By Nick Faldo
As a boy, Jack Nicklaus was my hero. Watching him play in the Masters at Augusta on television was the inspiration for me to get out there and learn to play golf. Today, Tiger is the role model for a new generation of young players who want to crush the ball the way he does.
But before I heap praise on his swing, it's Tiger's mental strength that impresses me more than anything. Just like Nicklaus before him, Tiger has that unique ability to go out and play his own game, as if he's oblivious to what's going on around him. So, as much as there is to learn from his technique, my advice to all young players is to study and copy Tiger's approach and the concentration he puts into hitting every single shot: both on the practice tee and on the course, work on visualizing the shot in your mind; go about your business as if every shot you hit is the most important in your life; eliminate unnecessary mannerisms and focus only on repeating pre-shot habits that affect the way you swing the club.
The first thing to say about Tiger is that he has conditioned his body to play golf. He works harder in the gym than any player on tour. But the crucial thing in all this is that his body is balanced; he works on the muscle groups in proportion to the role they each play in the swing. With his coach, Tiger has figured out the perfect angle of attack, and found a way of using all his strength to hit a power fade. The secret to repeating this lies in eliminating all unnecessary movement, not just in the swing but also at address: no superfluous waggles, no nervous jiggling of hands and club about the ball. Tiger is totally focused and relaxed. He creates straight lines in the lower part of his back and legs, flexes his knees and holds his head high. A good posture allows the arms and hands to hang perfectly to meet the club.
UNWINDING THE UPPER BODY: Pushing the pedal to the metal. Tiger's transition is again a work of incredible efficiency. You don't appreciate this in still pictures, but the top half of his body is still winding up as the lower half is starting down. That's what produces this tremendous recoil action. Again, it's all about the shoulders turning around a strong resisting base. The legs and the hips really don't do very much other than provide support in the backswing. It's not exaggerating matters to say that Tiger's position halfway back to the ball would be a very dangerous one for 99.9% of golfers – including me. Having the right foot come up off the ground would cause most of us to get too far ahead of the ball on the way to impact, and as a result get ‘underneath' the shot. Not Tiger. He has rotator cuffs the size of canon balls and he has this amazing ability to fire the lower half while keeping the club perfectly in plane (approaching the ball it's basically on the same plane as it was going back). It is with this sheer strength that he is able to resist dropping the club head and instead holds it on line for the perfect angle of approach through impact.
The dynamics at work here really are quite staggering. As Tiger powers forward, unwinding his body as hard as he can, he holds on to the club and rips through the ball with a force that is simply unrivalled in professional golf. But better than that, he dispenses this power with total control.
