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| On Tiger's tail |
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Articles
published on the magazine
Golf World International |
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| Emanuele
Canonica is Europe's biggest hitter, but now he's after
some of the Woods finesse. Here the Italian explains how
Tiger's coach has taught him to play a more controlled
game.
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Although I'm not big in stature, just 5ft 3in
in my spikes, I'm a naturally powerful hitter and currently
lead the driving distance statistics in Europe with an average
of 310 yards (that's ten yards further than the leader on the
US tour' John Daly). I'm proud
of that, and there's no question that hitting the ball a long
way has its advantages. But there is more to being a successful
tour pro than long driving. In the last couple of years, whenever
my game is even slightly off I've been prone to hitting some
pretty wild drives. Also, my pitching hasn't been good enough
- I suddenly find myself hitting a shot 15 or 20 yards further
than normal for no apparent reason.
If I want to win on tour, I can't afford to let that
happen. For these reasons I'd been feeling for some time
that I needed to get more control into my game. Having seen
what Butch Harmon has done for
Tiger's swing, giving him more consistency and control right
through the bag with no real loss of power, I decided to try
to set up some sessions with him. In December last year my coach
Giorgio Bordoni and I finally
got to spend a whole week with Butch at his teaching academy
in Las Vegas. Already I fell it's the best thing I could have
done for my career.
I got to see some video comparisons of my swing next
to Tiger's, which was fascinating and gave me a real insight
into the changes I should be making in my own technique. On
the practice ground we worked at slightly shortening my backswing
whit the driver, so that the club doesn't quite reach horizontal
at the top, but at the same time maintaining the width and coil
in my swing so that there's no real loss of power.
Now I can hopefully look forward to distance and accuracy off
the tee, the sort of combination that sounds good to me. I suppose
the most important thing for me, thought, is to improve my pitching,
which until last year had been the weakest part of my game.
We worked at controlling the length of my swing through the
rotary motion of my body, whereas before I was a very 'handsy'
player from 120 yards and in. This should give me much better
distance control, with obvious benefits. Butch also recommended
a comprehensive fitness programme to improve my stamina, strength
and flexibility, all of which should contribute to more consistent
performance.
It was great having Carlo whit me in Las Vegas because he could
listen to Butch and can now keep an eye on me at European Tour
events, making sure I work on the right things.
I'm really encouraged by some of the results so far. I've had
a couple of top-ten finishes already this season and I feel
totally committed now to my goals, which are to win my first
European Tour event and to make the 2001 Rider Cup team. If
I achieve that, all the hard work I've put in on these changes
will have been more than worthwhile. |
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