Would Tommy Gainey have been more successful if he'd learned and used a more traditional swing?

[PedronNiall]

Was thinking about the amount of talent he must have overall to make that swing work and the excess time and energy it must take to hone and maintain it as well as make it work out on the course for four days during a tournament. Considering that he took it all the way to an actual big stage win, if he'd had more time and energy to put towards refining other parts of his game do you think he'd have performed better? IIRC his swing didn't serve him the best when it came to more feel-based shots.

[golfortennis]

All he needed was to use one glove.  No?

[tiderider]

maybe, but it might be he found something simple that enabled him to be competitive without too much work ... i don't know ... it's an odd swing, for sure, but one thing golf teaches is there's more than one way to get it done ... he may have simply wanted to 'make a living', and wound up making a pretty good one ... 

[Hawkeye77]

He needed to (literally) stay off Santa’s naughty list. 

[puttingmatt]

Competitive golf is hard, making it on tour for any amount of time is harder. I wish Tommy well, look forward to seeing him win again

[cardoza]

Dude went from working on an assembly line to making over $6.5MM on the course over a 14 year career. Doubt he has many (golf related) regrets.

[PedronNiall]

35 minutes ago, cardoza said:

Dude went from working on an assembly line to making over $6.5MM on the course over a 14 year career. Doubt he has many (golf related) regrets.

 

I didn't say he regretted anything, simply musing on whether or not he could have played more consistently or done better overall with a more traditional swing that most likely would have relied on so much finagling. Furyk has a non-traditional takeaway, but his downswing is up to snuff and his results show that.

 

Again, seeing he had the talent to produce the results he did with what is probably the ugliest swing I've ever seen someone find success with I just wonder.

[m d g]

A lot of swings that are considered 'bad' are usually because they are totally natural (Furyk, Wolff, etc.).

 

Because of that, once a golfer can make it work in competition, it is a no-think swing under pressure.

 

Nicklaus' swing wasn't considered ideal...

[Ironman_32]

With any golf swing at the professional level of the PGA tour, it has to be youre "on" week to win. 

 

The question is, would he have more "on" swings with a traditional swing versus what comes natural to him. 

[MattyO1984]

No chance. It seems that the consensus again is that rather than trying to fit into conventional notions, you are better to swing your swing and work it out from there.

 

If Gainey had tried to swing like Adam Scott, neither Santa nor GolfWRX would have heard of him.

[Bye]

Just look his downswing/more importantly his impact position. The rest doesn’t really matter. 
 

It’s the same with Furyk and Wolff, it looks weird on the way back but from the transition downwards it’s world class. 

[caniac6]

I remember watching him on the range in Greensboro, and the sound when it hit the ball was incredible. He could not have possibly hit the ball more solidly.

[Christosterone]

his ball striking was sublime...’

 

tommy often suffered from lag putting “woes”...

this is an imperceptible “stat” as all pros are exceptional putters [compared to mortals]...

but u must be exceptional for years at a time...he would lose 1/2 shot per round to the field on 20+ feet putts and that matters when ur trying to make cuts over the course of a season...

it’s a razors edge...

 

-chris

[bladehunter]

In short.  No.   Being local to the guys game and being around so many people who tell of playing against him or watching him , you won’t find anyone who says “ man if he’d fix that swing “.  Nope.  That part is as natural as getting out of bed.  

[Nels55]

8 hours ago, PedronNiall said:

 

I didn't say he regretted anything, simply musing on whether or not he could have played more consistently or done better overall with a more traditional swing that most likely would have relied on so much finagling. Furyk has a non-traditional takeaway, but his downswing is up to snuff and his results show that.

 

Again, seeing he had the talent to produce the results he did with what is probably the ugliest swing I've ever seen someone find success with I just wonder.

How about Eamon Darcy?

 

[Sean2]

If he tried for a more conventional golf swing, it might have actually made him worse, not better. 

[Hawkeye77]

9 hours ago, m d g said:

A lot of swings that are considered 'bad' are usually because they are totally natural (Furyk, Wolff, etc.).

 

Because of that, once a golfer can make it work in competition, it is a no-think swing under pressure.

