Tiger Stars In Nike Ad For The Driver He's Not Using

Thanks to Mike Walker for spotting the new 30-second ad which includes Tiger but never shows him using the driver because, unlike some, he typically doesn't put something in his bag until he's absolutely sure it's right for him.

Nice work by the "creatives" to get around that:

Comments

[benseattle]

Yep... kinda cute, kinda clever, kinda funny. Only problem with all the "THIS driver is longer" is the simple fact that the SHAFT is going to have greatly more influence over your length than some techy new clubhead. Sadly, this is again catering to the sad and ancient notion that YOU CAN BUY A GOLF GAME. Never happened, never will. If all these chops buying into the cute, clever and funny commercials would actually Go Get Fitted for a driver that has the correct length, loft and lie, that matches a shaft with their swing speed, launch angle and swing path... they would have MUCH more success than simply buying into the 100-year-old siren that is posed by American Advertising. To all golfers I would ask: Seriously.... you're not THAT gullible, are you?

[Kevin part deux]

He's playing the model shown at 0:12.

Thank you, thank you very much. I'm here 'til Thursday.

[Blue Canyon]

which course in So. Cal is this filmed at?

[Stord]

That's a very clever ad - Nike really have some fantastic people working for them

[Jesse]

BenSeattle: Isn't there a ledge out there you should be on? Easy, man. It's just golf.

[kafka01]

Tiger is probably pretty upset about it as it took him two shots to get there with his "old" driver :)

[metro18]

@Ben. The shaft is a third of it. The other two thirds is the head. You think Taylor Made is all about the shaft? Ask a club fitter and they will tell you the same. I do agree about the rest however.

[Pepperdine]

@Ben -

Do you believe a 18-23 'capper has a swing path consistent enough to justify a fitting? Or that a fitting will assist with a ball flight that changes from one "unfolding lawn chair" swing to the next? I'm curious.

[benseattle]

Metro, I will still respectfully disagree. Two-thirds is the HEAD? Think of it this way. If that were true, if there was one hotter, technically superior driver head out there, then Tour pros would instantly dump their current (endorsed) model and play THAT one.

<< Do you believe a 18-23 'capper has a swing path consistent enough to justify a fitting? Or that a fitting will assist with a ball flight that changes from one "unfolding lawn chair" swing to the next? I'm curious. >>

Quite simply, yes. And it's not just MY opinion that says EVERY golfer would benefit from properly-fit clubs... it's any golf professional you talk to. Now, will a fitted set turn that 100-shooter into a par-busting machine overnight? Of course not, but when you look at all the golfers playing shafts that are too stiff, drivers that are too long or have too little loft, etc. it ONLY MAKES SENSE that a correct set of clubs is going to do less to hold that golfer back. The slightly more advanced player will find that he's more consistent, has a desired ball flight, picks up a few yards and more.

Good gosh, guys, read any equipment issue of any golf magazine and you'll see that today EVERYBODY is advocating getting fitted because even your big-box golf retailer is now equipped with video and launch monitors. Seriously.... why WOULDN'T you take advantage of the same technology used by professional golfers? Buying a set of clubs directly "off the rack" that are made for some mythical "average" golfer is SO 2003.

Happy golfing.

[Tommy Naccarato]

Blue Canyon, the glimpses are so quick (and I don't want to think too hard) but some of it looks like its Friendly Hills and North Ranch

[Chuck]

The best $400 that you can spend on trying to play better golf is buying 40 buckets of practice balls, and the next-best $400 that you can spend on trying to play better golf is on lessons with a good pro. (If anybody wishes to reverse those two things, I won't argue.)

After that, the best $400 that you can spend on trying to play better golf would be on a club fitting, then buying that club 18 months later, used, when it has lost 2/3 of its value.

The worst $400 that you can spend on trying to play better golf is buying new equipment after a clever commercial informs you of what is new, fashionable and hot.

[metro18]

@ Ben. Luke Donald would be one. I'll check around today, because I know there are more.
The shaft makes the head work, granted, but those extra 17 yards that TM are advertising, are no lie.

[Kevin part deux]

Ben if you think that big box retailers actually sell a lot of "custom" equipment, then you are mistaken. Those simulators and launch monitors are just a vehicle to loosen up customers to buy equipment off the rack.

[OWGR Fan]

Tiger isn't the only Nike staffer thats not playing the Covert driver. He is the only one of note though.

[Pepperdine]

@Ben -

I hear ya that in a general sense - having proper length shafts and comfy grips would help everybody. But when that 100-shooter comes into the ball from 10 different directions on each of 10 different swings ... I would think it becomes very difficult for a clubfitter to understand exactly what the best "fit" (in regards to loft/lie specifically) for the client would be.

Lessons? Sure ... then when an understand of that individuals particular golf "action" gets discovered - it's fitting time. As long as they wait (like Chuck said) for all the clubs they want to show up on 3balls.com or some such, lol.

[Stanley Thompson]

If you don't have the right shaft, it doesn't matter what head is on your club.

[metro18]

@ Stanley. True, but you could put a rubbish head on the best shaft in the world and you would still have crap.
This idea that the shaft is the be all and end all, is flat out wrong. It's a combination of the both.

[Stanley Thompson]

metro 8,

I agree but you need a good shaft to put whatever head on.

[benseattle]

<< The best $400 that you can spend on trying to play better golf is buying 40 buckets of practice balls, >>

I will contest this notion until the day I day. Every time I go to the range, I see struggling golfers whaling away at yet another bucket and all they're doing is GROOVING THE FAULTS THEY ALREADY HAVE. Not one percent of these guys is trying to "fix" his swing.... he's just hitting ball after ball and when luck plus happenstance finally allows solid contact, he says to himself, "THAT'S the one. Now all I need to do is practice enough to find THAT swing every time."

Of course, this never happens. Dave Pelz has it right when he says, "Practice does NOT make perfect. Practice makes PERMANENT. Perfect Practice Makes Perfect." This is why golfers never improve.... they just go to the range, bang out their 40 buckets and simply ingrain those same faults that are holding them back.. If you say LESSONS plus PRACTICE then you're much closer to the mark.

Metro said: << Luke Donald would be one. I'll check around today, because I know there are more. The shaft makes the head work, granted, but those extra 17 yards that TM are advertising, are no lie.>>

Obviously, Donald likes TM more than the Mizuno woods. (Who can blame him?) But if your pipedream about TM stuff being "17 yards longer" were Actually True, then perhaps you can explain to me whey there are dozens of golfers playing gear OTHER than TaylorMade such as Titleist, Callaway, Cobra, Nike, Ping, Cleveland, etc. You don't actually believe that Tour pros are content to play gear that sacrifices 17 yards, do you?

And from Kevin: << Ben if you think that big box retailers actually sell a lot of "custom" equipment, then you are mistaken. Those simulators and launch monitors are just a vehicle to loosen up customers to buy equipment off the rack. >>

Both cynical and naive. If I chose, I can get fitted by reps of virtually every major company and order a set that has MY choice of shaft, MY length, MY loft, MY lie and MY grips. If this isn't "custom," I don't know what is.

[metro18]

@ Ben. They are for me. In reality and Trackman. I suspect that the average amateur would find the same too.

[Encino Man]

This is Braemar CC, in Tarzana, CA. It is Hole number 6 on the Western Nine. (We have 27 holes). Same course where the Rory/Tiger ad was shot on the driving range.

[Encino Man]

And at the 0:18 second mark, the view is from the green of the fifth hole of our Center/US Open nine.