Well, well, well – it’s Sunday morning in this corner of the world, and I used to love reading the comic inserts in the weekend papers (one had them on Saturdays, another paper on Sundays), so why don’t we have a little laugh here today?
I should have stuck to my gut instinct that Sean Foley, who was Tiger Woods’ swing coach between Butch Harmon and Chris Como, was the one responsible for bringing us the “Squat & Dump” move.
I’ve unearthed an article from Golf Digest all the way back in 2011 that has him advocating the Squat & Dump.
So, apologies to Chris Como for my earlier theory, and I will be updating that previous posting to correct the error.
Now, there is evidence to show that Tiger has always had a bit of a squat in his transition, but it didn’t become a meme until during and following his work with Foley, from what I’ve been researching.
Here he is in 2007 with a very discernible squat in his transition on multiple swings, but neither Peter Kostis nor David Feherty say anything about it (at 26s, 1:25s, 2:50s, 3:35and 3:52s):
So, he probably always had it to some degree – I will admit, I didn’t study his swing much at all for reasons that had to do with his swinging in the Modern Golf Swing style (and I had begun with Moe Norman & Ben Hogan), so he was never a project – I am shocked to notice now, his squat and pelt gouges with the Flying Foot all through the years his swing was being described as “perfect,” which it never was even close to.
Repeatable, for him, working on it all day every day, sure – but a perfect swing doesn’t destroy your body.
I’ve never heard Hank Haney nor Butch Harmon talk about this squatting business, which means that this Golf Digest article featuring Foley is the earliest that I can find so far with someone advocating this ridiculous move.
It’s funny, because as bad as Foley’s swing model is, mechanically (there an obvious Stack & Tilt to it, and his affinity for that model is well-known):
… there’s no hint of a squat in his swing, which I had deliberately checked before declaring “it wasn’t Foley.”
I wonder if it’s because Foley couldn’t quite replicate TW’s swing or he was just smart enough to not wreck himself at the same time he was wrecking… let’s move on.
In this Golf Digest article “Squat For Power” that he wrote, Foley states:
Nod of approval: Tiger’s head dips as a result of squatting. Then he pushes up to create power.
One of golf’s oldest clichés is “maintain your posture” throughout the swing. The in-tent of the message is good: To help amateurs avoid rising out of the address position–either from a lack of hip flexibility or because they’re trying to help the ball into the air.
I hate to say this, but the reason it’s one of golf’s oldest “clichés” is because it’s correct.
No one before the Modern Golf Swing era ever taught or advocated diving into the ball as a technique, so we know that no one is re-inventing the wheel here. It’s just bad mechanics.
Quick, someone get Jack Nicklaus on the phone and tell him how he’s been doing it all wrong whilst winning 70+ Tour events and 18 majors between fishing trips and without ever injuring himself.
What you want to do is squat as you swing into the ball. This move is similar to what any athlete would do before leaping…
….. Essentially you’re creating an explosive action by lowering and then pushing off the ground. It helps you swing into the ball with considerable force. If you were to maintain your posture, it would be impossible to get to the ideal low point of your swing, four or five inches in front of the ball.
I mean, does anyone really need me to say this?
Squatting to jump upwards is a natural gathering motion because you can’t jump with your legs straight – you have to bend them (the squat) before you can then jump.
Where on earth is the swinger of a golf club required to jump in order to swing the club down and through the bottom?
This is a modern invention and it’s garbage. Rubbish.
As for being unable to get to the low point (swing bottom) in front of the ball, there’s a genius method used by everyone on earth before Sean Foley – hear me out – how about setting up with the ball located “four or five inches” before the swing bottom, so that you hit the ball on the descent, as has been taught for a hundred years?
Let me show you…
I mean, that’s the whole theory behind ball placement and the different clubs, isn’t it?
- Ball at the swing bottom, driver – or even a little past, for an upward impact angle,
- Ball just before the swing bottom for long irons and fairway woods, for a shallow sweep through impact,
- Ball further back with middle irons, and even more for short irons and wedge, for a descending impact and usually producing a divot.
Oh look, here’s Jack Nicklaus showing us this theory…
I don’t know what would be more shocking to discover all these years later – that Tiger either didn’t know this, or that he probably did and he let some random convince him that this wasn’t the way to do it, or that he kept this guy around as a swing “guru” until he’d literally broken his back.
That solves the mystery (to me) of why Tiger Woods is always gouging out enough earth to fill an in-ground swimming pool with that move through the ball that resembles a double-digit handicapper in the middle of blowing up the greens keeper’s maintenance budget:
Remember when he was a clean picker of his irons? Now, he’s even taking chunks with a 3 wood off the tee:
I told you he hit that fat, and now you know why.
