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Try a Free Live AI Golf Lesson →Tiger Woods Downswing
Tiger Woods’ golf downswing was one of the finest in professional golf before he began working with Sean Foley — a coaching change that, in my professional opinion, ultimately contributed to the back injuries that derailed his career (here’s a video where I predicted Foley’s teaching approach would injure Tiger’s back all the way back in 2010: Tiger Woods Swing Change May Injure His Back). Before that switch, however, Tiger had developed a remarkably efficient downswing sequence. During the first half of his golf downswing, Tiger swings his arms back down in front of his torso while keeping his shoulders quiet and closed to the target line.
This feeling is absolutely critical to a proper downswing transition, and it’s one that I describe in detail in my video on the Golf Downswing Overview here. The key sensation is keeping your chest pointing behind you as long as humanly possible — this gives your arms the time they need to drop back down in front of the body while allowing the hip rotation to unwind the shoulders naturally through the kinetic chain.
Tiger’s lower body initiates the downswing with a lateral shift to transfer more weight onto his lead side, with his head moving slightly toward the target. But critically, his upper body remains largely in the same position during this first phase — giving his arms time to work back down in front of his body without the shoulders opening prematurely.
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This sequencing is essential because it keeps the club and arms moving in sync with the body, preventing the club from getting stuck and arriving “late” into the impact position. If you want to see how your own downswing sequencing compares to an elite model, try a free AI swing analysis to identify exactly where your sequence breaks down.
As Tiger continues bringing the golf club back down, he maintains the club parallel to and above the original shaft plane established at address. His hips have rotated very little by this point, ensuring he doesn’t “outrun” the club on the way down — a mistake that destroys timing and contact quality. Many amateur golfers and even some professionals push too aggressively off the trailing leg, causing the hips to “spin out” while simultaneously forcing the shoulders to open prematurely.
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