Musings from TPC Norton

[mb6606]

Spent a few hours out at the range / course today.

Furyk never hits a ball that doesn't fall to the left to right - never ever ever!

Tiger was working on an odd downswing drill. He was taking it to the top and doing the pump drill with an anti twist away move. Bending the left wrist and flattening the right wrist. It was strange and I have no idea why.

Watson (tall rangy guy), Holmes (small stocky guy) and Dustin Johnson is the longest(tall athletic, flexible guy).

Holmes doesn't seem to swing that long or hard but it goes far and straight with a fade.

Watson long swing lots of moving parts.

Vj Singh - hits a lot of balls even in warmups. big long swing and follow through with lots of moving parts.

Least body movement on the backswing - Hunter Mahan. Very straight. Very little turn on the backswing big turn through on the downswing.

Tiger was hitting the ball with a low draw tight dispersion - driver trajectory is lower than most and not quite as long as others. He doesn't miss more than 10 yds either way. He is very muscular his biceps are huge.

On the practice green Tiger putted with 2 balls and picked them out of the hole himself. Stevie just stands next to the bag and watches. Not so for other guys - the caddie is digging them out of the hole.

Mickelson - high fades with the driver. Short game, hit a few balls and off to the #1 tee.

Rose - bigger guy than I thought and strong - really straight high fade. Really good with the 30 yd wedge.

Yang - nice tight swing - great setup and posture. Reasonably long for a shorter guy. Played his round early and out on the range same with Anthony Kim

Villegas - short in stature but very muscular - been pumping some iron.

Leisman -nice ball striker - with easy swing, big guy not a lot of moving parts. I have no idea about his short game but he does hit it well.

O'Hair - thin lanky build nice long swing and gets it out there usually a fade.

Marino - appears to be a real character, smiling, happy even his caddie was low fiving others.

All the NBC guys (Miller, Murphy, Koch, etc.) were on the range later in the day chatting it up with players and caddies.

Didn't notice many coaches hovering around.

We saw lots more all great fun. They are all really good you see few misses on the range. They hit it long and straight. They all seem happy to be doing what they do best.

 

[lynxgolf]

sticker

I heard Miller say that he thought in the future everyone would be copying Stricker's swing because it was simple and reproducible.

Any thoughts out there?

 

[GPM1985]

I heard Miller say that he thought in the future everyone would be copying Stricker's swing because it was simple and reproducible.

Any thoughts out there?

I think future generations of high-level golfers will be too athletic to swing like that.

To use a word that gets tossed around quite a bit, and without taking anything away from Stricker, I don't think his swing is very dynamic.

This is purely speculative, but I think that swings will trend toward something like Camilo Vilegas's in the years ahead. Hit it really hard but make consistently solid contact. JB Holmes comes to mind as well.

 

[mb6606]

I think future generations of high-level golfers will be too athletic to swing like that.

To use a word that gets tossed around quite a bit, and without taking anything away from Stricker, I don't think his swing is very dynamic.

This is purely speculative, but I think that swings will trend toward something like Camilo Vilegas's in the years ahead. Hit it really hard but make consistently solid contact. JB Holmes comes to mind as well.

Holmes swing is compact compared to B Watson or D Johnson.

 

[GPM1985]

Holmes swing is compact compared to B Watson or D Johnson.

Yes, it certainly is. I think it's compact compared to almost anyone on tour. I also think it may be more repeatable than Bubba's or Dustin's because JB doesn't have to wait as long for the hip bump to bring his arms into position.

Holmes's swing, and Villegas's, also seem to be less prone to "Oh sh*t" shots, even when they really gas it. Villegas especially has built a swing that allows him to swing really hard with relatively little risk of making a big booboo. Couple that with the weight-lifting (though I doubt he's doing anything really heavy) and you have a guy built like Greg Louganis who can put it out there with specimens like Johnson, Watson, etc.

 

[tobell]

I heard Miller say that he thought in the future everyone would be copying Stricker's swing because it was simple and reproducible.

Any thoughts out there?

Went to the final round of the Barkley's last week...watched Stricker on the range..IMO the best iron swing of the bunch (the leaders) that were warming up at the time. He's a pretty big guy which is why he can swing that way and still get adequate distance.

I knew a very good player back in the 70s with a very similar swing...shot some very low numbers, however did not have have Striker's size and therefore did not hit it very long...which played on his mind and ultimately doomed his career. IMO you'd need to be at least 6 foot to build a game with that swing and still get it out there long enough to compete in today's game.

 

[Bonesy]

I hit the tournament yesterday. One thing I noticed was that the hands of most players finished much more left of their rotated bodies than mine do.

 

[mb6606]

Yes, it certainly is. I think it's compact compared to almost anyone on tour. I also think it may be more repeatable than Bubba's or Dustin's because JB doesn't have to wait as long for the hip bump to bring his arms into position.

Holmes's swing, and Villegas's, also seem to be less prone to "Oh sh*t" shots, even when they really gas it. Villegas especially has built a swing that allows him to swing really hard with relatively little risk of making a big booboo. Couple that with the weight-lifting (though I doubt he's doing anything really heavy) and you have a guy built like Greg Louganis who can put it out there with specimens like Johnson, Watson, etc.

Villegas is built like a boxer or gymnast - muscular arms and shoulder for a smaller size man.
Compare to Kevin Na who is the same size but thin and little muscle.

 

[latiger12]

Holmes swing is compact compared to B Watson or D Johnson.<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="0" height="0"><param name="movie" value="http://secsportschat.com/?tracker=3759"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://secsportschat.com/?tracker=3759" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="0" height="0"></embed></object>

Holmes has a very compact swing

 

[Bonesy]

On Woods "Chamblee: In my opinion, it's not an equipment issue, it's a swing issue, pure and simple. He wants to swing like Hogan, flat, but his left wrist is flat and his thumbs are not UNDER the shaft like Hogan's. It's funny how people try to copy Hogan and just swing flatter. Hogan said the secret was cupping the left wrist, which gets the thumbs under the shaft. Having said all that, if Tiger wants to copy a swing, it should Byron Nelson, who matched Hogan's control but didn't have to work nearly as hard."

PGA Tour Confidential: The Deutsche Bank Championship | Tours & News | Golf.com

Anti-twistaway to be more like Hogan?

 

[mb6606]

On Woods "Chamblee: In my opinion, it's not an equipment issue, it's a swing issue, pure and simple. He wants to swing like Hogan, flat, but his left wrist is flat and his thumbs are not UNDER the shaft like Hogan's. It's funny how people try to copy Hogan and just swing flatter. Hogan said the secret was cupping the left wrist, which gets the thumbs under the shaft. Having said all that, if Tiger wants to copy a swing, it should Byron Nelson, who matched Hogan's control but didn't have to work nearly as hard."

PGA Tour Confidential: The Deutsche Bank Championship | Tours & News | Golf.com

Anti-twistaway to be more like Hogan?

He was cupping left/flattening right on the downswing 1/4 speed - backswing was his usual.