Will Tiger Ever Ascend to No 1 Again?

[rdsandy]

I have back problems and can shoot an 82. Tiger's problems are not physical but mental. I believe mental problems will be way harder to overcome than a deactivated glute.

[ChrisP]

I have back problems and can shoot an 82. Tiger's problems are not physical but mental. I believe mental problems will be way harder to overcome than a deactivated glute.

I actually think it's both physical and mental, which is the worst kind of combination. If he's ever going to make it back even close to the level he once was, it's going to take time. A lot of time. I truly think he's going to have adapt his swing to something where his posture is straight and his swing is easy, and for Tiger Woods, that's going to be tough because his dominance was made with force in his swing.

[Gunther]

I actually think it's both physical and mental, which is the worst kind of combination. If he's ever going to make it back even close to the level he once was, it's going to take time. A lot of time. I truly think he's going to have adapt his swing to something where his posture is straight and his swing is easy, and for Tiger Woods, that's going to be tough because his dominance was made with force in his swing.

I agree there are physical limitations but at this point I'd estimate his issues are 65% mental / 35% physical. The physical driving much of the mental.

[saevel25]

I think it is 100% physical. His body is messed up and he is trying to adjust to it. He clearly has a serious issue with his swing that is causing a continuing injuries.  If he thinks that Glute Activation will save his back then say goodbye to every being competitive again.

[BugDude]

He's toast....skulling a 5 yard chips 20 yards over the green...repeatedly...

[Zeph]

I have back problems and can shoot an 82. Tiger's problems are not physical but mental. I believe mental problems will be way harder to overcome than a deactivated glute.

He may have mental issues, but there is not just one kind of back pain. "I have back pain and I can play. Freddy has back pain and can play". As if there is only one kind of back pain anyone can have.

[Joe Mcc 69]

With a healthy body,yes he could make it back to number 1,but that is his problem.When he bulked up,and it was way too much in my opinion,he put himself in the position to do damage to his lower body and back.He is now paying the price and I think this will make it very difficult to ever get any consistency in his game again.He also needs to drop these damn swing coaches and trust his own knowledge of his swing and just play golf and stop with the constant rebuilding of his swing.

[NJpatbee]

I just chimed in and voted "no" based upon the recent results of Tiger's attempted comeback.  His injuries followed by long layoffs are taking their toll both physically, and based on his short game, mentally.  He needs to play 10-15 tournaments and get some confidence back but you cannot do that when you are hurt and re-habbing. There is a ton of money involved with Tiger staying active and making appearances and I suspect he may win another tournament or 2, but before he re-injured his back last week he was playing at a very low level for a tour pro.

[Fourputt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rdsandy

I have back problems and can shoot an 82. Tiger's problems are not physical but mental. I believe mental problems will be way harder to overcome than a deactivated glute.

I actually think it's both physical and mental, which is the worst kind of combination. If he's ever going to make it back even close to the level he once was, it's going to take time. A lot of time. I truly think he's going to have adapt his swing to something where his posture is straight and his swing is easy, and for Tiger Woods, that's going to be tough because his dominance was made with force in his swing.

Agree.  The physical pain has eroded his confidence in himself, whether he would admit it or not.  He might still make it back, but not the way he's feeling and playing right now.  I'm worried that his career is just about over.  It's a shame because I really struggle to find another player who I enjoy watching as much as I do Tiger, but where he is at right now is just as painful for me to watch as his back is for him.

[ChrisP]

Agree.  The physical pain has eroded his confidence in himself, whether he would admit it or not.  He might still make it back, but not the way he's feeling and playing right now.  I'm worried that his career is just about over.  It's a shame because I really struggle to find another player who I enjoy watching as much as I do Tiger, but where he is at right now is just as painful for me to watch as his back is for him.

I have the same fear. I really hate to see his career end but I think there's a good chance it's on thin ice right now. The truth of the matter is his swing is what made him great, and that swing put a lot of stress on that back. I think he's trying to find a swing right now that's as close to what he used to have and it's just going to be hard to do, and I think part of it is mental frustration because he can't do what he used to do. He tried that last week and his back went out again. He's going to have to go back to the drawing board once again and figure out how to play without damaging his back. It's going to be a frustrating process for him, one that may not have a happy solution.

[Patch]

Even if he gets healthy again both mentally, and physically, there are a lot of folks "speculating", that he will never regain much prominence in golf again, unless he gives up his obsession with distance. I read an article that as long as he keeps swinging hard, he will always have to contend with a suspect back. The article went on to say he should start swinging at 85%, and should adopt an "old man's" swing, which should take a lot of stress off his damaged back. The article also made reference to Woody's visit to the cold country, watching  his girl friend at work. Coming in from the cold, and then trying to get his golfing body parts to work correctly, might not have been a good idea. The article seemed to make a lot of sense. Then again, it was all speculation, on the author's part.

Now I don't know all the particulars of Woody's current demise. I don't think anyone knows the complete story, except for Woody, and his closest inner circle of handlers, and/or friends. I have an "old man's" swing myself, but I don't have any back issues what so ever, so perhaps my geriatric swing will allow me (and my back) to continue to play well into my 80s, with a handicap of less than say,....16.. Who knows  I'm speculating of course.

