The Loop
5 things we didn't know were problems until Tiger Woods told us they were
Tiger Woods usually has an explanation lined up whenever he plays poorly. Some of them -- bad weather, tricked-up layouts, noisy photographers -- are no different then what other tour pros blame. But then there are days like Thursday, when Woods will enlighten everybody to an entirely new problem that most of the rest of the world didn't know existed. Here's what we're talking about:
Deactivated Glutes__
__Did you know deactivated glutes were a real thing? Especially for people with a history of back problems? Neither did we.
"It's just my glutes are shutting off. Then they don't activate and then, hence, it goes into my lower back. So, I tried to activate my glutes as best I could, in between, but it just they never stayed activated." - February 5, 2015
Not activated :(
— Tiger's Glutes (@tigerglutes) February 5, 2015
Release Patterns__
__It makes sense that if a golfer changes their swing -- mainly, makes their swing more shallow -- that it would affect their chipping. We just never really had a name for it.
"Chipping, I was caught between techniques, between my old release pattern and body movement when I was working with Sean and then my new release pattern." - January 27, 2015
Soft Hotel Beds__
__We've heard of people getting a bad night's sleep because of an iffy hotel bed, but a soft bed actually causing an injury never really occurred to us.
"My neck and back are a little bit stiff, it was stiff this morning after a soft bed and just one of those things, sleeping in hotels and I didn't want to push it, so just took it easy and chipped and putted." - August 21, 2013.
Trajectory is super important. We get that. We just never thought the word was so unwieldy that it needed to be shorted.
__"That basically cost me the tournament. You know, right now, I'll be able to shape the ball both ways and change my traj along the way, so I'm headed the right direction." - January 28, 2012
Explosiveness__
With Tiger, hitting the ball hard and far is the direct result of the "explosiveness" in his swing. So, naturally, it commands a lot of his attention.
__"I haven't been able to do my agility stuff because I'm still building back up, still playing. I can't do both at the same time. So when the season is over, in the off season, getting back to my agility work, my explosiveness, my power, all that stuff, back up to where I used to be." - August 6, 2014