Analyzing Tiger Woods Swing

Although most golfers can’t do what Tiger Woods does, such as generate an enormous amount of clubhead speed, they can look at other parts of his technique and see if there are things they can do that will allow them to hit the ball better. The two fundamental parts of Tiger's swing that the average player can learn a great deal from are his grip and his hip movement.

Tiger’s grip
This is something anyone can learn. There is no reason why everyone can’t put their hands on the club in the same perfect, strong position that Tiger has.When looking at Tiger's grip, the most important thing to notice is his strong left hand. The "V" is clearly pointing at his right shoulder, with three knuckles visible. This left-hand position allows him to pull with his left side on the downswing.

In slow-motion, it's clear Tiger's left arm comes off his body through impact. This is an indication of a powerful left-sided move through the ball, and in Tiger’s case, done more out of necessity because of the large amount of speed that he generates. His arm coming off his body is kind of a "release valve", and not a position that he, nor you, wants to think of achieving.The thing to remember, though, is that the reason he can make this strong move through the ball is because of his grip. If he made that same swing with a weak left hand grip (i.e. V pointing at chin), he would hit the ball to the right because his clubface would be open.

Most "weak grippers" of the club have to rotate the clubface closed on the downswing or else they will slice it or block it. There is little chance for them to create that powerful, late-release position, which is a product of a strong left hand.

Tiger’s hip movement
Unfortunately, this is something very few people can do. At least the speed of his hips is something very few people can achieve. This hip speed is what separates Tiger from every other golfer in the world.

The important thing for the amateur to notice with regard to Tiger's hips is not the speed, but the motion. On his backswing, he shifts his weight into his right hip, while keeping his hips as square as he can. This produces a lot of resistance (coil) in his backswing, which benefits him greatly on the downswing.

On the downswing, he shifts his hips laterally, then rotates them to the left. This lateral shift, or "bump," is the key to his downswing. His bad shots happen when he spins his hips to the left too fast, causing his arms to be stuck behind him, which results in blocked shots to the right. But as long as he has the lateral shift first, his arms will swing down in sync, and from there he can clear his hips to the left as hard as he needs to.

Interestingly, Tiger’s hip movement is almost identical to Nick Faldo’s, who has nowhere near the speed of Tiger. They both shift, then clear, as opposed to just clearing. This is evidence that the motion of the hips is what’s most important, not the speed.

Summary
Not everything Tiger does is something you can do. There are many attributes to his swing that are individual to him and not compatible with you. However, grip and hip movement are a couple of things you can learn. If you haven’t noticed these parts of his swing yet, check them out next time he’s on TV, which should be soon.

Hitting it Low Consistently

Becoming a low-ball hitter is a great way to improve your accuracy. Not just being able to hit knock downs into the wind, but having a consistently low trajectory to your shots. Ben Hogan was a low-ball hitter in his day. Hal Sutton is a low-ball hitter today. They also happen to be a couple of the premiere ball strikers in the history of golf.

With the golf courses being set up the way they are today, it seems that most amateurs try to hit the ball higher and softer. That is not a bad thing, because you will oftentimes be faced with shots over hazards and other obstacles. However, it could benefit average players if they would learn to incorporate the low shot into their game.

It's amazing how low many PGA Tour players hit the ball. It kind of startles you at first, because on TV it seems as though the pros are hitting the ball high. But if you watch Justin Leonard, Nick Faldo, or any of the other really accurate players, you'll see that's anything but the case.

So what does it take to hit it low?

The way to hit it low is to develop more of a U-shaped swing, as opposed to a V-shaped swing. This will create a more shallow approach into the ball. Thus, you will essentially just be hitting the ball as high as the loft of the club allows.

A great way to develop this U-shape swing is to feel that you "Straighten your right arm from the top of your swing."

Place the ball a little farther back than usual. From the top, feel the immediate straightening of your right arm. Don't throw it out and over the top, just straighten it out while maintaining your wrist angle as much as possible. A great "feel" to help you achieve this is to imagine you are an archer taking an arrow out of your backpack. You have to completely straighten your arm out in order to remove the arrow. It's kind of an exaggerated move, but it gives you the correct sensation.