There are thousands of deep-dive bag videos on YouTube. Hell, I’ve done a few myself. But every so often you watch one that offers real insight into what a player is thinking, feeling and trying to achieve. Many of the best players in the world struggle to articulate those feelings, but Tiger Woods does not meet that description. He’s an all-world gear nerd.
In a video posted by TaylorMade’s Christ Trott on his trottiegolf channel, he and Tiger went deep — and we mean deep — into Tiger’s bag. The result is a masterclass in gear nuance and education. Here are 5 things we learned that you can take away for your own game.
When discussing his Qi35 driver, Tiger said he loves seeing loft on his driver because of two things: (1) he typically tees it low vs. what would be considered the norm, and (2) he prefers staying on top of the ball and keeping his angle of attack at zero or slightly negative.
Why? Control. It’s become popular these days to tee it high and swing up on the ball, but there is definitely some wisdom in adopting what Tiger does. If you look at players like Tiger, Scottie, Xander, you’d be surprised that their angles of attack are either 0 or -1 or -2. I also loved Tiger’s insights on face angles. How many times to do some of you pick up a driver at 9 and instantly crank the dial to -1 to hit it longer? I understand the logic, but keep in mind that face angles and your reactions to those angles matter.
Every adjustment to your equipment calls for an adjustment by you, the swinger of the club. Consciously or not, you will compensate for adjustments in some way. You could get lucky and it works out, but you also could be hitting three from the tee more than you like. I advise you error on the side of predictability and working with an expert fitter.
This is a serious piece of wisdom that I heard 10-15 years ago and applied to my own game. TW views his 60-degree wedge more or less as a get-out-of-jail club and not his primary short-game weapon. Around the greens, out of the bunkers, etc., Tiger will more often use his 56 than try to force something with a 60. Why? Forgiveness.
“I can always take spin off,” Woods tells Trottie multiple times in the video.
This explains Tiger’s old-school loft progression (3i at 21 degrees and PW at 48 degrees) in his irons and spinner-than-normal golf ball. Good golf is played by controlling your ball. If there’s not enough spin at the outset, you are asking yourself to hit perfect shots all the time. If you have spin to spare, it allows you to lean on the side of control. Also, it’s way easier to take spin off a shot than to try and add it. That’s a recipe for disaster.
I loved this nugget. Tiger said that back in the day he wanted wood shafts that “kicked” because he liked that feel and it also added spin at high speeds. Again, spin is king. As he’s aged, he said, he relies more on stiffer “boardier” profiles to knock down spin and squeeze out some extra yardage when he needs it. That’s using technology to your advantage.
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I’ve heard this bit of intel before but never never from Woods’ mouth. TW wants his wedges still to “kick” on off-speed shots and prefers a heavier yet softer profile (S400), along with a heavy swing weight to “feel” the head on short shots all while having the shaft “kick” for added spin and control. Do I advise you to do this? Well, I advise you to try it out with a fitter and see what shakes out.
Here’s the thing, folks: Everything Tiger says in this video can be used by all of us. His approach to equipment leaves little room for guesswork. If the greatest to ever do it builds his bag around facts instead of hunches, don’t you think it’s wise to do the same? I just picked on these five things but watch the full video, because there’s so much more to learn.
Well played, lads!
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The post This Tiger Woods gear explainer is fascinating. Here are 5 things we learned appeared first on Golf.
