Tom Watson Golf Swing Analysis

Related Article: http://www.waynedefrancesco.com/golfers/tom-watson-swing-analysis/

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• tom watson
• golf swing
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• golf instructions

[JazzandSoul1]

The reason Watson didn't win as many majors as he could have is because of a slight outside in movement on the forward swing. You never saw that Wayne?

[wdefrancesco]

@JazzandSoul1 Or perhaps you could say that the only reason he won as many majors as he did was that very same move, the thought of which makes evident why such speculation is essentially pointless. Swings of the great ones are what they are. Many times the effort to correct and make better only makes worse. Watson always tried to practice his way out of a shut wrist and high hands at the top, but could never incorporate the change when he played. Good thing, I think, given his great career.

[fauvrdamor]

Frank Nobilo wasn't comparing these two swings. Listen to him. He said that as the years went by, he started to get more on his left side and had less of a reverse C. He never said anything about his swing in 1980 being different than his swing from 1975. He wasn't even doing a specific swing analysis. He was talking in generalities. There are plenty of later day Tom Watson swings on youtube that reflect this.

[wdefrancesco]

@fauvrdamor Listen again. Nobilo specifically says that Watson's swing in 75 was "bomb and gouge", while in 80 it was more controlled. The video shows the exact opposite, shorter and tighter in 75, longer and softer in 80.

[stevepising]

Don't forget that Watson still swings it past parallel at the top even now as a 60 year old. He is certainly a more controlled driver than he was in the late 70's as he showed at The British Open over the last few years.

I'd say Frank was talking about Watson's driving in general from being in his 20's to his 30's and just using the vids as an illustration which I agree do not show this. Other than very slight differences in length of swing, those two swings are identical.

[4AStateChamp]

Ok Wayne got to take you to task on one point you made. You say Nabilo totally disregards what was actually happening in his swing. The 1980 swing going much further bast parallel yet Nobilo says he is much more controlled. I agree with you that it doesn't appear he's really saying what the vid is showing. Yet you put up a swing of Watson at Augusta with a shorter backswing to make your point. That doesn't really tell the story either because he is hitting a short iron not a driver. Good vids.

[JAKEHARRIS281]

@emncaity The Bushnell rangefinders are supposed to be accurate within one yard. Do you have one?

[emncaity]

@wdefrancesco

Not to mention the fact that Sam Snead, the winningest American player ever, had the same slight over-the-top move. He did OK.

[emncaity]

@JAKEHARRIS281

I think it's great to know exact yardages by whatever means you can. I'd cross-check whatever you buy with somebody else's, and even pace off distances, to be sure everything's calibrated right. Even a small-percentage inaccuracy can end up really hurting you. I don't know of any competitive players who frown on people using them in anything but a competitive (or money) round; some aren't bothered even when they're playing a money match.

[JAKEHARRIS281]

@emncaity Man, I'm 21 finishing up College and I'm hoping my friend will buy my old AP1 irons so I can buy a laser rangefinder like the Bushnell 1600 with slope or the 1600 tournament edition. What do you think about that? I don't care if people frown on others who use them at all. I know you can't use them in a big tournament, but you will have a caddie.

[emncaity]

@JAKEHARRIS281

Yeah, I saw that. Weird. It really doesn't square with what he says elsewhere, both before and since, so I don't quite know what to make of it, other than the fact that sometimes a guy goes too far with one thing (the "whole bottle of aspirin" thing that Harvey Penick used to talk about) and has to work on a completely opposite thought to bring it back in balance. You'd like to avoid that sort of thing as much as possible when working on your own game, I think, but it happens.

[JAKEHARRIS281]

@emncaity If you haven't already YT "Tom Watson's secret to the golf swing". He says he didn't learn the golf swing until 1992.

[emncaity]

@JAKEHARRIS281

Also, if you read his book Getting Back to Basics, he's adamant about extension down the line and not letting the left wrist break down for as long as possible past impact, and he says he does that by rotating the forearms to avoid the hand-flip. If you do that and hit the ball from a solid, strong, inside-and-shallow approach, you'll kill it, which he does. His high, slight-draw ball flight depends on that path; out-to-in won't get it done.

[emncaity]

@JAKEHARRIS281

Now, if your question is whether coming down outside the path of his backswing (but still inside the target line) has something to do with his barely-there draw, I dunno. Snead did it most famously, and he did OK. I do think that a guy who swings it that far inside on the backswing (Watson did it worse when he was younger, I think) probably has to try very hard not to come too far over that path on the downswing, so it would figure that he'd work hard at that.