Stfx Research A Hole In One For Tiger Woods?
November 28th, 2014
StFX human kinetics professor Dr. Sasho MacKenzie’s research, which has long been touted as groundbreaking by golf experts, is now going to play a role in Tiger Woods’s daily practice.
Tiger Woods’s new coach, Chris Como, has worked weekly with the StFX golf researcher over the last several years. Now that the StFX professor’s partner in golf research has been recruited by Woods as his coach, the golf legend will benefit from Dr. MacKenzie’s world renowned research in golf biomechanics.
His research focuses on the optimal way to move the club and body during the golf swing. “Chris and I have a great relationship. I’m extremely happy for him to be recruited by Tiger and very excited that some of my research may facilitate Chris’s work with arguably the best golfer to have ever played the game,” says Dr. MacKenzie.
The StFX professor’s research has been called revolutionary by Golf WRX, a leading golf news source. Dr. MacKenzie is known as the person at the top in the golf teaching world.
“I believe Dr. MacKenzie’s research is at the forefront of golf science,” says Tiger Woods’s golf coach Chris Como. “To my knowledge, Sasho was the first to develop a true 3D forwards dynamics model of the golf swing and he used that model to shape the golf industry’s understanding of the role the club shaft plays in the golf swing. The latest version of Sasho’s mathematical model is allowing us to understand the individual contributions from each hand during the swing. Until the development of his model this was not possible.”
Tiger’s coach says Dr. MacKenzie’s research is very relevant to golf instructors. “His paper on the importance of appropriately positioning the center of gravity of the club, relative to the path of the hands was eye-opening. If a golf instructor wants to comprehend the cause-and-effect nature of the swing, then understanding this concept should be at the top of the list,” added Mr. Como.
“I’ve had hundreds of conversations with Sasho over the past three years,” he said. “Some have been strictly about understanding biomechanical concepts, while others have been about specific golf swing theories.”
Dr. MacKenzie and Mr. Como are currently working on a research project and have plans to expand into different areas of the golf industry.