Post by Richie3Jack on Feb 12, 2014 16:12:22 GMT -5
Tom Kite had a certain charm to him for the hardcore golf fan. To the casual fan his game would be considered a bit boring and he doesn't have a larger-than-life personality to overshadow it. Instead, he was a 'golfer's golfer'. Very workmanlike and for most of his career he did just about everything well. He didn't hit it long, but he drove it well. He was a master with his wedges and his long irons. He was an incredible bunker player. And for a long time he was an excellent putter. In today's terms his game would have been very similar to Furyk's or Zach Johnson's, but probably even better given that he finished in the top-5 on 15 different occasions in the Majors.
In fact, the Major that seemed to suit him the best was the Masters where he finished in the top-6 nine times in 11 years from 1976-1986. Kite's performance at Augusta is why I eschew how they let the course go and become a bomb-n-trick shot fest. '76-'90 was when the course was at its best as it played to so many different styles of golf that anybody could win. From short hitting ballstrikers like Kite and Faldo to crappy ballstrikers and phenomenal putters like Crenshaw to bombers like Stadler, Jack and Sandy Lyle to everything in between like Mize, Langer, Player and Watson. But, I digress.
What was also unique about Kite is that he made wide sweeping changes to his golf swing in his career. He made a lot more changes to his swing than Tiger has in his career. And that's why with some reservation I show these swing sequences...he had plenty of different mechanics throughout his career. And I guess that is a testament to his skill and ability that he could change his swing that much and it was often forgot about and unnoticed simply because he could make the change rather seamlessly. My guess is that he was always looking for power. Shorter hitters usually do, especially those that are constantly tinkering with their swing. So I'll try to figure out some of the mechanics he's employed here and why he didn't hit it further.
CLICK TO ENLARGE
P1 - nothing out of the ordinary here. Feet are splayed. He's very 'neutral' when it come to his stance as he looks like his weight is 50/50 and the spine is vertical. He doesn't have that 'straight spine' posture which can restrict the swing. I would say that his grip is neutral and that he may have wanted to change his grip and make it stronger and more in the fingers if he was looking for more power. However, that may have presented accuracy and consistency issues for him.
P2.7 - This looks like a standard 1-piece takeaway action. He does get the hands a little inside, but nothing to worry about. His head moves off the ball here. I think this was taken in the late 80's early 90's, when 'moving the head off the ball' and 'shifting your weight into the right side' was all of the rage. As we know with force plates, one can keep the head relatively steady and actually shift the Center of Pressure more than if they moved the head off the ball. Of course, the Center of Mass is a different issue. I think a modern instructor with this technology would work to get him less off the ball and get the CoM and CoP to line up.
P3 - The shaft is pretty much pointing at the baseline. However, he has quite a bit of wrist-cock and I think that plays a bit of a factor on the downswing.
P4 - This is not a good camera angle, but he does appear across-the-line, nonetheless. This is not surprising given his wrist-cock at p3. More wrist-cock at p3 steepens the shaft plane and a steep shaft plane coming into p4 will likely lead to an across the line move. Conversely, somebody without wrist-cock at p3 (ala Sergio) flattens the shaft plane and is more likely to come in laid off at p4.
We also see something 'new' from Kite in this photo. Previously he was know for lifting his left heel off the ground at p4. Here it is on the ground.
P5.5 - There are a lot of good things here. This is more like a 'CP-swing' because his hips are open and his shoulders are closed at this point. By p6 in the CP swing the shoulders will be open with the hips more open.
The only thing I don't like is that his hand path appears to be narrow from the caddy view. I think that can sap some power as it kinda 'fakes the lag.' It's much easier to look like one has a lot of lag by narrowing the hand path in the downswing rather than somebody like Mac who generates a massive amount of lag, but still does it with a wide hand path on the downswing.
I think that and a lack of some real internal rotation of the right leg on the downswing cost him some power off the tee.
P7 - But, when you return the club to the ball like this, you're going to strike the ball really well. Might now hit it 290 with a Maxfli balata ball and a Hogan Apex Persimmon driver...but, you're going to be really darn good and straight.
P10 - We see a lot less extension from Kite here than in the past. In fact, he probably had more spine extension at p10 than any golfer I had ever seen. For the time this was taken, I believe Kite was trying to move more towards a 'modern swing' and trying to get away from that '70's swing' which he was probably told would injure him. I asked my chiropractor and he didn't think getting the spine extension in the golf swing would hurt the back as long as the golfer wasn't trying to hold that position. I'm sure Kite was probably told to get rid of lifting his left heel off the ground at p4 as well.
