The Tiger Woods Retirement Thread

[TreyWingbat]

Remember folks, he won 5 times on Tour in 2013!  Let's not forget that.

We've all had our off-days here and there.  I mean, who hasn't shot 78 instead of 74 on the course.  We've all been there.

Who only scored 28 instead of 44 on the basketball court.

Who only had 3 TDs instead of 5 during the Ice Bowl.

Who only closed 3 deals in a week instead of 4 at your local law firm.

We've all had our off-days for various endevours, including on the sports field, and off the field at our jobs (whether you're a lawyer, teacher, janitor, writer).

If you AIM high, sometimes you're going to fall short.

Tiger is just struggling with basic motor skills... once he gets that back on track, everything will be Golden.

[Jakester23]

54 holes of golf a day is definitely not good for your back... Especially the way he swings the club.

I dont understand this? He probably takes between 30-40 full swings in a 18 hole round if he's playing for score and not hitting a bunch of extra shots on every hole.  So how would taking approximately 100- 200 full swings in 6-8 hours be any worse than hitting 500-1000 balls on the range? Im sure he takes a cart if he's practicing at least lately it sounds like does.  I can't see putting an chipping being any different on the course or on the practice range.  It doesn't seem like he's all that committed to playing golf right now which is totally fine and completely his choice.  I don't know if his body is in tournament shape at this point.  Maybe he's just sick of working as hard as he used to or need to.  He's been grinding at golf his whole life maybe he's just burnt out and doesn't want to put in the time it takes to be Tiger anymore.

[chasm]

Tiger has dealt with injuries/surgeries since his Stanford days. [URL=http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/10709728/tiger-woods-injury-line]http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/10709728/tiger-woods-injury-line[/URL]

It's pretty well documented that steroid use is associated with a higher incidence of joint and connective tissue injuries. And while it is perfectly possible that he bulked up without resorting to pharmaceuticals, the combination of events ( and association with a PED - dispensing doctor) looks suspicious, to say the least. Remember Gary Player, years ago, being derided for saying there was a PED problem in golf? I'd say he doesn't sound so silly now. Whatever, this is the Woods retirement thread. He should walk away and not look back. It seems clear that the combination of mental and physical issues he now has make it very unlikely that he will get back to anything close to his previous standard. He's not yet 40. Better to find something meaningful to do with the second half of his life than waste it in a futile attempt to recapture the first.

[boogielicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mvmac

Tiger has dealt with injuries/surgeries since his Stanford days.

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/10709728/tiger-woods-injury-line

It's pretty well documented that steroid use is associated with a higher incidence of joint and connective tissue injuries. And while it is perfectly possible that he bulked up without resorting to pharmaceuticals, the combination of events ( and association with a PED - dispensing doctor) looks suspicious, to say the least.

Remember Gary Player, years ago, being derided for saying there was a PED problem in golf? I'd say he doesn't sound so silly now.

Whatever, this is the Woods retirement thread. He should walk away and not look back. It seems clear that the combination of mental and physical issues he now has make it very unlikely that he will get back to anything close to his previous standard. He's not yet 40. Better to find something meaningful to do with the second half of his life than waste it in a futile attempt to recapture the first.

Gary Player would be more of a suspect in my opinion, although I suspect neither.  He seems to be miraculously not aging.

[chasm]

Gary Player would be more of a suspect in my opinion, although I suspect neither.  He seems to be miraculously not aging.

He's ageing, alright. He's just doing it slower than most. The guy is a walking advertisement for continuing to undertake strenuous exercise into old age. He never bulked up, though, so I don't really think PEDs were responsible.

[boogielicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by boogielicious

Gary Player would be more of a suspect in my opinion, although I suspect neither.  He seems to be miraculously not aging.

He's ageing, alright. He's just doing it slower than most. The guy is a walking advertisement for continuing to undertake strenuous exercise into old age. He never bulked up, though, so I don't really think PEDs were responsible.

Only certain steroids bulk you up with a specific workout program. If there is no advantage to bulking up, steroids, HGH and other PEDs can be used to repair and recover.  I don't think Player did anything.  I also don't think Tiger did anything.

I was in fantastic shape in my 30s.  I was bike racing.  But by the late 30s my body started breaking down, especially my knees and hips.  This is not uncommon.  It happens to many elite athletes.

Edit: BTW, I was not an elite athlete, just in terrific shape for a number of years.

[newtogolf]

It's pretty well documented that steroid use is associated with a higher incidence of joint and connective tissue injuries. And while it is perfectly possible that he bulked up without resorting to pharmaceuticals, the combination of events ( and association with a PED - dispensing doctor) looks suspicious, to say the least.

Remember Gary Player, years ago, being derided for saying there was a PED problem in golf? I'd say he doesn't sound so silly now.

Whatever, this is the Woods retirement thread. He should walk away and not look back. It seems clear that the combination of mental and physical issues he now has make it very unlikely that he will get back to anything close to his previous standard. He's not yet 40. Better to find something meaningful to do with the second half of his life than waste it in a futile attempt to recapture the first.

You know what else is associated with joint and connective tissue injuries, working out, and excessive us, they are called repetitive use injuries.  This myth that only steroids leads to such injuries is ridiculous, I know plenty of guys that have bad knees, bad hips, bad shoulders and never touched a steroid.  How many golfers here at TST have been injured from swinging a golf club, are they all on steroids too?

You guys need to stop the witch hunt, there are a lot of guys on Tour today that have plenty of muscle mass and I don't see the accusations being tossed their way.  We've read for years that Tigers swing was "violent" and would likely lead to injuries of his knees and back so why are we all shocked that he has problems with his knees and back today?

