In reading about the U.S. Open that is presently taking place it seems as though the reporters are still focused mainly on Tiger who is not playing. It appears that he still has not recovered from his leg injury and is unable to execute his typical swing. With this in mind I thought it might be apropos to address his physical problems in a letter.
I was sorry to see that you were not able to maintain your pace at the recent competition. From what I have been able to determine, your problems revolve around a swing change that you’re currently undergoing in addition to overcoming the knee injury.
You’re quoted as saying that, “It takes reps and it takes reps under competition before these changes get dialed in.” I agree with this assessment but question the amount of time that it may take. I say this because your progress can be speeded up if you would do some specialized strength exercises that duplicate the actions involved in the changes that you are making. There are probably also some specialized knee and leg exercises that you can do to not only better enable you to make the technique changes, but also to prevent further injury to the knee
Since you are well known for your strength workouts it should be no problem for you to incorporate some of these exercises that are highly specialized in regard to the swing. Understand that all exercises are not equal. From what I can gather most of the exercises that you do are for general overall fitness as this is what most trainers are qualified to teach.
However, the concept of specialized exercise is a relatively new. It was originated by the Russians and refined and expanded in my research. See my book Explosive Golf for examples of exercises that duplicate the key actions involved in the swing. By knowing the changes that you are presently making, it is relatively easy to come up with exercises to duplicate this action(s) so that you can speed up the muscular development, feel for the movement and muscle memory.
Specialized exercises have an immediate effect on learning and enhancement of specific actions. They not only involve the same neuromuscular pathway but also the same type of muscular contraction. In addition, you develop strength in exactly the same range of motion as it is displayed in execution of the swing. By doing these exercises I feel confident you’ll see a faster learning curve and even enhancement in your ability to not only make the changes, but to execute a better hit. At the same time you will be able to prevent injury.