 

Nicklaus' swing wasn't considered ideal...

Until he won and won a lot!  Then look at all the folks who emulated it, including some really good pros who came along during Jack's career.  

 

I thought I was learning it by reading, rereading Golf My Way ------ but I just learned it wrong. Self-teaching in a no video age with no real understanding of how a golf swing works (a lot like self-teaching now, it's just that most can't interpret their vids properly).   I just grooved my version of his swing which fit with all my natural tendencies/flaws.  "Look, Jack, I'm swinging your swing!" Jack: "No fella, it's all yours (looks at Arnie and starts laughing)".

Edited January 20, 2021 by Hawkeye77

[MtlJeff]

1 hour ago, Sean2 said:

If he tried for a more conventional golf swing, it might have actually made him worse, not better. 

 

I was also going to say, i believe this is the greater likelihood. Generally, if you become part of the top 1% of 1% at anything globally, chances are if you had done things differently you would have been worse not better

 

[gators78]

Tommy has a lot of stabilizing moves, way back when Kelvin Miyahira was a big fan of his swing.  I randomly saw him at a mini tour event probably 10 years ago, he absolutely flushes it. Not sure what the benefit would be if he was more "conventional"

[mocokid]

12 hours ago, cardoza said:

Dude went from working on an assembly line to making over $6.5MM on the course over a 14 year career. Doubt he has many (golf related) regrets.

He's got an excellent swing that works.  Don't see any issue here.  

[disco111]

I'll offer a quote from Ben Hogan, I think or it may have been Sam Snead, not really sure, but it goes..."Ya gotta dance with the one that brung ya"! 

Just an additional thought on that quote, perhaps somebody should have said that to the Jordan Spieth........🤓

[m d g]

4 hours ago, Hawkeye77 said:

Until he won and won a lot!  Then look at all the folks who emulated it, including some really good pros who came along during Jack's career.

Re: Jack's swing. Is it so outdated? It doesn't seem like it. He didn't have a huge reverse C like many others.

 

I wonder why it's not being taught now?

[Socrates]

It's a swing that came from digging it out of the dirt and only worrying about the results.  I'd bet he never knew what it looked like on camera until well after he became successful on the development tours.  If he had tried to change it at any time, he still would on that assembly line.

[Pepperturbo]

Two gloves or one, Gainey was and still is a good stick.  Not many came up the way he did.  I applaud him for the mark he made, but not those on social media that tend "not" to see the demands put on tour players, over and above playing damn good golf.  Some people are just not suited to cope with sponsors and the PGA Tour's, sometimes ridiculous, demands.  I wish him well.

[Socrates]

This thread made me think about Robert Landers making it to the Senior Tour in '94.   From cow pasture to the Tour.

[stingerfade]

11 hours ago, Nels55 said:

How about Eamon Darcy?

 

Who’s that? Was he on big break too?

[stingerfade]

8 hours ago, disco111 said:

I'll offer a quote from Ben Hogan, I think or it may have been Sam Snead, not really sure, but it goes..."Ya gotta dance with the one that brung ya"! 

Just an additional thought on that quote, perhaps somebody should have said that to the Jordan Spieth........🤓

Close....Byron Nelson 

[Nels55]

6 minutes ago, stingerfade said:

Who’s that? Was he on big break too?

Four time winner on the European Tour and played in the Ryder Cup four times:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eamonn_Darcy

[Pepperturbo]

12 hours ago, Sean2 said:

If he tried for a more conventional golf swing, it might have actually made him worse, not better. 

Imagine what would have happened to Furyks if had decided to go with a conventional swing.  He's done mighty well with a very different type swing.  Look at Wolff's swing too.  Conventional just doesn't work for some people. 

 

[dbelles1]

34 minutes ago, Pepperturbo said:

Imagine what would have happened to Furyks if had decided to go with a conventional swing.  He's done mighty well with a very different type swing.  Look at Wolff's swing too.  Conventional just doesn't work for some people. 

 

I agree but have you seen Wolff swing “conventional?” He stripes it and he could definitely be on tour. But it’s not natural for him, so it wouldn’t work as well.