Tigers injury flare up is not surprising. For a right handed player, injuries to the left side, especially the left knee that absorbs much of the shock of a hi-powered release, could be career ending.
According to Bob Prichard, a sports biomechanics expert, it’s the new Foley swing that is causing the problems: “His swing is measurably worse in every way and is putting extra strain of his left knee. More than ever, he is pushing his hip toward the target, outside his left foot, and the stress is going into his left knee, actually pushing the femur down on to the tibial plate.”
Tiger in a Bind
Now Tiger is in a bind – hitting balls with his new swing aggravates his knee but in order to prepare for the US Open he must hit balls -- but hitting too many balls makes it improbable that he will be able to walk the five miles or so a player walks per round so he may not be able to play in any prep- tournaments.
Here’s what I’d recommend: Tiger should step away for a year and change his swing back to Tiger-2000. He can say it’s to rest his knee but he can use the hiatus to also ditch Foley just as Sean O’Hair has done.
Summary:
Tiger should take 2011 off and get rid of
[1] His new swing
[2] Foley, a huge mistake and
[3] His knee problems.
The key is to match up his body and his swing mechanics – Tiger needs to rotate his hips rather than slide them. With his Foley swing the weight stays on his front leg and as soon as the downswing begins even more pressure is dumped into the joint. The first move biomechanically must be a lateral shift moving his left hip outside his left heel. While only momentary, instead of pressure [address]– no pressure [top] then pressure again [impact], the profile is pressure, pressure then more pressure. While the amount of pounds per square inch on the joint is key also important is the time over which the force is applied -- Increase the time and you increase the injury.
So to avoid further injury Tiger needs to do several things to change his swing [1] he needs to ‘melt’ meaning that his front foot is extensively flared and he keeps the left knee from hyperextending through impact i.e. he hits the ball with a flexed left leg instead of a hyper-extended one. Biomechanically the human knee works over the foot so the flare is essential to relieve pressure.
[2] He needs to weaken his grip, move the ball forward and aim left then take the club away so it’s more vertical and in front of him -- in other words set up and play a fade ala the guy he’s chasing, Jack Nicklaus. Tiger has always been a much better fader of the ball then drawer so it should fit his eye.
3] He needs to increase the rotation of his hips, turning them sooner [not faster]. By rotating his hips sooner he’ll keep the face open and by swinging more upright the club won’t be buried behind him.
4] “How I release the putter, how I release the short game, how I release irons, drivers — they're all related," says Woods by way of Foley. "You just can't have one swing (for one segment) and then have another — they're all interrelated."
Bad concept: Tiger needs to abandon the idea that all swings from chipping and sand to the full swing and putting are the same. It sounds good but it is false. First of all the swing planes for the various parts of the game are different. The wrist set is different, the pressure transfers are different, the shoulder action is different, the ball positions differ, the clubface positions at address and throughout the swing are different and it has been documented using radar testing that in general you need two different golf swings, one with the driver and a different one with the irons with the ball on the ground
It’s no wonder that neither Butch Harmon nor Hank Haney tried to change Tigers’ short game which would be like painting a grin on the Mona Lisa.
Now stripped of his greatest weapon – his short game – Tiger no longer strikes fear into the hearts of his opponents. He used to be able to beat them with his C game, now he can’t beat them with his A game. Here is Martin Kaymer’s evaluation of Tiger-2011:
“..Obviously you still have a lot of respect for him but you're not scared anymore."
5] The last thing he should do is learn how to walk like Sasquatch!! There are several ways to walk and you can take the stress of your knees by keeping your plant knee flexed all the way through the stride. It takes practice but you learn to use your thigh muscles to plant the leg and control the motion. Most people over-use their hips and shoulders causing hyper-extension of the knees. The Sasquatch style looks funny but can save an injured knee.
Following my suggestions Tiger won’t hit it as far and won’t be able to play as many shots but he will be able to play and at this point that will be an improvement!
The knees are bent all the time as you walk – prevents hype-extension – no locking out the knee. Walking is not innate and since you must learn it, you can relearn it.
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