Hank Haney Talks About Tiger Woods

Original article: http://www.bunkered.co.uk/golf_features/hank_haney_reveals_why_he_quit_as_tiger_woods_/

Hank, can you start by telling us a little about your background and how you got involved in golf?

I grew up in Chicago and I played golf as a young man. My father got me started when I was about 12. I played golf in high school and I got a scholarship to the University of Oklahoma, where I played golf and majored in education. I knew then I wanted to be a golf instructor and, as soon as I got done with college, I started teaching. I worked for a couple of years at a country club back up in Chicago. At the same time as that, I met and eventually worked for John Jacobs in his golf schools. Jim Hardy who had been my teacher was working there and got me in.

What attracted you to coaching?

I just enjoy helping people. I saw how much enjoyment people that helped me got out of it, in particular Jim Hardy. He really was a passionate teacher. It was a perfect fit for me.

Were you never tempted to join the pro tour?

No, I wasn’t good enough. I played golf in college and was a decent player but to play the tour is a whole different thing altogether. I didn’t want to be 26 or 27-years-old and never have had a job. Besides, to play the tour you need a lot of financial backing. I just wanted to get on with my career. At 23, I was the director of instruction at Pinehurst. At 26, I was the director of golf at Sweetwater, which was then the home of the LPGA.

You’ve had a huge amount of success. What’s your secret?

I’ve tried hard and I’ve had a lot of people help me along the way, so that’s the most important thing. I’ve always been a hard worker, too, a quick learner, and I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of great students.

What is your teaching philosophy? What sort of things do you look at?

My teaching is really based on the ball flight. I try to relate each person’s ball flight mistake with what they’re doing wrong at impact to cause that mistake and then I go from there and look at what your arms, hands and body are doing to cause that particular impact. Then, I come with a plan to try and correct the player’s swing, step by step. I think the most important thing when you are trying to work out where you are making mistakes is, first, to have a proper diagnosis and, second, to have a plan for how you’re going to improve. I think that’s where most people go wrong. A lot of people hit balls and exercise but have no plan for how to improve. That’s pointless.

Butch Harmon says coaches get too much praise when their players do well and too much criticism when they do badly. Do you agree with that?

Well… I’m not sure when they get the praise [laughs]. Butch must have got praise but I don’t remember me getting a lot! [laughs] As far as the criticism goes, I’d probably agree with him. Golf is an individual game and all a coach does is try to point someone in a particular direction. It’s not like the players say, “Tell me what to do and I’ll go do it.” So, Butch is right, coaches do get a lot of criticism but that’s the nature of the business. The coach is always the first person you’ll blame. You can’t fire the player or players. That’s life.

What’s the relationship like between the coaches on the tour?

There’s friendship but not a lot of interaction. When we do seminars and things like that, there’s a mutual respect but it’s not like we share ideas.

Do you ever look at what another coach is teaching and think, “That’ll never work”?

Oh, you always think that. Every teacher does because the things you believe in aren’t necessarily what another guy believes in. The way I do things isn’t the way another guy would approach his business. Doesn’t mean either of us is right or wrong, though.

You’ve been coaching for 35 years. What have been the biggest changes you’ve seen in coaching in that time?

I think the main thing is that guys have come up with different ways to package ideas. No-one has reinvented the game. They’re just trying to sell the way to play it differently. If anything has changed, it’s the use of all the video equipment and so on. It’s made it so that there aren’t a lot of surprises, no more secrets and, as a result, a lot of the instruction is getting very similar. People might say they’re different but they’re not. You’re looking at the same 5,000 frame-per-second clip, so it’s hard to miss anything. The net result of this is a lot of similar-looking swings on the tour compared with years gone by.

What’s the most common fault you’ve had to fix?

Well, with an amateur, it’s that they slice the ball. They came down at too steep of an angle and from the outside. With the pros, it’s that they get the club stuck too far from behind them, so the complete opposite in other words.

You have a number of Hank Haney Golf Academies around the world and, not long ago, opened one in China. Is there any chance you’ll open one in Scotland?

Opening academies all over the world isn’t really something that I’m focussed on but if the right opportunity arises, then I’ll look at it. China was a unique opportunity because golf is just beginning to take off there, so it’s a great time to get involved. Scotland? Well, it’s where the game began so I reckon you guys will do just fine without Hank Haney!

Let’s talk about Tiger. How has life changed for you since you guys split?

Well, I have a lot more free time, which is great. I was spending over 110 days a year with Tiger. And, you know, six years is plenty of time to spend in that type of situation. I’m thankful for the opportunity and happy to move on.

Why did you decide to stand down?

I just feel that there’s a time and a place for everything and I knew this was the time and place for me to move on. I had a great six years and I’m proud of the record that I had with Tiger. Everybody has their own opinion on things and they’re entitled to that, but no-one is entitled to their own facts and, in the last three years that I helped Tiger, he won 45 per cent of his tournaments and was top ten 85 per cent of the time. Regardless of what people’s opinions are, those are the facts. In any case, I had taught Tiger everything that I could teach him and he knew enough to kind of figure things out for himself anyway. Now, he’s decided to go in a different direction, of course, and I wish him the best of luck but, for me, it was just time to move on.

