Why Tiger Woods is flying solo with no swing coach

One of Tiger Woods top people in his camp is a real good friend of mine and while I try hard out of respect and friendship to not ask too many questions about TW, yesterday we talked about how much better Tiger is playing and how much better his swing is. I thought that he might be getting some instruction that has not been publicized yet, but he told me that Tiger does not want a swing instructor anymore and wants to do it himself because with all his past injuries only TW knows what his body can and can't do. I personally think this has allowed TW to start playing a lot more naturally and lean back on the things in his swing from the past that have worked for him, ie" what he and Butch used to work on.

I worked with one of Butches top assistants the same time that Tiger was working with Butch and he was out there a lot at the same time I was so I know a lot about what Butch was working with him on back then and I see a lot of those good qualities creeping back in to his swing now. Most notably Tiger is finally getting his left arm plane higher at the top again and he is getting behind the ball better on the backswing versus being flat and stuck on top of the ball where he developed a dip and his levels were changing too much during his swing.

I am including two swings that show where Tiger used to be in 2000; one is a split screen I have with my swing and his swing side by side (2001) and the other one is a picture from a practice round at St. Andrews at the British Open in 2000 when Tiger was swinging the best he ever has and won by 8 shots. This picture was taken by my instructor who went with Butch and Tiger to the British that year so it is not a photo that has ever been published before.

Personally, I see a big difference in TW's swing and his emotions on the course, it looks like he is having fun again and smiling a lot during his rounds. I'm not alone on this I know, but it is just a matter of time before he wins again and I would not be surprised if it was in a few weeks in Augusta. On a side note, I also know that TaylorMade is in the process of making Tiger a new prototype blade to replace his TGR Nike proto irons.

Very interesting information, I have been wondering about this myself.

Tiger has had an instructor his whole career AFAIK so this is new territory for him. Some of his more recent instructors have been blamed for his injuries by various pundits, not sure if Tiger agrees.

The thing I wonder is whether a really good instructor couldn't shorten the learning curve. If Tiger said "I can no longer do X, Y and Z motions", wouldn't a top instructor know what components would fit together with the motions that he is still capable of, thus shortening the trial and error process? Not talking swing overhauls, just tweaking any mismatching pieces.

I'm somewhat sceptical that Tiger will win another major without fixing his driver swing, unless there is a major on a course that takes driver out of everybody's hands.

I guess he could fix driver on his own; he fixed some pretty horrendous chipping and pitching issues himself. It will be fascinating to watch his progress.

Quite sure Woods can determine on his own what he wants to do, how to match parts to arrive at his destination the fastest way possible, without outside noise. Good move on his part.

Neat stuff, although the part about him wanting to go at it alone because only he knows how his body can and can't move isn't any kind of breaking news. He's talked about that at length at several press conferences this year.

I love seeing him go at it alone. I've long thought that for a guy with such a brilliant golf mind that he has seemed to lean on others perhaps a bit too much. Obsessing over "patterns" and numbers and getting locked into playing golf swing and not golf. I think feel tiger trumps mechanical tiger any day of the week.

If your friend is Steinberg, I’d estimate about 10% of what he told you is true, 70% half-truths, and 20% flat out lies.

Seriously though, I’m seeing more Haney in Tiger’s swing than Butch.

He probably figured out he's better than most instructors out there

There is a peculiar arrogance to anyone who decides that they are the best individual to teach Tiger Woods how to play golf.

The rumors were that he only did what he wanted to do, not necessarily what his instructors wanted him to do anyway. I don’t believe he can on his own long term. If he really knew what he was doing he wouldn’t have fallen for the Foley trap.

Chris Como is a friend of mine and when it became official that he was working with Tiger, Chris called me up and asked if I would provide statistical analysis on Tiger’s game when he got to playing as well as for my opinion on where Tiger stood from a statistical perspective.

One of the first things Chris told me was that he felt that any Tour player, particularly a player of Tiger’s talent, should not have to rely on an instructor in the long run. Chris’ thoughts where that after a while not only should the player start to pick up what is being taught to them, but they should also permanently ingrain what they’ve been taught and be able to troubleshoot their issues. Chris’ opinion was that if the player couldn’t do that, then the player really doesn’t ‘own’ their swing.

