Changing the basics of your game is hard enough to do when you are losing; doing it when you are winning is almost unprecedented. Woods made the change because he felt his swing was not consistent enough. Making a change took time, and it initially caused a decline in Wood's performance. As most people now know, the change ultimately paid off. Tiger's recent victory in the U.S. Open and the British Open, and a second Masters' title are proof of a special kind of courage.

This type of courage comes from measuring yourself against your own high standards rather than another's standards. Although Woods and Michael Jordan could beat most other players without making changes, their courage allowed them to improve and rank among the greatest athletes of modern times.

Michael Jordan played a very different game at the end of his career than he did at the beginning. As he lost some of his remarkable leaping ability, he added other elements to his game every off-season. Despite regularly leading the league in scoring, Jordan worked to change and improve his game every summer, as if he were a rookie trying to make a team.

Training Tip

If you want to be better than you are, you may have to change the way you do things. You need the best information about your current level, focus on what level you want to reach and decide if you can get there from where you are. If not, have your coach help you understand what you might need to change. A big change may cause you to perform poorly for a while; this may be scary. However, if you are brave enough, you can take your performance to the next level!

Coaching Point

As a coach you can assist your athlete by paying close attention to any small successes achieved by these changes. Athletes may be too upset about poor performances to stick with the change, and if you do not put extra work into reinforcing the little wins, you may lose your last chance to make a meaningful change. Remind your athletes that Tiger Woods was "pretty good" before he took apart his game, and he was also anxious and frustrated during the change process.