In 2000, Tiger Woods’ swing was considered close to perfection. It brought him a haul of seven major titles out of 11 in a golden period from 1999-2002. And yet by the end of 2002, Woods had decided to change his swing, a decision that left him without a major win in two years. Fast forward to 2005 and the decision appears to have paid off - Woods’ Masters and Open triumphs this year have come with a different coach and a brand new swing. But why did Tiger Woods decide to deconstruct his golf swing in the first place? And is it really better than his old one?

Tiger’s statistics
Driving accuracy vs GiR*

2000: 71.2% - 75.2%
2001: 65.5% - 71.9%
2002: 67.5% - 74%
2003: 62.7% - 68.6%
2004: 56.1% - 66.9%
2005: 57.2% - 71.2%
*Denotes greens in regulation

In 2000, Woods topped the greens in regulation figures - which record the percentage of times a player reaches the green within two shots of par. And he is still fourth this year despite his sometimes wayward driving.

BBC golf commentator and former Ryder Cup player Ken Brown says both versions of his swing are effective.
He says: “Tiger’s old swing enabled him to hit it straight more consistently but I think his new swing enables him to play more shots. “His swing in 2000 was almost flawless. Now it’s more effective in different ways, it’s got more moving parts to it.”

Respected golf coach Nick Bradley agrees that Woods’ swing is less consistent. “Tiger’s swing now still looks a bit narrow and explosive through the ball,” he says. “Basically Tiger Woods is still a hitter and not a swinger.
“He’s taking his club on a wide circle on the way back and on the way down his club shifts into a smaller circle.
“That causes ‘lag’, which is stored power and that’s where all the power comes from at impact.

“But he’s getting this extra power at a price. OK he’s just won his second major of the year but he wouldn’t have been in contention in the US Open if it hadn’t been for his short game and likewise he wouldn’t have won the Masters.”

So if observers think that his swing was better back in 2000, why change it? The short answer is that he decided to back a new coach with different ideas of where his swing should be. When Woods was winning four majors in a row, people needed to know where his near-perfect swing came from. Enter Butch Harmon. The Nevada-based coach was the man behind the phenomenon but rather than staying behind the scenes, Harmon became the story.

In 2002 Woods said: “My relationship with Butch has changed. As you get a little bit better and you understand your own mechanics and your game, you don’t rely on a teacher quite as often.” Harmon’s increasingly revelatory comments on US TV also played their part and Woods and Harmon parted company by the end of 2002. Woods’ driving accuracy slipped further in 2003 (62.7%) and, more importantly, whereas his short game had been unaffected in the past, he was now only hitting 68.8% of greens in regulation. (See table above) . The rot had to stop and early in 2004 Woods employed Hank Haney. During this time his averages actually worsened, but Tiger was now a work in progress - there was now an end goal.

Woods claims that he and Haney have changed “probably 15 to 18 things” in his game. Ultimately Woods did this because he took his friend Mark O’Meara’s advice and backed his coach. And according to Nick Bradley that’s where Woods’ swing took on a different slant. He says: “The vision of a golf coach is very different from one to another. “Butch Harmon had Tiger’s swing going up and down the target line whereas Hank Haney has it going around the body more.”

Once Woods began to move away from Harmon, you could argue that things began to unravel. But Ken Brown believes there was another factor. Brown says: “I think he made the changes to his swing when he had his knee injury at the end of 2002.

“He thought that the swing he had was effective for a fully fit 22-year-old but might not be right for a 42-year-old. “I believe he thought his technique was going to cause too much wear and tear on his body.” Bradley adds: “Tiger’s gone from a better swing in 2000, to a model now which is not as consistent in motion but probably feels a lot better for his body. “That’s an important point. For a player to play well, he needs to feel well. Who’s to say that the model he had in 2000 functioned better, but didn’t feel as attractive as the one he has now?

“If it feels good and you’re still winning majors then you go with it.” As Tiger put it on Sunday: “I have been criticised for years now over why would I change my game. “This is why. First, second, first in the last three majors, that’s why.”

Sergio’s New Move

Golf swings are unique, like fingerprints — and almost as tough to change. That said, Sergio’s swing may always include his signature downcock. But that shouldn’t be a problem as long as he begins the downswing in the proper sequence, which will guard against the club’s dropping behind his body — a move that has plagued him. To develop the right sequence, he needs a stable base and support for the club at the top.