[chasm]

You know what else is associated with joint and connective tissue injuries, working out, and excessive us, they are called repetitive use injuries.  This myth that only steroids leads to such injuries is ridiculous, I know plenty of guys that have bad knees, bad hips, bad shoulders and never touched a steroid.  How many golfers here at TST have been injured from swinging a golf club, are they all on steroids too? You guys need to stop the witch hunt, there are a lot of guys on Tour today that have plenty of muscle mass and I don't see the accusations being tossed their way.  We've read for years that Tigers swing was "violent" and would likely lead to injuries of his knees and back so why are we all shocked that he has problems with his knees and back today?

I'm not aware that anyne has suggested that only steroid abuse can lead to joint and connective tissue injuries. You're protesting too much. As for the fact that a number of golfers have acquired a lot of muscle mass, I'd be as suspicious of thenm as I am of Woods. Steroids are principally useful for allowing athletes to sustain bigger training loads. They can recover more quickly from intense training, and therefore put in more work. I have very little doubt that quite large numbers of pro golfers have used them. Ironically enough, I doubt it has done them much good. The most muscular are not necessarily the longest off the tee, and in the long run I think it probably shortens their careers. I'm inclned to believe that this is what has happened to Woods, but you're under no obligation to agree.

[newtogolf]

It's pretty well documented that steroid use is associated with a higher incidence of joint and connective tissue injuries.

I'm not aware that anyne has suggested that only steroid abuse can lead to joint and connective tissue injuries. You're protesting too much. As for the fact that a number of golfers have acquired a lot of muscle mass, I'd be as suspicious of thenm as I am of Woods.

Steroids are principally useful for allowing athletes to sustain bigger training loads. They can recover more quickly from intense training, and therefore put in more work. I have very little doubt that quite large numbers of pro golfers have used them.

Ironically enough, I doubt it has done them much good. The most muscular are not necessarily the longest off the tee, and in the long run I think it probably shortens their careers. I'm inclned to believe that this is what has happened to Woods, but you're under no obligation to agree.

I don't think I'm protesting too much, while you didn't suggest that steroid abuse was the "only" way,  you and others appear to use his injuries as evidence to steroid abuse.  If that's not the case then why keep bringing up the injuries and steroids.

You then claim to be suspicious of any pro golfer who has gained a lot of muscle mass of using PED's, despite evidence in science that has proven a healthy diet combined with proper exercise will lead to the increase of muscle mass.

I don't agree, I also believe that if you're going to taint a persons career with accusations of steroid abuse you should have something more to back it up than what you've offered thus far.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

You then claim to be suspicious of any pro golfer who has gained a lot of muscle mass of using PED's, despite evidence in science that has proven a healthy diet combined with proper exercise will lead to the increase of muscle mass.

Like Rory McIlroy.

I don't agree, I also believe that if you're going to taint a persons career with accusations of steroid abuse you should have something more to back it up than what you've offered thus far.

Yeah. There's been no actual evidence that Tiger did any PEDs.

[colin007]

I'm not aware that anyne has suggested that only steroid abuse can lead to joint and connective tissue injuries. You're protesting too much. As for the fact that a number of golfers have acquired a lot of muscle mass, I'd be as suspicious of thenm as I am of Woods.

Do you really think Tiger has "a lot of muscle mass"? Have you ever been to a gym? Like a real gym? There's dudes in every single gym in America who are 100% legit and are JACKED. Tiger would look puny compared to them. Heck, Tiger would look puny compared to me.

[iacas]

Do you really think Tiger has "a lot of muscle mass"? Have you ever been to a gym? Like a real gym? There's dudes in every single gym in America who are 100% legit and are JACKED. Tiger would look puny compared to them. Heck, Tiger would look puny compared to me.

I think a lot of people judge by how someone looks on TV. There are guys on my soccer team more cut than Tiger, and they're not professional athletes.

[chasm]

Do you really think Tiger has "a lot of muscle mass"? Have you ever been to a gym? Like a real gym? There's dudes in every single gym in America who are 100% legit and are JACKED. Tiger would look puny compared to them. Heck, Tiger would look puny compared to me.

I do go to real gyms, yes. A remarkably high proportion of the guys I know who are "jacked" are using steroids. There'd be no advantage to Woods in looking like them, it would reduce his mobility. I've also spent a lifetime racing bicycles, I know a fair bit about PEDs of various sorts. I don't really care whether Woods is a steroid abuser. If I was forced to bet, I'd bet yes, but that has as much to do with my knowledge of what goes on in general as with anything specific to him. And as I pointed put in my first post in this thread, the subject is his retirement. And he should.

[colin007]

I've been saying this on this site for years. http://m.espn.go.com/general/video?vid=12320518

[dkolo]

I've been saying this on this site for years.

http://m.espn.go.com/general/video?vid=12320518

Golf's equivalent of "If it bleeds, we can kill it."

[9iron]

Ha ha ha. I said these exact same things last week. I brought up Buster Douglas taking out Tiger and stripping him of his aura of invincibility. That Michael Collins is spot on. Tiger's confidence was taken from him and he cant find it.

[Zeph]

I think the confidence will come if he starts playing well again. Maybe not back to where it were 10 years ago.

[Lihu]

I've been saying this on this site for years. http://m.espn.go.com/general/video?vid=12320518

The image when you bring up the site of YE Yang pumping his fist and Tiger looking distraught is absolutely priceless. :-D