Should Tiger Fire Haney

[golfbarefoot]

you were comparing bones to haney

Not necessarily, I was making an analogy. I was trying only representing the facts, being that the public outcry for Phil to fire Bones after so many years of not winning a major is similar to the recent public outcry for Tiger to fire Haney now. They are both part of a team, in this context, it is irrelevant which is a caddie or swing coach. To ecapsulate the entire team concept of who is more important to the player is a separate question I posed in the above post. There is really no right or wrong answer to my question, just curious.

Let me clarify. We do not personally know Tiger or Phil or their team members. The stats do not back up termination, I think they need the stability and friendship, especially Tiger in such a turbulent time. That's all my opinion was.

[colin007]

Really? most interesting logic..

um, what are you disagreeing with? that some players basically only use their caddies for carrying clubs and giving yardage? or that hank is more important to tiger than stevie? because the first one is a fact, cant really be denied. the second is somewhat of an opinion, but i agree with it. im pretty sure that stevie isnt telling tiger that his takeaway is too far to the outside or that...you get the idea. we arent saying that stevie isnt important to tiger, he most certainly is. its just that hank is more so.

[westcyderydin]

yea its kinda stupid to bring this up now. even as the best player in the world, you cant really expect to be the same player in the situation he is in now that he created for himself. If anything he has to lower his expectations a bit to take some pressure off of himself. then just work with hank (even tho i dont like him, kinda seems like a douche) to get his swing back to normal. if he is in a rush to find the results he wants he is gonna just get more spun around mentally than he already is and it might take longer for him to get back to what he was.

ask me if he should fire hank in a few months, maybe at the end of the season, but right now he just needs to get straightened out mentally to start getting his swing back.

[colin007]

lol, yeah hank totally seems like a douche...i thought i was the only one!

[Clambake]

I guess I feel the question isn't if Tiger should fire Haney, but if Haney should fire Tiger. At this point Haney doesn't have a lot to gain in his own quest to be the best swing coach/guru out there by sticking with Tiger. He's already helped Tiger rebuild a swing that has resulted in quite a few wins and some more majors, so at this point if Tiger wins more even without Hank, Haney can still take a lot of credit. But if Tiger starts struggling more, then Haney's method and results would be more scrutinized and his stock as a guru would fall fast. Haney might be better served by instead hooking up with one or a few promising new players and show that he can teach them to win majors also. It would probably do far more to cement his reputation as a great swing guru and let him ride off into the sunset. It would be a low risk move for Haney as he already is set for life financially, and he could actually score big points for walking from a guy who petulantly acts like he's far bigger than the game itself.

BTW, I personally don't care for Haney as I feel his swing coach success has created too big of ego and is now way too overexposed - sort of like Leadbetter following his Faldo success - so I'm not actually rooting for him to succeed more. I'm just thinking if I were him and trying to expand my own legend even more.

[Zeph]

yea its kinda stupid to bring this up now. even as the best player in the world, you cant really expect to be the same player in the situation he is in now that he created for himself. If anything he has to lower his expectations a bit to take some pressure off of himself.

This has been a topic for several years now, not just something that suddently popped up because he missed a cut.

then just work with hank (even tho i dont like him, kinda seems like a douche) to get his swing back to normal.

Well, that's the whole problem, Tiger is doing his normal swing, he is doing what Hank teach him to do. He can't hit the ball because Hank is teaching a swing that is faulty.

[soon_tourpro]

Tiger has to much timing going on, and he cant time things properly, which means, his swing never reaches his potential, being on the fairway.

Look at Annika sorenstam, she had the most consistent swing in the game, she dominated her game.

Tiger never will.
a few good years dosnt cut it.

[mcfc_nick]

Tiger has to much timing going on, and he cant time things properly, which means, his swing never reaches his potential, being on the fairway.

are you seriously trying to say that Tiger hasn't dominated the game?

[jamo]

Well, that's the whole problem, Tiger is doing his normal swing, he is doing what Hank teach him to do. He can't hit the ball because Hank is teaching a swing that is faulty.

Do we actually know that with any certainty? For all we really know Tiger could be completely missing Hank's boat. I'm not a huge Haney fan either but that's quite the assumption.

[DavidFehertysBike]

I dont know. Any instructor has got to be in an impossible position in working with tiger. What really do you tell a player of his caliber? I dont think tigers ballstriking issues are mechanical. I think they are tempo oriented. He's just too fast right now. Perhaps it is Haney's job to tell him this, but its not his responsibillity if tiger doesnt execute. If i had to make a decison, I would have to say no.

[Deryck Griffith]

A lot of you are forgetting that tiger made changes to his swing to compensate for his knee, 1. not going out on him so quickly like it did and 2. to prevent his knee from going out on him in the future. On his old swing, he was much more aggressive with his left leg by snapping it straight. THis move enabled him to go "at the ball" like he did in the past. Now, he can't do that and is finding ways to compensate for that. That being said, I think he should leave Hank. Not necessarily for what Hank teaches but for more of a fresh start / perspective. It's time he start over. As for a coach recommendation, I suggest Sean Foley. Tiger would be a BEAST if he stacked over the ball.

