Tour News

Tiger Woods’ new swing will look more like his old swing

Published

11 years ago

Dec 2, 2014

Tiger Woods discussed his swing changes in a press conference on Tuesday at the Hero World Challenge, and it sounds like his new Chris Como-aided swing may resemble his old swing from his junior and amateur days.

“It is new but it’s old,” Woods said about his swing. “We looked at a lot of video from when I was a junior — junior golf and amateur golf … we went back to some of those old videos. It was interesting to see how much force I could generate with a very skinny frame. How did I do that, how did I generate that much power? That’s what we’re getting back into.”

Tiger fans, Tiger critics, casual golf fans and golf swing experts were all calling for Woods to bite the bullet and go back to his old swing coach Butch Harmon, with whom Woods had proven success (if you consider the Tiger-slam successful, that is). Albeit with a different instructor, it seems Woods is, with help from Como, taking swing advice from his younger self.

Of course, back surgery in April of 2014 is still a lingering issue, but the mention of Woods going back to his old swing is certainly intriguing. Maybe Chris Como has found a way to bridge the gap between a surgically-repaired 39-year old and a limber, dominant, confident 19-year old?

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Andrew Tursky

He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

39 Comments

leftright

Dec 7, 2014 at 10:36 am

Only Butch Harmon can fix this. Como, Cuomo, Coxi or whatever the new guys name is ain’t going to fix it. Tiger better hurry, times running out fast.

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Tom D

Dec 4, 2014 at 3:41 pm

When Tiger changed to the Foley swing, he had to learn how to trust it in competition. Then he had to learn how to trust it in contention. Then he had to learn how to trust it on Sunday to win. He never did learn how to trust it in a major.

Question: Will he have to go through the same iterative “learning to trust” process with this New/Old swing? Or does the fact that it is based on a previously trusted swing accelerate the trusting curve?

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Fabian Lozano

Dec 4, 2014 at 2:16 pm

http://www.aroundhawaii.com/lifestyle/health_and_fitness/2012-05-survey-of-impact-positions-of-pga-tour-players-target-linefront-view-.html

Legend swings: Ben Hogan, Tiger 90s
Silver: Tiger 2002-2008

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marty

Dec 4, 2014 at 2:02 pm

Yawn.

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Fabian Lozano

Dec 4, 2014 at 2:02 pm

Is impossible for Mr.Como as a coach to teach Tiger how to come back to swing like the 90s when he was junior. First reason Tigers body is jot the same, he built lots of muscle but the second reason and most important:

Mr.Como does not know the moves Tiger was using to swing the golf club 120+ mph.

There is only one coach who studied that swing and these moves of the greatest, Hogan , Palmer, Nicklaus, and specially Tiger.

He is in Hawaii. He knows Tiger swing. He can take him to win majors again.

Kelvin Miyahira is his name.

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BOBBY D

Dec 4, 2014 at 11:41 am

hey EINSTEIN…butch suggested looking at your old tapes 5 years ago !!! your note only a cheat,your stupid …take your faithful indian companion and ride under your rock !!!

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Hurt

Dec 4, 2014 at 3:44 am

Leaving the weight on the left side like that, TRYING to stretch his left hip, thigh and holding the stretch of his left calf to the ankle – he’ll break that side of the leg again, I guarantee it. It’s what got him in trouble in the first place, swinging hard into that side, and we all know he can’t help show off and swing hard sometimes. He’s not going to be able to just swing smooth and easy the whole way through, his stupid ego will get a hold of him and he won’t be able to help himself just gouge at it. And that’ll be that. He’ll break his leg somewhere on that left side, and that’ll be that. What a stupid swing to be doing now, after all the injuries he’s had on that side.

Reply Report comment
- Hurt
  
  Dec 4, 2014 at 3:45 am
  
  Get off the left side and stop posing, you poseur!
  
  Reply Report comment
- Nolanski
  
  Dec 4, 2014 at 8:50 am
  
  Looks like hes just hitting a pitching wedge. Dont most people hit wedges with more weight on their front foot than with longer clubs?
  
  Reply Report comment
Charlie

Dec 3, 2014 at 7:23 pm

Stop blowing smoke up your pole

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ben

Dec 3, 2014 at 10:58 am

this is only my opinion, but to me his swing right now looks a bit shorter and that he’s staying back behind the ball a bit more, not trying to slide into it like he did w/ foley/haney in an effort to drive power w/ his legs and say spring up into the ball. i mean i’m only about a 7 handicap but have played the game for 20 years and think i have a good idea of how to analyze a swing, and that’s what i’m seeing. it also looks like he’s doing a better job setting the club. good for him for trying to turn back the clock instead of reinvent the wheel again. the foley era was a bust despite excellent 2012 & 2013 seasons.

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jonno

Dec 3, 2014 at 4:33 am

i dont really care how he hits it, just how many times he hits it

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ND Hickman

Dec 3, 2014 at 3:37 am

Good to see he might be willing to accept that the massive muscled arms might not be as good for his game as he thought ten years ago.

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- BallBuster
  
  Dec 3, 2014 at 3:45 pm
  
  He seemed to do well with those massive muscled arms pre-11/09. I think its the muscle between his ears that in his chest that needs to workout some more to re-strengthen. Otherwise I doubt a new swing coach will change much…
  
  Reply Report comment
  - ND Hickman
    
    Dec 4, 2014 at 3:41 am
    
    I would argue that his best performances in major championships came before he started bulking up. The first Master’s win for example was a phenomenal swing and he certainly didn’t have the arms of a football player back then.
    