I don’t know if Tiger has bought into that and that is why he is not working with a swing instructor. But the big thing in all of this is that he’s healthy enough to play golf in numerous events instead of playing in an event, scared of his back, then taking a couple of months off and then maybe playing again. Tough to play golf when you have limited opportunities to do so and in those opportunities you’re thinking about your back and your golf swing instead of putting the ball into the hole.

RH

Tiger knows more about Tiger's swing than anybody on earth. And he knows his body. Great move on his part.

The biggest thing about the last 2 weeks is, he looks like he's having fun. Maybe he realizes how close he came to losing golf, and right now he just wants to enjoy the process of being out there.

Whatever the reason, I hope he's found a good place.

thanks for a thought provoking post

Chris Como is a friend of mine and when it became official that he was working with Tiger, Chris called me up and asked if I would provide statistical analysis on Tiger’s game when he got to playing as well as for my opinion on where Tiger stood from a statistical perspective.

 

One of the first things Chris told me was that he felt that any Tour player, particularly a player of Tiger’s talent, should not have to rely on an instructor in the long run. Chris’ thoughts where that after a while not only should the player start to pick up what is being taught to them, but they should also permanently ingrain what they’ve been taught and be able to troubleshoot their issues. Chris’ opinion was that if the player couldn’t do that, then the player really doesn’t ‘own’ their swing.

 

I don’t know if Tiger has bought into that and that is why he is not working with a swing instructor. But the big thing in all of this is that he’s healthy enough to play golf in numerous events instead of playing in an event, scared of his back, then taking a couple of months off and then maybe playing again. Tough to play golf when you have limited opportunities to do so and in those opportunities you’re thinking about your back and your golf swing instead of putting the ball into the hole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RH

Mr. Hunt...yesterday a WRX'er shared a video of you speaking to a group and I have to say you were impressive. You truly know your numbers and people would benefit from your knowledge.

Chris Como is a friend of mine and when it became official that he was working with Tiger, Chris called me up and asked if I would provide statistical analysis on Tiger’s game when he got to playing as well as for my opinion on where Tiger stood from a statistical perspective.

 

One of the first things Chris told me was that he felt that any Tour player, particularly a player of Tiger’s talent, should not have to rely on an instructor in the long run. Chris’ thoughts where that after a while not only should the player start to pick up what is being taught to them, but they should also permanently ingrain what they’ve been taught and be able to troubleshoot their issues. Chris’ opinion was that if the player couldn’t do that, then the player really doesn’t ‘own’ their swing.

 

I don’t know if Tiger has bought into that and that is why he is not working with a swing instructor. But the big thing in all of this is that he’s healthy enough to play golf in numerous events instead of playing in an event, scared of his back, then taking a couple of months off and then maybe playing again. Tough to play golf when you have limited opportunities to do so and in those opportunities you’re thinking about your back and your golf swing instead of putting the ball into the hole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RH

RH - always enjoy your posts, thanks for sharing.

Nothing wrong with that. He has video, he has TrackMan, knows what he wants to do. So far it seems not having a swing coach is working quite well.

new less mechanical swing and being less guarded mentally = success coming in buckets

Golf is a swing, not positions

In the past, Tiger leaves coaches when there is a fresh start so to speak, right after coming back from injury or being out of the game for awhile when he wasn't successful prior. Tiger didn't have much success with Como and that's all which really matters even if it wasn't Como fault but the back, that is the reason he isn't with Como anymore. It was a change of approach on Tigers part and I think the smartest move he has done in awhile for his game.

When you’re that good, relying on a coach is like handing your *car keys to a 12 year old

*insert dream car here

Tiger said in an interview once that he most revered Hogan and Moe Norman because they own their own swings. Maybe he's finally going for that.

The drive on 16 at Bay Hill raises more questions than his otherwise solid play answers. I never thought I would see Tiger, let alone any top 50 tour player ob it left there while in contention. He will win again soon, but he needs a reliable tee shot under pressure.

Tiger said he wasn't really committed to the shot, so there's that if you believe it.

Tiger said he wasn't really committed to the shot, so there's that if you believe it.

That sounded pretty genuine to me. He was owning it. It's not like he tried to blame anything else. He didn't even seem that upset about it, which may have had something to do with the birdie fest Rory was putting out there. I think he knew why it happened and knew that it wouldn't happen again, which is why he wasn't THAT upset about it.

