The ‘interesting’ thing Tiger Woods would regularly do in practice which amazed his former coach Chris Como

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Although some may assume otherwise, being Tiger Woods’ coach cannot always be easy, with the 15-time major champion arguably the greatest talent to have ever played the game.

Of course, Tiger Woods probably did not need a coach to have a phenomenal career. He seemed to be capable of things that so many of his peers did not have in the locker. Nevertheless, working with the likes of Butch Harmon and Hank Haney allowed Woods to break all kinds of records at his peak.

It was surely a much harder task for Chris Como, who began to work with the 48-year-old in 2014. While Woods could still attract enormous crowds to events, it was around that time where it started to become apparent that he was unlikely to ever be as dominant as he had been earlier in his career.

Woods still had much of the old magic. However, he was starting to deal with a body which could often let him down. So it must have been an incredibly frustrating time for Woods and Como. Woods went five years without winning on the PGA Tour between 2013 and 2018.

Chris Como shares what he found interesting about how Tiger Woods practiced

But that did nothing to impact Woods’ hunger to get back to his best. Speaking to the Performance Golf Podcast earlier this year, Como – who now works with Xander Schauffele – explained how he was intrigued by Woods would often schedule his practice as he was asked about working with him.

“He has such a great sense of his body; he has such a great spacial awareness of his own body and how to move it. So there’s times where I’m just wowed by it, that unique talent in a sense,” he said.

“I thought the way he practiced was really cool. This is not so much at a tournament, but a lot of times, people will break up their practice, ‘I’m going to putt for 20 minutes, I’m going to chip for 30 minutes, I’m going to hit balls for 30 minutes, and I’m going to do that everyday’. Again, this is more in an off week, but he would have times where he would spend a whole day chipping, or a whole day putting, or a whole day whatever it is. I thought it was interesting.

“And part of my interpretation of this was he’s very much a learner, he’s thinking, intellectual, curious; he likes to learn. And I think for him, even though he’s obviously figured out so much stuff in his golf, he was always figuring stuff out which I thought was so interesting.”

The coaches Woods has had during his career

Woods has had a number of coaches over the course of his career. As well as Harman, Haney and Como, he would also spend a few years working with Sean Foley. Since splitting with Como, Woods has been without a recognised coach.

It would be harsh to be draw too many conclusions about his lack of success while working with Foley and Como given that he was dealing with a number of injuries. Ultimately, Woods is probably so aware of his swing by now that the coaches during the latter stages of his career probably focused on keeping him on the right path rather than looking to make substantial changes.

It would be fascinating to know what Woods would have done had he continued to work with Butch Harmon. No golfer has perhaps been better than Woods was in the 2000 season, and their work together gave him the platform to push on towards Jack Nicklaus‘ tally of majors.

He enjoyed huge success with Haney too. And perhaps that change did prove to be a difference-maker. But because that switch was made, many will forever wonder whether it could have been even better for Woods.