Research from St. FX University in Antigonish, N.S. could soon help the world's most famous golfer get back into the swing of things.
Tiger Woods hasn't won a major event in nearly six years. Now, he's hired a new swing coach, who's working closely with a Maritime professor on the subject of golf biomechanics.
Sasho MacKenzie is a human kinetics professor who studies golf biomechanics. He’s developed a 3D model that shows a golfer's swing, as well as the position of the club, relative to how the golfer moves their hands in the swing.
MacKenzie does a lot of presentations for golf professionals and instructors in Canada and the United States, which is where he met Chris Como, another golf bio-mechanics specialist based in Dallas, Texas.
“We talk at least once a week, sometimes two or three times a day if he has something that's really on his mind he's trying to sort out, in terms of biomechanics,” says MacKenzie.
Como was recently hired by Tiger Woods as a swing consultant.
Woods hasn't won a major event since 2008 and this year he failed to finish in the top ten of any tournament.
MacKenzie is thrilled to know his research might help change Woods’ game.
“I've always been a fan of Tiger Woods,” says MacKenzie. “I think golf is just more interesting when he's playing. This is exactly how I would like to see my research being used.”
Research student Daniel Boucher says helping out Woods is like scoring a hole in one.
“I think any time athletes want to use science to help them succeed, I think that's a winning formula,” says Boucher.
MacKenzie says golfers could see a difference in Woods’ swing as early as next week, when he is hosting his own tournament, the Hero World Challenge, in Windermere, Florida.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh
