Last week I claimed that a square clubface at the top of the backswing sets at about 40 degrees when viewed from down the line. In my research for that article I spent a lot of time looking at the Tiger Woods swing evolution from the perspective of the face angle at the top. At the US Open in 2010, we can see the last gasps of the Hank Haney swing. It featured a very flat backswing and clubface set to nearly 45 degrees at the top.
In 2013 I was fortunate enough to take a trip to Augusta and attend the practice rounds at the Masters. I filmed Tiger’s swing with a 3 wood as he was deep into his Sean Foley swing. Here you could see a face angle set at about 26 degrees.
This represents an extraordinary change and the type of change that his actually been quite common throughout his career.
Tiger’s swing coach history includes Butch Harmon(1996-2003), Hank Haney(2004-2010), Sean Foley(2010-2014), and more recently Chris Como(2014-present). Each of these coaches had different preferences, insights, and influence on his swing. I will show that with every swing change, the face angle at the top changed as well.
Tiger & Butch
At the 1997 Masters, we can see that he routinely set the face at about 25-30 degrees. This would imply a bit of a shut face.
After his Masters win in 1997, Tiger said he watched his victory and didn’t like his swing. He and Butch Harmon decided to make some pretty major changes. After these changes, almost all of his swings set the face in the 36 to 40 degree range. The variation between 36 and 40 can be accounted for by a number of factors including camera angles, length of backswing, club selection, shot selection, and just plain old variance.
This does represents a massive change and it included a rerouting of the club during the backswing. His 1997 backswing was more vertical and prone to “cross-the-line” at the top and while some of his 2000 swings might still be described as crossed, there was a marked difference.
Even though Tiger played some of the best golf ever in 2000 and 2001, by late 2002, he was reportedly claiming he was going to have to switch coaches after a knee surgery. The article discusses his parting of ways with Butch in a way that makes a lot of sense. It seems Tiger was struggling with physical issues and “sub par” performance by his standards and he was tired of just doing “maintenance” on his Butch swing.
In Comes Haney
When Hank Haney came into the picture he was strongly advocating a swing that was “more on plane” and getting Tiger to have a “one way miss.” While he undoubtedly adjusted the plane, I’m not sure it was “on” anything. But he did increase the consistency of his miss. Most of Tiger’s misses during the Haney era were out to the right. Let’s look at his face angle and see why that might have been.
In 2008 we can see a huge difference such that the face angle is measuring at about 43 degrees. It’s pretty easy to see why going from around 37 degrees, to 43 degrees would reduce a golfers ability to miss the ball left.
The Foley Effect
As the relationship with Haney came to a close in early 2010 post fire hydrant, Tiger found himself attracted to the ideas espoused by Sean Foley. There is a great YouTube video by Wayne Defrancesco that dives deep into the details of the changes Tiger made with Foley. The major highlights include less loading into the right side, a strengthening of the grip, steeper shaft during backswing, and a transition movement geared more towards an outward hand path that discouraged him from an overly in to out path.
Most of the Foley swings show Tiger in the low to mid 20s at the top. You can see him with a driver here in 2012.
This is a pretty remarkable change and while Tiger enjoyed some success under Foley, including winning Player of the Year in 2013, his tournament results, especially in majors were never quite the same. Given his previous inclination to seek change, it’s no surprise that Tiger quit Foley and hired Chris Como.
Wanted: Swing “Consultant”
Chris Como was initially hired as a “consultant.” Why the semantic title? I’m guessing Tiger just wanted to troll the media but who knows. The Como swing starts to resemble his 2000 action pretty quickly. He starts to load more right, the arm plane got more vertical, and the face angle starts to open back up. In the most recent swings he has posted on twitter, we can see face angles at the top in the 33 to 40 degree range.
Here, from the stinger video he posted on twitter…
And here, from a driver swing…
The primary difference between the 2000 action and the one he works on today can be seen post impact and is highlighted in side bend and hip rotation.
More Context
For the sake of brevity, I’ve decided to not include more information here, but the “full” story of Tiger’s face angle at the top is much more complex. I will try to cover most of the highlights here but will undoubtedly leave something out.
While the following general pattern holds true…1997(shut) -> 2000(square) -> 2008(open) -> 2012(shut) -> 2017(closer to 2000), there is incredible nuance in between. For example, I’ve seen him produce different face angles and left wrist looks in the same event in 2006. His face started to shut quite a bit in 2003 and 2004. During 2005, a banner year and when the Haney changes were starting, he played much closer to square. A number of his iron swings during the Foley years show a pretty square face. The list goes on, but I feel it’s important to add these details as I don’t want to oversimplify.
All of these differences can fairly easily be explained. I’m sure he purposely manipulated his position at the top at times to work the ball. He, like other golfers, would get off track and experiment. His iron swing may have featured different ideas.
What To Expect At The Hero World Challenge?
While I suspect that the world of golf will never see the 2000 version of Tiger Woods again, I do like his swing changes with Como and believe that returning to a more square face angle will put less strain on his body and reduce his chances of injury.
Whether the face was shut in 1997, 2004, and with Foley, or slightly open like it was with Haney, any deviation from square will require compensation. The most common form this shows up in is when players with shut faces require more body rotation to keep the face from closing prior to impact.
We know that Tiger played his best golf in two three year stretches (2000-2002 & 2005-2007). We also know that during those stretches his face angle at the top set between 35 and 45 degrees almost every time. So at the very least we have a weak correlation between his best golf and a face close to square. But I suspect it’s more than a weak correlation. I also suspect that when Tiger was struggling in 2003, he didn’t notice the face was getting shut.
As Tiger prepares to tee it up this week at the Hero World Challenge, pay close attention to the slow motions swings and where he sets his clubface. If he can stay healthy, it might be one of the best predictors of his possible future success.