What If Tiger Played Player's Cavity Back?

[93civiccpe]

Tiger Woods has hand/eye coordination pretty much unlike anybody ever seen in the world of golf. When you read/listen to his descriptions of what he is trying to do with his irons, how he strikes them, how he is able to make the most infinitesimal adjustments to his swing to alter his ball strikes, you conclude that a blade is what he needs t work his magic, and not just any blade. I have read articles about how he will test club after club and reject them until one feels exactly how he wants it to feel.

I don’t think he would get the level of feel and maneuverability with a cavity back that he wants and it would probably play with his mind to where his ball striking would be worse, not better. His best change of surpassing Jack is to play the exact equipment he desires and having good luck to hold up physically. Even then, I don’t think he can get there at this point, but I would never bet against him.

This exactly. A friend in the industry was telling a story about them building 10 putters for Tiger to try and he grabbed each of the by the handle, waggled them, then handed them back. Only 1 made the cut for him to actually putt with and try out. (it was rejected as well). He is demanding with what he wants out of his irons which is impressive. They say some guys you can hand them anything and they will swing it and be fine but both Tiger and Phil are very picky with what they like.

 

[jvbart]

This might shed some light on the differences.

Thanks! I'll check it out.

 

[Templet0n]

Tiger is smarter at golf by far than everyone on this forum and millions of $'s are riding on his play. I'm pretty sure he is playing the best clubs for his game.

I always wonder when I hear things like this. I will not argue at all that is is a far better golfer than I am. I don't know about smarter though. Being able to hit the correct shot is much different from knowing what the correct shot is.

I don't know I always get a little annoyed at things like this. He is the greatest at playing the game. He is mentally strong under the toughest pressures. That does not necessarily mean he is the smartest at golf. There are lots of people with vast knowledge of the game. They just do not have the stills that he does/did.

 

[DataDude]

I always wonder when I hear things like this. I will not argue at all that is is a far better golfer than I am. I don't know about smarter though. Being able to hit the correct shot is much different from knowing what the correct shot is.

I don't know I always get a little annoyed at things like this. He is the greatest at playing the game. He is mentally strong under the toughest pressures. That does not necessarily mean he is the smartest at golf. There are lots of people with vast knowledge of the game. They just do not have the stills that he does/did.

Have you listened to him talk about golf? He knows his crap. He is far smarter than any tour player I have listened to discuss the game. He also has more shots than any of the other players out there today. He is a golf savant.

He's also the best iron ball striker in the history of the game so questioning his selection of irons is a bit presumptuous.

 

[Snickerdog]

The simple answer is not it would not improve his chances any. He doesn't need the forgiveness and likely never will.

 

[OGputtnfool]

But how many times has he lost a Tournament by just one or two strokes.

In Majors? By my count, 10. That's a fairly telling stat, IMO.

 

[Bunker Snot]

I wouldn't mess with the mans irons, driver, putter yes but not the irons.

 

[Templet0n]

Have you listened to him talk about golf? He knows his crap. He is far smarter than any tour player I have listened to discuss the game. He also has more shots than any of the other players out there today. He is a golf savant.

He's also the best iron ball striker in the history of the game so questioning his selection of irons is a bit presumptuous.

I agree he has all the shots, and is the best iron player of all time. Zero argument there. He has been playing golf long enough, that I would expect him to be able to speak to it. I am not questioning his selection of irons, I am doing the opposite actually.

I am simply questioning whether he knows more about the game of golf than anyone else.. I am not sure that is true. It may be. i just am not willing to say he is the 'smartest" just because he is the best. Does that make sense? Does he know more about the game of golf than I do? Of course, he has far greater experience. Both in playing, designing courses and clubs etc. I am just not so easily willing to concede he know more than anyone..

 

[tahoebum]

In Majors? By my count, 10. That's a fairly telling stat, IMO.

Nicklaus has 19 runner ups and 48 top three finishes in Majors. Tiger has six runner ups and I think 26 top threes.

