June 14th, 2008 at 9:25 pm

I agree that Tiger is a stud, and that he’s destroying his knee, but I doubt that there is any solution to the problem. Just as Sandy Koufax had to quit pitching at an early age because his motion had so damaged his arm, Tiger’s swing IS his game. No one can enjoy the kind of success he’s had and then change his game and continue to be great. He’d still be a great putter, but he couldn’t handle the length of course now played on Tour.
I’ve been saying for years that he’d have to stay healthy and get lucky to break Jack’s record and do it before he’s 35.
It’s a classic case of too much upper-body power, and violent weight-transfer, causing a breakdown in the legs. Like the modern thoroughbreds, Tiger doesn’t have the body to take it.
And I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Tiger not be able to close the deal tomorrow. He won’t be sinking too many more 60-footers or chipping in. He’s great, and he’s been lucky, and I’d wouldn’t be surprised to see him win, either…but it’s no lock.

June 17th, 2008 at 4:42 am

Interesting observations Mike and very interesting to hear about it from your perspective.

Whether he has done long term damage or not (and obviously let’s hope it’s the latter) it’s impossible to deny that it was an incredible example of the very thing that makes Tiger “Tiger”.

Like you say he has turned the game upside down in the sense of it now being a game for athletes. It’s surely no coincidence that Westwood made the top three and briefly held the lead when he is clearly in the best physical shape of his career.

But the magic of the last five days went far beyond that for me. It was about Tiger’s resolve and drive. He has taken fitness to a new level certainly but he has also taken his mind control to a new level. He has taken his practice to a new level too. It seems that he simply sits down at the start of each year and maps out each aspect of his game and decides to get better in every one. Rather than simply shooting for some arbitrary goals in terms of tournaments there is a clear desire to break it all down into the consistuent parts and improve all of them. But Tiger’s constituent parts are not the same as most of the other guys (and the rest of us) in that he thinks he needs to work on his chipping or pitching or maybe needs to up his putting a notch. Of course he works on all those but at the same time he is improving his fitness, working on his mental game and creating a sense of balance and family life to allow him to really focus with a real sense of perspective on the big challenge – beating Jack.

I loved a story at the start of this year from another tour pro who had been working on his short game all winter and was justifiably proud of the advances he’d been making. He spent some time with Tiger at a practice green at the start of the season and Tiger showed him what he’d been working on. He’d been learning to draw and fade his chips to cope with different grasses and undulations. So while the rest of the guys are just striving for the perfect pitch or chip Tiger is practicing at a level way above that. How do you compete with that?

And of course this applies to all aspects of what he does. So if Tiger was just 5% fitter than the rest of the guys (and he’s clearly not) and had 5% better mental control (again he’s clearly way above that) and could pitch or chip 5% better and drive 5% better and control his long irons 5% better etc. etc. you end up with an exponentially better player – which of course is exactly what we have.

But the gist of my (long-winded ) argument is that this attitude, this resolve, this determination is what allows him to, in his own words, “just keep battling” at a level far beyond what others can do.

The papers and the internet are full of the usual “Tiger is from another planet” stories but he’s not. He’s just better at all these things by a little amount and that’s what makes him battle 91 holes against Doctor’s orders and clearly in quite considerable pain.

They’ll be talking about this in 50 years – no doubt about it. It may not be Hogan in 1950 but it’s not a million miles off it.

(Sorry about the long rant – I just got carried away. Although it has clearly formed the basis of a rant for my own blog )

June 17th, 2008 at 10:02 am

[...] thing I’ve seen in golf in a long time. While responding to a post by golf fitness guru Mike Pederson on his blog it made me wonder exactly what was it that was so fascinating and exactly what is it [...]

June 20th, 2008 at 4:14 am

I am amazed that he lasted as long as he did. During his interview with ESPN, he said that he has not felt good for about 10 years. I can’t imagine going that long with all of that “repetitive motion” affecting the same areas of the body.

June 27th, 2008 at 12:44 am

I have never seen anyone more determined to win in my whole life. Some people have great talent that allows them to dominate in their sport, and Tiger has that, but what he has even more than that, is the will to win. He sure can grind it out when he wants and when he needs to. Let’s see if the Tour players will learn from his example while he is off recovering.

July 5th, 2008 at 3:01 pm

Determination and skill can take a player a long way, but sometimes the body just won’t hold up. If this injuring persists, affecting his future, and I’m sure every time he squints or flinches in pain in the future the media will dive all over it blaming the knee. If he takes his time recovering and continues to play solid golf, he may very well catch up with Jack’s records.

July 8th, 2008 at 3:39 pm

[...] Tiger Woods Winning US Open Golf Championship Injured | Mike Pedersen Even with a golf injury to his knee that’s killing him, Tiger Woods played unbelievable golf the back nine on Sunday of the US Open Championship. [...]

July 9th, 2008 at 5:10 am

Mike,

Great post and I must say this site is shaping up nicely. Very impressive stuff my friend.

Let’s hope Tiger recovers as the PGA tour (not to mention the networks) will be shaking in their boots if his career is in jeopardy. One bright spot may be the emergence of Anthony Kim – the tour has needed a contender for a while now and this kid looks like he might just have the stuff. 2 wins and he hasn’t looked the least bit nervous on Sundays.

July 9th, 2008 at 5:40 am

Wow! I’m honored you commented Hope you’re doing well.

Yeah…the tour just isn’t the same without Tiger. But this “Kim guy” seems like the real deal. Would be pretty cool to see someone else step up as I thought Zac Johnson might be really hasn’t. And I’ve given up on Charles Howell.

Thanks again Griz!

Mike

July 9th, 2008 at 7:09 am

Mike – any chance of adding an email RSS feed.

I’m a dinosaur and hate feed readers!

July 9th, 2008 at 7:42 am

Tell me how and I’ll do it asap

July 9th, 2008 at 9:24 am

Mike,

Go into Feedburner – Publicize – look for the “Email Subscriptions” link along the left sidebar – click it and you will see two html codes that you can use. Don’t use the first one (it gives you a whole form) – the second code at the bottom will give you the email link. It’s called “Subscription Link Code”. Just paste it into your blog where you want it.

If you have any problems let me know.

July 17th, 2008 at 1:29 am

Tiger is a downright legend, I think the best sportsperson that will come around in my lifetime. To watch on televison, it is poetry in motion.

Cheers
Woody

August 12th, 2008 at 3:22 pm

He will completely re-work his swing to take the pressure off the leg. This wll be 3rd swing overhaul in career and will work just as well as last 2, in my opinion.
Submitted by Brenan Hofstadter