Johnny Miller

Bart

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Feb 6, 2005
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Johnny Miller made a big splash and was quite the phenom for a time. He was the Tiger Woods of his day. His star burned white hot but faded too quickly.He wrote something about his swing I found interersting. After winning some titles and majors he quit golf for a year or so to raise a family and create a home life. He worked very hard on his ranch doing a lot of physical labor.He said the work made him fit and muscular. When he rejoined the tour he found he was not as limber as he was and NEVER quiteregained his fluid stroke. Many boxing trainers have told their pupils to stay away from weights for the same reasons.


Most modern strength coaches feel if athletes stretch they would not become what was known as musclebound but I'm not so sure. Tiger Woods was lifting weights religiously and writers mentioned he looked bulkier, stronger and had added width to his shoulders. Could his strength training have contributed to the demise of his swing? Could he have tightened up a bit losing some flexibility or did he rely too much on Butch Harmon?


Having played baseball and golf I have to agree with what Ted Williams said. Swinging a bat and swinging a club are very different mechanically. A beautiful golf swing can be messed up easily. evena slight non perceptible change can wreak havoc with a pro's game. From the photo's of Woods I've seen recently, it lookd to me he has shrunk a bit. Maybe not but I'll watch the Masters and get a better look.
 

Don Wassall

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Good points, Bart. If youlook atgolf players of the past, they were almost always lean, including the long hitters. The golf swing is as much about timing, fluidity and speed as it is about power.


Athletes in all sports used to be leaner than they are now. Of course, propaganda wise, the images of today's bulked-up (mostly black) athletes are used visually to enforce the myth that they are "superior" to yesterday's leaner (mostly white) athletes.


The same beefed up trend is true of society in general. Most young men go for the bulked up look because it "helps them get girls" and because society promotes positive attitudes toward that look. But muscles do not equal athletic ability, and we all know also how fundamentals have been cast aside to placate the new look and attitude when it comes to today's "superior" athletes.
 
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