What's the deal with Tiger having a noticeably different swing on the course than the range?

[Wesquire]

At least in 2000/2001 he did. He had a LOT more hip rotation at impact on the course. Just adrenaline? How did that not affect him more?

[golfandfishing]

Every. Single. Player. Ever.

[jvincent]

> @golfandfishing said:

> Every. Single. Player. Ever.

 

/thread

[ExTrumpet]

> @Wesquire said:

> At least in 2000/2001 he did. He had a LOT more hip rotation at impact on the course. Just adrenaline? How did that not affect him more?

 

 

Good thing he changed coaches from 20 years ago.

[oiler45]

My range swing, practice swing and real swing look like I'm playing three separate sports ….

[bladehunter]

> @golfandfishing said:

> Every. Single. Player. Ever.

 

Bingo.

[Llortamaisey]

Contrary to popular belief, Tiger is just a regular human being like everyone else.

[jdl]

[straightshot7]

He always swings "smoother" on the range. It's like a 70% swing. He's warming up, by definition, so not likely to swing as hard.

 

He might hit a driver, at the end of the session, closer to his on-course speed.

 

When he's on the course and needs to hit a shot 90% or so to get high and spinning, you naturally see more hip rotation. Again, what you're seeing on the range is a warm-up.

[J13]

His speed on course is much closer to his range speed these days. His driving has improved as a result of it.

[Man_O_War]

one thing i found following Tiger at a tournament was that at the range i could easily follow his ball. they were low to mid height...and swing speed was low... struggled to do so when he got on the course.. .figured after a few holes, I had to look much higher. He hit an 8 iron on a par 3 that headed for the Moon first..he was playing with Retief..no problem seeing Retief's.

[JRS]

i have a tour level practice swing....

[JaNelson38]

As Moe Norman once said, that little white ball on the ground chokes millions of people.

 

I can't tell you how many times Ive said to myself before a round that Im going to swing it free and easy on the course like I do on the range during my warm up and just see what happens, and those thoughts are usually out the window 30 minutes later on the 1st tee when Im pushing my first tee peg into the ground.

[North Butte]

Aside from his version of the same mental affliction as the rest of us regarding "play mode" versus "practice mode" or "warmup mode" he may also experience gradually increasing back disfunction from very early in the round. Those lovely, smooth practice swings on the range may not be physically possible 2-3 hours later and on a bad day, maybe not even 45 minutes later when he's on the first tee.

 

I can't imagine what sensations and adjustments he must be dealing with every single time he swings a club for real. I doubt that any two swings are quite alike for him nowadays, much less over a period of 4-5 hours.

[chigolfer1]

> @JaNelson38 said:

> As Moe Norman once said, that little white ball on the ground chokes millions of people.

>

> I can't tell you how many times Ive said to myself before a round that Im going to swing it free and easy on the course like I do on the range during my warm up and just see what happens, and those thoughts are usually out the window 30 minutes later on the 1st tee when Im pushing my first tee peg into the ground.

 

One strategy I've used is to just use my "layup swing." I can't tell you how many times I've said, I'm just going to lay up with this 6 iron and then almost put it on the green, lol. So, I try to tell myself, I'm just laying up on every shot.

[North Butte]

> @chigolfer1 said:

> > @JaNelson38 said:

> > As Moe Norman once said, that little white ball on the ground chokes millions of people.

> >

> > I can't tell you how many times Ive said to myself before a round that Im going to swing it free and easy on the course like I do on the range during my warm up and just see what happens, and those thoughts are usually out the window 30 minutes later on the 1st tee when Im pushing my first tee peg into the ground.

>

> One strategy I've used is to just use my "layup swing." I can't tell you how many times I've said, I'm just going to lay up with this 6 iron and then almost put it on the green, lol. So, I try to tell myself, I'm just laying up on every shot.

 

We have a longish (for me) Par 5 with a pond in front of the green. You have to lay up to roughly the 100 yard marker to stay short of the pond.

