Bubba: Woods Should Go Back To Basics

Tiger Woods’ troubles with his game might not be down to Tiger’s own swing, but rather down to Tiger’s own approach to how the game should be played and his obsession with attaining the perfect golf swing reckons Bubba Watson.

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Hank Haney says goodbye to Tiger Woods

Golf coach Hank Haney has taken a bold step in resigning as coach to world number 1 Tiger Woods. Ever since 2004 Hank Haney has been Tiger’s swing man rebuilding and sculpting the golfing masterpiece which is Tiger Woods. During this time Tiger has experienced unprecedented success claiming 6 Major Championships as well as numerous PGA Tour titles Read more

The Return of the Flyer: New Rule on Grooves to curtail Backspin

From 1st January 2010, a new V-groove rule will come into effect which will limit the amount of backspin a player can generate with iron shots from the rough.

The rule will be implemented by three associations – the United States Golf Association (USGA), the Royal & Ancient (R&A) and the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA), and has been several years on the drawing board. The rule has been developed to bring back the challenging aspect of playing shots from out of the rough, which Tour officials across the three associations felt was being lost due to players’ ability to stop the ball close to the hole, despite playing from deep rough when missing a fairway.

The change in the rules will affect all iron clubs, but most effected will be the high-lofted clubs and wedges. Currently, most iron clubs have wide U-shape grooves which minimise the effect of grass between the clubhead and ball on impact, in order to ensure the best possible contact.

But while the change in grooves will have little effect on iron shots from fairways, there will be a definite effect on shots played from the rough, says Tiger Woods’ coach, Hank Haney. Haney believes the change will herald the return of the ‘flyer’ – a incidence where enough grass gets between clubhead and ball to prevent sufficient spin being applied, resulting in the ball travelling farther than anticipated.

“When you’re hitting off the fairway, you don’t typically get flyers,” Says Haney. “You can, but you don’t see it too often and especially on the fairways the pros play on because they’re mowed so closely. But when you get in the rough and you get grass between the club and the ball, with less spin possible, all of a sudden that 6-iron you might hit 175 (yards), might now go 200 — 25 yards over the green.”

Haney also believes the rule change will see players switching to a softer ball in order to compensate for the lack of spin; sacrificing distance for accuracy and control.

Several players have already begun to play using irons fitted with the new groove design in order to better prepare for the rule change, although clubmakers will have to work closely with the associations to ensure their grooves conform with the rules. Phil Mickelson has already fallen foul of the regulations after intending to use a prototype set of irons made by Callaway golf at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, but was informed by the USGA that the grooves did not meet guidelines laid out by the association.

Tiger Looking for a New Coach?

The rumors are flying and some golf insiders are saying that Tiger Woods may be ready to cut ties with his current swing coach, Hank Haney. The rumors started during this year’s Masters. After Woods had finished the third round he went to the practice tee and then went on a profane laden rant about his scoring, swing and his inability to finish off his round. Hank Haney was nearby and some writers have hinted that the tirade was directed at Haney. The rumor has obviously become a distraction and Woods has come out in the press to say that he is not looking for a new swing coach, “That’s complete speculation” he said. “It has nothing to do with Henry (Haney),”Woods said. “I didn’t hit the ball the way I wanted and I didn’t make any putts. I felt like that every day. It was 17 and 18 that hurt. I didn’t finish off my rounds the last couple days, and it cost me a chance to win the golf tournament.” The Haney/Woods relationship has worked for both men. Tiger has won many majors with Haney and Haney has become a popular figure in the coaching world as well as on the Golf Channel. Haney had “The School of Golf” on the Golf Channel last year and this year his “The Haney Project” is the most watched show in Golf Channel history. He is attempting to fix the swing of Charles Barkley whose swing has been called “a speech impediment” by Woods.

Tiger was adamant about his relationship with Haney and insists that his rant was just his way to vent and relieve his frustration from a poor round. “Usually, you just leave me alone, let me vent for a while and then I’ll be ready to focus on what I need to do to get ready for the next day,” said Woods. “It’s happened before, Haney’s seen it before, Stevie has seen it. You’ve got to vent. We don’t get a chance to do that because we come off the green, (and) we do media right away.”

Tiger is a very demanding player. He demands much of himself and he might not fully realize that he still may be feeling the effects of the long layoff due to his knee surgery. In the next few months Tiger will have the time to shake off any remaining rust and groove his swing. His focus is on the majors and if he wins some this year he will consider the year a success. If he fails to win any majors, I wouldn’t want to be around when he has to vent.

Tiger Quells Haney Split Speculation

Tiger Woods has moved to dismiss rumours that he may be ready to split from his association with golf coach, Hank Haney.

Rumours of a rift between Woods and Haney emerged following the World number one’s comments in the aftermath of his closing 68, where he described his swing as having a ‘Band-Aid’ around it. Haney, who has been Woods’ coach since 2002, had been dogged by rumours since 2007 about a potential split away from Woods, but the verbal volley he received at the Masters seemed to have had considerable fuel to the fire.

However, on the eve of the Quail Hollow Championship, where Tiger heads a field which includes US Masters champion, Angel Cabrera, Woods has downplayed talk of any split and that he had simply been letting off steam following the tongue-lashing he gave Haney in the wake of Woods’ third round at Augusta, where the pair clashed on the practice ground moments after Woods had birdied the eighteenth.

When asked about the rumour, Woods responded: “That’s complete speculation … It has nothing to do with Henry. I didn’t hit the ball the way I wanted to, and I didn’t make any putts.

“I felt like that every day. It was 17 and 18 that hurt. I didn’t finish off my rounds the last couple of days, and it cost me a chance to win the golf tournament.”

“Usually, you just leave me alone, let me vent for a while and then I’ll be ready to focus on what I need to do to get ready for the next day. It’s happened before. He (Haney) has seen it before. Stevie has seen it. You’ve got to vent.”

Its believed Haney will not be in attendance at the Quail Hollow Championship, which starts Thursday, but was at Woods’ side last weekend in Florida working on Woods’ game.

Also among the field at Charlotte, North Carolina are world number two, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia of Spain and Australian Geoff Ogilvy. Irishman Padraig Harrington is also entered for the tournament while American Anthony Kim seeks to retain his crown; his winning total last year set a tournament record 16-under-par 272.