Common knowledge about Hank Haney?

RacersEdge · #1 07-11-2007, 06:14 PM

I never knew this about Hank Haney, Tiger's swing coach:

I'm sure many of you remember an article coming out in Golf Digest back in 2004 or 2005 breaking down Haney's golf swing. The article was quite unique because Haney admitted to playing very little golf over the past 10 years because he had the "yips" with his driver. The swing that Haney concocted for himself to be able to hit the driver again was not pretty to say the least. In fact, it was quite terrible looking and involved him completely looking away from the ball so that he never saw it at impact. For most instructors, coming out in Golf Digest, admitting to this for the past 10 years as a player and then publishing your very unconventional approach to hitting the big dog would be career suicide. But not for Haney. Not only was it not suicide, it really didn't seem to matter one bit. If the number one player in the world trusts you, that's all you need for credibility.

I never even heard of the yips with a driver - and the guy who has them is teaching the best player in world. Goes to show teaching skills are seperate from playing skills.

mattnxtc · #2 07-12-2007, 10:15 AM

Tiger Woods hasnt really been known for his driving accuracy though

Sluss · #3 07-12-2007, 04:35 PM

I have the yips with my driver. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

SluggerWV · #4 07-12-2007, 08:19 PM

I have only have heard of the yips in relation to putting

jwg152 · #5 07-12-2007, 11:44 PM

The "yips" with the driver has undone more than a few professional golfers. See Ian Baker-Finch; David Duval.
The most unbelievable shot of all time has to be IBF hooking his 1st tee shot in the 95' open championship at St. Andrews out-of-bounds left across the 18th fairway. For those who know the course, it's an almost unfathomable shot for any golfer.

Evan · #6 07-12-2007, 11:54 PM

[ QUOTE ]
The "yips" with the driver has undone more than a few professional golfers. See Ian Baker-Finch; David Duval.
The most unbelievable shot of all time has to be IBF hooking his 1st tee shot in the 95' open championship at St. Andrews out-of-bounds left across the 18th fairway. For those who know the course, it's an almost unfathomable shot for any golfer.

[/ QUOTE ]
Wow, really? This was before I played/watched golf. Can someone find a video of this? I just searched google and youtube quickly but couldn't find it.

jwg152 · #7 07-13-2007, 12:02 AM

From Wikipedia:

Baker-Finch then famously suffered a complete collapse of his game. The problems were often psychological: He would hit shots flawlessly on the practice range, and then go to the first tee and hit a weak drive into the wrong fairway. In the 1995 Open Championship at St Andrews, he notoriously hooked his first round tee-shot at the first out-of-bounds on the left side of the fairway shared with the 18th, attention was focused on him as his playing partner was Arnold Palmer, competing in his final Open. [1] In 1995 and 1996 he missed the cut, withdrew after one round, or was disqualified in all twenty nine PGA Tour events that he entered. After shooting a 92 in the first round of the 1997 British Open, an extraordinarily bad score by tournament professional standards, he withdrew from the championship and retired from tournament golf.

Evan · #8 07-13-2007, 12:11 AM

[ QUOTE ]
From Wikipedia:

Baker-Finch then famously suffered a complete collapse of his game. The problems were often psychological: He would hit shots flawlessly on the practice range, and then go to the first tee and hit a weak drive into the wrong fairway. In the 1995 Open Championship at St Andrews, he notoriously hooked his first round tee-shot at the first out-of-bounds on the left side of the fairway shared with the 18th, attention was focused on him as his playing partner was Arnold Palmer, competing in his final Open. [1] In 1995 and 1996 he missed the cut, withdrew after one round, or was disqualified in all twenty nine PGA Tour events that he entered. After shooting a 92 in the first round of the 1997 British Open, an extraordinarily bad score by tournament professional standards, he withdrew from the championship and retired from tournament golf.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yea, I knew his career ended this way. Missing the 1st fairway at St Andrew's left I had never heard of before. I'd love to see that.

TobDog · #9 07-13-2007, 12:57 AM

Im pretty sure its on tape somewhere, I remember seeing on the highlight shows that Golf Chanel shows from majors, they run like 30 or 60 minutes, and they usually run them back to back the week before a major.

ntnBO · #10 07-13-2007, 01:45 AM

There's actually more to the story with Finch. He was irked about his pairing with Palmer because it was more ceremonial and he thought that a recent champion deserved a better pairing than ceremonial. Naturally Palmer heard this and supposedly after Finch hit his tee shot OB on 1, he said something to the effect of perhaps he was the one who deserved a better pairing!

I've played the Old Course and while the fairway is 100 yards wide, it's quite feasible when the ground is firm to hit a running hook OB there. Got to play two rounds there, just unbelievable. Birdied the first hole and played the rest of the round with a certain tightness in my crotch if you know what I mean!

BO