Conference 7.286::golf

    
    Best swings for my money(to watch):
    
       Bobby Nichols   mechanically perfect
       
       Fred Couples    loop to loop with whipped cream!
     
       Lanny Wadkins   just go at it,baby!
    
       Lee trevino     because, he takes back outside, loops back in inside
                          and has the best drive under and through
                          hitting area.
       Greg Norman     another attacker with the hips flying!
                                             
       Mark Hayes      prettiest swing on the tour which tells you
                                 something!
       
    

    
    
    
    	I think Nick Faldo has the most fluent swing. His tempo and
    	balance are exact, no matter which club he has in his hand.
    	
    	Thinking back, I've never seen him swing hard. 
    
    	For Christmas I'd love to have his control ! 
    
    	Walta

    By far and away Payne Stewart.

    Paul Azinger gets my vote.  I have followed him at a few tournaments
    and we are talking smoooooth swing.
      

    I'll agree with Mize and Faldo but I think the smoooothest is
    
    Tom Purtzer

    
    
           they're all a close second to....
    
    

    
    
    	NOBODY holds a candle to Couples...!!! As far as smooth and
    	easy swing goes...

    I agree with most of those mentioned, especially Payne Stewart,
    but the swing that impressed me a lot when he played was that of
    ED SNEED . Remember Ed, he blew a big lead in the Masters one year.
    I always liked to watch him.
    I prefer to watch the Couples',Stewarts and Purtzers rather than
    Jack or Greg...maybe because that's the way i'd like to play.
    
    martin
    

    
    The most effortless has to be Couple's swing, but as far as mechanics
    goes, i'll take Scott Simpson's ( no relation to the animated variety)
    any time. Same swing on every club out of the bag. He's not very
    exciting to watch though....
    
    great white north golf fanatic
    

    Faldo's rhythm is excellent. I always admired that part of his swing
    before his remodelling.
    
    For me, Seve's swing is a thing of beauty. In his youth he was prone to
    a few wild slashes, but everytime I see him swing I want to try to copy
    that 'style'.
    
    I don't know what it is exactly - maybe it's keeping the clubhead still
    at address, or that high follow through - but it has a certain extra
    beyond just smoothness or tempo.
    
    Paul 
    

RE:
>                       <<< Note 1038.8 by COMET::PINAR >>>
>                              -< Curtis Strange >-

Get serious, he sways!

Larry

    Freddie Couples far and away.  No one else is close.

Stewart's swing seems so classic, graceful and natural.  Mize and Simpson
are smooooth. Kite's swing is nice.  Norman and Ballesteros are powerful. 

re: Couples

I stayed at the Las Colinas Four Seasons for a week during the '88
Byron Nelson Classic.  Early every morning I went just outside my room to
watch the pros hit practice shots. I was facinated and watched for hours
and hours each day.  I saw Couples taking practice "fairway" shots with
what looked to be a Burner-Plus 13 degree Tour Spoon off the turf.  He 
would casually get the lie he wanted, swing, and wow, did that ball take 
off.  That week I saw most all of the American pros, and the RESULTS of
Couples' swing were the most awesome.  Nobody else came close to hitting
such perfect, repeatable shots, and be so casual about it.  He was hitting 
the ball off the fairway better than others practicing with their drivers.

I don't like Fred Couples swing.  Yes, it looks effortless for him.
However, it also looks unnatural, sorta kinda like he is double-jointed or
something.  In the last six months or so in one of the golf magazines I
receive (could have been Golf Illustrated) there was a breakdown of
Couples' swing. The freeze frame did not look so good... His left hand
position at the top looks poised for a slice, although he plays a
right-to-left shot. 

Jeff

    
      Hmmmm.  Jeff, I always that the Couples was a left to right player. 
    Anyway, to say that Couples is "far and away" the smoothest swinger on
    tour is ignoring a few players that are close to his effortless swing.  
    Mize, Purtzer, and Stewart are good examples.  Kite, Strange, and Simpson
    (Scott) are not. Simpson's especially.  They seem to have very mechanical 
    swings to me. The follow throughs are stiff and forced. It's all 
    perception I guess.  Agreed that Norman and Ballesteros are swings of 
    power vs. effortless smoothness.
    
    -rick
    

    I can't believe that the "old folks" didn't get a mention. (until now)
    I vote for Hale Irwin and The Bear.

    
    I like Payne also!

    re: .17
    
    	I agree with what you say about the "mechanical swingers"...
    
    Also for those who admire Couples swing...note Don January of the
    super seniors swings almost exactly the same...!!! They BOTH
    are true examples of what Ernest Jones taught...."swing the club..."
    
    	If you've ever read Jones book (one of the classics) he taught
    exactly what he wrote in the book, swing the club. In the book he
    gives the best analogy as to "swing the club" with a child on a swing.
    