 

I hit my 4-iron about 170 yards, maybe a little more including roll-out. So when I hit a decent drive and have 300-ish to the hole it makes perfect sense to just smoothly swing the 4-iron. The second shot is a bit downhill so hitting it 180 would leave me a third shot with a 9-iron.

 

Two rounds in a row recently I hit that 4-iron. According to my laser, the first one went 200 yards and the next day it went 204. There's no way I should be able to hit a 4-iron 204 yards with a hurricane behind me, much less on a calm day. But there it was. Both times came with 10 feet of going in the pond.

 

Stupid layup swing. If I could do that on purpose I could move back a couple sets of tees.

[chigolfer1]

> @"North Butte" said:

> > @chigolfer1 said:

> > > @JaNelson38 said:

> > > As Moe Norman once said, that little white ball on the ground chokes millions of people.

> > >

> > > I can't tell you how many times Ive said to myself before a round that Im going to swing it free and easy on the course like I do on the range during my warm up and just see what happens, and those thoughts are usually out the window 30 minutes later on the 1st tee when Im pushing my first tee peg into the ground.

> >

> > One strategy I've used is to just use my "layup swing." I can't tell you how many times I've said, I'm just going to lay up with this 6 iron and then almost put it on the green, lol. So, I try to tell myself, I'm just laying up on every shot.

>

> We have a longish (for me) Par 5 with a pond in front of the green. You have to lay up to roughly the 100 yard marker to stay short of the pond.

>

> I hit my 4-iron about 170 yards, maybe a little more including roll-out. So when I hit a decent drive and have 300-ish to the hole it makes perfect sense to just smoothly swing the 4-iron. The second shot is a bit downhill so hitting it 180 would leave me a third shot with a 9-iron.

>

> Two rounds in a row recently I hit that 4-iron. According to my laser, the first one went 200 yards and the next day it went 204. There's no way I should be able to hit a 4-iron 204 yards with a hurricane behind me, much less on a calm day. But there it was. Both times came with 10 feet of going in the pond.

>

> Stupid layup swing. If I could do that on purpose I could move back a couple sets of tees.

 

Ha, and these are almost my exact distances and the type of scenario I'm talking about. Just "lay up" on every shot. I know, easier said than done. ;-)

[Awsi Dooger]

It wasn't always this way and it's ridiculous to claim there isn't a greater variance with Tiger than the typical player. There's a reason this theme has been prominent for a half dozen years or more.

 

First time I followed Tiger was late '90s in Las Vegas. His range swing and tempo looked identical to the course. Rapid fire. Seemingly no thought involved.

 

Fast forward to Doral a decade later. I followed Tiger every year he played the event until the tournament moved. No other player had anything close to Tiger's variance. On the range it was a smooth swing and dependable 2 yard cut. Time after time. Club after club. Ooohs and ahhs behind the gallery line.

 

Then we'd walk left to either the first tee or tenth tee. It was especially notable on the tenth tee, because that is so close to the range. Spectators who just watched Tiger on the range 25 years away were stunned at the dipping and violent slashing move on that tenth tee, after nothing resembling the same on the range. I can't count how many spectators turned and stared at each other in disbelief. A common theme among young guys was, "What was that?", followed by chuckling.

[Kevinnz]

Swing thoughts change shot after shot, pros do react to their bad shots prior in the round, so the swing thought on one tee can be opposite to a few tees ago. On the range is about to warm up n find the swing, by the time pros reach the 10th tee, most of thrm would have forgotten their range session.

[dlygrisse]

> @straightshot7 said:

> He always swings "smoother" on the range. It's like a 70% swing. He's warming up, by definition, so not likely to swing as hard.

>

> He might hit a driver, at the end of the session, closer to his on-course speed.

>

> When he's on the course and needs to hit a shot 90% or so to get high and spinning, you naturally see more hip rotation. Again, what you're seeing on the range is a warm-up.

 

This is basically what I was going to say. 100’s of threads here over the years about Ranger Rick.

 

 

[Lakeeffectgolf]

Tiger in his prime was the greatest at chipping and putting.