Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry@kp.org) on Wed Feb 19 10:00:33 2003

Interesting analysis by Peter Kostis on Tiger and Phil at last weekend's Buick open at Torrey Pines/San Diego.Phil using technology more tuned for distance(primarily graphite shaft)Tiger for control("old fashioned steel shaft")guess which combo works better.(See Tuesday NY Times Sports for example).
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> > Kostis remarks that Phil has a less consistent swing because he doesn't maintain his spine angle(torso angle/plane control)so he has to compensate with perfectly made hand path corrections,which he can do enough to be 3rd in the world,but still kills himself with the occasional wild shot that even he can not scramble out of.
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> > Tiger's most common fault is when he overswings/swings all out,he "dips the front shoulder".What I think Kostis means by this is that Tiger "lunges"(axis still going forward as torso rotation starts,limiting rotation).The harder he swings,the more he "sits to hit".The more he sits to hit,the more he needs to keep the head back to avoid lunging.If he doesn't compensate by keeping the head back,the front shoulder goes down too much as a sign of lunging.
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> > Kostis describes this in terms of "swing radius".Current thinking in golf is that the ideal(more consistent/use more body/less hands to establish plane)swing will have the clubhead traveling in a circle with one center on the back swing and a slightly more forward center on the downswing.The wrist angle is kept acute as late as possible("double pendulum"-NOT like a quick rotational hitting stroke "transfer mechanics") so the body has to do some repositioning so the clubhead stays in the circle as the angle comes out of the wrist.Tiger can lose this circularity if he sits to hit too much and doesn't match this with the right posture adjustment.
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> Tom - How does this golf lesson relate to hitting? Do you agree with what was said about Tiger's swing? Does Tiger's swing mechanics have any similarities to least say, Bond's swing? Bonds uses more body than hands (obviously) - his rotation is incredible. And you are saying that his "posture" is back or he is "sitting".
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> Are we back to SIT to HIT? Nobody has really given a great "biomecnanical" explanation of what that means.

I'd like to hear some other opinions.The harder Tiger swings,the more he drops his head,not necessarily with bad results.He seems less "handsy" than Phil.Maybe it has something to do with mechanics as opposed to "he's a great athlete,it's useless to try to do what he's doing".?thoughts ?