Tiger Injured during Masters...

[michaeljames92]

Having had trouble with my eyes, and talking to a few specialists, I completely changed my mind about LASIK surgery. I was so dead set on getting it in my early twenties until I heard of all the complications you can get, and the fact that a lot of people have to get it redone after a few years. Look at Kenny Perry', his eyes are pretty much stuffed and Tiger has issues too. You know you're swing is pretty rough on your body when you have surgery before you even turn professional to clean out your knee like Tiger....

Originally Posted by RichF

4 knee surgeries, a bad neck, 2 bouts of Lasik, etc. And now this.

There is no way physically he will be playing at 40+. He has become 'Elijah Price' from the movie 'Unbreakable'. Every year he has some sort of physical breakdown, this isn't going to get better. I would guess he has 3 more seasons before something happens to end his ability to play at the pro level.

Look for a back problem soon.

[ControlJunkie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NEOHMark

I thought the new and (supposedly) improved, restructured swing was supposed to help prevent things like this from happening again?

One of the articles I read about it said it was caused by his foot getting caught in the pinestraw and being in an awkward position, not necessarily from any stress from the swing itself. I think before (and I could be wrong) it was a deal where the constant stress and torque stretched the ligament over time. The previous injuries to the knee came more from wearing it out as opposed to this, which seems like it happened all at once due to the foot getting caught and the leg being in an awkward position when he was squatting down. Like I said, I could be wrong about the previous knee injuries though.

From ESPN :

Quote:

Woods described his current injury as minor -- a mild sprain of his medial collateral ligament in the left knee, along with a mild strain to his left Achilles. Woods said the injury occurred when he had to squat to play a shot from under the Eisenhower tree left of the 17th fairway.

His left foot got caught in the pine straw as the momentum of the swing carried him backward.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by NEOHMark

I thought the new and (supposedly) improved, restructured swing was supposed to help prevent things like this from happening again?

Thing is we don't know when it happened. It could have been the awkward stance under the tree on 17. It could have been the shot he hit from right on the very edge of the bunker.

[Kieran123]

He injured it on the low awkward stance shot under the tree. S&T can't really help him there.

[jamo]

Originally Posted by RichF

4 knee surgeries, a bad neck, 2 bouts of Lasik, etc. And now this.

There is no way physically he will be playing at 40+. He has become 'Elijah Price' from the movie 'Unbreakable'. Every year he has some sort of physical breakdown, this isn't going to get better. I would guess he has 3 more seasons before something happens to end his ability to play at the pro level.

Look for a back problem soon.

How does Lasik indicate predisposition to injury?

Also, how do you feel about Phil? I'd take Tiger's injuries over arthritis.

[TN94z]

Originally Posted by jamo

How does Lasik indicate predisposition to injury?

Also, how do you feel about Phil? I'd take Tiger's injuries over arthritis.

He is probably talking about people that get Lasik's has to make return visits in the future.

I would take Tiger's over Phil's any day!!

[bunkerputt]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

He must really place some torque on his body to sprain his MCL and achilles from one swing.  Is anyone aware any studies that have been done on golfers to calculate how much torque and stress is placed on the knees, hips and shoulders during a swing?  I know they have done studies on pitchers and determinined the maximum speed the elbow and shoulder can handle before it self destructs.  I wonder if there's a theoretical maximum swing speed we can achieve before something in our bodies is likely to fail.

Interesting about baseball, but long drivers have been swinging the club 145+ for a while.  Tiger's paltry 120-125 doesn't even come close to that.  What is the fastest possible pitch in baseball?

[Kieran123]

Originally Posted by bunkerputt

Interesting about baseball, but long drivers have been swinging the club 145+ for a while.  Tiger's paltry 120-125 doesn't even come close to that.  What is the fastest possible pitch in baseball?

100mph+...but I think the motion to pitch is more volatile ( on certain parts of the body; eg. elbow)  than swinging a club

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by bunkerputt

Interesting about baseball, but long drivers have been swinging the club 145+ for a while.  Tiger's paltry 120-125 doesn't even come close to that.  What is the fastest possible pitch in baseball?

A fastball?

Golfers tend to have longer careers than other athletes, because the starts and stops are more controlled (it's not a reactive sport) and nobody is going to smash you into the boards after you make contact. Golf is easier on the body, but don't forget that Tiger's been hitting golf balls for ~ 33 years now.

[newtogolf]

Originally Posted by bunkerputt

Interesting about baseball, but long drivers have been swinging the club 145+ for a while.  Tiger's paltry 120-125 doesn't even come close to that.  What is the fastest possible pitch in baseball?

"Glenn Fleisig, a biomechanical engineer who studies pitching at the American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, Ala., subjected cadaver elbows to increasing amounts of rotational force . His experiments showed that an average person's ulnar collateral ligament (UCL - the part that connects the the humerus and ulna in the elbow) breaks at about 80 Newton-meters. The torque on an elite pitcher's elbow when he throws a fastball? About 80 Newton-meters. So pitchers are already doing things that would destroy a normal person's arm.  We established that a fastball is faster in Denver. If Stephen Strasburg, the fireballer from San Diego State, recovers and continues to grow in strength the way previous major league pitchers have done, playing in Denver with a 30 MPH wind at his back could have him throw a pitch at 110 MPH."

