Take an analytic, frame-by-fram look at the latest reiteration of Tiger Woods’ swing.
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Take an analytic, frame-by-fram look at the latest reiteration of Tiger Woods’ swing.
Textbook setup, which Tiger is known for - his legs, forearms and shoulders are all parallel to the target line, and the club points right to his belt buckle. This allows the club to set (i.e., hinge) on time, not too early or too late.
A powerful, efficient start to Tiger’s swing. In addition to the tremendous width, I like how the clubhead is in a straight line with his hands and shirt buttons, not too inside or outside.
BEST MOVE: You can’t be in any better position here - the shaft is pointing at the ball and is perfectly on-plane, the hands are deep and in front of his right chest and the clubface is square.
Another move to copy! Tiger’s lower body is very stable, his left wrist flat and his right arm sits directly underneath the club. The shaft points directly down the target line and his upper body is super-coiled.
Halfway down, the shaft plane is a little steeper than it was on the backswing. This is probably to protect his back, as the steeper the path the less you have to rotate your body. Tiger is much more dependent on his hands and arms for speed than he was before the back surgeries.
Here is a perfect example of this powerful right-hand, right-arm release. Tiger’s right arm is already fully extended and the clubhead has passed his arms. Like Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas and others, he really pushes up off the ground, which you can see in the length of his legs and height of his chest.
One of the taller releases you’ll see, a result of the steeper downswing and unusual right-arm, right-hand action. Fred Couples and Vijay Singh are other examples of players with similar releases and a steep follow-through.
You can definitely see that Tiger is trying to alleviate pressure on his lower back by finishing tall. Tiger stays in his posture (i.e., side bend) through impact but he’s not staying in it much longer than he has to.
Devan Bonebrake is the owner/operator of the Southern California Golf Academy, located in Carlsbad, Calif.
