Tiger’s Training Secrets
May 15, 1997

Earl Woods, father of golf phenomenon Tiger Woods, shares his secrets in his first book "Training a Tiger." Earl explains proper golf training for children in clear and easy to use language. Your children’s golf clubs will thank you for reading "Training A Tiger" because it will save years of frustration with the game.

Earl also shows how parents can grow closer to their children through their involvement in the game, and how the lessons their children learn can be used both on and off the golf course.

I had the pleasure of meeting Earl at his book signing held at the Official Star Café in New York City. His son Tiger just happens to be part owner of the restaurant. Earl said "It was about the time Tiger played in the Junior Worlds at the age of six and appeared in the television show ‘That’s Incredible’ that people started to take notice." "Parents always wanted to pick my brain, so I decided then that I would eventually write a book so other parents don’t have to reinvent the wheel" said Woods, the former Green Beret.

Tiger’s dad set some milestones of his own-he was the first African-American baseball player in the Big Eight conference. Earl also served two tours as a Green Beret in Vietnam, and stayed in the Army after Vietnam, teaching until he retired in 1974, with the rank of colonel.

And as far as racism in sports, Earl says "racism is less of a barrier with communication in sports because athletes know what it takes to win and race doesn’t have anything to do with it. Race plays an integral part of our society-the diverse nature of our world is going to have conflict because we all come from the human race," exclaimed Earl.

People are always going to wonder if Tiger was put under too much pressure to succeed at golf but Earl says that golf was never the first priority in Tiger’s childhood. "My primary concern was to raise a good person, every move I made was what’s good for Tiger. His athletic achievements came second after homework," says Earl.

"My desires for Tiger are to have an opportunity to be the best person he can be, make a contribution to society and to care and share with others," said Earl.

"If my book can make one contribution to help someone else, I know I have made a difference" said Earl.

A Little of This and a Little of That...

All Pro San Diego Chargers linebacker Junior Seau and Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis guest star as themselves on the Season Finale of "Sparks" Monday, May 19th at 9:00 p.m. Junior and Jerome should watch out for the star of the show, Mike Tyson’s ex-wife Robin Givens-she loves those athletes...

The Green Bay Packers may be in luck--members of the Dallas Cowboys, including Emmitt Smith and Deion Sanders may just disappear . Magician David Blaine will share some of his tricks with the some of the Cowboys one-on-one , no "smoke and mirrors" on his one-hour special "David Blaine: Street Magic" airing Monday, May 19 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on the ABC Television Network. I bet Emmitt and Deion could share some tricks with David...NASCAR driver Darrell Waltrip’s brother Michael will be a guest on the popular "Prime Time Country" on TNN airing Thursday, May 15 at 5:00 p.m. CT…Sean Patrick Flannery (star of "Powder," "Indiana Jones Chronicles") will be racing in the Barber Dodge Pro Series at the Dixie Crystals Savannah Grand Prix in Savannah, Georgia Sunday, May 18. The Barber Dodge Pro Series is the Double AA Baseball of auto racing…

Sports pretty faces making People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People list--New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter, 1996 U.S. Olympic women’s soccer team member Mia Hamm, and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon…Olympic gold medal winning gymnasts Kerri Strug, Nadia Comaneci, and Bart Conner will guest star along with Green Bay Packers’ Reggie White on the critically acclaimed series "Touched By An Angel" on CBS Sunday, May 18 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. The show deals with the intense pressure on some young athletes to be the very best . Nadia and Kerri should know a little about this considering they were coached by Bela Karolyi…

America’s youngest World Champion figure skater Tara Lipinski is headed for prime time television. She will make a cameo appearance as herself on "Early Edition" on the CBS Television Network at Saturday, May 17 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT...

If you have not heard by now six-time NFL Pro Bowl tight end Keith Jackson has joined TNT’s NFL announce team. Here’s a quote from Keith about his namesake: "Keith Jackson (the ABC broadcaster) had a chance to do my games, and I said to myself that I wanted to take my namesake’s place one day. I now can tell him it’s time for him to retire, there’s a new kid on the block! Seriously, he has done so much for broadcasting. One day, hopefully, I’ll get to make it to where he is. I definitely want to keep my name, I’ll just let him know that I’m the darker brother, that’s all."