Faldo "long at Augusta": skill and maintenance

[Matt_Sullivan]

Saw this quote from Charles Howell's Masters press conference:

"We've all seen old highlight Masters videos where Nick Faldo, was never a long hitter, but he was long at Augusta, because he could shape the ball around the conners, he could get the ball going with the slopes everything and. You know, they used to mow half the way downgrain and half into. The downgrain bit was kind of the parts on the corners so Nick could work the ball down the edges. Now, all of it is mowed into."

Thought it was interesting on a few levels

-- how good was Faldo, working it off the tee and then along the ground for length!! Anyone remember if CHIII is right about this -- my memory is not good enough

-- how clever was the course set up, giving the shorter hitters a chance to compete?

-- what a shame that Augusta now feels they have to mow the course back into the grain to protect the course against the long hitters (and in doing so further harming the short hitter's chances I suppose)

[TEPaul]

In my opinion, this fixation with mowing fairways down grain and back into the grain (the old up and back look) is mostly a fallacy when it comes to any real distance difference. On fairways as short as these they have today on a course like ANGC if that kind of thing netted out either way to more than 2-5 yards max I'd be shocked.

How precise and consistent is Faldo? He's definitely the closest thing I ever saw to a human robot. Three years ago he flew almost all his drives exactly 260-265---I know because the course was soaking wet, the ball was plugging and I checked the yardage on all his drives.

It's just surprising that Faldo isn't longer off the tee and never has been because he really is a huge man. His swing is so precise that no one could tell if he goes after one or not and his technique if he wants a bit more distance or not is to just shape his shot a little, not a lot.

Tee to green Faldo's a robot, and of course his management ability is just incredible. If Faldo was a little bit better putter there's no telling what his record would look like.

[Matt_Sullivan]

Yes, I was amazed at how short Faldo hits it. The only time I have seen him play live was a Euro Tour event a few years ago at my (then) home course in Singapore. That day he played with Nick O'Hern, another noted short knocker, and neither of them were hitting it much further than I do (265-275 carry or so -- and in Singers it is all carry; there ain't much roll in the tropics). Of course they were both a lot straighter ...

I read an interview with Faldo where he said he focused on precision when he re-built his swing in the 80s because length just wasn't such a big deal back then. And now he can't just whale at it. The power game has left him behind. He just isn't geared for it. Maybe it is no coincidence he won his last PGA Tour event (LA Open at Riviera) a month or two before Tiger won the Masters in 97

[TEPaul]

Matt:

I can't say I really understand the theory that well but if you ask me Faldo is a man who is clearly very strong but he just does not possess what some call "quick-snap" power. You can see that in his swing---it's basically a very percise flowing motion. Obviously Woods is exceptionally strong too but anyone can see in his swing he possesses some really extraordinary "quick-snap" power. And that may be one reason he's not so straight that often.

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Exercise physiologists will talk to you about short and slow twitch fibres with respect to other athletes, and this is now being examined in the golfing arena.

Faldo is certainly a slow twitch guy...I know because he had all this tested in Eastbourne in the mid 80's....and as such will never be able to generate that"quick snap' that some others are able to.
I am not saying this is the b all and end all of swing speed, but it certainly has something to do with it.

[Dan_Callahan]

About three years ago, I went to Westchester to watch the Buick. After a rain delay, a number of the players went to the range to warm up. I stood behind Faldo and Tiger.

First, TV does not do justice to how big Faldo is. And I don't just mean tall/broad. He is very muscular, with lats sticking out of his shirt.

Tiger obviously attracted a huge crowd. He was awesome. There was a net about 80 yards away. He took his lob wedge and dropped his first ball about five yards short. Next ball was about five yards long. Third ball was in the net. Put that club away and grabbed a sand wedge. Another net was about 110 yards away. He did the exact same thing! One short, one long, one in. He rarely hit an iron more than three or four times before moving on.

He was equally impressive with his woods. He was picking out targets all over the range and hitting them—some with high bombs, other times with the low stinger. Amazing.

Meanwhile, Faldo was plodding away. Every single swing he took was identical. Wedge, 4-iron, driver—it didn't matter. The swing and tempo never changed, nor did the ball flight. everything came off the exact same way.

After about 20 minutes, Tiger left to go to the putting green. Faldo kept on hitting balls. After about 50 minutes, Faldo packed up to leave. As he walked off, I looked down at where he had been hitting. He left a PERFECT square of a divot pattern in the range. This thing was about a foot wide and a foot long. It was perfectly symmetrical on the edges and in the divot depth. He had to have hit about 100 balls with a swing with zero variance. It was the most incredible display of precision I have ever seen on a golf course.

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Even though Jim Nance in his recent golf article was adamant about the non use of steroids in golf...how the hell would he know anyway..there is indeed evidence to suggest that steroids would be beneficial to golfers.
It aids in 1.the development of lean muscle mass.
            2. Explosive short term power activities

Two items that would add up to increase clubhead speed and consequently distance.
I am certainly NOT saying that steroids are currently a problem in the game, but with the increased emphasis and importance of length, with the diminishing importance of accuracy{as endorsed by many including Vijay} one wonders what the next generation of golfing athletes will do to maximise their talent levels in oreder to win.