It looks like he’s addressing these issues with his recent swing changes. When Sergio’s arms reach horizontal in the backswing (frame 3), he’s hinging his left wrist more than he used to. His wrist cock is completed earlier, and he can let his body rotation move his arms and the club to the top (frame 4). Until now, Sergio had trouble setting the club at the top before his lower body started back toward the ball.

In his old swing, Sergio’s hips were well into their uncoiling action before his arms and club finished the backswing. When his hips started unwinding too early, the club dropped behind his body, making it nearly impossible to get the clubface square at impact consistently.

By improving his sequence at the transition — his lower body starts forward just as the club reaches the top — Sergio now has the club in a better hitting position on the downswing (frame 6). The shaft moves on a more vertical plane and stays more in front of his chest instead of getting stuck behind him and lagging into impact.

If you’re looking to steal one key from Garcia’s new swing, try hinging your wrists earlier in the backswing. Many golfers lose control of the club at the top because they don’t complete the wrist hinge before starting the downswing. Setting the wrists early adds stability at the top and makes it easier to start down in the proper sequence. Result: a consistent release that boosts distance and accuracy.

It is a matter of common golf knowledge that pressure generally results in higher scores. We recognize that most of us do not play as well in tournaments as we do in casual golf. Too often practice rounds prior to a tournament do not give us a good clue as to who the winners will be.

The reason for the higher scores is the addition of psychological variables. These psychological variables are not generally present except under tournament conditions. Since most of us do not participate in many tournaments, we have the fear that generally accompanies action in an unknown area. We play a worse game than we are capable of playing. Those who are tournament tough, but who are no better golfers than others, come much closer to their normal scores.

Some golfing gamblers have taken advantage of this by making bets that are larger than their opponents are accustomed to. The story is told of a football coach who was also a good golfer. When he was winning his matches, the pressure would naturally be on his opponent, and there was no problem. When he was losing, he would keep on refreshing the bets and would inevitably recoup on the final holes or hole.

On one occasion, he had a short putt for a par on the final hole. His wealthy opponent had one several feet longer. Considerable money was involved in the bet. Unfortunately, his opponent sank his shot and the coach missed.

When another golfer commiserated with him about the tough luck, the coach was silent, then slowly said, “No, it wasn’t tough luck. I just outsmarted myself. I’ve been so much in the habit of betting this way that I overlooked one thing. I forgot that my big bet meant so little to this man that there was no pressure on him.”

Here are a few ways that pressure can be reduced:

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Over-learn. Learn any golfing skill to a higher degree of skill than you need. Pressure will cause you not to perform as well in play as in practice, but you will have enough skill in reserve so that the pressure won’t show.
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Do not “fresh” bets when you are losing. To paraphrase Newton again, “a person who is losing will continue to lose and a person who is winning will continue to win.” Let your opponent be under the pressure of recouping losses. Of course, this situation must be assessed each time.
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Practice pressure play. There is more than one kind of pressure, so one must subject himself to each in order to develop immunity. Match play, medal play, tournament play, etc, all have there own special pressures. Continuous play under each type will gradually immunize you.
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Never play a careless shot. If a person will adopt the attitude of never playing a careless shot-no matter what the circumstances-the tendency to succumb under pressure is lessened.
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Do not expect to play better than your average golf. As your golf records will show, the laws of probability will determine your score. If you try to do better than you can do, it will introduce an additional emotional variable and you will play a worse game than usual. It is best to let the score take care of itself. Otherwise, you may shoot a poor score on a day when you might normally be destined for a good one. You cannot prevent the appearance of scores either better or worse that your average if you simply let the laws of chance or probability take over.

Golfers are people, and all the things which affect people affect golfers. It could be helpful to outline three effective methods which can be used to take care of a particular psychological condition.

First - deliberately suppress the thoughts which are disturbing. With practice this can be done as Scarlett O”Hara did in Gone With The Wind, when she said, “I will think of that tomorrow.”

Second - shut out distressing thoughts with mental or physical activity of a somewhat extraneous nature.

Third - make a deliberate effort to think as many optimistic and pleasant thoughts as possible.

The key to consistent long putting is distance control. Control the distance of a putt by learning to control the length of your stroke. Short putts require shorter strokes. Long putts require longer strokes. Let the length of your stroke, not how hard you hit it, determine how far the ball will roll.