Is it true you quit by text?

Yeah, and the media made a big deal about that but, in today’s world, I don’t see why that should be an issue. A lot of people text and say, “Oh, I spoke to such and such a person” like they have actually just spoken to them. I could have just said that I spoke to Tiger and nobody would have known different. The reality was he was with his kids and couldn’t talk. I had decided I was moving on, so I text him and he replied saying, “Let’s talk in the morning”. That’s all there was to it. Plus, it’s not like I was the employer. I was the employee. It’s not as though I sacked someone via text; I resigned. I didn’t know there was a specific protocol for quitting a job. Tiger wasn’t offended by me doing that. He was fine with it.

How did you feel when you hit ‘Send’? Relieved? Sad?

I felt great. Honestly, really good. I felt like I gave Tiger everything that I had whilst I worked with him. I felt great about the accomplishments I had achieved working with him. His record was very good during our time together. His percentage of wins whilst working with Butch [Harmon] was around 28 per cent; it was around 34 per cent working with me. He won a little higher percentage of his majors working with Butch but his overall record in the majors – top tens and so on – was better with me. I always thought it would be next-to-impossible to improve upon his record with Butch because, you know, Butch is an incredible coach and did an unbelievable job with Tiger. I thought it was going to be a tall task to live up to that but I feel good about how I did. Teaching Tiger was the opportunity of a lifetime but it wasn’t meant to last forever. Six years was plenty.

How does he compare to the other golfers you’ve worked with?

He’s different. Very different and in so many ways. I think everybody can see that now.

Do you think people are seeing Tiger in a whole new light now?

Yeah, and it’s too bad, but hopefully he’s getting his life together and can come back and play great golf again.

Can he beat Jack’s record?

He’s got plenty time to do it. Jack’s record is incredible and, certainly based upon his 18 wins, he is the greatest golfer that’s ever lived. But no-one has ever played golf better than Tiger Woods. He hasn’t lost his skill, it’s just gonna take him a little while to get it back. He has time and he has a chance but four majors – and that’s just to tie – is a lot. Can he do it? Absolutely. Will he? Who knows? I wouldn’t put it past him but he’s going to have to play better, in particular putt better. His putting has been off the past few years. But he’ll figure things out.

Some of the criticism you got working with Tiger seemed pretty harsh. How did you feel being on the receiving end?

If you have no critics, you have no success. You can’t have one without the other. So, in that regard, you know criticism going to happen. At the same time, I don’t know if anybody is ever really totally prepared for it. You just have to try to do the best you can. Tiger’s record is what it is. People can say what they want but they can’t change the facts. I mean, I still read people writing, “Haney ruined Tiger’s swing”. Oh, did I? He won seven times in 2009. His best finish in 2010 was the last event I was at with him.

Did you ever feel like there was a vendetta against you?

Not really. It was just one of those things and there was nothing I could do about it. All I could do was my best and just let the record speak for itself. If Tiger hadn’t had success with me, it would have been painful. But the reality is that he did do well and any fact that somebody brings up to try to paint a picture otherwise isn’t accurate, it’s misleading. I see it all the time. “Tiger’s driving accuracy went down working with Hank Haney.” Okay, but you’ve failed to point out that every other player on the tour’s driving accuracy went down, too, not just Tiger’s. He knew he improved with me. He told me he did.

If he told you in private, does it disappoint you he never defended you more often in public, then?

Well… [long pause] he is who he is and that’s not the way he does things. You can only control the things that you are in control of and try not to worry about the things you’re not. The only thing that I could control in my relationship with

Tiger was my own ability to do the best that I could and I feel like I did that.

Now you’ve done it, is coaching Tiger the best job a golf coach can have?

If you’re looking for publicity and don’t mind whether it’s positive or negative, yeah. But choosing the best job, or the best student, or the best whatever? That’s just too hard. All I can say is that it was the opportunity of a lifetime.

How’s your relationship now?

[pauses] I don’t really know how Tiger does relationships, so I really don’t know how to answer that. I’m not sure.

Have you talked to him?

I haven’t talked to him, no. You know, he told me the most important thing to him was that we remained friends, that we had been great friends and that he wanted us to stay that way. And, well… you know [long pause].

Was that the last time you spoke?

Yes.

What about Sean Foley? What advice would you offer to him?

Sean Foley doesn’t lack in confidence so I don’t imagine he needs any advice from me. I’m sure he’ll figure some things out very quickly, though.

For example?

That it’s never as easy as it looks. No job ever is. Until you’re there and you’re in the trenches getting your hands dirty, you don’t really understand all of the obstacles and pitfalls that the job can entail. But I’m sure Sean will do a great job. He’s very talented and a great young man.

Knowing what you know now, would you do it all again with Tiger?

You mean if someone was to come and offer me the opportunity to teach the greatest player ever in the history of the game, would I take it?

Well, when you put it like that…

[laughs] Yeah, of course I would. Of course I would. But I never went into it looking to do it for the rest of my life. Like I say, six years was plenty