Showing posts with label Hank Haney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hank Haney. Show all posts

Tiger Woods out with injury

Hank Haney

The golf world just got a bit more boring for the next few weeks with the announcement from Tiger Woods that he will be out with an injury. According to his website, he will miss at least the Wells Fargo Championship due to a mild MCL strain of his left knee and a mild achilles strain. The injuries were suffered when he made a crazy swing from under a tree off the pine straw on the 17th at Augusta during round three of the Masters.

If the next tournament was a major championship, there is no doubt Woods would play but he's being more cautious about recovering from his injuries this time, unlike his decision to play the 2008 U.S. Open, which of course he won with broken leg.

In this Hank Haney article, Haney discussed what the doctors told Woods prior to that U.S. Open and as we now know, the rest is golf history.

What I remember most was the doctor [Thomas Rosenberg] coming to Tiger's house before that U.S. Open and showing him the MRI images on a laptop computer, showing him the two stress fractures, and Tiger not paying very much attention. I asked Dr. Rosenberg [who later performed the surgery to repair Tiger's torn ACL] what the treatment regimen was. He said it meant three weeks on crutches, then inactive for three weeks, then Tiger could start rehab. I remember looking at the calendar and saying, "So he's basically done for the year, right?" At that point Tiger came alive. He said, "I'm playing in the U.S. Open, and I'm going to win." He bent over and started putting on his shoes. "Come on, Hank, we're going to practice." I looked at Dr. Rosenberg and said, "I guess we're going to go practice."
Love that story.

Is cat fight over Tiger Woods golf game justified?

Hank Haney

Past and present golf instructors of Tiger Woods have been taking trash talk to a whole new level with commentary, tweets and barbs aimed at character defamation and criticism over the former world number-one's golf swing.

Some say that Lee Trevino innocently started the 'battle of the golf coaches' when he suggested that Tiger Woods should "get his mindset straight and quit messing with all these instructors...then his winning ways will return."


Instead of reminding Trevino that every great golfer should have a teacher to guide and assist, and probably worried that Woods would listen and clean house, Sean Foley (Woods' current tutor) pointed the proverbial finger at former coach Hank Haney stating, "There was nothing about what he was doing in his previous swing that made any sense to me," mentioning that Haney built most of his teaching career around Woods.

Isn't making a name for himself using Tiger Woods as a springboard exactly what Foley is attempting to do?


In an effort to defend himself, Hank Haney came out swinging and, since he is getting accustomed to Twitter, answered his accuser with retweets from fans such as:

"Sean Foley=Clueless"

A vocal Butch Harmon has recently chimed into the conversation perhaps standing up for Haney (?) by pointing a finger at Foley with this barb, "it's not a good idea to completely do a redo" of someone's golf swing suggesting Tiger looked a bit like a "Nationwide Tour player trying to get his card."

The harsh roundtable criticism is childish, hateful and unnecessary. Haney was a good influence on Woods, helping him to win six majors "and 45% of the events he played grabbing a top-ten finish 85% of the time during the last three years he was his coach." Sean Foley has been instructing Woods for about a year now waiting to see his influence take effect...perhaps the reason for his war of words.


Tiger Woods is silent on the subject but should he speak up? Should he tweet, "stop the fighting already because it's not good for my game or for the game of golf?"

In my opinion, golf is supposed to be a sport of positive influence, where tipping one's hat and acknowledging good play is expected; in other words, spitting, throwing clubs and harsh words should be kept off camera and/or should be worked out in a constructive way.

With Woods making the talk show circuit on Late Night and on Morning Drive, it could be that the media will help set the record straight. Perhaps Jimmy Fallon will dig in and get answers on March 16th but it's more likely both will be content to allow the feud to propagate hamming it up instead with a few holes of mini golf.

 

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The Barkley Experiment

Hank Haney


“I just like being out on the golf course. It's a place where I can enjoy some peace and quiet. When I go to the supermarket or the dry-cleaners, it's crazy, but when I'm out on the course on a beautiful day with the water and tall trees — I just enjoy it.” Charles Barkley

Fair enough. Barkley is a typical golfer in the fact that he enjoys getting out on the course to relax. The way he's different is the fact that he may possibly be the worst golfer in golf history.

