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I turned on Golf Central to see if I could get some recap shots of Jimmy Walker’s swing, and as I watched the replay on DVR I listened to Aaron Oberholser describe Walker’s putting as being about as good as it gets, putting him up there with Tiger Woods as far as set-up and stroke. I work with quite a few good players and am always trying to learn more about what makes a great putting style, so I went back and pulled a bunch of Walker’s putts from the network telecast in order to watch them more closely. What I found simply astounded me: Walker shifts his weight from right to left on every putt! And it’s not even subtle. In fact, it’s obvious when you take the time to watch and don’t get mesmerized by the fact that most of the putts are going in. I don’t believe you would find a single golf instructor who would advocate such body movement in a putting stroke, but here it is totally apparent in the stroke of the hottest player on the Tour. It would be interesting enough even without Oberholser’s commentary, but the fact that he completely whiffed on this is not at all surprising. TV guys know what they know, and when a player is successful they explain it in their usual terms as that validates what they think they know. When the player is failing the same rule applies: he or she is doing something that is counter to the conventional wisdom of the commentator (see Tiger Woods and his “dipping” head, and Rory McIlroy’s “beautiful swing” which dips as much or more than Tiger’s). Walker is winning and making everything: of course his stroke is “perfect”. However, the reality is that it’s not, at least if you believe a century of golf instruction from teachers and great players alike.
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