Since Tiger Woods admitted having extramarital affairs, major sponsors like Accenture, AT&T and Gatorade have decided that the world’s No. 1 golfer was no longer the appropriate pitchman for their products.

However, the company that most associates itself with Woods, Nike, released three statements supporting the embattled golfer

If you thought that loyalty might hurt Nike, think again. The company reported Wednesday evening that its third-quarter revenues were up 7% and that it earned $4.73 billion of revenue.

Nike doesn’t break out the performance of the Nike Golf division on its balance sheet. Instead it is included in “Other Businesses,” which includes Nike Golf, Cole Haan, Converse Inc., Hurley International LLC, and Umbro Ltd. That group’s performance increased 13% to $656 million for the quarter.

TheStreet.com also reported today on a study that showed little change in Nike Golf sales despite the scandal:

Believe or not, Tiger Woods’ hiatus from professional golf did little to dent corporate sponsor Nike’s(NKE) golf product sales, and may not make much difference on those figures when he returns to golf, according to a recent study.

The study, performed by SportsScanInfo, seems to indicate a disconnect between what shareholders of Tiger’s corporate sponsors experienced after his fall from grace — that is, a Tiger-induced shareholder value reduction in sponsor companies by 2.3%, or up to $12 billion, that was noted by a UC Davis study — and what corporate sponsors like Nike actually experienced.

In fact, sales of Nike golf products were little changed in the 13 weeks between Tiger’s car accident outside his Orlando, Florida home shortly after Thanksgiving Day and his televised public apology, when he revealed to the world that he had been cheating on his wife, according to SportsScanInfo data cited by Bloomberg.

All I want for Christmas is a . Golf swing. Imagine if it was as easy as sending a letter to the North Pole.

Santa, all I want is a consistent golf game. Ive been a good ___ (girl or boy, you fill in the blank). Ive been nice to the ones around me. And yes, I have been practicing hard for the last few years to improve my golf swing. Yet, like most people I dont improve as much as I should, regardless of what I do. Please, please, please put a brand new, shiny golf swing under the tree for me this year!

Regards, Ades Perate Golfer

Will an improved golf swing just appear out of nowhere? Probably not. A consistent golf swing needs to be earned. Yet Im sure there are many Golfers that feel they deserve a better golf swing just because they have spent hours upon hours on golf lessons and hitting golf balls at the driving range.

Unfortunately for these Golfers an improved golf swing isnt only about the number of hours you have put into golf instruction or hitting golf balls. An improved golf swing comes more from the knowledge of understanding how Cause and Effect affects your golf swing.

Most Golfers are improperly taught to work on the Effect in their golf swing. Meaning: If youre told that your golf swing comes over the top (or that you have an outside to in golf swing), most Golfers are taught that they need to swing more from the inside, or that they need to swing more inside to out. Often times they are improperly told that the way to do that is to try to drop the golf club down into the slot on their downswing.

However, that doesnt produce positive results for many Golfers right away. Most Golfers struggle with this because the above instructions dont fix the Cause of the over the top movement. The only thing that those instructions do is work on the Effect.

And in fact, many Golfers dont produce positive golf shots even after hours upon hours of practice. Why? Because you cant improve your golf swing if youre working on trying to fix the Effect. You first need to find and fix the Cause.

So what is the Cause of the over the top swing mentioned above?

Well, it can be many things. For example: Is it something at set-up (weight distribution, ball placement, posture)? Is it something at the start of your backswing (too much hands, too much body, right-side of body doing too much, left-side of body doing too much, right-side not doing enough, left-side not doing enough, bad synchronization of body and arms)?

Now a lot of people might say Well maybe that Golfer is taking the club too far outside on the backswing. They probably need to take the golf club more inside on the way back.

Yet, that would still be trying to fix an Effect. The question needs to be Why is that person taking the club too far outside?

Whats Causing them to take the club back in that direction?

Its very easy for most Golf Instructors to see a Golfer taking the club back to the outside or the golf club coming over the top or not enough hip movement or not shifting weight correctly. However, truly exceptional Instructors (like my Instructors at GMS) are able to rise above that 3rd Grade level of teaching to know and understand the difference between Cause and Effect. A truly exceptional Golf Instructor should know why that Golfer is making those bad movements and they should know how to correct them.

As opposed to a lower level Golf Instructor that would teach their Golfers by saying I see your problem. Youre taking the club too far outside. You need to take it more inside on the way back.

