This is footage from the HSBC at TMCC earlier in the year.
When we looked at this swing in slow motion and observed some of the positions her body gets into, it does not surprise me why she has been constantly suffering injuries throughout her career. As good as a player she is, I am absolutely amazed how this swing works and how she has even made it to the LPGA let alone won.
We see many odd swing on the PGA Tour but one thing these players can do is get good impact and compression, Natalies Impact is what you would see with your average weekend golfer. She has been trying to improve her swing in recent years to prevent the injuries but I do not see this as the case. Anybody know who here famous coach is??
Seriously speaking though, it shows how poor technique can cause long term damage to the body. If you are having injuries or pain from golf, I advise you see a qualified golf pro to check whether it is your technique that is causing the problem.
Good golfing and swing safe
golf_snowman Incredibly Active Golfer
Posts : 2851 Join date : 2009-07-16 Age : 52 Location : Dreamland
the head dipping down is the counterbalance the orbital movement of the assets moving up. If she does not counterbalance, her shoulders will be rotate too fast.
anyway i notice paula creamer also dips her head.
jurongtiger Super Active Golfer
Posts : 1402 Join date : 2009-07-27 Location : Jurong
My take on this is that maybe it's not Natalie's coach fault. It may be the student's fault and not the coach. He may have taught her the right techniques but she may not be able to absorb his teachings for whatever reasons.
I am sure Natalie's coach has other success stories/successful students. So to put it squarely down to the coach's teachings for her injuries is not fair.
JonL_TK Incredibly Active Golfer
Posts : 2668 Join date : 2009-12-23 Age : 43 Location : Pasir Gudang / Singapore
My take on this is that maybe it's not Natalie's coach fault. It may be the student's fault and not the coach. He may have taught her the right techniques but she may not be able to absorb his teachings for whatever reasons.
I am sure Natalie's coach has other success stories/successful students. So to put it squarely down to the coach's teachings for her injuries is not fair.
Fixing her set up would correct about 5 of the problems. The over rotation and reverse pivot is what causes her to dip. I fix this problem on a daily basis with many students. I think Natalie is talented enough to make the changes. If she can win with that swing then she has the talent. My take on Butch is he is hesitant to change players that are having success for fear of making them play worse. Dustin Johnson bowed wrist is another example.
Butch's greatest success came when Tiger insisted he change his swing. We all know how great a partnership that was. In Natalies case where injury is a major problem, I think it is his responsibility as a swing coach to change it.
Her health is more important and at this rate, her career will be over very early. Its a shame because she is great scenery at any tournament
golf_snowman Incredibly Active Golfer
Posts : 2851 Join date : 2009-07-16 Age : 52 Location : Dreamland
My take on this is that maybe it's not Natalie's coach fault. It may be the student's fault and not the coach. He may have taught her the right techniques but she may not be able to absorb his teachings for whatever reasons.
I am sure Natalie's coach has other success stories/successful students. So to put it squarely down to the coach's teachings for her injuries is not fair.
hi bro
actually, i do not mean the coach's teaching cause her injuries..but rather how the coach could help her to avoid further injuries and swing better...
i'm also sure her coach has other success stories, which is why it sets me thinking why the coach is not changing her swing ?
so far, from what i have observe, those pro who underwent swing change, including Tiger, are mainly for 2 reasons : avoid further bodu injuries and new swings helps the golfer to play better in long run.
Natalie is a great player, and personally i felt it's a shame if the injuries cause her to end her golfing career earlier...hope to see her play more..
Turbo Hall of Fame Golfer
Posts : 5876 Join date : 2009-09-30 Age : 98 Location : Pin Hole
I wonder if it is just how the players execute according to their physical ability or limitation? And in doing so in order to compete at the level required, they knowingly accept the risk of injuries. Question is would they be as competitive if they adopt a more body-frenly swing?
Quote from Butch Harmon himself, from years ago. I wonder if he still thinks the same way now.
"It would be wonderful to live in a world where we could clone everyone to swing exactly the same, but we don't. With the most unusual position at the top that I've ever seen, Natalie Gulbis' swing is famously unorthodox. The reason so many people know about it is she's been very successful playing that way: In 1997, at age 14, she was the youngest winner of the California Women's Amateur and the youngest to Monday-qualify for an LPGA Tour event. Now an LPGA rookie at 19, she's poised to become a star.
Both Natalie and Tiger Woods came to me through their fathers, who felt that they had taken their kids as far as they could on their own. There's only one Tiger, but Natalie is very athletic and very strong, and a competitor with a good disposition for golf. Smart, too: She knew she needed to alter some things about her swing in order to keep progressing.
In this article, I'll highlight the key aspects of Natalie's swing and explain what we've been working on to improve it. We're not trying to make any dramatic changes -- I don't believe you should throw away what people do naturally. You just want to make it better. That's especially true with pros; they have to play through any changes and continue to play well.
Crossover Star
It doesn't take a genius to see the big idiosyncrasy in Natalie's swing. The shaft is way across the target line at the top -- pointing to the right -- a position that makes it impossible for most players to be a consistent ball-striker. Only through repetition and tremendous natural ability has Natalie been able to make do with this flaw. But the causes of the flaw are a lot less obvious.
Natalie has very little wrist-cock in her takeaway. To compensate for the lack of leverage this creates (combined with the added flexibility she gets from an extra vertebra in her lower back) she over-turns and puts the club and herself in that funky at-the-top position. Even there, though, you can see one aspect of improvement: Her clubface used to be much more closed, which led to either a quick snap-hook if she released her hands or a big block to the right if she held on. The crux of our program is to change her position at the top by getting her to hinge the wrists a little more and move the clubhead before she moves the hands and the handle.
Lost in the fuss over what's odd about Natalie's swing are the many things she does well. She has an athletic setup that puts her in a good position to respond to the takeaway. She holds her spine angle beautifully throughout her swing. Best of all is her downswing: Natalie has excellent rotation of the lower body, and her arms match up perfectly with the unwinding of the upper body. The clubhead comes down right on plane (from Natalie's position at the top, the average player would end up with the club stuck too far behind the body) and she arrives at an ideal impact position that she carries through to the finish. The lesson: With talent and hard work, you can excel without the mythical "ideal" swing."
Read More http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/swing-sequences/2008-07/photos_gulbis#ixzz1JwZWdcKw
anyways, never liked Natalie. I dont think she's pretty at all..she tries so hard to dress the part but the base is not there lor. Just like Kournikova...body/face cant make it lah
compare to grace park, she doesnt dress sexy, but that pouty lips and her curvy bod is enough to stirr hahahaha, and beautiful swing to boot!
Subject: Natalie Gulbis Swing Sequence 
Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:27 pm