We have all seen his swing over and over and know that he worked with Hank Haney to try and improve.

Unfortunately, nothing has worked as of yet so he's moved on to the next tactic.

Traditionally a right-hander, he hit his driver and fairway woods left-handed at the American Century Charity Tournament, hit most of his iron shots right-handed and hit a few iron shots using only his right hand.

Yes, you heard correctly. Some shots right handed, some left handed, and some one handed.

Maybe this experiment will work. And maybe I'll shoot 54 tomorrow.

Haney believes it may be possible though. He says he'll be working with Charles to become a permanent left handed player.

Either way, good luck Charles.

Great interview with Hank Haney on Tiger

Hank Haney

In this Golf Digest interview, Hank Haney provides a lot of very interesting insight into Tiger Woods and his past, present, and future.

Here a few excerpts:

What do you recall about the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, which Tiger won with a broken leg?

What I remember most was the doctor [Thomas Rosenberg] coming to Tiger's house before that U.S. Open and showing him the MRI images on a laptop computer, showing him the two stress fractures, and Tiger not paying very much attention. I asked Dr. Rosenberg [who later performed the surgery to repair Tiger's torn ACL] what the treatment regimen was. He said it meant three weeks on crutches, then inactive for three weeks, then Tiger could start rehab. I remember looking at the calendar and saying, "So he's basically done for the year, right?" At that point Tiger came alive. He said, "I'm playing in the U.S. Open, and I'm going to win." He bent over and started putting on his shoes. "Come on, Hank, we're going to practice." I looked at Dr. Rosenberg and said, "I guess we're going to go practice."

How knowledgeable is Tiger about the golf swing?

The most knowledgeable I've ever been around. I've taught 200 pros from tours around the world, and nobody came close to knowing what Tiger knows.


In 2000, before you began working with Tiger, we surveyed people in golf on how many professional majors they thought he would win. Your guess was 30. How many do you see him winning now, best-case scenario?

I'd say 25. He's got plenty of time left in his career. If he wins at the rate he's been winning, for the next 10 years, he'll get to 25. It's possible, because we haven't seen the best of Tiger. He has so much experience, so much knowledge of the courses they play majors on. I see no reason at all he can't keep getting better.

When we interviewed Butch in 2001, he said he once threatened a teacher "with bodily harm" when the guy approached Tiger about working with him. Did another teacher ever try to steal Tiger away?

Not that I was aware of, no. I tried to do the best job I could do and not worry about that stuff.


AP Photo / Charlie Riedel

Miller provides opinion on Tiger's swing and coach

Hank Haney
Never short on words, NBC golf analyst Johnny Miller spoke out Wednesday and said Tiger Woods should change his swing and quit working with coach Hank Haney.

"It might be a little harsh, but I really believe he needs to, every night, watch the U.S. Open in the year 2000 at Pebble and just copy that swing and forget the Haney stuff," Miller said. "I mean, that was the best golf anybody has ever played in history."

"That's something he can copy, the tempo, the position at the top of the backswing, the follow-through position. "

"He needs a new, fresh, either teacher or just go back to what is natural to his game. What he is working on now, I believe is, no disrespect for Hank Haney, but it is not working. And sometimes when it is not working, sometimes you have to get off the fork in the road and get back to what brung you there and what won all these championships for him."

Miller does make a good point that Tiger did play the best golf in history when he won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach by 15 strokes in 2000, when he was coached by Butch Harmon.

However, it's a little early to blame everything on Hank Haney and his teaching methods. Tiger has won six major championships while under the eye of Haney.

After missing the cut last year at the British Open, Woods went 1st, 1st, 2nd, T2nd, T11th, 1st, and 2nd in consecutive tournaments. He then went 5-0 during the Presidents Cup, finished 6th at HSBC in China, and won the Australian Masters.

He then went through the scandal, returned after 144 days, and finished fourth in the Masters.

Woods then misses one cut and Miller rants about him needing to get rid of Haney.

After hearing the comments made by Miller, Haney responded to the golf channel.

“The facts are what they are. I didn’t start in 2001. I started in 2004. In the last 2½ years, Tiger has won 44% of his tournaments and finished Top 3 in 61%. In the 2½ years before I started working with him, he won 24% and finished Top 3 in 43%.”

