Post by Richie3Jack on Dec 18, 2013 14:02:40 GMT -5
In the past 10 years or so there has been a movement to discuss Trevino as one of the all-time great ballstrikers. While I think he belongs in that category, growing up and reading the golf magazines they usually referred to Trevino as a ‘shot maker.’ There is a distinction between the two terms. IMO, Nicklaus was a ballstriker. He favored one type of shot, the high fade, and could hit that as well as anybody. He hit it long, accurately and consistently. Corey Pavin was a ‘shot maker’ because he could find a way to hit all of the windows and curves in order to best fit the shot at hand. For instance, #18 at Pebble he could hit a nice high draw off the tee while hitting a low fade on #17 at St. Andrews.
We really don’t see shot makers anymore. The ball flies too straight to really move it. Tiger was a shot maker back in his early days. He still tries to make shots, but he’s finding that more difficult to do. Now he’s more of a golfer that hits different windows and typically fades it and increases the curve of the fade.
Either way, shot makers were often not great ballstrikers. They just had a great feel for hitting the shot. I think the shot maker of today is Bubba Watson. I would not consider him a great ballstriker. He’s incredibly effective off the tee because of his distance and he rarely lays up off the tee. But, put him 190 yards away and he would likely be very underwhelming.
But Trevino was a shot maker that was a great ballstriker. So was Hogan. Watch this great video of the Merry Mex at work:
There is a bit of a misnomer about Lee’s distance off the tee. He wasn’t long, but he wasn’t short either. Look at his rankings in driving distance throughout the 80’s and he was usually in the middle of the pack.
Anyway, here’s his swing sequence.
When I think of Trevino’s swing I usually think of low fades and how it was often characterized as a ‘figure 8’ swing motion. Trevino would often say that he would ‘aim left, swing right and walk straight.’ Meaning that he would aim his body left, swing out the right and that would produce an accurate shot. We can certainly see the aiming left part.
Trevino has also stated that before he became famous he fought a hook and it wasn’t until he watched an exhibition by Hogan that he started to work on keeping the left wrist as flat as he could thru impact and really ‘holding off the face’ from turning over. We can see where he was trying to incorporate that feel in his picture.
You can see that the clubface is very de-lofted which would produce a low ball flight. And it is likely pointing left of the target, so they only way to get the ball to curve back to the target is to get the path pointing left of the target and the face as well.
With Trevino saying that he would ‘aim left and swing right’, I think it’s safe to say he was hitting ‘push-fades.’ Essentially, aiming the baseline so far left that he was his face was open to the baseline, but still pointing left of the target and that would get the ball started left and then fade back to the target. And because he could get the face open to the baseline, he could add loft to the club if needed and hit those high shots on command. And if he needed a draw, he probably had his stance less open, shifting the baseline more rightward and getting the path more rightward.
I think the looping action is a bit easy to understand. At address his right foot is practically square and his left foot is flared. He was not a tall player, so he had less knee flex. His rear knee straightens, but not a lot because he does not have a lot of knee flex to begin with. The square foot further restricts the hip motion and the hips stop rotating at p3 and the hands raise upward into p4.
To me, p5 is excellent. He doesn’t have a lot of lag, but he doesn’t need a lot of lag when we look at the forward shaft lean at p7. From my statistical studies, typically the best Birdie Zone players have less forward shaft lean at impact. My research has shown that Birdie Zone play is about distance control rather than directional control. However, Trevino had a lot of shaft lean and was considered one of the greatest wedge players ever. That’s why I think Birdie Zone play is more about being able to consistently get the same amount of forward shaft lean and dynamic loft. I think the less forward shaft lean players are able to be more consistent in that aspect, but players like Trevino can do it as well. Trevino also doesn’t have much extension of the spine thru impact and that is going to help steepen the attack angle and keep the ball low
3JACK
We really don’t see shot makers anymore. The ball flies too straight to really move it. Tiger was a shot maker back in his early days. He still tries to make shots, but he’s finding that more difficult to do. Now he’s more of a golfer that hits different windows and typically fades it and increases the curve of the fade.
Either way, shot makers were often not great ballstrikers. They just had a great feel for hitting the shot. I think the shot maker of today is Bubba Watson. I would not consider him a great ballstriker. He’s incredibly effective off the tee because of his distance and he rarely lays up off the tee. But, put him 190 yards away and he would likely be very underwhelming.
But Trevino was a shot maker that was a great ballstriker. So was Hogan. Watch this great video of the Merry Mex at work:
There is a bit of a misnomer about Lee’s distance off the tee. He wasn’t long, but he wasn’t short either. Look at his rankings in driving distance throughout the 80’s and he was usually in the middle of the pack.
Anyway, here’s his swing sequence.
When I think of Trevino’s swing I usually think of low fades and how it was often characterized as a ‘figure 8’ swing motion. Trevino would often say that he would ‘aim left, swing right and walk straight.’ Meaning that he would aim his body left, swing out the right and that would produce an accurate shot. We can certainly see the aiming left part.
Trevino has also stated that before he became famous he fought a hook and it wasn’t until he watched an exhibition by Hogan that he started to work on keeping the left wrist as flat as he could thru impact and really ‘holding off the face’ from turning over. We can see where he was trying to incorporate that feel in his picture.
You can see that the clubface is very de-lofted which would produce a low ball flight. And it is likely pointing left of the target, so they only way to get the ball to curve back to the target is to get the path pointing left of the target and the face as well.
With Trevino saying that he would ‘aim left and swing right’, I think it’s safe to say he was hitting ‘push-fades.’ Essentially, aiming the baseline so far left that he was his face was open to the baseline, but still pointing left of the target and that would get the ball started left and then fade back to the target. And because he could get the face open to the baseline, he could add loft to the club if needed and hit those high shots on command. And if he needed a draw, he probably had his stance less open, shifting the baseline more rightward and getting the path more rightward.
I think the looping action is a bit easy to understand. At address his right foot is practically square and his left foot is flared. He was not a tall player, so he had less knee flex. His rear knee straightens, but not a lot because he does not have a lot of knee flex to begin with. The square foot further restricts the hip motion and the hips stop rotating at p3 and the hands raise upward into p4.
To me, p5 is excellent. He doesn’t have a lot of lag, but he doesn’t need a lot of lag when we look at the forward shaft lean at p7. From my statistical studies, typically the best Birdie Zone players have less forward shaft lean at impact. My research has shown that Birdie Zone play is about distance control rather than directional control. However, Trevino had a lot of shaft lean and was considered one of the greatest wedge players ever. That’s why I think Birdie Zone play is more about being able to consistently get the same amount of forward shaft lean and dynamic loft. I think the less forward shaft lean players are able to be more consistent in that aspect, but players like Trevino can do it as well. Trevino also doesn’t have much extension of the spine thru impact and that is going to help steepen the attack angle and keep the ball low
3JACK