Golf Tip: Confidence (Tiger’s Real Problem)
By Sam Adams
Tiger’s real problem is confidence or the lack of — not his swing. There have been hundreds if not thousands of articles, blogs, and videos about Tiger’s swing, or technical problems. Most of these, unfortunately, have been produced by people with very little in-depth knowledge of the golf swing and even less by anyone that has played at a high level.
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Hank Haney
came close in his recent article in
when he said Tiger has the pitching yips. I think it is just simply the fact that Tiger has lost his confidence. For the first time in his life he has started to doubt his ability to hit shots.
For more on the importance of confidence check out this Huffington Post article by Dr. Jim Taylor:
"His swing changes have been a major factor, but they may not be the only reason. When Tiger first came out on tour he had this incredible ability to make putts when he needed them. The only player I’ve ever seen in the same class was Jack Nicklaus."
I do know that in 2009, prior to his marital problems, Tiger was number two in the PGA Tour rankings for Strokes Gained Putting. By 2010 he was 35th. For some real insight on this you can check out this article appearing on ESPN in early 2012.
The point is that when your putting starts to go south on you it puts additional pressure on the rest of the game – particularly the short game. You start to feel the pressure to get it really close from off the green. It begins a downward spiral that is extremely difficult to escape under the best of circumstances. I know first-hand what it’s like to always aim at the middle of the green because you are afraid to go flag hunting. In one tournament round I actually hit the ball more times with my putter than all the other clubs combined. I hit every green in regulation and two par fives in two (34 shots). I had 38 putts. The frustration is unbelievable.
Sometimes the biggest problem is in your head. You’ve got to believe you can play the shot instead of wondering where the next bad shot is coming from. – Jack Nicklaus
When you lose your confidence you start hearing the little voice inside your head and it is always negative. It causes a disconnect between your brain and your body and you lose the ability to control fine motor skills. This explains those chunks and skulls in critical situations.
Jack Nicklaus talked about the importance of confidence frequently.
Unfortunately it takes time to put the pieces back together again and Tiger is running out of time. With the Masters coming up soon the conversation is turning to “Will Tiger Play?” The people who know Tiger best say he won’t play until he thinks he’s ready to compete at a high enough level to win. If he really means that I will be stunned to see him ready by the first week in April.
Confidence is the most important single factor in this game. – Jack Nicklaus
The big problem is that you can practice and play all you want, but lack of confidence/yips doesn’t put in an appearance until you put your game on display in competition and the more intense the pressure the worse it gets.