My guess is that Kite hit it almost dead straight, perhaps with a little fade. He probably drove it quite effectively and could work it well and change his flight pattern based on the course (i.e. changing to a draw at Augusta). His wedge play always looked amazing to me and he was at one time a great putter. I think he may have had some issues with the long irons and his putter could get away from him. It would explain the changes in his swing...thinking he needed to change the mechanics to win when all he had to do is focus more on his Danger Zone play. And then his putting fell off the earth and he tried all sorts of things to get it back.
3JACK
In fact, the Major that seemed to suit him the best was the Masters where he finished in the top-6 nine times in 11 years from 1976-1986. Kite's performance at Augusta is why I eschew how they let the course go and become a bomb-n-trick shot fest. '76-'90 was when the course was at its best as it played to so many different styles of golf that anybody could win. From short hitting ballstrikers like Kite and Faldo to crappy ballstrikers and phenomenal putters like Crenshaw to bombers like Stadler, Jack and Sandy Lyle to everything in between like Mize, Langer, Player and Watson. But, I digress.
What was also unique about Kite is that he made wide sweeping changes to his golf swing in his career. He made a lot more changes to his swing than Tiger has in his career. And that's why with some reservation I show these swing sequences...he had plenty of different mechanics throughout his career. And I guess that is a testament to his skill and ability that he could change his swing that much and it was often forgot about and unnoticed simply because he could make the change rather seamlessly. My guess is that he was always looking for power. Shorter hitters usually do, especially those that are constantly tinkering with their swing. So I'll try to figure out some of the mechanics he's employed here and why he didn't hit it further.
CLICK TO ENLARGE
P1 - nothing out of the ordinary here. Feet are splayed. He's very 'neutral' when it come to his stance as he looks like his weight is 50/50 and the spine is vertical. He doesn't have that 'straight spine' posture which can restrict the swing. I would say that his grip is neutral and that he may have wanted to change his grip and make it stronger and more in the fingers if he was looking for more power. However, that may have presented accuracy and consistency issues for him.
P2.7 - This looks like a standard 1-piece takeaway action. He does get the hands a little inside, but nothing to worry about. His head moves off the ball here. I think this was taken in the late 80's early 90's, when 'moving the head off the ball' and 'shifting your weight into the right side' was all of the rage. As we know with force plates, one can keep the head relatively steady and actually shift the Center of Pressure more than if they moved the head off the ball. Of course, the Center of Mass is a different issue. I think a modern instructor with this technology would work to get him less off the ball and get the CoM and CoP to line up.
P3 - The shaft is pretty much pointing at the baseline. However, he has quite a bit of wrist-cock and I think that plays a bit of a factor on the downswing.
P4 - This is not a good camera angle, but he does appear across-the-line, nonetheless. This is not surprising given his wrist-cock at p3. More wrist-cock at p3 steepens the shaft plane and a steep shaft plane coming into p4 will likely lead to an across the line move. Conversely, somebody without wrist-cock at p3 (ala Sergio) flattens the shaft plane and is more likely to come in laid off at p4.
We also see something 'new' from Kite in this photo. Previously he was know for lifting his left heel off the ground at p4. Here it is on the ground.
P5.5 - There are a lot of good things here. This is more like a 'CP-swing' because his hips are open and his shoulders are closed at this point. By p6 in the CP swing the shoulders will be open with the hips more open.
The only thing I don't like is that his hand path appears to be narrow from the caddy view. I think that can sap some power as it kinda 'fakes the lag.' It's much easier to look like one has a lot of lag by narrowing the hand path in the downswing rather than somebody like Mac who generates a massive amount of lag, but still does it with a wide hand path on the downswing.
I think that and a lack of some real internal rotation of the right leg on the downswing cost him some power off the tee.
P7 - But, when you return the club to the ball like this, you're going to strike the ball really well. Might now hit it 290 with a Maxfli balata ball and a Hogan Apex Persimmon driver...but, you're going to be really darn good and straight.
P10 - We see a lot less extension from Kite here than in the past. In fact, he probably had more spine extension at p10 than any golfer I had ever seen. For the time this was taken, I believe Kite was trying to move more towards a 'modern swing' and trying to get away from that '70's swing' which he was probably told would injure him. I asked my chiropractor and he didn't think getting the spine extension in the golf swing would hurt the back as long as the golfer wasn't trying to hold that position. I'm sure Kite was probably told to get rid of lifting his left heel off the ground at p4 as well.
My guess is that Kite hit it almost dead straight, perhaps with a little fade. He probably drove it quite effectively and could work it well and change his flight pattern based on the course (i.e. changing to a draw at Augusta). His wedge play always looked amazing to me and he was at one time a great putter. I think he may have had some issues with the long irons and his putter could get away from him. It would explain the changes in his swing...thinking he needed to change the mechanics to win when all he had to do is focus more on his Danger Zone play. And then his putting fell off the earth and he tried all sorts of things to get it back.
3JACK