Brandel Chamblee Says Tiger Has "Done This to Himself"

[tdiii]

Chamblee had an excellent point.  He questioned the opportunity cost of all these swing changes.  For example, Tiger wins the Masters by 12 strokes and undertakes the swing change with Harmon, basically destroying his game for the better part of a year.  After he leaves Harmon and works with Haney, he loses a year and a half.  And then from Haney to Foley and Foley to Como.  All told, he's lost more than 4 years of his career to swing changes.  It is reasonable to question how may more Majors he may have picked up along the way if he had not given up that much time -- the reality is that the window of a tour player is not that long.  Even if we accept he needed to make the changes he made with Harmon, he lost a few more years with subsequent swing changes.  And, of course, there is a speculation to this line of thinking -- we don't know how he would have done had he not made the change with Harmon, or if he's stuck with Harmon or Haney after him.

With all that said, I do recall that towards the end of his time with Harmon, he was struggling with getting "stuck" and was getting wild with his driver (a wildness he never has recovered from, even at his best with Haney).  There also was a suggestion that the Harmon swing would be too tough on his knees.  That does not mean, of course, that Harmon was incapable of adapting to these things.

Chamblee also makes the point that each coach seems less experienced than the prior one.  Harmon to Haney to Foley to Como.  And he's right.  That doesn't mean Como can't get it done, but it is not hard to imagine Tiger running roughshod over him.

Chamblee strikes me as just genuinely frustrated at Tiger's fall.  Chamblee remembers seeing Tiger play the best golf that was ever played and can't get his head around why he would muck with it all.  Tiger was an artist and now is so mechanical it is difficult to see him ever recovering.

Why would Monet abandon Impressionism?

[Golfingdad]

Disagree.

Not so sure you do. Your quotes below and my post aren't mutually exclusive.

I think Chamblee does it for self promotion and to make himself look smarter in his own eyes.

Sure, this is definitely part of his personality, but like @ChrisP said above, this is kind of a requirement for a TV pundit/talking head type guy.  All of the successful guys - Chamblee, Bayless, O'Rielly, Olbermann, etc, etc. - are egotistical blowhards in the eyes of many.

But I think that he can be in it for himself AND at the same time, still be rooting for Tiger Woods.  If Tiger does turn it around, it's possible he'll find something that Tiger did that lined up with one of his suggestions and trumpet that as the reason behind the success.

So I believe that you are correct but so am I.  He's in it for himself, but he also does not have any "hatred" towards Tiger.

He doesn't go after anyone else with such venom.

I don't think "venom" is the right word.  He's extremely critical, but not in a way where he seems to take joy in Tiger's failures ... moreso in the same way we all feel when we see him post 85 on Saturday and yell stuff at the TV like, "Dude, Tiger ... WTF is wrong with you?!?!?!  Get it together will ya???  I'm tired of this bull****!!!  Go be Tiger again - whatever it takes!"

Bottom line (you know, in case @BrandelChamblee reads this ;)) is I think he's great at his job and I enjoy watching him, even if he does ruffle some feathers occasionally.

[Elmer]

I usually can't stand Chamblee because his career appears to have been reduced to taking cheap shots at Tiger to remain relevant.  That said, I do think there's some truth to what he was quoted as saying.  Imagine if Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, or Mickey Mantle at the pinnacle of their careers decided to completely change their swing for no apparent reason.

Then you would be talking about Barry Bonds!

[saevel25]

Bottom line (you know, in case @BrandelChamblee reads this ;)) is I think he's great at his job and I enjoy watching him, even if he does ruffle some feathers occasionally.

I do get tired of his constant opinions on Tiger's swing. Tiger basically duplicated his success under Butch with Hank. Not like that was a horrible decision. Though his swing did start to get out of shape and he started having the rights and left issues with the driver.

Then he got the injury bug and wants to try to get to a swing that is less taxing on his body.

I think it is more the injuries than anything that has hurt his game. Tiger seems to be at his best when he's able to get a good 6 months of consistent practice with a stable swing so he can get his key 4 & 5 control tuned in.

[boogielicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by boogielicious

Disagree.

Not so sure you do.   Your quotes below and my post aren't mutually exclusive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by boogielicious

I think Chamblee does it for self promotion and to make himself look smarter in his own eyes.

Sure, this is definitely part of his personality, but like @ChrisP said above, this is kind of a requirement for a TV pundit/talking head type guy.  All of the successful guys - Chamblee, Bayless, O'Rielly, Olbermann, etc, etc. - are egotistical blowhards in the eyes of many.

But I think that he can be in it for himself AND at the same time, still be rooting for Tiger Woods.  If Tiger does turn it around, it's possible he'll find something that Tiger did that lined up with one of his suggestions and trumpet that as the reason behind the success.

So I believe that you are correct but so am I.  He's in it for himself, but he also does not have any "hatred" towards Tiger.

Quote:

Originally Posted by boogielicious

He doesn't go after anyone else with such venom.

I don't think "venom" is the right word.  He's extremely critical, but not in a way where he seems to take joy in Tiger's failures ... moreso in the same way we all feel when we see him post 85 on Saturday and yell stuff at the TV like, "Dude, Tiger ... WTF is wrong with you?!?!?!  Get it together will ya???  I'm tired of this bull****!!!  Go be Tiger again - whatever it takes!"

Bottom line (you know, in case @BrandelChamblee reads this ;)) is I think he's great at his job and I enjoy watching him, even if he does ruffle some feathers occasionally.