In theory they don't believe 110 mph is possible under normal conditions.

[clubchamp]

Originally Posted by jamo

How does Lasik indicate predisposition to injury?

Also, how do you feel about Phil? I'd take Tiger's injuries over arthritis.

Have you ever torn an ACL or MCL?

Some people recover from it very well while others continue to have a lot of painful issues. Based on tigers history of knee problems I'd say he will probably have issues with that knee forever. I'm not sure it will end his playing career but it will hinder his practicing and how competitive he is as he gets older. Phil's condition is also tough but it can be managed with medication now I don't think he is being totally truthful about saying he is 100%. I think he is like most people with arthritis in the fact that he has good and bad days but again I don't think it will end his career. Bottom line is I wouldn't want to be either one...

[zeg]

Phil's condition is also tough but it can be managed with medication now I don't think he is being totally truthful about saying he is 100%. I think he is like most people with arthritis in the fact that he has good and bad days but again I don't think it will end his career. Bottom line is I wouldn't want to be either one...

Like Phil, I have psoriatic arthritis that I'm treating with similar medication. I don't know anything about his specific situation, but if it's anything like mine, the treatment is extremely effective. I believe that, at least at first, he was using a medication with weekly injections, whereas I use one every other week. About the only time I notice any problems from it is right around time for the next one, and even then it's usually only if I'm a few days late. I bet that keeping the efficacy of the treatment as consistent as possible was a consideration when choosing which of the few competing treatments was most appropriate. It really wouldn't surprise me if he's at or very near to 100%, because that's been my own experience. The risk to Phil is the unpredictability of psoriasis. It can be successfully treated for years, then stop responding to treatment. I don't know if this is true of the modern drugs, though. The optimistic view is that sometimes, for no reason, it just goes away. That happened after my first bout, which lasted about 6 months, then was entirely gone for about 8 years before coming back...

[clubchamp]

Originally Posted by zeg

Quote:

Originally Posted by clubchamp

Phil's condition is also tough but it can be managed with medication now I don't think he is being totally truthful about saying he is 100%. I think he is like most people with arthritis in the fact that he has good and bad days but again I don't think it will end his career. Bottom line is I wouldn't want to be either one...

Like Phil, I have psoriatic arthritis that I'm treating with similar medication. I don't know anything about his specific situation, but if it's anything like mine, the treatment is extremely effective. I believe that, at least at first, he was using a medication with weekly injections, whereas I use one every other week. About the only time I notice any problems from it is right around time for the next one, and even then it's usually only if I'm a few days late. I bet that keeping the efficacy of the treatment as consistent as possible was a consideration when choosing which of the few competing treatments was most appropriate. It really wouldn't surprise me if he's at or very near to 100%, because that's been my own experience.

The risk to Phil is the unpredictability of psoriasis. It can be successfully treated for years, then stop responding to treatment. I don't know if this is true of the modern drugs, though. The optimistic view is that sometimes, for no reason, it just goes away. That happened after my first bout, which lasted about 6 months, then was entirely gone for about 8 years before coming back...

This is why I didn't go too far in depth about Phil health issues since I have no first hand knowledge. I do wonder if having the grind of being a pro golfer on his body could cause anymore of strain on his arthritis than a normal person.

[PinkMagic]

This is such a bummer... Get well soon Tiger. I hope you come back stronger than ever.

[Matt M]

Prefomance drug use? Hmm soft tissue degeneration? Hmm

[Matt M]

Have you ever torn an ACL or MCL?

Some people recover from it very well while others continue to have a lot of painful issues. Based on tigers history of knee problems I'd say he will probably have issues with that knee forever. I'm not sure it will end his playing career but it will hinder his practicing and how competitive he is as he gets older. Phil's condition is also tough but it can be managed with medication now I don't think he is being totally truthful about saying he is 100%. I think he is like most people with arthritis in the fact that he has good and bad days but again I don't think it will end his career. Bottom line is I wouldn't want to be either one...

Yes I have torn actually ripe it in half, my acl and had to have it reconstructed. Some knee pain is normal after these kind of surgeries. Isn't this the good knee for El Tigre?

[iacas]

Answered some quick questions today. Nothing to see, really.

http://blogs.golf.com/presstent/2011/04/tiger-woods-answers-fans-qs-on-injuries-doubters-lakers.html

[RichF]

Living on borrowed time as far as his knee is concerned. Four surgeries, at least two of which are major doesn't bode well, long-term, for playing golf. The repair he had would be sufficient to last a non-pro golfer that is relatively active for probably 10 years before the osteoarthritis sets in in his early 40s.
Woods winning Majors at 40+? Hmmm ...

At some time he will have to decide when to scrap the metal spikes that are partially (probably?) to blame for the latest injury. Guess he will have to decide which is better good traction that doesn't allow release during a swing knee wise or risk of slipping with soft spikes. Neither is a good option for his knee injury.

Please put aside the 'Tiger-Is-Superman' arguments aside and let's think about any golfers that have come back from serious knee surgery and won majors - Els? Singh?

With Woods, something is going on with his body as far as having long fiber muscles. Don't know if it is all the weight training he got in to but all the achilles tendon problems are an indication that his flexibility is on-the-slide. As many have said before he is a very 'old' mid 30 year old with all the surgeries and injuries due to years of golf and possibly overtraining...