Woods got off to a decent start Thursday at The Players Championship, shooting an opening round 70, four shots off the lead.

It would be nice to see him win this week, and then dedicate the win to Johnny Miller in his post-round interview.

Woods photo - AP / Wilfredo Lee

Charles Barkley working to become the next Tiger Woods and how science can help you stop choking under pressure

Hank Haney

Click here to listen.



To look at the golf swings of both Tiger Woods and Charles Barkley, one would have to admit that they are complete opposites from start to finish. Even with a gimp and a grimace at the 2008 U.S. Open, Woods' fluidity was still beautiful to watch. Barkley's movements, on the other hand, have been the fodder for everyone from amateurs on YouTube to Tiger Woods himself, who jokingly attempted to copy the infamous swing which has been compared to "a tornado on acid".

Charles Barkley has finally had enough ribbing and will allow himself to be guided by Hank Haney in which the master instructor will try and rid the former NBA star, once an 80's golfer, of his "spasmodic hitch". Haney believes this "hitch" is hiding the real quandary and will address problems of dropping the head through impact and the angle of Barkley's swing plane noting, "when you have a mess like he has, you're not going to fix it with a swing thought."

It should be interesting to see if Haney can not only create a new swing for Barkley but also rebuild his confidence. Barkley is ready for improvement mentioning recently that, "it sucks getting ridiculed and humiliated." Once a ten-handicap with great putting abilities, it has to hurt Barkley knowing that the reason he is in this position in the first place is because he didn't realize that his injuries were forcing him to practice incorrectly.

Small golf goals are important to long-term achievement and Barkley's initial step is to break 85. His second? To take on the guys who have mimicked him in the past, namely Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. On the other hand, with a mantra like, "What other sport can you play with friends for a few bucks, smoke cigars, drink beer, no phones, trash talk and be in the middle of nowhere?" does Barkley even have a chance against single-digit Jordan and Tiger Woods who is, well, perhaps the greatest golfer who has ever lived?

The Haney Project is a seven-part series on the Golf Channel with the first episode airing on March 2nd.



Also, on this week's Golf for Beginners show, we discuss an article in Scientific American which ponders the science of choking under pressure.

Congratulations to Phil Mickelson on his 35th career win at the Northern Trust Open!


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Photo Credit: © Golf Digest/Thomas Fluharty

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Hank Haney talks Tiger Woods, gives easy golf tips in our one-on-one interview

Hank Haney

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Imagine Tiger Woods' instructor, Hank Haney, standing right in front of you, offering you advice on your golf game. That is exactly what happened to me at Chelsea Piers in New York in an event held in conjunction with The First Tee and FedEx.

Okay, so Mr. Haney didn't help only me that day, his main focus was on the hundred or so kids that belong to the New York Metropolitan Chapter where he mentioned, "What could be better than to help the best player in the world and to help kids?"

The few minutes that I taped with Mr. Haney is literally a gold-mine of information which will definitely assist both the beginner and advanced amateur golfer. And yes, there is even some commentary on Tiger Woods, his philosophy and how he's faring during his forced rest.

Thanks to Mr. Haney for helping me with my game. Barry even learned a few things from my interview! And why not? Even Tiger Woods has a coach to assist him with his game and he's the greatest golfer on the planet.

Also, thanks to the First Tee Program and FedEd for the invite.

Click here to listen to my interview with Hank Haney.

Next week, an interview with Jim Furyk!




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Photo Credit: © Lohud.com

Ochoa on siesta, Sorenstam triumphs. Tiger Woods healing, Mickelson gets his chance. Leadbetter's drill gives you a leg up for power, Haney's two club

Hank Haney

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It may be quite presumptive of me to claim that Phil Mickelson's chances have vastly improved (as has the rest of the field at the upcoming Wachovia Championship) now that Tiger Woods has withdrawn due to arthroscopic knee surgery.

Woods is the defending champion and for him to be rehabilitating puts the players on the PGA Tour at ease. But seeing Phil's face smattered across the television screen as the big draw makes you really wonder if the Golf Channel and CBS Sports are going enough to create excitement. Perhaps the secret ingredient might be more face-time for Adam Scott, sudden-death victor at the Byron Nelson Classic!



