Blog: Tiger has it covered from every angle

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Tiger Woods broke the course record at Cog Hill on Saturday.

After routing the field at the BMW Championship, Tiger Woods chalked-up career win number 71 -- a handful of which have now come at Cog Hill. After a course-record 62 on Saturday, it was all but over as the rest of the field of 70 teed it up on Sunday to compete in the third leg of the FedExCup Playoffs.

This win now puts Woods atop the FedExCup points list as they head into the final tournament in two weeks at the TOUR Championship Presented by Coca Cola in Atlanta. With $10 million on the line, any of the top five players can win the FedExCup with a win at East Lake: Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson and Heath Slocum joining Tiger Woods in having this opportunity.

It's hard to believe 2009 could be considered one of Tiger's best seasons with six wins, but no major titles. After season-ending surgery in 2008 and a long comeback that extended into 2009, Woods has been very pleased with how he has played all season stating on Sunday evening, "I've never had a year where I have been this consistent." Without a doubt it has been a superb comeback from nearly 10 months away from the game.

What Can We Learn
One of the things that has contributed to Tiger's consistency is how well he controls his angle of approach into the ball. You may have noticed with Tiger that he really hits down on the ball allowing the clubhead to hit the ball first and then peel the divot. Hitting down on the ball is something every PGA TOUR player does very well.

In order to take a divot in front of the ball like Tiger, you must understand the proper impact condition. At impact, the club shaft must return so that the handle is on the target side of the clubhead. This will result in the clubhead descending and accelerating through the hitting area. With the clubhead moving down, it is recommended that most of your weight is on the lead foot with the hips rotating. This support in the body will help insure that the divot occurs in front of the ball.

At the TOUR Academies, one of the most common errors we see is the club shaft returning to impact the wrong way so that the clubhead is ahead of the handle. This will result in the clubhead ascending and de-accelerating through the hitting area. When this happens the clubhead will bottom out before the ball creating "fat" or "thin" contact depending on how far behind the ball the contact with the ground occurs.

To solve this problem, adjust your "aim point" on the downswing. Aim point is a term used to direct the right arm (right-handed golfer) on the downswing. The true aim point for the right arm should be past the ball and adjacent to the left shoulder.

To better understand the "aim point" follow these steps without a club:

• Stand tall and extend your right arm with a bent right wrist as if you were going to push something.

• Begin to fold your right elbow and then straighten it directly in front of your right shoulder. Continue to do this so you get the feeling how right elbow folds and then straightens maintaining the bend in the right wrist.

• Bow forward from your hips and assume a golf posture with the ball in the center of your stance. Continue to fold and straighten your right arm directly in front of your right shoulder. Notice how the aim point of your right arm is too far to the right of the ball. This aim point of the right arm will encourage the inconsistent impact conditions I described earlier.

• Adjust your aim point now to the left of the ball -- adjacent the left shoulder. First stand up tall and continue to fold and straighten your right elbow once again maintaining the bend in the right wrist. However this time allow the right arm to straighten across the mid-line of your chest.

• Bow forward from hips assuming a golf posture with the ball in the center of your stance. Continue to fold and straighten your right arm across your chest's mid-line. Notice how the aim point of your right arm is now past the ball moving the swing's low point ahead of the ball.

A drill that ties this all together is the two-tee drill. This encourages you to move the aim point of the right arm past the ball and encourages a more reliable angle of approach and improved impact condition.

Here is how you set-up the two-tee drill.

• Tee up a ball in the middle of the stance using an 8-iron.

• Place a second tee four inches ahead of the ball.

• Make a swing trying to drive the clubhead towards the second tee through the efforts of the right arm as described above. If successful, you will clip the second tee out of the ground and you will have hit the ball on a descending angle.

• Start with small swings where the club stays below the waist both during the backswing and follow-through. These little swings can go a long way when learning to hit down on the ball.

Just Because
What another great week of sports with week 3 of the FedExCup Playoffs, week 2 in college Football and, oh yes -- week 1 in the NFL. You know I have to mention the 28-0 whipping the Seahawks put on the Rams on Sunday. After a very slow start in the first quarter, the Seahawks turned it on with an impressive second half highlighted by a dominating defense.

Now I know it's only one game and it's the Rams. However, it feels great to get off to a 1-0 start after a depressing 4-12 disaster last year. Watching the Seahawks win concluded my vacation across the Pacific Northwest as my girlfriend and I enjoyed stops in Montana, Idaho and Washington. I think we now need a vacation from our vacation.

See you soon from Atlanta!