Why Tiger Woods is practicing this eye-catching swing feeling (and what you can learn from it)

Canvas a PGA Tour event and you’ll notice pros doing something that recreational golfers almost never do: Their practice swings have a purpose. Often, you’ll see them rehearse a move that looks nothing like their actual golf swing. They’re over-exaggerating a feeling to help move their swing into a better spot.

It’s a pretty common technique used by a number of golf pros, including 15-time major champ Tiger Woods. In a video on Instagram posted by @mikes3dlife, Tiger is preparing to hit a greenside chip and, before he does, he makes a swing that’s almost like a baseball swing. The club moves very around his body; you can see the shaft is so flat that it’s almost parallel to the ground, and there’s hardly any wrist hinge.

And then, when he makes his actual swing, the club moves back on a steeper plane with more wrist hinge. Nevertheless, the feeling of his previous swing is still in his mind. He’s trying to feel like the club is moving more shallow and around his body, so he over-exaggerates the feeling on the practice swing. The result is his club getting into the perfect spot when the time comes to make his full swing.

It’s a simple technique that’s good enough for Tiger Woods, so give it a try yourself. Over-exaggerate your own swing feeling that you’re working on, and see if it works for you.

Watch the full video below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8eteSQFh_u/

Have you seen our new “Subpar” series? Check out the first installment featuring John Rahm below!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FULL SUBPAR INTERVIEW WITH JON RAHM ON YOUTUBE

To receive GOLF’s all-new newsletters, subscribe for free here.