Chamblee, Bayless, O'Rielly, Olbermann!  Yikes!  Talk about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse !

[Golfingdad]

Chamblee, Bayless, O'Rielly, Olbermann!  Yikes!  Talk about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse!

LOL ... you need to photoshop their heads onto this picture.

Probably shouldn't have included Chamblee in this group though.  I like listening to him, but the others?  Not so much.

[RFKFREAK]

LOL ... you need to photoshop their heads onto this picture.

Probably shouldn't have included Chamblee in this group though.  I like listening to him, but the others?  Not so much.

Really?

I'm a big fan of Keith Olbermann.

[Golfingdad]

Really?

I'm a big fan of Keith Olbermann.

He and Rachel Maddow are very similar - I tend to agree with a lot of their viewpoints (you know, being the California leftist commie Socialist nutball that I am), but they both come across as a little too arrogant for my tastes.

---

Back on topic:

I think a fun drinking game while watching "Live From," especially when Chamblee and Nobilo are both on the air, would be to take a shot every time one of them says "to your point."

[drdre]

I think Tiger does it to himself, every time he swings like he's trying to break the ball.  With all the swing changes he's haven't any of them been for self preservation ?

[imsys0042]

I'm not smart enough to know what is wrong with Tiger and neither is any commentator. Golf writers and commentators know more about the game so their opinion carries more weight. But I get the sense even Tiger doesn't know what is really wrong. My take is that his body is wearing out, he is over analyzing and never clicked from the last instructor. And with problems off the tee, problems with short game and problems with consistency to go with the physical issues it's got to be hard. Brandel is as good as anyone,which is they have to fill in what they don't know from their own experience and conjecture. One thing that is very true though, Tiger has done this to himself. Not the way that people take it though. Everyone owns their own choices and despite trying his best, Tiger ended up where he is. But the tone I don't like is that he somehow slacked off (traded his genius for others) and needs to go back to old teachers. Everyone's life is a progression and calling up Butch or Haney is not necessarily the answer. They were important then, but the real question is what is the right thing now? I take BC's comments like he did something wrong when in fact Tiger is struggling with the most difficult game on the planet like everyone else.

[RFKFREAK]

He and Rachel Maddow are very similar - I tend to agree with a lot of their viewpoints (you know, being the California leftist commie Socialist nutball that I am), but they both come across as a little too arrogant for my tastes.

Back on topic:

I think a fun drinking game while watching "Live From," especially when Chamblee and Nobilo are both on the air, would be to take a shot every time one of them says "to your point."

Oh, well, yeah, being from conservative NYC I wouldn't know about their viewpoints ( ) but I've liked Olbermann ever since he was on SportsCenter.

[billchao]

When it comes to leaving Haney, Tiger's swing was really bad the last year or so they were working together.

Yea the end with Haney was definitely warranted. I don't remember any of the announcers talking about how terrible it would be that Haney left though, not until after what they saw with Tiger under Foley. Hindsight is 20/20, as they say.

With Butch, Chamblee may have a point. From what I know Butch was basically done with where he wanted Tiger's swing to be and Tiger wanted to keep tweaking.

Tiger claimed he made the switch because he wanted to be more consistent. He didn't want wild fluctuations in his game and he wanted to simplify his motion. I think it's just some lines he gave to reporters, though, since his record under Haney is pretty similar to his record under Harmon.

On this point I agree with Chamblee, as well. Tiger would have been had a HoF career if he stuck with the Harmon swing, just like he had a HoF career with the Haney swing. He's just that talented. There was no reason to change and I think at this point it's pretty clear that Tiger is just a tinkerer.

But I think his main point is Tiger Woods once had the nicest swing in golf that was electrifying and dominant, and now he doesn't....but he could if he wanted to.

But he can't. If Tiger wants to go back to his old swing, he's going to have to relearn how to do it, once piece at a time. Mike mentioned it earlier. You can't go back to an old swing. Tiger's brain stopped being wired to swing that way a long time ago.

[Phil McGleno]

Seriously, Tiger Woods should not be this bad at this stage of a swing change. No PGA Tour player should, let alone a guy who ruled the golf world for a decade. Something is seriously wrong and I don't think it is his body. It's his head, and that is what Chamblee (and others like Azinger and Nicklaus) is saying.

At the same time Tiger Woods beat about 70 other PGA Tour pros before goofing around in round 3 (cuz why not?) and I doubt all of the guys who missed the cut were going through swing changes. Right?

[Mac62]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phan52

Seriously, Tiger Woods should not be this bad at this stage of a swing change. No PGA Tour player should, let alone a guy who ruled the golf world for a decade. Something is seriously wrong and I don't think it is his body. It's his head, and that is what Chamblee (and others like Azinger and Nicklaus) is saying.

At the same time Tiger Woods beat about 70 other PGA Tour pros before goofing around in round 3 (cuz why not?) and I doubt all of the guys who missed the cut were going through swing changes. Right?

Please tell me you don't really believe he was just "goofing around" in round 3.

You don't really believe that, do you?

[Scotsclaff]

Chamblee tells it how he sees it,that's why I like him.

It's only a matter of time before he loses his position and gets replaced by 2 more Notah Begays.Such is the power of Nike.

[mvmac]

Please tell me you don't really believe he was just "goofing around" in round 3.

You don't really believe that, do you?

I'm don't think he was serious. Obviously Tiger was trying to pad his handicap

[Scotsclaff]

Just got your arse handed to you there mate.

[boogielicious]

Just got your arse handed to you there mate.

Please use the quote function.  It is not clear who you are responding to.