The Golf Swing....time for a change?????

[xander.uk]

The golf swing as we know it has been around for a long time now!

Ben Hogan is probably thought of as having the classic "all time great" swing.

BUT Ben Hogan was hitting old balls with old persimmon woods and unforgiving irons!

Since then the golf club/shaft and ball have developed radically!!

SO my question is this: Is that classic swing STILL the best way to hit the ball?

Is there anything to this "stack n tilt" method....or is stack n tilt simply a clever reverse pivot?

Is it maybe the way the swing is evolving given the new equipment?

With less fluidity/motion in the swing does stack n tilt improve ball striking and accuracy?

With modern golf equipment distance isnt really a problem for alot of golfers....in Hogan's day those extra 10 yards would have been extremely valuable!

Is it time the "coaches/swing tutor's" modernised their approach to the golf swing......or have i just typed half a page of complete rubbish :confused:

[NICK S]

I think that the right methods are completely modern and rarely rely on old school, traditional fundamentals.... and traditional lingo. It also depends on who you're talking to. A young golf instructor who started his learnings with the right information and guidance, or an old school golf instructor who taught based on what he "feels" in his swing.

The S&T has a great foundation to get you into the right position. If you look at alot of old pictures, you'll see alot of players resembling S&T theories. The leaders are using sports science to accompany equipment improvements and increased strength and flexibility. I think its evolving faster than you think.

What I think you're onto is the way we think about the golf swing. If new theories are being developed (1 plane swing, S&T, 'no backswing golf swing'), then there are some people thinking about it.

[cldale]

I think that even without more modern equipment it makes sense to look at the mechanics of the swing and see how they hold up given our current knowledge of human physiology and body mechanics.

But until someone comes out there and rips it up on tour with some new and different swing, they will continue to preach the traditional fundamentals because they DO WORK.

Weir uses Stack & Tilt now, not sure if you guys knew that. The transition to this swing is what caused him so much aggravation over the last 2 years.

[Weightshift]

Ben Hogan is probably thought of as having the classic "all time great" swing.

BUT Ben Hogan was hitting old balls with old persimmon woods and unforgiving irons!

Since then the golf club/shaft and ball have developed radically!!

SO my question is this: Is that classic swing STILL the best way to hit the ball?

Hogan used to overswing, even more than John Daly does today, so he started tucking his right elbow into his right side to lessen overswinging. But unfortunately, with his right elbow tucked, his right elbow became his right shoulder (as if he was 4 feet tall) and severely limited the size of his arc. The only way he could compensate was to muscle thru impact, hence his famous quote "I wish I had 4 right hands".

If you have stronger arms and hands than Hogan did - go for it :)

The other problem that arises through muscling the swing is that it changes the swing plane.