    Reply Report comment
No bueno

Dec 3, 2014 at 1:04 am

How did you do it? Because you were YOUNG and felt no PAIN. Nothing was BROKEN.

Good bye.

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Cuervo216

Dec 2, 2014 at 10:57 pm

love him or hate him he’s good for golf. Every Arnie needs a Jack but unfortunately Tiger was either so damn good or the competition was that bad either way you don’t have to like the man but if he does start winning majors again you WILL have to respect his game!

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Jorge

Dec 2, 2014 at 10:27 pm

You can be a TW lover, hater or somewhere in the middle….the haters are allowed to comment just as much as the lovers. Just don’t diss people for it…and if you feel the need to, well it’s really your issue then, no one else’s.

I’m a TW lover and his current swing looks so natural and flowing. Hopefully, it’s a sign of great things to come. Hopefully he can silence the critics and haters

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Mike

Dec 2, 2014 at 8:19 pm

He looks like he’s standing taller now and has shortened his backswing by quite a bit – especially compared to the junior days. In that video he doesn’t even get 90 degrees of shoulder turn and hardly any hip turn.

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- TR1PTIK
  
  Dec 3, 2014 at 8:10 am
  
  I think part of it is just the angle of the camera. He’s clearly creating some extension at the top with his arms and getting the left shoulder under his chin. His belt buckle also appears to point somewhere in the vicinity of his right toe which is about right. He doesn’t need to do much more than that the way he generates lag on the downswing. He may or may not lose a bit of distance if he really has shortened things up, but other people have commented about how long his swing looks in another video from face on. All that really matters is where the ball goes.
  
  Reply Report comment
RG

Dec 2, 2014 at 8:13 pm

He’s got that little pause in there at the top. Hope he can hang on to that tempo. It’s a paint brush Tiger, not sledgehammer. Hope he gets back to form and we get a Rory Tiger battle at Augusta!

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- ron
  
  Dec 2, 2014 at 10:18 pm
  
  tiger fan here don’t get me wrong but the showdown will be at the US open when rory is going for his slam I think the guys at augusta need to get rorys jacket sized because in april he will have the green jacket
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Sean
    
    Dec 4, 2014 at 1:26 am
    
    Rory is going for his career slam at Augusta too
    
    Reply Report comment
    - Sean
      
      Dec 4, 2014 at 1:29 am
      
      I think the bigger showdown will be Augusta especially with Tiger coming back after 2013 and not playing last year.
      
      Reply Report comment
    - ron
      
      Dec 4, 2014 at 2:50 am
      
      4 in a row hes got the British, pga, and will have the masters so the us open will be all 4 majors held at one time
      
      Reply Report comment
GodSpeed

Dec 2, 2014 at 6:45 pm

What Tigers swing is missing is that old school hat he is wearing up there.

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Jon

Dec 2, 2014 at 6:28 pm

I really like what he has done with his swing, more fluid, more feel. Golf is a feel game so Tiger seems to be going the right direction. His short game will be his next obstacle b/c if can’t make those pesky 3 footers, it don’t matter how well you strike the ball off the tee.

Let’s see how it holds up in competition.

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Jed

Dec 2, 2014 at 5:39 pm

Gotta love all the TW voyers on here. Getting their fix off of watching TW himself and commenting on all the TW “pole smokers”. Last I checked this was a golf website.

His swing looks much improved…a bit longer and more upright… but we will have to see how his mental carries over to the course.

Reply Report comment
- Jed
  
  Dec 2, 2014 at 7:37 pm
  
  Ok Bubba the historian and intellectual giant. Did I say he had a long swing? Nope I said longer in comparison to where it was. Did I say he was back? Nope not at all. You want something that is intllegent to back up my comment? Something that will make more sense than your hateful banter? Here you go.
  
  Why don’t you look at tigers swing in 2000. Longer and more upright?….Yep. And arguably the best golf ever played. There you go. Someone with an upright swing that has a much better record than your equally character flawed Hogan. Hogan was one of the greats but some people are stuck in a childlike dreamworld where everyone their daddy admired is a perfect person. Sorry that person doesn’t exist.
  
  Reply Report comment
- Tom
  
  Dec 3, 2014 at 9:42 am
  
  Fud.
  
  Reply Report comment
andrew

Dec 2, 2014 at 5:33 pm

looks like bubba is wrong again

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joey

Dec 2, 2014 at 5:31 pm

here we go tiger back to the good old days

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Tom

Dec 2, 2014 at 5:26 pm

You’re a fud.

Reply Report comment
- JL
  
  Dec 2, 2014 at 9:43 pm
  
  And your self hate problem makes you go bad mouth him on GolfWRX. Good luck to you.
  
  Reply Report comment
- TR1PTIK
  
  Dec 3, 2014 at 8:03 am
  
  Bubba, I think you need to clean your computer monitor. It appears that you’ve gotten off on yourself so much that you can’t recognize the level up stupid in your posts.
  
  Reply Report comment
Chip

Dec 2, 2014 at 5:25 pm

He is back!

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- andrew
  
  Dec 2, 2014 at 5:32 pm
  
  couldn’t agree with you more swing looks fantastic
  
  Reply Report comment
Billy

Dec 2, 2014 at 4:06 pm

DO some damage, TW!

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- ron
  
  Dec 2, 2014 at 5:34 pm
  
  going to be a great season with TW back on form
  
  Reply Report comment

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