Tiger Woods when he was 4 years old....

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Did any of you see that show that was on the golf channel the other day that was called sometihing like "Tiger Prowl"? It showed a lot of footage of Tiger when he was a kid. One shot of him in particular when he was at the range as a 4 year old (he's wearing a red and white hat) really blew my mind because he has the same damn swing then as he does now. I mean to about a 95% the same level, flat left wrist at the top with the club on plane, the same dynamic squatting transition move with a perfect plane on his downswing, impact the same, he releases it the same, they even had another shot of him where it was just his feet and he was doing the same lifting and replanting of his left foot through impact like I watched him do on every drive of the 2000 US and British Opens. The only miniscule difference is that the club is heavier for him relative to now so he had to drag it around a little bit.

So, he either came out of the womb with a swing that will win about 30 major championships or his dad and that Rudy guy from that course he grew up on deserve way more credit than anybody like Butch Harmon should get. I think he is just a straight up natural. He didn't have to be taught anything of significance, because how do you tell all that to a 4 year old. Try to check this out on the golf channel and tape it, it's like watching him now if you were standing 300 yards away.
 
The first time I saw tape of Tiger as a little one on TV I was amazed how much his swing resembled his current one.

I have also noticed that even though I make changes in trying to learn the golf swing all the time. I can improve in areas but overall I think my swing on video basically looks kinda the same. Good for Tiger, Bad for me :(
 
Did any of you see that show that was on the golf channel the other day that was called sometihing like "Tiger Prowl"? It showed a lot of footage of Tiger when he was a kid. One shot of him in particular when he was at the range as a 4 year old (he's wearing a red and white hat) really blew my mind because he has the same damn swing then as he does now. I mean to about a 95% the same level, flat left wrist at the top with the club on plane, the same dynamic squatting transition move with a perfect plane on his downswing, impact the same, he releases it the same, they even had another shot of him where it was just his feet and he was doing the same lifting and replanting of his left foot through impact like I watched him do on every drive of the 2000 US and British Opens. The only miniscule difference is that the club is heavier for him relative to now so he had to drag it around a little bit.

So, he either came out of the womb with a swing that will win about 30 major championships or his dad and that Rudy guy from that course he grew up on deserve way more credit than anybody like Butch Harmon should get. I think he is just a straight up natural. He didn't have to be taught anything of significance, because how do you tell all that to a 4 year old. Try to check this out on the golf channel and tape it, it's like watching him now if you were standing 300 yards away.
Rudy is a friend of mine and for sure is a great example for juniors to follow. I work at Heartwell in LongBeach we have our Tiger wall and such. I wish too there was more given to the first people who touched his life.
 

Brian Manzella

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It is VERY possible...

...that if Tiger NEVER went to Butch or Hank, he may have been even better.

Of course, he may have not been as good.

Tiger Woods had the following things that made him TIGER and not just ELDRICK

1. Athletic Genes

2. Dad who was a good player

3. Dad who used Green Beret mental techniques on him from day one

4. Something to add spice to the fight (in his case racism)

5. Good Instruction early on (like Rudy)

6. Socially inept as a teenager

7. Early work with a Sports Psychologist and Hypnotism

8. Naturally Great Putter

9. Good Nerves

10. Intelligence
 
Don't forget to add mom, Tiger has said it was his mom who brought the concentration and focus more so then dad. She is the one who brought him to Buhdist temples to learn the art of meditation, she also is the one who said when you have an opponent you stomp on their throat. He had a perfect mix of a lot of ingredients
 
Rudy is a friend of mine and for sure is a great example for juniors to follow. I work at Heartwell in LongBeach we have our Tiger wall and such. I wish too there was more given to the first people who touched his life.

Wow, you know Rudy and work at that course. He seems like a genuine good guy and was way ahead of the curve in setting up junior golf programs. Giving Tiger a place to play, practice and get instruction from such a young age I'm sure was huge for his development in becoming probably the greatest player of all time. If you don't mind can you ask him if the swings Tiger was making when he was 4 that they were showing on the golf channel where he's wearing a red and white hat and Rudy is kneeling down next to him with his huge 70s hair feeding him balls, was that just Tiger's natural swing? How much did Rudy change what he was doing? I'm guessing not much because how much can you tell a 4 year old about the technical aspects of golf.
 
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Wow, you know Rudy and work at that course. He seems like a genuine good guy and was way ahead of the curve in setting up junior golf programs. Giving Tiger a place to play, practice and get instruction from such a young age I'm sure was huge for his development in becoming probably the greatest player of all time. If you don't mind can you ask him if the swings Tiger was making when he was 4 that they were showing on the golf channel where he's wearing a red and white hat and Rudy is kneeling down next to him with his huge 70s hair feeding him balls, was that just Tiger's natural swing? How much did Rudy change what he was doing? I'm guessing not much because how much can you tell a 4 year old about the technical aspects of golf.

Yeah Rudy and his program worked great and are a model of many around today.
I would not say Tiger was not good with people. I played Junior golf with him. He was just a normal kid who was better than us. Plus he killed the ball.
None of us really got along with his Dad, for many reasons that I won't get into..
 
Yeah, on second thought I guess a 4 year old might be a pretty good student as far as not having any bad habits yet or ego issues.

Nice insider info there Dana. The not getting along with his dad part isn't too hard to imagine. Do you know what swing changes Rudy made with Tiger by the time he was 4?

It's funny to me that I find it difficult to have a flat left wrist at the top of the backswing......like Tiger did when he was 4.
 
I was actually very suprised as well with footage of his childhood swings. However, I also watched a lot of the U.S. Am footage on the golf channel lately during "Tiger Week", and found his swing to be MUCH different back then. I'm not one for using words like better, or not good as he won US Ams and one quickly on Tour with that swing. His first US Am he had a much stronger grip, and at the top of the swing seemed to have the face dead shut and somehow played a fade a lot from that position. Looked very akward and actually seemed much less orthodox than the swing you see today AND the swing from his childhood. BOTTOM LINE: Talent prevails; he could win and be successful from with about any grip and any top of the swing position. Raw Talent level = off the charts
 
Yeah, on second thought I guess a 4 year old might be a pretty good student as far as not having any bad habits yet or ego issues.

Nice insider info there Dana. The not getting along with his dad part isn't too hard to imagine. Do you know what swing changes Rudy made with Tiger by the time he was 4?

It's funny to me that I find it difficult to have a flat left wrist at the top of the backswing......like Tiger did when he was 4.
Ive never got into that much with him, but ill call him and ask...Mostly abou what he would try to do on each hole.We have 18 of par three's. So he told me how he would go hole to hole.
 
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