Roundtable

Swing Shift?

GolfDigest.com gathers a roundtable of editors and writers to discuss the past, present, and future of Tiger Woods' swing

Rumors about a Woods-Haney split were circulating at the Players Championship.

By Golf Digest Digital Staff

Photo by Getty Images

May 11, 2010

Thanks for joining us today in the wake of Hank Haney's resignation as Tiger Woods' swing coach. As we all know, Woods won six majors while working with Haney, beginning with the 2005 Masters, but this year has clearly been struggling since his return at Augusta. Let's start in by asking what have you all seen in Woods' golf swing in his nine-plus rounds this year?

Pete McDaniel, contributing editor, Golf Digest, and longtime collaborator on instruction articles with Woods: I've watched nearly every swing since his return to competition and the thing that I've noticed is a quicker tempo than normal, especially on the downswing. His transition from the top is not as smooth as it has been in the past. Since his swing under Hank is predicated on how he releases the club through impact, I believe that quicker tempo is negatively impacting the release, making proper timing a huge factor.

Ron Sirak, executive editor, Golf World: There is absolutely no consistency to the swing. The head dip is more pronounced than ever and it seems to be exaggerated by an accompanying knee bend. Between Quail Hollow and the Players, I saw him hit 10 of the worst shots I have seen him hit in my 16 years following him.

McDaniel: I've seen him hit pop-ups before. I've also seen him shank the ball several times, in particular at Cog Hill and Quail Hollow during the first year he was with Hank. But Ron's right, his misses are multiplying at an alarming rate. Whether it's the injury or rust is a matter of conjecture. Don't think we'll learn it from Tiger.

Tim Rosaforte, senior writer, Golf World: Insecurity bred by inconsistency. Many of the same misses that were prevalent prior to the soap opera. Tiger had issues even when he was winning seven times globally, as he did last year.

Jaime Diaz, senior writer, Golf Digest: No question that Tiger has greater command of a greater number of shots than he did before working with Hank. Maybe the most important contribution Hank made to Tiger was giving him a really structured practice routine built around hitting nine different shots -- left-to-right shape, high, medium and low; right-to-left shape, high medium and low; straight shots, high, medium and low. Tiger now prides himself on hitting the "correct" shot no matter what the situation. It's made him a better at getting the ball around the golf course without big mistakes.

I think the big change in the shape of Tiger's swing under Hank is that it emphasizes the arms staying more in front of the body on the downswing. The result is a slightly steeper angle into the ball, which has helped Tiger become a much better iron player, probably the best in the game. On the other hand, Tiger has for the most part lost the wider, sweeping action that characterized his swing pre-Hank. In those days, Tiger was a longer and overall better driver of the ball relative to his peers. Ultimately, I think Tiger's frustration with not being a better driver after several years of very hard work started to erode his relationship with Hank.

Peter Morrice, senior editor of instruction, Golf Digest: It seems unfair to judge Hank's contributions based on this year. Since they started working together, no doubt Tiger's learned to control the ball better on iron shots, and has added many more shots to his bag. But his driving is certainly not at the same level. And if you look back through history, you'll find great drivers and great iron players, but rarely a player who is both. Maybe the work he's done recently has focused too much on becoming a great iron player and not enough on hitting the driver in play.

There were questions about Hank's work with Tiger before this year, but compounding matters seems to be an assortment of injuries over the past few years -- the knee, the Achilles, and now the neck. To what extent has that had a role in both his overhauling his swing, and in his problems of late?

Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

Diaz: One of Tiger's motivations for switching to Hank was to get away from the hyper-extended left knee position he was reaching at impact with the driver, which he suspected might have worsened his already-injured left knee. As far as the other injuries, my opinion has always been that they are probably more due to Tiger's intense workout regime and the lengths required to transform himself from willowy to muscular. All of those injuries have had a negative effect on his golf swing in terms of inhibiting his practice and keeping him from making an ideal body motion. Hank was not responsible for any of those problems.

McDaniel: I know that Tiger doesn't make excuses for poor play including injuries, so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt about the neck injury. I think he is injury prone and that the knee injuries and now the neck injury have meant compensations in the full swing. That he's been able to compete through the pain is amazing to me.

Rosaforte: To what extent did Butch Harmon's methodology contribute to it as well? I've heard that he blames Harmon for not taking the violent leg snap out of his left knee, the one that's been operated on four times. Let's face it, Tiger is breaking down. Whether it's the commando training methods, the violent nature of his swing, or a combination of both, but he missed most of the first half and all of the second half of 2008 with knee surgeries, didn't come back until late February last year and fought through that Achilles issue that was disclosed at this year's Masters. Now he has this neck issue. There is some truth to what Woods was saying, he couldn't properly swing the club. Bigger picture, how long will these injuries linger and what's the short-term and long-term effect on chasing down Jack's record? That's really all I care about.

Diaz: I don't think it's a given that Tiger is breaking down. There are plenty of golfers who have thrived in long and winning careers with worse injuries than he has suffered. Golf ain't football -- it's a long career with plenty of ways to adjust. I think going forward Tiger simply has to be more careful about the wear and tear on his body, and I think he will be smart about it, both in his workouts and in the way he swings. By far the more telling toll has been extracted psychologically from all that has happened in the last six months.