THE SECRET OF TIGER WOODS' SUCCESS

When Tiger Woods won last year's Masters' tournament, all most golf fans saw was an athlete with awe-inspiring physical talent who was destined to carry the game on his shoulders. Little did they realize the true key to Woods' success was mental preparation.

According to an April 7 Associated Press report, Woods' coach Butch Harmon structured an extensive game plan for his prodigy. Harmon had Woods thoroughly scout Augusta National, making sure he knew every nook and cranny of the course. He had Woods play practice rounds with such legends as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Ben Crenshaw - guys who had not only been to Augusta before, but who had beaten it. Harmon's goal? A golfer who knows the layout by heart can better adjust to its tricks and angles.

"That was my main purpose in those practice rounds - to have him play with people who know how the greens break," Harmon said, "know where the pins will be on Sunday, know what spots you have to hit on the green to have the ball funnel to the hole."

It's called doing your homework, and it is a lost art for many of today's athletes.

Case in point - Kordell Stewart. Throughout this past season, the Steeler quarterback struggled during the first half of each game, then put on a quarterbacking clinic during the third and fourth quarters. Every football fan and his mother has a theory why, but the answer is obvious: Stewart didn't do his homework.

During the first half, Stewart was learning the defense. He was adjusting to blitz schemes and coverage packages that each opponent threw at him - information he should have gathered via video tape prior to kickoff. But once Stewart was acclimated to the defense he was facing (usually late in the second quarter), he found its holes and began to tear it apart.

Bottom line? Kordell Stewart will not be a great quarterback until he starts doing his homework.

There are many rookies and young stars who are flippantly proclaimed the next great superstar in their sport. But physical skills alone didn't make Michael Jordan, Barry Sanders, or Mark McGwire into the future Hall-of-Famers they are today.

Jordan had to know if he was facing a fast break team or a ball-control offense long before he won five NBA titles. Sanders had to know where the gaps would be before he could break through the line and shatter record after record. McGwire had to know where a guy like Randy Johnson or Greg Maddux would pitch him before he could even think out taking that pitch out of the park.

And Tiger Woods needed to know the course he was challenging years before he could don the green jacket.

"One of the great things about Tiger is how open he is to information," Harmon told reporters. "He knows that as good as he is, he can't do it on talent alone. He listens and he soaks up information like a sponge.

"Another impressive thing about Tiger is how he uses information. He is not afraid to take something he learned right out onto the course, whether it's something we're working on with his swing or something we talked about on how to play the course."

And that is what has and will make Woods a star in the world of golf.

Remember that shipping and handling are included in US prices.

Rocket eBook versions. (To order from BN.com, just click on the icon)

© All Rights Reserved DiskUs Publishing™