question about Tiger woods credibility as the "perfect athlete".?

Ok here is Tigers workout from his blog.

"I decided a long time ago to treat golf as a sport and full-time profession. When I’m not playing in a tournament, I train from two to 10 hours a day. I’m always trying to improve my conditioning so I can be a better golfer and athlete. Luckily, I like to work out so training never feels like a chore.

My basic routine includes stretching, core exercises, cardio and weight training. I can spend as much as seven hours on the golf course hitting balls. My trainer, Keith Kleven, designed a great program that keeps my upper and lower body in perfect balance and builds my endurance. Our training sessions are intense and require solid focus. Here’s a look at my typical routine.

Cardio training

Cardio is fundamental to my training program. I start off the day with a run or a bike ride. If it’s a running day, I either do a three mile speed run or an endurance run of up to seven miles.

I enjoy the tempo of cardio, it’s peaceful and a good way to get focused for the rest of the workout. Of course cardio also builds endurance and helps deliver oxygen to the muscles, which gets me ready for 2-3 hours of weights.

Weight training

My weight training program is designed for balance, control and endurance. I lift to enhance my entire body because golf requires upper and lower symmetry. I also develop my right and left sides equally because it improves how I strike the ball.

The idea is to build the strength I need to crush a golf ball rather than develop big muscle volume. I lift sub-maximal weights at higher reps, sometimes 25 to 50, because I’m going for tone and endurance instead of bulk. Bodybuilders usually lift heavier weights in sets of 6-12 because they’re going for mass. Sometimes I add plates to break up the routine and challenge myself, but I rarely lift a lot of weight.

My program works all of my muscle groups but there are a few areas that need extra focus. Golfers are always hunched over, so it’s important to strengthen the back and shoulders to support good posture. Legs are the platform for every swing, so my goal is to create a strong power base.

To keep things interesting, I use a mix of weights, resistance and isometric training. If you keep your muscles guessing, it makes them work harder. Whatever I’m doing, I’m careful not to overstress my muscles. I push to the point of muscle failure, not pain.

Core and flexibility training

Flexibility training is a major component of my regimen. My trainer uses different systems to maintain the flexibility I need to be able to release a powerful swing. I stretch up to 40 minutes before each workout. Then I work on my muscles and joints – from my spine to my toes - to create balance and freedom of movement.

For golfers, core strength is just as important as flexibility. Core muscles help control movement and transfer energy from the center of the body out to the limbs, which can obviously impact how well you strike the ball. My core training builds overall strength and flexibility and helps me maintain an ideal state of posture and symmetry.

My workouts are intense and long, but I listen to my body to avoid injury. I know when I can push it and when I need to back off a bit. I don’t have time for injuries so I train hard but I train smart. A well-rounded program with lots of variety helps me avoid burnout and maintain a high level of conditioning."

Here is my challenge to you, go to a golf course and shoot 63 and tell me if its harder than hitting a stupid cork ball tied with leather.

Tiger Woods is the perfect golfer, not athlete. Many " true" athletes play golf as a post season hobby, but I don't think you would see Tiger playing real sports like Hockey or Football on his off season. I think the closest to the perfect athlete would probably have to be someone like Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders, or someone else who was multi-talented in the world of sports. Even Michael Jordan tried playing two sports(basketball, and baseball) but only succeeded in one. To be the perfect athlete, an individual would have to be one of the best performer in many different sports if not all of them.

He is as close to the perfect golfer as we've ever seen IMO and let's leave it at that.

As far as anyone being the perfect athlete, there are too many completely different sports to be able to compare one guy to another to call any 1 person "the perfect athlete".

Michael Phelps would out-swim Micheal Jordan. MJ would whip Phelps in basketball, even at age 45, if they played 1-on-1 tomorrow. Tiger Woods would beat any professional Football, Basketball, Baseball, LaCrosse, Hockey, or Tennis player in a round of golf, but he couldn't compete with them in their respective sports because they all require such different and specific skill-sets which must be practiced for years.

Depends on your definition of athlete; certainly Woods has brought fitness and conditioning to the forefront as it relates to golf. Best athlete in the world? No chance.

Look at decathletes; they not only have to be fast, but strong, agile and have hand-eye co-ordination as well.

Team sports...start with rugby players (who have to have the fitness levels of soccer players, toughness greater than football players, and multi-skill levels beyond pretty much anything). Running 6-8km in a game, making 30-40 tackles without much in terms of pads, having to pass with their hands, kick with their feet, catch with their hands.

It is folly to think that an American-based network (owned by a theme park company of all things) with a highly limited viewing audience has the ability or judgement to even begin to answer this question. There are six other continents and a growing population with myriad of views on this subject.

No golfer can be the perfect athlete. It's a hobby. He might be dominating the (sport) , but I don't think he would last an hour with Walter Payton's workout. He ran up a hill until he puked.

He may be the perfect athlete, I dunno. But it wouldn't be because of golf.

How can you say chess is a sport but not golf. Neither are sports, and neither is baseball. Just because it's on espn doesn't make it a sport, just because you can hit a ball with a stick good doesn't make it a sport. If you can dribble a ball while sprinting down a court or field, dodging defenders and shoot a ball in a goal without breaking stride, then you are an athlete, and you are playing a sport.

I think you'd have to go back and throw Bo Jackson in the debate. They guy played baseball and football competively. Any guy the played in multiple professional sports, beats out Tiger in my book.

first off... i think he was voted as the best athelete and not the perfect athelete. you are totally off with this one.. with that said, i must mention that this question is an interesting one. tiger woods is definitely a fascinating athlete. ahtletic in a sense that he is ridiculously fit to meet the expectations of any sports' stamina. you name it... football? soccer? running? he is the best athlete in a sense that he does have the talent and the stamina and the natural body shape that allows him to be an athlete. yes, he runs two miles a day during the noons of the florida sun. (before the knee injury and not during the tournaments) he does work out religiously and yes he is naturally gifted with 6'2 body and a weight of 185 lbs of muscle. you want him to play football? he's got the strength... you want him to play soccer? he got the speed. you want him to cycle? he's got the legs. and there is a reason why golf is an official sport. its a reason that can't be described in words. go out and play and see how it comes out to be. and yes, he was the brutal mentality to outsmart and focus. so yes, indeed... a perfect and the best athelete. name ANY player that is more atletic than him. ANY. football, soccer, tennis... ANYONE. bring it!!!!

Tiger must be a the perfect athlete, because his bank account say's so. Out of all of the Athletes each 1 of you have mentioned in here, tell me who makes the most money??? money is only paid to people who are great at there job!!!! Tiger is well above all named in here on the basis that he gets a hell lot more money a year than any of them!!!! not one of them even comes close to what Tiger makes. Perfect Athlete without doubt!!!!!

Well....while it is obvious that you, in your own mind, have already answered your own question. There are as many opinions about this as there are people on the earth. And it is a question that only history will truely decide. (again by opinion) somebody elses' opinion does not lend credibility to any one. Its just an opinion.