Can Tiger Woods Use Technology to Replace His Swing Coach?

Prior to Tiger Woods beginning his title defense at the Memorial Golf Tournament, he announced his decision to rely on technology including video rather than replace Hank Haney his former swing coach. This decision was discussed in a recent USA Today article by Jerry Potter titled “For now, no swing coach: Tiger chooses to call the shots”. Woods was quoted in this article as saying: "That's the great thing about technology," he said. "We can use video. That's what I've been doing and been working on it that way."

We here at ZenoLink don’t think that this is all that surprising. Technology has advanced to the point where knowledgeable athletes can better impact their own performance.

A common misconception especially in golf is that an athlete’s analysis of mechanics and performance will lead to over thinking: “paralysis by analysis”. We find just the opposite is true, the better an athlete understands his/her body and what it is capable of, the more aware they are of movement, the better they perform. This is true whether they choose to work with a coach or on their own.

Technology like ZenoLink makes Tiger’s approach more possible today than ever before. Standard video can become the medium for quantitative 3-D biomechanical assessment. This sounds complicated, but in reality it’s about understanding coordination.

Woods isn’t the first golfer nor will he be the last to employ this approach. In the mid 90's golfer Greg Norman at the peak of his career used our technology, in combination with an in-depth understanding of his body and swing to perfect his game as the #1 golfer in the world. Greg interacted directly with our technology as well as relying on key swing coaches and physical trainers who also employed the ZenoLink information.

The ability to measure and quantify movement patterns allows an athlete to affect change at its core. In other words, re-shape mechanics by re-shaping how the body moves. This has been proven to be the only effective way to impact functional performance. Understanding biomechanics is the first step, becoming more proprioceptively aware of your body is the next and then developing more effective coordination through feel is the last step.

Whether Tiger chooses to work with another swing coach sometime in the future or not, his ultimate success, the same as every other athlete professional or amateur, lies in the ability to better understand his own body and its impact on swing mechanics and playing performance.