 

[DataDude]

I agree he has all the shots, and is the best iron player of all time. Zero argument there. He has been playing golf long enough, that I would expect him to be able to speak to it. I am not questioning his selection of irons, I am doing the opposite actually.

I am simply questioning whether he knows more about the game of golf than anyone else.. I am not sure that is true. It may be. i just am not willing to say he is the 'smartest" just because he is the best. Does that make sense? Does he know more about the game of golf than I do? Of course, he has far greater experience. Both in playing, designing courses and clubs etc. I am just not so easily willing to concede he know more than anyone..

I said smarter at playing golf than anyone on this forum. That's different than knowing more about the game than anyone else.

 

[tahoebum]

I agree he has all the shots, and is the best iron player of all time. Zero argument there. He has been playing golf long enough, that I would expect him to be able to speak to it. I am not questioning his selection of irons, I am doing the opposite actually.

I am simply questioning whether he knows more about the game of golf than anyone else.. I am not sure that is true. It may be. i just am not willing to say he is the 'smartest" just because he is the best. Does that make sense? Does he know more about the game of golf than I do? Of course, he has far greater experience. Both in playing, designing courses and clubs etc. I am just not so easily willing to concede he know more than anyone..

Brandell Chamblee knows more than Tiger or anyone else about the game, just ask him.

 

[JB]

Have you listened to him talk about golf? He knows his crap. He is far smarter than any tour player I have listened to discuss the game. He also has more shots than any of the other players out there today. He is a golf savant.

He's also the best iron ball striker in the history of the game so questioning his selection of irons is a bit presumptuous.

He is a very smart golfer.
I dont think he is the smartest with equipment. And genuinely, I think he would say the same. He does however know what he likes and doesn’t change often.

 

[tequila4kapp]

He's arguably the greatest iron player in the history of the game. I suppose theoretically anyone could be helped by more forgiveness but it seems more likely that someone at that skill level benefits more from the precision that can come with certain blade designs.

 

[Templet0n]

Brandell Chamblee knows more than Tiger or anyone else about the game, just ask him.

Well Brandell is smarter than everyone about everything.. We all know that.

 

[tahoebum]

He's arguably the greatest iron player in the history of the game. I suppose theoretically anyone could be helped by more forgiveness but it seems more likely that someone at that skill level benefits more from the precision that can come with certain blade designs.

I have about 1/10th the precision of Tiger with my irons and when I tried more forgiving, longer hitting irons(Callaway XR Pros) for a couple of years, it hurt my accuracy and ability to control the ball especially into or downwind. That resulted in a loss of confidence that immediately returned when I switched back to my less forgiving Z765 forged cavity backs.

Most golfers don't realize it but the larger clubhead size of SGI irons makes it harder (compared to a shorter toe to heel clubhead) to square up the face through impact. More forgiveness also often means less feedback and the ability to shape shots, something the pros need more than forgiveness.

 

[JB]

Most golfers don't realize it but the larger clubhead size of SGI irons makes it harder (compared to a shorter toe to heel clubhead) to square up the face through impact. More forgiveness also often means less feedback and the ability to shape shots, something the pros need more than forgiveness.

These are definitely not absolutes.
Squaring up the face can be just as much about where weight is placed to size.

 

[tahoebum]

These are definitely not absolutes.
Squaring up the face can be just as much about where weight is placed to size.

You are correct as usual. I was generalizing but I certainly noticed it last time I swung a SGI Taylormade iron on the simulator. Not only did it look clunky to me but I could feel the toe not coming around as fast through impact.

 

[robrandalgz]

Have you listened to him talk about golf? He knows his crap. He is far smarter than any tour player I have listened to discuss the game. He also has more shots than any of the other players out there today. He is a golf savant.

He's also the best iron ball striker in the history of the game so questioning his selection of irons is a bit presumptuous.

