TIGER JUST KEEPS ON WINNING
 Welcome to my first newsletter in what will hopefully build over a period of time into a catalogue of useful game improvement resources and tips.
With the return of the Open to Royal Liverpool, some 40 minutes from my Cheshire base, being hailed as a resounding success, Tiger’s continued 6 tournament winning run after a thrilling Ryder Cup I felt it would be an appropriate time to share my thoughts on what you could learn from him accompanied below with some interesting web links to his stats, fitness regime and swing in slow motion.
Some people were disappointed because he only used his driver once at Hoylake and he’s dominating the game and not giving everyone else a chance! But for me, up until his emotions finally got the better of him at The Open it was a clinical display of systematically plotting his way around a testing, tricky, bouncy venue that despite its supposed ease managed to prevent very many world-class players from even making the cut.
The picture above shows Tiger practicing on the Thursday of the event watched by caddie Steve Williams and coach Hank Haney (more on him in my video tip).
These are only my opinions about Tiger but I believe you can learn from them and apply some to your game.
Tiger understands much more about his technique today than he did with his old coach Butch Harmon during his winning period in the late 90’s early 2000’s. Harmon, Haney and Woods all know more now and will continue to learn- so should you.
He is very clear about his swing thoughts and feelings. He visualizes it, rehearses and ‘feels’ it, taking more practice swings than most players, then does it trusting that feeling.
He has developed (not God given) and refined his ability to focus clearly on the task without letting ‘interference’, be it physical or mental distract him during the execution of his routine and stroke.
He accepts he cannot play his best at all times but prepares mentally and physically as well as he can in order to give himself the best chance of success. He just re groups after each, shot, round or event- each one a new challenge. He is one of the few players who also commits to enjoying the event and having fun, this can often be overlooked - it’s meant to be fun you know!
SO IN SUMMARY-
1. COMMIT TO CONSTANTLY REFINE AND IMPROVE YOUR UNDERSTANDING AND TECHNIQUE.
2. DEVELOP A CLEAR PICTURE IN YOUR 'MIND'S EYE' OF YOUR DESIRED SWING, CONVERT IT TO A SEAMLESS FEELING THEN DO IT!
3. FOCUS IN SMALL 'BURSTS' ON THE CURRENT SHOT, LEARN TO BANISH 'INTERFERENCE' BE IT FROM THE ACTIONS OF OTHER PLAYERS, YOUR OWN INTERNAL DIALOGUE OR NEGATIVE THOUGHTS AND 'ANCHOR' YOUR BEST SHOTS.
4. GOLF IS ONE OF THE HARDEST GAMES TO MASTER AND WILL TEST YOUR CHARACTER AND PATIENCE TO THE LIMIT. PREPARE AS BEST YOUR TIME ALLOWS, REMAIN POSITIVE AND COMMIT TO HAVING FUN - ENJOY THE CHALLENGE.
For interesting stats on his Open performance and his last six win streak click on the following link... http://www.golfonline.com/golfonline/tours/britishopen/article/0,17742,1218083,00.html
http://www.pgatour.com/story/9700936
Also visit this site for more brief features on golf health and fitness and ‘secrets’ of Tiger’s routine - http://www.golfdigest.com/health/
For a fantastic super slow motion swing sequence copy the link below to your browser and click on the Podcast link for different views. http://www.nike.com/nikegolf/swingportrait/index.html
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