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Everybody knows that, but it might surprise amateur golfers to know that he’s good in part because he pays attention to the basics, and he has exceptional focus during competition.

No one seems to have Woods’ total skills set, but Brian Whitcomb, president of the PGA of America, and Rick Jensen, a sports psychologist, say any golfer can learn the basics of the swing and the transfer skills needed to compete on the course.

That connection isn’t being made by many amateur golfers. That disconnect will be explored at the biennial PGA Teaching & Coaching Summit that begins Thursday with the USA TODAY/PGA Hotline.

Whitcomb, who 20 years ago was a finalist in the National Long Drive competition, played golf with Woods at the Grand Slam in Hawaii last month. “I was looking at some pictures of him,” Whitcomb says, “and he had the club set at the top of his swing as fundamentally sound as it can be. To get to that position you start with things you do before the swing.”

Whitcomb explains those things as grip, posture, position of the ball in the stance — things that any golfer can do with little physical ability.

“His pre-swing action is flawless,” Whitcomb says. “He works hard on the basics of the swing. He keeps himself fit, and he’s serious about getting better.”

Whitcomb’s best drive during his long-drive days was 374 yards in 1986. He doesn’t drive the ball that far anymore, but he says he uses the same principles now that he used then.

“The swing is a sequence,” he says. “I believe that if I do A and B correctly then C, D, E and F will follow.”

Learning the basics

The swing might be just a chain reaction that can be mastered on the practice tee, but that reaction seems to break down once a player goes to the course. Frequently players improve the swing, but to their frustration they do not improve at golf. Jensen works extensively with touring pros, and he says amateurs have problems with golf because they never learn the basic skills in an atmosphere that tests them under pressure.

“Golf is one of the few sports that is taught on one facility and played on another,” he says. “Other sports like football and basketball are taught in the same place as they compete. The skills are learned in a way that they have to be integrated into playing the sport.”

He notes that Woods learned the golf swing and golf competition in an environment created his father, Earl, who tried to distract Tiger during their friendly rounds when Tiger was young.

Woods tells stories about his father talking while he was trying to hit a shot; having him play golf in the twilight or in the rain; anything that would force him to focus despite distractions.

“Tiger’s father came at the game as a Green Beret,” Jensen says. “He was taught to shoot a rifle, but he wasn’t taught to do it just in a sterile environment. He learned during simulated war games.”

Execution is key

Jensen doesn’t look at golf as war, but he says golfers must put themselves in uncomfortable conditions if they want to learn to execute skills effectively.

“Coaches in other sports teach this way all the time,” he says. “In basketball at the elite level they pipe in crowd noise to simulate a game atmosphere. They make players run wind sprints at the end of practice just before they shoot free throws.

“They do that so they’ll be tired and learn to perform just as they would at the end of a game. They’ll force the players to make 20 consecutive free throws before they can leave practice.”

No one could expect a recreational golfer to be that demanding of himself, but Jensen says to truly learn golf skills they must be practiced in an environment that requires a risk-reward.

If a player is learning the game, when does he know it’s time to demand more of his practice?

“If you can reproduce the swing and hit the ball with control maybe 20 consecutive times, then you need to start playing games with yourself,” he says.

That could be making yourself hit the same club, but land the ball on one side of the target, and then another. It could also include hitting a tee shot, then an iron, then a wedge, a simulation of playing a hole.

“At the professional level,” he says, “players get it because they compete for a living. Amateurs conclude their problems must be mental. It’s not that they choked. They just have not learned the skills in a competitive environment.”

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