How Did Tiger Choose Chris Como?

There is a huge necessity for a coach and the joy of having the right coach is highly important.

Tiger is on his 5th coach.

Tiger is goingTiger_Woods_-_AT&T_National_tournament_2009 into 5th relationship with a PGA coach, giving him help on his game. If you look through media Chris Como is regarded as his coach.

When Butch Harmon started working with Tiger as an amateur, was Harmon labelled his coach or his teacher?

Was Rudy Duran, the first professional Tiger worked with, considered his instructor?

The point is; what separates a coach, from instructor, from teacher?

There have been lots of articles written about coaches in sport. Lately this term is applied to individuals who do more than merely explain and instruct the golf swing. Is Como considered Tiger’s coach or swing coach? The question raised after parting ways with Sean Foley was “Does Tiger actually need a coach”?

Some people would argue yes, others no. By definition,  a coach is a person who trains, prepares or instructs. When we look at it this way, the word coach can encomapss so many variables around golf. The transition to have pros become coaches, rather than just instructors or teachers of the golf swing, allows for so many more opportunities for golfers and juniors to become successful.

In order to be successful, you must be a multi-faceted coach. Coaches have so much depth to their work. It’s not just training. There are lessons, practice plans, psychological processes, personality adjustments, personal preferences and way more to take into account. To be prepared, as a coach, there needs to be a plan, guide, roadmap on which your eduction can allow your student to visualize the road they are going down.

Instructing means breaking down finer points to better understand the workings and why they are better done in a certain order or method.

Who knows how many coaches one should go through in their life span? What the golfer needs to find in a good coach is someone they connect with personality wise, holds a good reputation, is well respected, has taken the necessary training and are always improving themselves.

Finding a good coach is all about obtaining life’s points of balance:

Fun / play

Relationships

Trying hard / mastery

Commitment

Helping others

Trust / honesty

Once you find a coach that can fulfil all of these, you will be well on your way to really improving your golf and your life.

Chris Como most likely hits all of these life balance points in line with Tiger’s personality and what he is looking for in his game.