[Infamous 273]

No. Makes me wonder if his pain symptoms are more somatoform in nature at this point.

[inthehole]

. He clearly has a serious issue with his swing that is causing a continuing injuries.

I can tell you right now what his problem is that is causing his continual injuries.    He's a 39 year old man with well documented back and knee issues that is still trying to swing a golf club like a 23 year old tour player.

He is SWINGING TOO HARD for f*$

[newtogolf]

I'm curious what the guys that actually understand the golf swing here thought about the Kostis analysis of Tigers swing.  Kostis claims early Tiger addressed the ball further away from his body and used his arms to turn his body.  Somewhere around the Haney years he started addressing the ball closer to his body and used his body to swing his arms which Kostis believes put more stress on his back and body.

Kostis claims Tigers current swing looks more like his early years where he addresses the ball further away from his body and his arms are turning his body which he thinks is better long term for Tiger.  If this is true, I'd think all of Tigers timing has to be thrown off and could be the reason he's struggling with his short game.

[9iron]

I'm curious what the guys that actually understand the golf swing here thought about the Kostis analysis of Tigers swing.  Kostis claims early Tiger addressed the ball further away from his body and used his arms to turn his body.  Somewhere around the Haney years he started addressing the ball closer to his body and used his body to swing his arms which Kostis believes put more stress on his back and body.

Kostis claims Tigers current swing looks more like his early years where he addresses the ball further away from his body and his arms are turning his body which he thinks is better long term for Tiger.  If this is true, I'd think all of Tigers timing has to be thrown off and could be the reason he's struggling with his short game.

I watched that Kostis analysis. I thought Kostis was mostly focused on the idea (his idea) that Tiger was an arm swinger (according to Kostis) early in his career, then went to becoming a body swinger (again, Kostis' idea) and is now back to being an arm swinger. The distance at address, from what I took from the analysis, was a secondary issue.  Before going further I should note that when Kostis spoke of Tiger being an arm swinger, or body swinger, he was only talking about the down swing, not the back swing.

I think the analysis overall was weak.

First of all, and this is just my opinion, but I think it would be nearly impossible for a young Tiger to have truly initiated his down swing with his arms, or even shoulders, and have everything else catch up enough to hit the ball well. Aside from that, early in Tiger's career he was working with Butch Harmon, and Harmon teaches you to initiate the down swing from the ground up and to specifically avoid just turning from the top. So I thought Kostis' analysis was bunk from just that point alone. Harmon must have been cringing had he been watching that, or laughing out loud.

I believe Kostis is missing the head dip which I believe IS a major issue for Tiger. I think he is collapsing his spine and it is leaving him in a perpetual state of injury and pain. Plus as someone else just noted, his swing is too violent given all of his prior injurioes. You'd think he'd learn, but no. His stubborness will be one of his undoings.

[saevel25]

First of all, and this is just my opinion, but I think it would be nearly impossible for a young Tiger to have truly initiated his down swing with his arms, or even shoulders, and have everything else catch up enough to hit the ball well. Aside from that, early in Tiger's career he was working with Butch Harmon, and Harmon teaches you to initiate the down swing from the ground up and to specifically avoid just turning from the top. So I thought Kostios' analysis was bunk from just that point alone.

I agree. Look at the still images bellow. Tiger at the top of the swing versus when his hands are halfway down in the downswing. Look at how open his hips are at that position. He had a TON of hip turn. Which makes sense since he followed Jack's career and wanted to beat all of Jack's records. I can see him trying to mimic Jack a bit. He got in a reverse C position at impact pre Harmon.

What Butch Harmon did was he cleaned all that excess movement in his swing. He took some of that turn out of his hips in the backswing, got Tiger's head more over the ball, and got him to shorten his swing and drive power using the ground rather than using a lot of body rotation. I would say that Tiger's old swing is very much Bubba-ish in terms of hip rotation.

No way that Tiger is an arm swing to start the downswing and get those hips that open. The swing happens too fast, and the hips move slower than the arms in the golf swing. If the hands actually started first, no way the hips catch up.

[Yukari]

As much as I would like to see him reclaim the top spot, unfortunately the father time stops for no one.

I think his latest set back has pretty much put a huge damper on his quest to reclaim the top spot in golf.  I am sure there are many who believe - hope - he can ascend to #1 again, myself included, but realistically I don't see that happening again.

I used to love watching golf in late 90's to 2009.  I think that was the golden era of Tiger's dominance (no pun intended).  Now I only watch when Rory is in contention.  He seems to be the only one who can get me interested in watching golf on TV.

Funny, I use to tell my dad golf is for retired folks and I hated watching golf on TV.  It was like watching paint dry - until Tiger came along.  Now, it seems Rory has replaced Tiger in terms of my golf viewing preference.

[The Recreational Golfer]

Too much baggage, too many good players he would have to overcome. The number 1 spot isn't sitting there waiting for him to pick it up. It's moving away from him and he will never catch up.