I have to agree, here. I was watching a a video of him at the range and I don't know if he was testing new balls, or working on a certain trajectory shot, or what but he was calling out the RPMs of each shot with some pretty remarkable accuracy (confirmed after he called it out by a Trackman or GCQuad). People seem to forget that this guy has had a club in his hands from, literally, the time he could walk and he's spent a good portion of that time helping manufacturers develop everything he's played in his adult life (not to mention being at the forefront of revolutionizing the golf ball that we ALL play today). He knows more about the FEEL of golf than almost anyone on the planet. So, yeah, you can get your armies of engineers and research teams to come up with a plethora or formulas and designs. They still aren't in the same universe as Tiger about how golf equipment should play (at least at the pro level).

 

[Badger_Golfer]

He probably wouldnt play as well with them because he likes the feel and consistency of blades, not to mention he prefers more traditonal, weaker lofts. For players like Tiger, its more about feel and consistent distance than it is forgiveness and distance anyways.
It may work for Brooks and others but its not everything.

 

[OGputtnfool]

Nicklaus has 19 runner ups and 48 top three finishes in Majors. Tiger has six runner ups and I think 26 top threes.

Yeah, we're not talking about placing in the tournament, though. We're talking about how many strokes he lost by. Some of Nicklaus' losses were by far more than 2 strokes. I did start to count up Jack's and found he had 5 Masters finishes within 2 strokes, but had to leave work so I didn't finish. I think that stat (how many tournaments lost by 2 strokes or less) is far more telling than finish for anyone... Tiger, Jack, or any other player. You could feasibly miss a play off by 2 strokes and if there were 4 in the play off and 3 guys tied for 3rd, one shot off the playoff, then you'd be 2 shots back and in 8th place. I'd call that better than finishing 2nd, 7 strokes back, any day.

 

[Flipit]

His work ethic and need to be perfect tells me he could master the CB as well.

 

[GolfTravelDude]

Doesn't matter what clubs Tiger uses 20 majors not happening...infact 15 isn't happening...Too many young guns

 

[93civiccpe]

Doesn't matter what clubs Tiger uses 20 majors not happening...infact 15 isn't happening...Too many young guns

I love how many people are so sure he can't win another.. They said the exact same thing before he won the Masters last year. He has shown he can still win big tournaments. I think he has a good shot at winning another major. Not sure if he will win multiple but he will still be in contention for a while. The scary thing from this weekend is the part of his game that let him down was his putting which was always the strongest part of his game. His driving has improved and his iron shots were good as well. If that flat stick heats up then watch out.

 

[GolfTravelDude]

I love how many people are so sure he can't win another.. They said the exact same thing before he won the Masters last year. He has shown he can still win big tournaments. I think he has a good shot at winning another major. Not sure if he will win multiple but he will still be in contention for a while. The scary thing from this weekend is the part of his game that let him down was his putting which was always the strongest part of his game. His driving has improved and his iron shots were good as well. If that flat stick heats up then watch out.

I love how Tiger was an arrogant hump for his first 15 years....Had his issues with wife and such...makes a comeback and becomes the nicest guy...and everybody just goes gaga....We all have our opinions. I respect his game, just don't like the man.

 

[93civiccpe]

I love how Tiger was an arrogant hump for his first 15 years....Had his issues with wife and such...makes a comeback and becomes the nicest guy...and everybody just goes gaga....We all have our opinions. I respect his game, just don't like the man.

I won't argue with you there and know there are a lot of the anti - Tiger folks out there. To be honest, I'm a fan of how he (and several others) play golf. I have never been a fan because of how good of a husband /father /person they are. I can separate it. If I only rooted for athletes who were good, honest people who didn't do drugs /sleep around /other bad habits then I doubt there would be a sport I could watch or cheer for. But that doesnt change the fact that he's won multiple tournaments in the past year including a major. I'll never get onboard the "Tiger's a great guy" train but to think he's not possible of winning another major seems silly.