. It must be mind boggling to try and filter through it all. Ultimately you have to pick something and stick to it long term which must be hard to do. 

That’s not her problem. And she’s been doing this plenty long enough.

[GolfLug]

1 hour ago, billchao said:

Is she a tinkerer? I thought she worked pretty exclusively with Leadbetter and he was the one that got her into that swing from last year. I remember there being Instagram videos of them working together and it gave me the impression that she followed what he taught her pretty well.

So the swing set up in the left pic with white dinner plate visor with her hip sticking out towards the target at set up is Lead's doing? Yeesh..

BTW, I think squaring a foot to restrict what your body wants to do (spin out) wouldn't cure the cause. Plus you spin out anyway. She + Lead tried to do something else. I don't know what but I'm curious. @iacas, @mvmac?

 

[iacas]

21 minutes ago, GolfLug said:

So the swing set up in the left pic with white dinner plate visor with her hip sticking out towards the target at set up is Lead's doing? Yeesh..

They both are.

[3jacker]

Watching yday, the main issue I noticed is she's still got the bleached hair.  Her swing looked better with dark hair.  

[mvmac]

https://golfweek.com/2018/10/05/michelle-wie-making-it-work-in-korea-despite-injury-altered-swing/

Quote

A couple of weeks before the International Crown, Wie phoned swing coach David Leadbetter in need of a plan. If she couldn’t work around the wrist injury, Leadbetter said, then she would need to consider surgery.

Using Steve Stricker as a model, they got to work on lessening the wrist action in her swing.

“Two pillars of her swing are how she sets the club and loads the club and how much lag she has,” said Leadbetter.

The familiar practice move in which Wie sets the club sharply and then stops, caused too much damage. The preferred move now is wider with less wrist cock. Leadbetter also thickened the the grips on her clubs and strengthened her right hand position. Wie practices with a ball between her elbows to feel the triangle going back and swinging through.

“She now has a Greg Norman, Jack Nicklaus sort of takeaway,” said Leadbetter. “It’s a bit old-fashioned really. This day and age most players set the club a lot earlier than they did years ago.”

Less lag, however, hasn’t translated to a big loss in distance. If the timing is there, it’s about the same off the tee, a touch shorter with her irons.

“We’re trying to get the shaft to straighten up so there’s less lag,” he said. “There’s a consequence – the release feels more with her arms rather than her hands and wrist.”

Leadbetter joked that it’s swing No. 1,239 for Wie. Some of the tinkering has been out of necessity, some because a strong imagination won’t let her rest.