Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson set dubious mark at Open Championship
Here we have two of the most TALENTED golfers in history, golfers who have taken millions of practice swings and hundreds of thousands of swings in real, "heated" competition, and their games are noticeably deteriorating. Non-golfers might say that it's due to age, but the ONLY thing age does to a golfer is that one's flexibility is sightly impaired, and the ONLY place that shows up is off the tee (i.e., length of tee shots), and both of these guys hit the ball 300 yards regularly, as most PGA tour pro's do these days. Can't blame the deterioration on age.
And they still practice hour after hour in between competitions, though undoubtedly not as much as they did in the middle of their careers. But don't those brazillions of practice strokes over a lifetime count for anything?
No.
Because everyone's swing is constantly changing. Practice MUST be accompanied by focused analysis and feedback by someone who can look objectively at one's CONSTANTLY CHANGING swing over a lifetime, and suggest real-time corrections, that can only be implemented by practice. That practice session from a month ago carries no benefit today.
And these two guys have reached a point in life where they are not willing to work with a swing specialist and keep up with their slightly changing bodies to remain On Top. Not that I'm being critical. Much as they love the game - and they surely do - they have already accomplished so much that the needed extra attention is simply not worth it. They have lives, kids, outside business interests, and other things going on, and golf is still number one in their lives, but there are a couple things that are near the same level.
And as a "hacker" (99% of golfers are hackers), we need to realize that the only way to get better - just like with the pro's - is to work with someone who can observe what you are doing - which changes all the time - and try to get you on track with a good, repeatable swing. Hitting balls at the range, by itself, is a waste of time.
Not that most golfers ever do that anyway.
Here we have two of the most TALENTED golfers in history, golfers who have taken millions of practice swings and hundreds of thousands of swings in real, "heated" competition, and their games are noticeably deteriorating. Non-golfers might say that it's due to age, but the ONLY thing age does to a golfer is that one's flexibility is sightly impaired, and the ONLY place that shows up is off the tee (i.e., length of tee shots), and both of these guys hit the ball 300 yards regularly, as most PGA tour pro's do these days. Can't blame the deterioration on age.
And they still practice hour after hour in between competitions, though undoubtedly not as much as they did in the middle of their careers. But don't those brazillions of practice strokes over a lifetime count for anything?
No.
Because everyone's swing is constantly changing. Practice MUST be accompanied by focused analysis and feedback by someone who can look objectively at one's CONSTANTLY CHANGING swing over a lifetime, and suggest real-time corrections, that can only be implemented by practice. That practice session from a month ago carries no benefit today.
And these two guys have reached a point in life where they are not willing to work with a swing specialist and keep up with their slightly changing bodies to remain On Top. Not that I'm being critical. Much as they love the game - and they surely do - they have already accomplished so much that the needed extra attention is simply not worth it. They have lives, kids, outside business interests, and other things going on, and golf is still number one in their lives, but there are a couple things that are near the same level.
And as a "hacker" (99% of golfers are hackers), we need to realize that the only way to get better - just like with the pro's - is to work with someone who can observe what you are doing - which changes all the time - and try to get you on track with a good, repeatable swing. Hitting balls at the range, by itself, is a waste of time.
Not that most golfers ever do that anyway.
