Tiger Woods is back. And as ESPN’s Chris Berman would say, he’s going “back, back, back, way back” to his junior golf days to find a swing to overcome Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 major victories.
Woods, with the help of his new swing coach Chris Como, recently poured over old VHS tapes from the ’90s searching to find the successful swing mechanisms that created awesome power for a then skinny teenager, who went on to win three U.S. Amateur Championships.
“Actually, it’s pretty interesting trying to find a VHS recorder,” Tiger explained in a pre-tournament presser. “I have a lot of tapes like that. Fortunately, my mom is of age where she has that still in the house. So that was very beneficial to look at some of the old tapes.”
Woods, now eight months past being sidelined by lower-back surgery, says that he is feeling great. “I’m past the rehab portion of it,” Woods said. “Now I’m in the strength and development of it.”
Not a stranger to rehab and making comebacks, this is Tiger’s fifth return after surgeries to various parts of his body, including his Achilles tendon and knees. Those rehabs, Fox Sports reported, lasted anywhere from four weeks to four months.
Not yet where he wants to be, Woods said that he is pleased with the progress he is making with coach Como. Como appears to be structuring Tiger’s swing in a more upright position, making it less flat, and longer. The changes are easy for Tiger because they represent the foundation of his swing when he was younger and relied more on his exceptional athleticism.
“It hasn’t taken me that long to implement it. I haven’t done it in a long time but my body’s remembering it. I’m very pleased with my speed and the freedom I have, and what I’m doing with the golf ball,” Tiger said.
Golf.com reported that the golf legend is quite excited about his new/old technique: “I don’t feel like I’m hitting it very hard, but it’s coming off the face faster.”
Tiger begins his 2015 golf campaign on Thursday at his own tournament, the Hero World Challenge, to be held at Isleworth.