By Alistair Magowan

Tiger Woods' swing is still effective despite changes

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

In 2000, Tiger Woods' swing was considered close to perfection.

It brought him a haul of seven major titles out of 11 in a golden period from 1999-2002.

And yet by the end of 2002, Woods had decided to change his swing, a decision that left him without a major win in two years.

Fast forward to 2005 and the decision appears to have paid off - Woods' Masters and Open triumphs this year have come with a different coach and a brand new swing.

But why did Tiger Woods decide to deconstruct his golf swing in the first place? And is it really better than his old one?

Privately, Woods believes that driving accuracy is the most overrated statistic on Tour.

Tiger's statistics Driving accuracy vs GiR* 2000: 71.2% - 75.2% 2001: 65.5% - 71.9% 2002: 67.5% - 74% 2003: 62.7% - 68.6% 2004: 56.1% - 66.9% 2005: 57.2% - 71.2% *Denotes greens in regulation

And for him, the end results bear this out.

In 2000, Woods topped the greens in regulation figures - which record the percentage of times a player reaches the green within two shots of par.

And he is still fourth this year despite his sometimes wayward driving.

BBC golf commentator and former Ryder Cup player Ken Brown says both versions of his swing are effective.

He says: "Tiger's old swing enabled him to hit it straight more consistently but I think his new swing enables him to play more shots.

"His swing in 2000 was almost flawless. Now it's more effective in different ways, it's got more moving parts to it."

Woods has a more narrow downswing now than in 2000

Respected golf coach Nick Bradley agrees that Woods' swing is less consistent.

"Tiger's swing now still looks a bit narrow and explosive through the ball," he says. "Basically Tiger Woods is still a hitter and not a swinger.

"He's taking his club on a wide circle on the way back and on the way down his club shifts into a smaller circle.

"That causes 'lag', which is stored power and that's where all the power comes from at impact.

Tiger's tunnel vision

"But he's getting this extra power at a price. OK he's just won his second major of the year but he wouldn't have been in contention in the US Open if it hadn't been for his short game and likewise he wouldn't have won the Masters."

So if observers think that his swing was better back in 2000, why change it?

The short answer is that he decided to back a new coach with different ideas of where his swing should be.

When Woods was winning four majors in a row, people needed to know where his near-perfect swing came from.

Enter Butch Harmon. The Nevada-based coach was the man behind the phenomenon but rather than staying behind the scenes, Harmon became the story.

Tiger v Butch rumbles on

In 2002 Woods said: "My relationship with Butch has changed. As you get a little bit better and you understand your own mechanics and your game, you don't rely on a teacher quite as often."

Harmon's increasingly revelatory comments on US TV also played their part and Woods and Harmon parted company by the end of 2002.

Woods' driving accuracy slipped further in 2003 (62.7%) and, more importantly, whereas his short game had been unaffected in the past, he was now only hitting 68.8% of greens in regulation. (See table above)

Hank Haney has been Mark O'Meara's long-time coach

The rot had to stop and early in 2004 Woods employed Hank Haney. During this time his averages actually worsened, but Tiger was now a work in progress - there was now an end goal.

Woods claims that he and Haney have changed "probably 15 to 18 things" in his game.

Ultimately Woods did this because he took his friend Mark O'Meara's advice and backed his coach.

And according to Nick Bradley that's where Woods' swing took on a different slant.

He says: "The vision of a golf coach is very different from one to another.

"Butch Harmon had Tiger's swing going up and down the target line whereas Hank Haney has it going around the body more."

Once Woods began to move away from Harmon, you could argue that things began to unravel. But Ken Brown believes there was another factor.

Brown says: "I think he made the changes to his swing when he had his knee injury at the end of 2002.

Woods out injured

"He thought that the swing he had was effective for a fully fit 22-year-old but might not be right for a 42-year-old.

"I believe he thought his technique was going to cause too much wear and tear on his body."

Bradley adds: "Tiger's gone from a better swing in 2000, to a model now which is not as consistent in motion but probably feels a lot better for his body.

"That's an important point. For a player to play well, he needs to feel well. Who's to say that the model he had in 2000 functioned better, but didn't feel as attractive as the one he has now?

"If it feels good and you're still winning majors then you go with it."

As Tiger put it on Sunday: "I have been criticised for years now over why would I change my game.