For years, I’ve been hearing different theories from golf pros and physical trainers on why Tiger’s had 4 knee surgeries – and now has just undergone back surgery.
For years, I’ve been hearing different theories from golf pros and physical trainers on why Tiger’s had 4 knee surgeries – and now has just undergone back surgery. Some of the common ‘theories’ are “He just swings too hard” – “He drops down too much into the shot forcing his leg to straighten too violently” -“His grip is too weak” – “His swing has gotten too flat making him slide” – ad nauseum.
BUT,
SOMETHING MUST BE WRONG BECAUSE THERE ARE LEGIONS OF GREAT PLAYERS WHO SWING JUST AS HARD AS HIM BUT DON’T HAVE THE PROBLEMS HE HAS!
In fact, Ben Hogan (Pictured on Left) almost lost his life in a head on collision with a bus on foggy night and ended up having knee surgery – BUT, never had the subsequent problems that Tiger’s had!
Anyone who looks at Tiger sees (on the outside) a finely sculpted and chiseled athlete. But, the truth is that Tiger has hit virtually millions of golf balls since he was a toddler which has created neural patterns perfecting his right to left side swing motion. However, the danger to that is the internal muscles of his body – particularly the Ilio Psoas, has become extremely dominant over his left side. In layman’s terms, his entire right side and especially his right shoulder have simply gotten to the point where they overpower the less stable and ‘proportionally ‘weaker’ left side. This has made him VERY IMBALANCED! Consequently, when he swings, the tremendous amount of linear and sheer forces- applied along with the massive contracting and expanding of his muscles (reciprocal inhibition) force his Left Side to ‘Give Out’. In other words, his right side simply overpowers his left which is then unable to stabilize these forces. The result is a ‘jumping’ out of his left foot, knee, and hip – which equals tremendous friction on his joints – hence surgery(s).
So, what does he do about it? Workout obsessively with the Navy Seals, do very powerful strengthening protocols, etc. In other words, I feel he’s ‘Strengthening his Dysfunction’ or ‘Putting a Ferrari Engine on an ‘internally’ bent frame. Although Hogan probably hit more balls than Tiger, he didn’t do the maniacal training that Tiger does, and a s a result, avoided further surgeries and still was the greatest ball striker in the world – even well into his senior years!
In my view, Tiger (and everyone else for that matter) needs to back off and get their bodies back into ‘neutral’ and musculoskeletal balance. Then, he needs to begin reversing the neural patterns to further enhance is balance.
My advice is: Relax the Body – Then, Stretch the Body – and ‘Then’ Strengthen.
I recommend poses in my new book ‘The Flexible Golf Swing’ on restoring balance to the musculoskeletal system – which are: The Static Back, Supine Groin Stretches, and Air Bench. And, any of the Slant Board Routines in my Posture DVD’s will also GREATLY help balancing your muscles.
And, that’s no stretch.
Roger