3 ingredients I believe would help Tiger regain his edge!

The watch and wait game continues as the golfing world once again was left with more questions than answers regarding the future and direction of Tiger Woods. We listen to his press conferences and sound bites and you get the feeling that he is making strides in his progress yet come tournament time it continues to be much the same. A heavy dose of wayward shots, a poor short game sprinkled with a spattering of decent shots thrown in to further muddy the waters as to what exactly is going on.

Those of us who work with players of all ability levels on a daily basis know that the better the golfer you’re working with the more demanding and tedious the process can become. A rank beginner that doesn’t know what end of the club to hold can be a walk in the park compared to let’s say a +1 or +2 player. You would think it would be the opposite with the better golfers having  such a command of the game, but then again golf is a very counter intuitive game, meaning; what you think is logical is usually the opposite in golf.

Like so many professionals, amateurs and golf fan alike, I have analyzed this Tiger situation and have narrowed it down to 3 key elements that I believe would help Tiger re-establish himself as a force once again.

1]  Change his approach to his swing. Tiger must realize that he is not immortal and that father time stops for no one. He cannot swing the same now as he did at the age of 23. As fit as Tiger is, his back and joints can’t take the stress of such a powerful swing like they could 15 or 20 years ago. His swing changes should be geared towards swinging more efficiently and smarter with the understanding that distance begins to dissipate with age yet accuracy is something you never have to lose. Last I checked “Accuracy” is still pretty high on the list of things one must have to succeed at any level of golf competition.

2]  Stop over analyzing every little body movement and swing mechanic. Even the high handicappers of the world know that too much thinking is not a good thing. I believe he knows this as well but for whatever reason he won’t or can’t move away from this thought process. When he first started with his most recent coach Chris Como, he talked about going back through old tapes of his younger days and trying to move his swing in that direction. I consider that to be both good and bad. Good, because his swing was less mechanical and much freer flowing and that is a good thing. Bad, because again, he’s not 23 anymore and to make the body do at 39 (almost 40) what it did 15 years prior is like shoving a square peg in a round hole. I believe there are some past swing fundamentals he can carry forward but with that some modifications to lessen the punishment on his body.

3]  Employ 1 person to serve as your coach, caddy, guru and mentor. This is something I have not heard in anything I have read or seen regarding Tiger’s current situation. Some will probably find this idea ridiculous; however, from a professional standpoint it makes perfect sense.  There are a number of professionals on tour whose caddy is also their swing coach. If I’m not mistaken Jason Day’s caddy is a gentleman who has been a longtime mentor and swing coach to him. This to me makes perfect sense.  He doesn’t necessarily need a top 100 instructor but rather someone who understands golf from the inside out and backwards and let's face it, there’s more to golf than just swinging a club. Such a person could serve Tiger well and be at his side literally at the times he needs it most. But TW likes the spotlight squarely on himself and to employ such a figure may cause that spotlight to widen a bit and we know what happens when it does i.e. Fluff Cowan, Butch Harmon, Hank Haney. Ego can be a terrible thing.

If Tiger would put more of his energy into game planning a strategy for success and less into quantum physics and bio mechanics I believe he would come out much further ahead. But as the saying goes “A tiger never changes his stripes” and when change isn’t recognized as a necessity to further evolve, what follows is extinction.

  Blog written by Vince Fratercangelo-Director of Instruction at VJF Golf Academy

TIGERS TRIBULATIONS

If you’re a golfer, most likely you’ve been asked the question, “Do you think Tiger is done” which is a direct reflection of his latest offering at last week’s Memorial Tournament. It seems everybody has an opinion and it appears until he starts showing signs of progress (which he claims he is making in his pressers) the questions and doubt will continue to linger. It is hard to fathom that a golfer with such raw natural talent could post a number remotely close to the 85 he recently posted.

I have had numerous conversations with both professionals and amateurs alike regarding this never ending topic and it seems people have strong convictions on how TW has fallen so far from where he once was as the #1 golfer in the world. Everything from the ordeal with his now ex wife to the numerous changes in his swing and swing coaches to having the “yips” as some of the most common themes I hear on an almost daily basis. And being a golf professional who makes a living at helping others play better golf I get the inevitable question (as I’m sure most golf professionals do) all the time as to what I think is wrong with Tiger’s swing and game.

Before I get to that, what I have found interesting and refreshing over the past several months is Tiger’s willingness to speak to the media after such debacles. Something he’s been reluctant to do in the past after poor performances. To that I give him kudos, and although his game is currently in limbo, it appears he is evolving as a more media friendly ambassador of the game even as the wheels continue to fall off. That also goes directly to his character....bravo!

As for the current “State of Tiger” I have looked at it much like I diagnose someone’s golf swing when seeing it for the first time. First, identify the swing deficiencies and then ultimately determine the “root cause” of those deficiencies. In other words don’t treat the symptoms, instead, attack the source. If you “cure” the source problem the symptoms will go away.

So if you apply that same logic to Tiger’s situation you need to ask yourself what are his deficiencies/symptoms? Inconsistency for sure, you can also throw in the inability to score and unfortunately without talking with him it’s impossible to know what his thinking process is at the moment but if this were a “real” player evaluation I would ask him a series of questions that would certainly shed some light on the situation. But given what we do know let’s delve a little deeper. WHY is he inconsistent and unable to score? By his own words, because he is “stuck” between patterns (that's not terminology I use on a daily basis with my students but I think I understand where he's coming from…). Ok now we ask why is he stuck between patterns, most likely because he has changed coaches a few times over the past several years. Ok, why has he changed coaches over the past several years? And that my friend is the million dollar question.

And in my most humble opinion, I truly believe it is the pursuit of perfection, and as we all know there is no “perfection” in golf. When Tiger admits to himself that there is no "perfect" in golf and the fact that he is no longer 25 years old and can’t move in the same way he did at that age, he will then be able to travel a path that is much less rocky and probably will yield more positive results.

It’s kind of like the alcoholic or drug addict syndrome; you can’t get better until you admit you have a problem. I see it much the same way, until Tiger admits there is no perfect, that it’s about getting the ball in the hole in the least amount of strokes and do it in an efficient yet different way than when he did in his 20’s, I believe things will continue to stay status quo.

It’s unfortunate that Tiger is blinded by science i.e. bio mechanics, because it is truly causing paralysis to his game. Back in the day of Arnie, Jack, Gary, Lee, Chi Chi and so on there was no talk of bio mechanics, quantum physics or anything else along those lines; it was about playing golf and putting the ball in the hole in fewer strokes than your competitor. Every watch Arnie’s swing? You certainly wouldn’t teach it but what a thing of beauty.

So, where does all this leave us? Only time will tell but as previously stated the current path doesn’t seem to be leading to greener pastures and Tiger assures us weekly that progress is being made. Now whether he truly believes it is another story.

Recommendation: If Tiger isn’t unwilling to return to Butch or Hank then I think he should go completely off the grid, do his homework, find himself a GOLF MINDED coach/instructor/teacher that deals with GOLF and disappear for a while. Will it happen, 99% chance it doesn’t but I am also 99% sure that he won’t be throwing in the towel any time soon but I do wish Tiger the best…..

To be continued 

 Blog written by Vince Fratercangelo-Director of Instruction at VJF Golf Academy