    	The swing starts slowly and builds up momentum as it goes back
    then just sort of falls forward of its own weight...I think Couples
    and January are the perfect examples of Jones teachings...
    
    my 2 cents

	As far as the easiest, or effortless swing, I too feel couples has 
tihs.  But for the best and most consistant swings in golf, I'd have to go 
with Faldo and Stewart.  Everytime I watch them, it's like remembering their 
last tournament.  Norman, although immensly talented,seens at times to hold 
something back, then on the nest shot, let the shaft out and go for it all.  
This just doesn't seem to be the case with Nick and Payne.

Beak

    I think Jodie Mudd has a perfect textbook swing, looks so effortless.
    
    	Eunhwa

    
    RE: 1038.13  > "Get serious, he sways."
    
      If you mean the *slight* forward movement just before his swing
    begins, I would hardly call it a "sway"...that sway won him two 
    straight U.S. Opens.  His swing may be "mechanical" - so what, I
    still love to watch Curtis hit the ball.  I like to watch "boom
    boom" Fred Couples stroke em' too, but as effortlessly his swing
    may look...it aint' the best.
    
    IMHO
        
    Bill
    
    

    RE: 1038.13  > "Get serious, he sways."
    
>>      If you mean the *slight* forward movement just before his swing
>>    begins, I would hardly call it a "sway"...that sway won him two 
>>    straight U.S. Opens.  His swing may be "mechanical" - so what, ...

      No I mean who his whole body shifts to the left as he takes the club
      back & and then to the right at impact.  Please don't get me wrong,
      I like Curtis, I have great respect for his skills, I just don't
      think it's a classic swing.

      It's not ugly like Trevino, Floyd, etc. it's just not a classic
      smooth swing.

	Larry

    
       I guess most golfers have a little idiosyncrisy (sp?) with their
    individual swing.  Look at Jack, he's the best ever, yet he has 
    that almost unique head turn at the initiation of his swing.
       Yet, his swing is soo sweet...I look at Curtis' slight forward
     movement in the same respect, it's just his own way of getting his
    swing started.  His *swing* is virtually flawless, as I see it...
       Everybody seems to have a favorite, mine just happens to be Curtis.
    Your's isn't...I was just making a comment on whom I thought had one
    of the best swings on tour, I didn't really expect to get an analysis
    from somebody on why it isn't.  Maybe Curtis might want to hear it?
    
      (now I remember why I usually don't like to enter notes......)
        
    regards,
    
    Bill

    Bill, you don't have to defend your "opinion" to anyone.  Don't take it
    personal.  I don't expect anyone to agree with me on Jack, but BFD!  I
    watch his swing in slow motion and it's pure poetry in motion!!  And it
    doesn't matter what others think.... I KNOW what I think!
    
    keep noting,
    
    -dwight

    Can't believe that Seve didn't get more votes from you guys/gals.  For
    pure gracefulness, smoothness, and power, there's no competition.  That
    doesn't say that there aren't other swings as good as his.  Just that
    in the category of beautiful swings, Seve has the best cards.
    
    Some of the little folks were ignored in the voting.  How about Jeff
    Sluman.  What a great swing!  And Ian Woosnam, too, has a very good
    fluid swing.

re: .26

There are swing quirks that are unique to individuals, such as Jim Thorpe's
loop, and then there are conscious movements.  Curtis Strange has a
conscious sway.  Jack's head turn is also done intentionally so that his
head will not move on the backswing.  This will help a right eye dominant
golfer because no matter how hard you try and keep your head still, it will
move slightly away from the ball on the backswing.  Jack moves his head to
the position it would naturally move to on the backswing, thus eliminating
would-be movement and the need to refocus on the ball as the head moves on 
the backswing.

Jeff

    -1
    
    In addition...
    
    Moving his head slightly to the right goes along with his forward press
    and rebounding into the take-away.  He's looking at the ball with his
    left eye, not his right, as the nose blocks the vision with the right
    eye.  It's really to "get him started."  This info is in "Golf My Way"
    which I have a copy of with me now.
    
    -dwight

    Seve is the smoothest swinger. It's better than poetry and you never
    tire of watching it tick over - it's really unbelievable. Noone
    get's through the ball like him. Those hands are so high at the
    finish.
    
    Larry Mize on the other side of the pond is the only one to talk
    about.

    Back over year their is a young lad called Faldo who has done a
    few good things recently - but isn't his swing just a copycat attempt
    of Seve's - at least Leadbetter admits that "his" perfect swing
    is based on King Seve ....    
    

    The smoothest swing I've seen is Sam Snead's, and Julius Boros was
    also a smoothy; but I guess we're talking only about the current PGA
    crop, eh? I'd vote for Tom Purtzer, even though he doesn't usually
    score well enough to get much TV time. What good is a smooth swing if
    you can't put the ball in the hole?? Maybe I'll open a "complementary"
    topic...
    
