Tiger is becoming...

[Virtuoso]

How does he not hit skypops.

Well, the greatest golfer that ever lived can bring the driver in at an awkward angle and still hit the center of the face. But, he may hit a drop-kick hook if he tries to pitch some loft back on the face.

If the tournament golf world was a comic strip, and Tiger was Superman....and I was the Divotdevil, the mastermind villian, and I was trying to destroy his career, I would encourage him to do the one thing his talent can't work around. And that would be to have him deliver the clubhead with no dynamic loft left on it.

He can come 8 degrees from the inside (like before- laid off and steep downswing shoulder pivot) and still flip his way to a few more majors...he is that good. But if he has 8 degrees of forward shaft lean on a 9 degree lofted driver....well, he better be trying to hit a cut. He'll still be able to hit good 9-iron shots because the club has 43 degrees of loft on it to begin with, but he'll be effectively neutered with the longer, flat-faced clubs.

Will he still win a few golf tournaments from 272 in the right rough (punch cut 3wood) while Dustin Johnson is 323 in the fairway, or Luke Donald is 286 in the fairway? Yes...but not nearly as many as he would have otherwise.

Let's see, what else could I do to destroy him....BBwwwahahahaha!

 

[gmbtempe]

YouTube - Tiger Woods Driver Swings w Slow Motion - Masters Practice Round.flv

2:02

If he is going to continue to deliver the driver head to the ball at this angle, he's better off just hitting 3wood....especially if he is going to try to draw it.

wow that camera is crooked, hard to look at angles with that one.

 

[mgranato]

Let's see, what else could I do to destroy him....BBwwwahahahaha!

Go blonde.

 

[lia41985]

YouTube - Tiger Woods Driver Swings w Slow Motion - Masters Practice Round.flv

2:02

If he is going to continue to deliver the driver head to the ball at this angle, he's better off just hitting 3wood....especially if he is going to try to draw it.

That's footage from last year's practice round.

 

[Lifter]

I think two things cost him:

- Putting
- Driver play in the first 3 rounds.

He was last in fwys hit going into Sunday. He was hitting a lot of drivers that left him with impeded approach shots to the green. Golfers like Tiger hit it far enough to have a shot at the green, but they take away their shots at the flag or they have a shot...but it's much more difficult.

If he plays like he did on Sunday in rounds 1-3 as well, he probably wins the tournament even with the poor putting.

Of course, if he putts decent, he probably wins the tournament on that.

I know I wouldn't be surprised in the least bit if he blows out the field in his next tournament.





3JACK

I'm with 3Jack on this one.

Tiger will figure out how to putt again. He's arguably the greatest putter of all time. He just needs to put a little more practice time in and he will. Once he does, I think Tiger's going to win the most tournaments of anyone this year and lead the money list.

I wonder if we've seen the last of his Method putter.

 

[mgranato]

Lifter, be honest.... did it hurt?

 

[Virtuoso]

That's footage from last year's practice round.

Ah, thanks Lia, that's why the DTL view is still laid off. Does anyone have face on view of driver for this year. Shaft angle still doesn't look right for the longer clubs.

 

[Virtuoso]

Regardless of how he and Foley get there, the shaft angle at impact with the longer clubs needs to look more like this:

YouTube - Tiger Woods golf swing in slow motion

 

[lia41985]

Regardless of how he and Foley get there, the shaft angle at impact with the longer clubs needs to look more like this:

YouTube - Tiger Woods golf swing in slow motion

Virtuoso,
Do any "flaws" appear visible to you in that swing (here it is again from an up-the-line angle):
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zgsrCCF-oEE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Lindsey Newman]

Looks like a rat hook

 

[Virtuoso]

Virtuoso,
Do any "flaws" appear visible to you in that swing (here it is again from an up-the-line angle):
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zgsrCCF-oEE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Lia, I think you can look at it a few different ways. My main concern is always clubhead delivery, and in that sense, the above swing looks pretty good to me....and by that I mean NEUTRAL. Neutral in path, attack and shaft angle, and a fairly slow closure rate...but high clubhead speed.

Now, in terms of the bio-mechanics (how his body moves), I like that swing, but don't love it. But, that is my personal bias. I just like to see less shoulder steepness on the downswing, more open shoulders at impact, and the handle going more left....but in a natural way; not a contrived "suck the handle left manually." With that in mind, you could guess which swings I like to watch: Hogan, Mahan, Schwartzel, Garcia, Manassero, Trevino, Toms, and so on.

I definitely like to see the player rotate his torso into his right leg in the backswing, even if that flattens the shoulders a little, and shifts the sternum a little. In my mind, if you were going to fling a 30 lb medicine ball down the target line, wouldn't you load into your right leg and not lean over the top of your left?

 

[lia41985]

Lia, I think you can look at it a few different ways. My main concern is always clubhead delivery, and in that sense, the above swing looks pretty good to me....and by that I mean NEUTRAL. Neutral in path, attack and shaft angle, and a fairly slow closure rate...but high clubhead speed.

Now, in terms of the bio-mechanics (how his body moves), I like that swing, but don't love it. But, that is my personal bias. I just like to see less shoulder steepness on the downswing, more open shoulders at impact, and the handle going more left....but in a natural way; not a contrived "suck the handle left manually." With that in mind, you could guess which swings I like to watch: Hogan, Mahan, Schwartzel, Garcia, Manassero, Trevino, Toms, and so on.

I definitely like to see the player rotate his torso into his right leg in the backswing, even if that flattens the shoulders a little, and shifts the sternum a little. In my mind, if you were going to fling a 30 lb medicine ball down the target line, wouldn't you load into your right leg and not lean over the top of your left?

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I'm going to have to go back and read your old posts because you are quite knowledgeable and obviously putting much time and consideration into your posts--I appreciate that very much!

A follow up question: why do you have this biomechanical preference?

 

[lia41985]

That right shoulder looks pretty good there! He's coming..
http://a.yfrog.com/img716/4053/iqg.mp4

 

[Billy McKinney]

I was out there for most of the 74 and gotta tell you, he struck it beautifully. The driving distance stats don't really mean anything at Augusta as there are zero flat fairways. He was crushing it and when he missed it wasn't far off. He looked considerably freer with his arms than over the last year.
I watched him on the range with Foley and they didn't say a word or look at each other once during the whole session..same as with Hank last year. Maybe it's just Tiger's routine.
And even though there are so many accounts about what an abrasive ego-maniac his is, the patrons were THRILLED to see him up there.
Watch out when he gets that putter inspired.

 

[Virtuoso]

A follow up question: why do you have this biomechanical preference?

Lia, I guess if I had to condense it down to a simple statement, I would say that as you get about half way down and the club starts applying a force back on you, it's easier to counterbalance that force and modulate clubhead delivery if the shoulders are open and "non-steep" in the impact zone. But, please don't misunderstand, I do realize that well before impact the party is over in terms of clubhead manipulation. It might be more acurate to say that the movements that make delivery end up more consistent and optimum, also happen to make the shoulders not as steep and more open at impact.

That should have been sufficiently confusing.

 

[lia41985]

Interesting! Thanks for the reply. It wasn't confusing at all.