Putting stuff under the armpits

I was lucky enough to get close to Tiger on the practice range at the JB Were masters today, and noticed for his whole warm up (wedge - driver) he had a glove under his right armpit. Obviously trying to keep it there through the swing which he did.

What is he trying to achieve with this?

The glove is a good indicator for the golfer to let him know if he is "chicken winging", or letting his elbow fly out in the back swing. The elbow flying out can cause an "over the top" swing.

Staying connected...ie: arms and body working together.

One of his hookers asked him for his scent on a headcover so when he was not with her she could still pretend he was.

No one should do anything Tiger does including stupid tricks to re-gain his feel

You are talking golf swing, right?

kind of surprised at that one....as I am not sure this would fall under the category of "stupid tricks". Anyway, lots of other guys use this "stupid trick".....Mahan, Sing, Donald etc etc....lots of teachers use it to help with the connection that is required to stop coming over the top and downswing throwaway. Good drill especially when coupled with something under your left arm as well especially if you havent been using your body correctly.

Hell if Tiger does it, ima try it! Also noticed another guy down the end of the range, he had one of those elastic bands which he first had around his knees, then he put it around his left arm and torso.

This is a drill to maintain a "connected feeling" of the trailing side. Why is that important? Feedback. Your body is swinging your arms which are swinging the clubhead. Your arms are connected to your body at the shoulders (in case you were wondering ;) Because of this, on the downswing, since the torso is stretching, your lead trap and back of the lead shoulder is where you will feel pressure if the elbows are swinging out away from the body. Your mind focuses on this spot because it is where the pain/pressure is most intense. But if you maintain the pressure of the dominant elbow against the torso, it gives your mind's eye an opening. Now it knows what's going on with the dominant side. So you can drive the right side (righty) with the body and use the pressure against the torso as a key to knowing where the clubhead is in space, how much lag is there, etc. You also know when the right elbow comes off the torso so you have instant feedback for how and when the release of the clubhead down the target line happens. In fact, because of this feedback, you know when you can push with the right hand and arm through the shot with a lot of leverage and no loss of accuracy. If your timing is good, you can push as hard as you want. That's why Hogan wished he had "three right hands".

Judging by what Foley's done to Sean O'Hair's swing, I'd say he's just trying to make Tiger's more like Ben Hogan. He seems like he's got a pretty sound understanding of Hogan mechanics whether he acknowledges it or not.

I was told by my local Pro to do it because i was casting the club like a fishing rod

I think that Tiger has always been keen on keeping the right elbow close to the chest wall, but I guess he feels the need (rather, is being instructed) to emphasize it now with the glove business. One thing he's really big on is lots of extension at the top, i.e. ask yourself the question, "how far can I get my hands away from my head as I approach the top of the backswing?". IIRC the latter is in his excellent instructional book. I don't get such good extension myself, I'm not sure why. Lazy? ;)

hmmm, keeping the glove in the pit while getting really good extension isn't so easy ....

I tried it and did notice some crisper shots, but that could also be due to a few other adjustments i am making. One thing was for sure, i could not for the life of me keep the glove there when swinging the driver or 3 wood. First with the 3 wood i topped about 10 balls in a row with the glove there. And with the driver i find it doesnt allow me to extend both arms after impact. My arms sort of wrap and fold and not in a good way.