    	Frank

    I see one or two more fellow Seve admirers coming out! It's interesting
    to me that while other smooth/good swingers are described as such, we
    tend to use words like 'poetry' or 'beauty' to describe Seve. 'Good' or
    'Smooth' just aren't enough! ;-)
    
    Describing Faldo as a copycat is a little bit unfair. Before he changed
    he already had the great rhythm and tempo that he has now. The changes
    just (!) affected the mechanics of the swing. Basically the 'before'
    was much more upright and had a loop inside on the downsing. The
    'after' was flatter and squarer - more along the lines of Hogan's
    fundamentals, even down to the waggle.
    
    Paul

    Re. Tom Purtzer...according to the latest Nabisco stats, he leads the
    tour in driving distance, averaging 275.3, ahead of Davis Love (275.1)
    and Greg Norman (274.7). Interestingly (or maybe not), none of these
    names appears in the top 10 in "Greens Hit In Regulation,"  or
    "Fairways Hit,"  but Norman leads in "Percentage Subpar Holes" (.227).
    I guess Greg's got himself a pretty fair short game.
    
    But my point was (I think) that Purtzer's swing is not only smooth, but
    powerful as well (if not terribly accurate). 
    
    		Frank

    Okay, I realize this will smack of kicking him when he's down, but
    after watching Fred Couples so much this past weekend, I would take
    issue with his having one of the nicest swings on tour (yes, I know:
    it was his putter that betrayed him and cost him the PGA title).
    
    To me, he seems to pick the club up rather quickly, rather than taking
    it back smoothly in the classic one-piece move. But it sure does look
    effortless; and for someone 5'11" and 185 (almost exactly my
    dimensions), he's incredibly supple...even on the longest swing, his
    left heel hardly moves!
    
    Maybe I should go back and look at the videotape in slo-mo one more
    time...I might learn something! (Nah...)
    
    		Frank

    Norman...class guy...class swing.
    
    

    Just ask Gene.....

>                   <<< Note 1038.18 by VICKI::PWILLIAMS >>>
>
>   I can't believe that the "old folks" didn't get a mention. (until now)
>   I vote for Hale Irwin and The Bear.
    
    I agree. Is this for young players only????
    
    Al Geiberger has one of the smoothest swing and considered to have
    TEXTBOOK golf swing.  He is the one featured in sybervision video
    trainer and he's got smooth swing and tempo. And he not only swing
    smooth, he's recorded 59 during a PGA tournament.
    
    What about Byron Nelson??? if he didn't have such 'perfect' golf swing
    USGA wouldn't have modeled his swing for their testing machine (Iron
    Byron).
    
    

    
    
    Hi,
    
    	I was reading Golf Digest, an old article took a vote on
    	who the Pro's thought had the nicest swing.
    
    		NUMBER 1 by a lot was Tom Purtzer.
    		followed but not close by Payne Stewart.
    	
    		then everyone else, including Boom Boom... seemed
    		from this topic Boom Boom might have come in first.
    		A couple folk picked Tom purtzer... I wish he made TV
    		more often! I'd like to watch his swing :)
    		
    
    		The seniors picked Lee Trevino (I,m 99% sure) , they
    		said he hits the ball solid most every time.
    
    
    		It's funny to see the big winners of the last few years
    		like Faldo and Strange, not chosen. Makes you wonder if
    		working on making your swing technically perfect is
    		going to lead to better scores... or just using what
    		works and sticking with it is best.
    
    		The seniors took the attitude , Hey we know Lee's swing
    		isn't perfect ... but he wins a lot because he strikes
    		the ball so consistently, so I pick him as best swing.
    
    		Walta

                              -< What's perfect? >-

	A perfect swing is 10% physical and 90% mental.
	
	I agree with your comment about Lee and the seniors.
	Last year I watched more Senior PGA events then PGA events, in part,
	because the variety of swings that the seniors have.  Trevino brings
	his hands in side and fades the ball.  To Chi Chi set up is something
	the bar tender does at the 19th hole.  Arnold has his weight flying
	all over the place on the follow thru. etc.  The differences between
	regular tour players is a lot more subtile, and the golfers more robot
	like.  

	If the truth be known, my swing when I am "on" most closely resembles
	Nancy Lopez.  Slow and low takeback, pause and pull the club through 
	the ball.  Now all I have to do is develop her consistency.

	Brian

    My favourite swinger is David Feherty !! 
    Especially with a 3-iron !!
    
    Pat.

                          
    Re 39.
    
    Up until i saw the 90 TPC i would have said Seve, but when i saw Tom
    Purtzer hit a 3 iron 220 yds smooth as silk i couldn't believe it i
    must have re-played that shot 50 times,he definetely takes the biscuit.
    
    However i just adore Seves' set-up he is so beautifully relaxed and
    poised.
    
    Also love to see Woosie at impact in slow-mo.
    
    
    
    Just my 2 pence worth.