And if you wonder why Tiger keeps needing back surgeries (aside from the obvious X-Factor twisting of the lower back), ask yourself what kind of stress it places on the body to be gouging pelts like that out with long irons hundreds of times per week, and the acrobatics he has to perform to even get his driver into the air, swinging down on the ball like that.
And here again arises Foley’s inability to stop himself from engaging in pseudo-science babble (remember the whole “myelin” nonsense), when he says:
If you want to understand the science behind squatting, here it is: Bending your knees lengthens your quadriceps (thigh muscles), and hip flexion lengthens your glutes (buttocks). You’re now in a position to contract these muscles in an upward thrust and deliver a lot of energy into the shot.
I think Foley missed his calling as a basketball or volleyball coach, because those sports involve jumping. What any of that has to do with a golf swing is beyond me, and oh dear me – “quadriceps,” “hip flexion” and “glutes” – that’s some real science there…
Words meaning nothing.
I once quipped over a decade ago that when Tiger Woods retires, Jack Nicklaus may well send Sean Foley a box of Cuban cigars and a dozen roses.
Because, without his intervention after Hank Haney, it’s likely Tiger still might have gotten to Jack’s 18 majors, Modern Golf Swing and all.
How this man bamboozled an entire generation of pro golfers and the rest of the industry into thinking he knew anything about proper golf swing mechanics, I will forever wonder.
And that, my friends, is about all I can take with this lunacy.
Happy Sunday.
WAX Golf 
Terrific document here mate!
. . . and IF Tiger had truly understood Mo – despite claiming great Respect – wouldn’t he have opted-in for the ‘(Lean) Bacon Strip Brotherhood) vs ‘The Hamhock-Boys’?
Cheers, and a great point, datadoc – I have a video where Moe is talking about his divots, even with wedges, where he keeps repeating that phrase, “Bacon strips not pork chops!” 🙂
Tiger didn’t understand Moe nor Hogan – both of them built their own swings and owned them, but Tiger can’t hit a ball without someone looking over his shoulder and telling him this or that. A far cry from owning one’s swing.
Plus, neither Hogan nor Moe crippled themselves swinging.
The tragedy is that TW had the work ethic and obviously the talent to have destroyed every record every set, including the majors tally, had he simply learned a mechanically-sound golf swing like Phil, Vijay or Bubba.
I will always say, and I believe I’m correct, that Tiger Woods was nearly the greatest of all time with the worst swing you’ll ever see from a golf great.
This was a great and detailed piece of work. Best takedown of the pseudoscience in modern golf I’ve seen yet.
Cheers, silly- it’s been a while since I realized that modern golf had a serious problem in its methodology.
That time was when I saw that I was spending more time telling people how not to swing rather than how to.
It’s getting worse by the year.
“Squatting to jump upwards is a natural gathering motion because you can’t jump with your legs straight – you have to bend them (the squat) before you can then jump.
Where on earth is the swinger of a golf club required to jump in order to swing the club down and through the bottom? ”
It’s insanity like this, that’s so obvious that makes me wonder what went wrong in golf for people who spout ludicrous ideas like that to have a career in golf? And make millions?
A sad state of affairs, isn’t it?
The lack of technical knowledge from even those who claim to be analysts and instructors is absolutely shocking.
The average player stands no chance with all of this nonsense being promoted.
Imagine paying someone to break your back. Unfathomable in any other sport.
I find the squatting technique to be very helpful in delivering a nice smooth effortless nature’s call.
“And here again arises Foley’s inability to stop himself from engaging in pseudo-science babble (remember the whole “myelin” nonsense)“. I am sorry but I do not know Foley’s myelin nonsense. Could you lead me to further info please.
PS- Looking forward to your new videos
Hello Bob!
You don’t remember “myelin?”
Well, strap yourself in – I wrote about this back in 2013 in my former blog DJ Watts Golf, and the link to the Ron Sirak Golf Digest article is now coming back 404.
I found another article behind a subscription wall in the WSJ but I can read the full article on my iPhone for some reason.
If you can’t get through the wall, here is what had me rolling my eyes out of their sockets at the time:
—–
In other words, Justin Rose got better with his long irons because he practiced his long irons whilst working on a swing change (the rest of us call it “grooving a move” or “ingraining” through “muscle memory”).
Yes, “swing change” is really (such a) a stupid term,” but that’s how we mere mortals describe… a swing change.
Thank you
Very welcome, sir.