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When I use the words “empirical analysis” here it is not to make me look smart: rather, it is a jab at Brandel Chamblee (imagine that), who, in our Facebook debate, rambled on about the beauty of “observational” teaching as opposed to anything having to do with science or using technology such as video cameras and line and angle drawing software. Well, Chamblee is totally clueless when it comes to teaching and what is necessary to help the rank and file golfer, and his love of old school golf instruction and teachers such as Harvey Penick leads him to disparage anything beyond what the eyes can see when it comes to analyzing what a golf swing is doing and how it might be repaired and made better.
I don’t think I could come up with a better example of just what the eye can’t see than this clip of Bill Kratzert and Jerry Foltz commenting on Tiger Woods’ swing. Foltz makes the claim that Tiger, back in 1996, “didn’t drop at all”, meaning that according to him Tiger kept his head level during his swing. If Jerry had bothered to watch any video of Tiger in that era he would have known not to say this, because it is absolutely not true. How do I know that? Easy, guys: just look at the video! It’s available for anyone to see. Making a claim like “Tiger didn’t drop in 96, and now he more level than in the recent past” is easy, and usually there is no one to counter it. How hard would it be to side by side a few swings to show us some evidence for such a grand claim? I guess that’s why I’m here. The “Anderson Cooper-Keeping Them Honest” of the golf world.
While Foltz is merely misinformed and lazy, Kratzert is much worse. He actually states that “”Tiger’s left hip stays level through the hitting area”, when the video playing right in front of him as he is speaking proves that Tiger’s left hip is elevating drastically and that Kratzert is blind to what he is looking at. The truth is that all these announcers have already made up their minds as to what they think about the swing and they will ignore any evidence to the contrary of their predisposed beliefs. It is totally absurd to listen to a supposedly knowledgeable commentator tell you that something is happening when what is playing shows that that something is actually not happening at all. It is good for them that it all happens very fast, which is why Chamblee is so hateful of “academic” teaching. If you don’t slow it down and analyze it you can say just about anything. Problem is, when these guys say stuff, most of the time it isn’t true.
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