Tiger has learned alot from the guys he has worked with and is more than qualified to do it on his own. He wants to "own" his swing and focus more on performance practice than working on his technique. If he wants to own his swing, he has to be the sole person calling the shots in his . This is not to say his former instructors led him the wrong way ever (I like Foley, I can understand Hank, we now understand better what Como had to deal with, Butch is one the best), but its the same with Rory going to a normal person to caddy for him. These guys don't want it to be easy to make excuses for themselves. They want to blame themselves and pride themselves on the decisions they make.

I admit I was wrong, figured he had no chance going it alone. Good for him and for golf, gonna be a great sunner eh?

One of Tiger Woods top people in his camp is a real good friend of mine and while I try hard out of respect and friendship to not ask too many questions about TW, yesterday we talked about how much better Tiger is playing and how much better his swing is. I thought that he might be getting some instruction that has not been publicized yet, but he told me that Tiger does not want a swing instructor anymore and wants to do it himself because with all his past injuries only TW knows what his body can and can't do. I personally think this has allowed TW to start playing a lot more naturally and lean back on the things in his swing from the past that have worked for him, ie" what he and Butch used to work on.

 

still hit hit crooked with driver and no coach been able to adjust his game when he goes on instinct.

saying he dont need a coach is silly, the guy dont know what he is doing.

If he truly wanted to own it he would see me.

Only one knowing the secret

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That's one happy Swedish goat.

If your friend is Steinberg, I'd estimate about 10% of what he told you is true, 70% half-truths, and 20% flat out lies.

 

Seriously though, I'm seeing more Haney in Tiger's swing than Butch.

No, not Steinberg.

Tiger's driver swing is the main issue, I think if he can work that out, all other facets of his "full swing" game will get shored up that much sooner, even though his iron play isn't too far off currently. Johnny Miller was right about him having success flighting the ball lower, he should just stick to that all the time and say to hell with high bombs off the tee. Hit driver like you would in windy conditions, not just then, but in all conditions, control seems so much better. AoA with his driver should more closely mimic his 3 wood, and it seemed much better at the Honda when he was forced to do that.

I have zero connections, although I’m quite impressed with how connected some of the forum members here are.

My guess, based mostly on my impressions of Tiger from Haney’s book, is that Tiger is an impossibly difficult guy to coach and this clash of personalities creates more distractions than it creates solutions. The only guys that would make a short list of possible swing coaches for Tiger would have egos equal in size to his.

In this modern world, Tiger no longer needs a person to tell him what they see. He can record himself and see for himself. He can get all the data from Trackman. After being with some of the most prolific coaches and golf minds of all time, I doubt there is anything that Tiger doesn’t know about the golf swing. A coach would just be a distraction.

I have zero connections, although I’m quite impressed with how connected some of the forum members here are.

 

My guess, based mostly on my impressions of Tiger from Haney’s book, is that Tiger is an impossibly difficult guy to coach and this clash of personalities creates more distractions than it creates solutions. The only guys that would make a short list of possible swing coaches for Tiger would have egos equal in size to his.

 

In this modern world, Tiger no longer needs a person to tell him what they see. He can record himself and see for himself. He can get all the data from Trackman. After being with some of the most prolific coaches and golf minds of all time, I doubt there is anything that Tiger doesn’t know about the golf swing. A coach would just be a distraction.

I am by no means comparing myself to TW, but last year I too was fighting issues with driver and was having ridiculous success with 3w off the tee, and my father would always complain why I would be pulling my driver out all of the time when I was struggling, instead of hitting 3w. Sometimes the inability to do something, in this case hit driver, drives one to prove themselves and others wrong. Everything else can be working, but that one thing that isn't eats away at you and you keep trying to overcome that obstacle even though there's a logical/successful out that doesn't involve said obstacle at all.

Insanity, doing something over and over again expecting different results.....

 

If he truly wanted to own it he would see me.

Only one knowing the secret

 

But... but ... but ... if you tell him, then you won't be the Only One knowing the secret.

I think the world is a safer place if you just keep that prize secret to yourself, you know, in case we need to unwrap it to stop nuclear war or something...