Tiger Woods problems with his marriage have eroded Tiger golf swing (at least during the years of 2009 to early 2011) because they have caused damage to his short game and to his psyche. This much was admitted by his 2011 coach Sean Foley.

And while I do not mean to beat up on a man that is down, I do believe that what Tiger Woods is going through is a learnable moment for us amateur golfers. Simply put, the short game and the golf psyche are the first things to go when you have not played golf for a while and they are the toughest things to improve on. So improve these areas and don’t let them erode if you want to maintain or improve your golf game.

Article after article have been written about how the stress from Tiger Woods problems with his marriage and worry about his children (not to mention Tiger Woods injuries ) have destroyed his game. To the contrary, it is the time that these problems have taken away from his short game practice and mental psyche that have caused him problems.

Several times in 2009 and 2010 we witnessed Tiger missing putts, being unable to come out of the sand and being incapable of tapping into that Tiger magic that captivated us all in the past. Why? Well, that type of magic is temporal and fleeting and highly dependant on an incredible golf work ethic.

The average golfer is the same as Tiger in this respect. Often times what keeps golfers from getting to the next level with their game is a lack of work ethic on their game. This is especially true for the weekend golfers and their short game and mental psyche.

Learning to calm yourself under stressful conditions and to execute putts, chip, and it sand shots when a par or birdie are on the line takes confidence in your ability. This confidence comes from watching yourself succeed in practice over and over again. These shots also take more focus than other shots because there are so many variables and options involved. Of course, then there is the need for touch, something that is not nears as prevalent with full shots.

At least Tiger is putting in the work to get these areas of his game back to a higher level. I suggest that all of us golfers do the same. We need to practice enough on our weaker areas of our short game to have confidence, focus and feel.

Watch this free up you mentally to the point where you will play better in all areas of your golf game. You won’t feel so much pressure to hit every drive and iron perfect because your short game will always be there to save you. Without that pressure you will swing your driver and irons more freely. Further, your short game confidence, feel and focus will leak over into your drive and iron shots.

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