Let's agree to disagree then. There is a reason there aren't any teaching pros in the top golfers in the world.

He's practiced more than maybe anyone alive. He probably doesn't need a swing coach at this point to know how to swing correctly.

I'd wager that Gary Player, Nick Faldo and VJ Singh are all ahead of Tiger on that metric. Probably some others that I can't think of at the moment.

Current player - Padraig Harrington is in the mix.

No longer alive, but almost definitely Moe Norman from a previous era and all-time winner.

This is a very general and very...wrong statement.

And his swing hasn't been 98% similar throughout the years. He's made some significant changes, much more than 2%.

Given that tiger would have spent a lot of potential practicing time doing cardio Work outs, chasing tail and recovering from those activities ..... I doubt he's in the top 75 tbh

And fat golfers spend their potential practice time sitting on the couch and eating ice cream.

So the only golfers who can be considered to be practice GOATs are skinny with no muscle or other hobbies.

Maybe at a similar level, but hardly ahead. Tiger is a legendary range rat.

Player practiced all the time, and seeing as how he's 40 years older than Tiger, it's safe to see he's hit many more balls than Tiger. Vijay is the biggest tour range rat of all time, he's also 12 years older than Tiger, he's hit tons more balls than Tiger.

Those two are light years ahead of Tiger. Anybody who says Tiger has practiced more than anybody has zero clue. Buddy of mine played for Stanford during Tiger's last season, said he actually didn't practice that much. And from what I've heard since he turned pro is that he prefers to go out and play 36 vs. beating balls for hours.

BO

This is ******ed.

Of course they have practiced more if they are decades older. Jesus. I think the obvious idea of his statement was that he practices more in general, not over his lifetime. Wow.

As in... "In the average year tiger practices more than anyone".

Jeez why so literal?

I really have no idea who practiced more, nor do I care FWIW.

Tiger just didn't like his teammates so he'd lie and say he was going home but really he'd go beat balls until sundown at a neighboring course.

This was the quote that started the discussion...

That states he has hit more balls than anyone alive. That states total, not over the course of a normal year.

So perhaps you need to read more closely before calling somebody names.

And since you don't know or care, perhaps you should simply stay silent on the matter.

BO

Hyperbole how does it work

This is the post that triggered the discussion:

It is too bad that there is no hyperbole font because the only part of that post that I might have interpreted as hyperbole is the second sentence.

After reading 2+2 for years I am pretty sure hyperbole is the excuse made people who way overstated some fact to make an incorrect point and later don't want to admit they were wrong.

Actually, the point tzwien was making, was that he has practiced enough. Whether there are 4 or 5 people alive who have practiced more, doesn't really matter. This is a good example of why is so frustrating having nitBo around. He thinks he's being clever, when really he's making himself look a bit foolish.

Oh really? Let's review this topic then.....

The quote that started this.

So I wasn't the first one to refute the "hyperbole".

Nor the second.

Nor the third to comment.

So once there were multiple comments on both sides of the discussion I decided to jump in with some facts.

So if I'm a nit, there were several other nits that joined the fray before I did.

Written communication. How does it work?

Well, I would say a more interesting discussion is whether or not an elite player actually benefits from a swing coach. Some would point to Lee Trevino saying he would take a lesson from anyone that could beat him. I have always been a bit intrigued by the fact that Chess Champion Gary Kasparov has a coach.

Most elite players do benefit from a swing coach. Like everybody, they cannot see what they are doing, many times cannot feel when something is just a bit off.

Do top baseball hitters have swing coaches? Yes. Do top quarterbacks have throwing coaches? Yes.

I tend to think that the more homemade a swing is, the less a teacher can do. That's why guys like Furyk, Trevino, Moe Norman and Bubba Watson don't have teachers. Yes, Furyk has had one swing coach his entire life, his father. Think Arnold Palmer's only swing coach was his father as well.

So then guys like Adam Scott and Justin Rose, guys with perfect cookie cutter swings need swing coaches quite a bit. There are more unnatural things that go wrong with their moves.

It has been said that Tiger needs a swing coach because he really likes to tinker with things. A coach keeps him on the straight and narrow. But at present I do believe Tiger would do himself the most good by simply digging it out of the dirt on his own.

BO

It's not really an interesting question because almost every elite athlete in any sport has a coach or coaches. If they didn't benefit they would all be wrong which is pretty unlikely in a relative meritocracy.

Do elite Olympic track and field athletes benefit from coaching?

Hadn't Tiger hit millions of putts before he was having trouble and got a tip from Stricker? Sometimes a second set of eyes and a different expert opinion matter regardless of whether the other person has more knowledge or experience.

So we've solved the great debate of whether someone with great talent and knowledge can train themselves on their own without coaching.


The took waaaay too long.

Just watched this entire video, and how much longer, looser, and better does his swing look under Haney compared to anything he did under Foley?

*stopped at 1:29* =P