[B Keller]

Source: Tiger to Part Ways With Hank Haney

From Sports By Brooks:

On March 5 a source revealed to me that Tiger Woods had summoned swing coach Hank Haney to Orlando to monitor the golfer’s practice sessions and that the coach had rented a house in Augusta for Masters week. (The Golf Channel confirmed Haney’s presence in Orlando on March 8.)

On March 11, Robert Lusetich of FOXSports.com was first to confirm that Woods would play The Masters.

Today, the same source who told me the first week of March that Haney was joining Woods in Orlando and had rented a house in Augusta for Masters week, provided me more news about Haney’s relationship with Woods.

The source told me that following The Masters, Woods decided to “part ways” with Haney as his swing coach. The decision was made by Woods to break ties with Haney before the golfer’s disastrous performance at the Quail Hollow Championships this week.

My source added that as of yesterday, Haney had not yet been told that he was officially being let go by Woods, but that the golfer would make his intentions known to Haney and the public “soon“.
Haney was not at Quail Hollow this week, but in the past, it wasn’t unusual for the swing coach to not accompany Woods on Tour. My source said that Haney attended only “a handful” of events in which Woods played last year.

But with Woods struggling so mightily for any semblance of consistency, it was curious to see Haney not available to the golfer this week. Haney was previously seen with Woods at The Masters.
With the Players Championship next week and the U.S. Open right around the corner, this is a critical time for Woods so to jettison Haney at this moment might seem like a curious move to some. (But certainly not all.)

One wonders if Haney had been invited to Quail Hollow this week, might things have gone differently for Woods?

[Leftygolfer]

I voted no. Look at some of the rounds he has had. First round of the masters wasn't bad by any means. The round that I remember was at the Columbus event (whatever name that is) where he just played perfectly tee to green. Maybe the swing isn't what he needs and a change would be good. His good swings are pretty darn good but his bad ones are almost unplayable for even him. That is a tough way to compete at the top. Maybe it just fights the way he learned how to play when he was a kid so it is always a battle. But the change should be ingrained by now I would think.

[B Keller]

golf.com on Tiger's Swing Troubles

TIGER'S SWING TROUBLES
Evans: Tiger Woods has to get his golf swing in order. Period. All the marital stuff has nothing to do with the way he played this week.

Shipnuck: Can't say it's had no effect. Missing two-footers, quitting, that's mental and emotional fatigue. Obviously his swing's a mess, but so is his life away from golf. That's definitely going to show up between the ropes. Dude's human, after all.

Lipsey: Does anybody really think that Tiger's swing is in tatters? One week doesn't change my opinion. We get way too caught up in the swing. Once his mind begins to clear, and his family gets sorted out, Tiger will roar back like the world economy. I bet Buffet would invest big-time in Tiger now, when everybody is questioning him. Be greedy when others are fearful.

Shipnuck: Rick, Tiger has now made more one-handed follow-throughs than George Brett.

Morfit: I do think his swing is in tatters. Geoff Ogilvy said at Quail that he wasn't surprised by Tiger badly missing the cut, because his swing looked so off at Augusta.

Godich: You can't overlook the notion that nobody fears Tiger as they once did. He's not invincible any more, and everybody knows it, including Tiger. Until, of course, he proves otherwise.

Evans: Tiger's rush to hit the golf ball on the downswing mirrors his approach to fixing his personal life. He just needs to slow down a little bit, all around.

Gorant: Maybe the new question for Tiger is: Who goes first, Elin or Hank?

Herre: Sounds like Elin has already left the building.

Morfit: I wonder how long Hank will stick around. He coached Woods to a lot of majors, but it seems like their relationship has run its course. Tiger looks so lost with the full swing that I think he needs to start over with a fresh set of eyes.

Shipnuck: How about no eyes? All he has to do is think about what Earl taught him and go play. Use the force, Luke, etc.

Van Sickle: I already wrote my thoughts on Tiger, but I thought I saw him experimenting with some iron shots, getting a little more upright like the Tiger of old a few times, though his tee shots were usually the same Haney plane. Maybe I imagined that, but I think he's got swing issues and no answers. There was no mention or sign of Hank this week even when Tiger was talking about how poorly he played. I think that's telling.

[Zeph]

His "good" swings are pull-fades, which could just as well have been push-fades or pull-hooks. Anyone on the tour hits it well when they get the plane angle/club face angle relationship right. He hit the ball all over the place, both at The Masters and Quail Hollow. He scored well on The Masters in spite of his big swing problems.

[Kieran123]

Yes. The world number 1 can't even drive a ball into the fairway? What was his percentage for Quail Hollow? Less than 20?....that is BAD.

[MrKadash]

Well, there's always the old standby steel shafted driver. C'mon Tiger, get back to your roots.

[DavidFehertysBike]

Well, there's always the old standby steel shafted driver. C'mon Tiger, get back to your roots.

You probably say that in jest, but I dont think its that bad of idea actually. He'd kill with a 44inch steel shafted driver.