There is no doubt, however, that because Lorena Ochoa took a siesta the roadblock was cleared to escalate Annika Sorenstam to victory at the Stanford International. Still, Annika required a sudden-death playoff with Paula Creamer in order to cinch the deal claiming, "It could have gone really any way. I'm just fortunate that this time it was my turn."



Our Golf for Beginners podcast this week contains a great number of easy golf tips and drills. One exercise comes from David Leadbetter who suggests a way to gain power in your golf swing through weight shift. Try this technique on the range and you will surely feel a difference on the golf course!

Another drill from Hank Haney offers the benefits of weighted clubs to help warm up, gain feel and build clubhead speed before a round.


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Photo Credit:Sportsnetwork.com, ESPN.com, Robin Sellick

Could Tiger Woods continue his reign without a golf instructor? Also easy drills for weight transfer and clubhead speed

Hank Haney
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The rumor mill, once it gains momentum, just doesn't seem to let up. The discussion of the possible split between Tiger Woods and Hank Haney appears to have been initially fueled by that ever-effusive announcer, Johnny Miller, during the FedEx Cup playoffs. Miller insinuated that the newly enhanced swing of Tiger Woods was a blend of both Harmon's and Haney's instruction.

But aren't all of us products of our environment? It would be ludicrous to believe otherwise and so, in my opinion, Johnny Miller made an astute judgment. Techniques taught to Woods by Butch Harmon over nine years most certainly left its imprints. Remember when Coach Harmon told Mickelson to watch for Tiger's idiosyncrasies during a round to try and throw off his game?

Haney states that his teaching principles involve a golfer "to help someone become more independent, to become their own teacher." Top golf professionals like Tiger Woods learn how to "fix themselves", Haney explained. They're not like the amateur hacker who needs regular tutelage on the basics. "They figure it out themselves."

Although "Tiger (Woods) has gotten really good at fixing himself," he still keeps in constant contact with his golf instructor. Even the top golfer in the world needs to keep his swing properly tuned and, for now, the person helping Tiger improve and grow remains Hank Haney.

Golf for Beginners also offers up several drills this week. With help from Duncan McGillivray, a.k.a. the Golf Drill Guru, we learn how a balloon can help you transfer your weight more effectively. We also discuss a swing thought you can use while chipping from just off the green.

In addition to these drills, learn from Golf Courses Guide how you can release the clubhead more effectively and gain distance and power!

Send your golf questions and comments to golfforbeginners@aol.com.

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"Shiny Tech" courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)"

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Woods and Mickelson's coaches give golf tips on the fat shot, Leadbetter on putting and Bobby Jones wisdom

Hank Haney
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Butch Harmon and Hank Haney's heavyweight contenders for the first ever FedEx Cup failed to produce results at this year's U.S. Open and hoist the coveted trophy. Woods came so close yet could not seize any opportunities and Mickelson was eaten up and spit out alive, never even witnessing the fast, tricky greens of weekend competition.

Some Phil fans might be disappointed over Lefty's whining commentary after 2nd round action but, in retrospect, there were plenty of golfers at Oakmont this weekend who were tossing their sticks around in disgust. Abyssmal etiquette abounded!

As for Tiger Woods, the U.S. Open seemed almost like a repeat of this year's Masters tournament, with Woods playing golf in the final group and taking it on the chin from relative unknown Zach Johnson.

The only player under par in the final round, Angel Cabrera, showed mettle and fortitude and should be heartily congratulated for standing up to Goliath!

This week Golf for Beginners compares the teaching methods of both Harmon and Haney in relation to hitting the ball fat and discuss a great practice drill we found in Golf Digest Magazine.

The best putting drill I recently rediscovered came from our visit to Turning Stone Resort and Spa. We compare it to a golf tip from David Leadbetter in another segment of our broadcast.

Finally, we take a quote from the great Bobby Jones who won four U.S. Open Championships. Who can teach us the true spirit of golf better than this worthwhile competitor?
Continue sending your golf questions and comments to golfforbeginners@aol.com.

Subscribe to our weekly podcast through this RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/golfforbeginners or through iTunes. Nextel/Sprint cell customers type http://www.mymbn.com/podcast/ in your browser and click on "sports casts". Our station number is 1955.

"Shiny Tech" courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)"

This podcast is supported by Pioneer Golf and Florida Golf Travel.

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