An exceptional Golf Instructor will find the Cause by doing different tests with the Golfer. We want to find whats Causing the golf club to go outside. That way well be able to help you eliminate the problem. As opposed to most golf instruction that just teaches you take the golf club more inside. Yet thats not fixing the Cause – so regardless of how much you practice what youre told – youre going to continually get the same negative Effect.

So for example: say that we find that the Cause of the over the top (outside to in swing) was being Caused by your left-side not doing enough in your golf swing (on the way back and/or the way forward). Our next step is to find why isnt your left-side doing enough.

Is your left-side as coordinated as your right-side, is your left-side weaker than your right-side, does your right-side do too much that it doesnt allow your left-side to do what its supposed to do, is your left-side too slow, etc.

Once we can answer that then we work with you to improve the movements of the left-side of your body in your golf swing. Thats fixing the Cause! Once that person starts to learn how their left-side should work its amazing how fast that over the top move disappears! And because of that our Golfers will see consistent improvement from their very first swing. That doesnt mean their first golf swing will now go 300 yards. It means that each golf swing they take theyll see a little more improvement in their ballstriking.

However, the many Golfers that are taught to devote the next months to dropping their club into the slot or taking their club more inside on the way back so that they can swing more from the inside will continue to struggle. Because regardless of how much they try to fix this theyre more likely to find a brand new, shiny golf swing under a tree than they are to fix their over the top golf swing using the Fix the Effect method that 99% of all golf instruction is based on.

GMS works with you to find the Cause of your swing problems, correct those problems and to understand why those problems happened in the first place. Thats why our Golfers are improving. And most others are not.

The Monkey is constantly tinkering with their golf swing by jumping from Effect to Effect

The Player is smarter than that and searches out to find the Cause
Go ahead, be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon – Your Instructor For Life

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‘How To Fix The Cause Of Golf Swing Problems?’

Shortly after the story broke on Friday afternoon that Tiger Woods was involved in a car accident, media outlets starting contacting me and asking how the situation might effect Tiger's endorsement deals. The 2009 Sports Illustrated Fortunate 50 List reported that Tiger Woods' total earnings were down about $28 million last year, but for the sixth-consecutive time he topped the list by bringing home an estimated $99,737,626. To put that number in perspective, Phil Mickelson came in a distance second with and estimated $52,950,356, while LeBron James is is reported to have made $42,410,581. As CNNMoney's David Goldman wrote in an excellent article Monday afternoon, Tiger's sponsors are standing by him, and will likely continue to do so. Here's why: Tiger has not been formally charged with anything. Tabloids and pundits are writing that Woods needs to address the rumors that are swirling around the Internet, but legally, Tiger is not required to speak to anyone. With that in mind, why should companies like Nike, Accenture, AT&T, Tag Hauer, Gillette, and Gatorade even consider changing, or ending, their relationship with the man who is one of the most iconic figures in sports? Sure, if the circumstances surrounding Woods's car cash change in the coming days or weeks, companies might reconsider their association with Tiger accordingly. But as Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Kim Montes said in a statement , “Contrary to various media reports, the Florida Highway Patrol has not made any comments regarding the details of the ongoing crash investigation involving Tiger Woods as it relates to medical information, or any other aspect of this investigation.” So don't look for Fortune 500 companies to start changing their marketing plans simply because Tiger Woods is the target de jour of tabloids. Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy

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Tiger Woods Endorsements Are Safe After Car Crash

Tiger has canceled talking to the Florida Highway Patrol a 3rd time and issued an official statement regarding the car crash outside his house at 2:25am a few nights ago: As you all know, I had a single-car accident earlier this week, and sustained some injuries. I have some cuts, bruising and right now I’m pretty

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Tiger Woods cancells 3rd meeting with police and issues official statement

Jan 38-30 in Orlando, Florida is the 2010 PGA Merchandise Show. For the 2nd year in a row after a period of not participating, Titleist will have a presence there as well as at the demo day. Demo day is the day before the show starts on the show floor. I plan on attending the show

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Titleist to participate in 2010 PGA Merchandise show and demo day

JERSEY CITY, N.J. Camilo Villegas has covered his driver with a University of Florida gator for years, but Scotty Cameron recently made a special California Series putter for the Colombian star. Villegas had been using a Titleist by Scotty Cameron GSS Circa '62 #6 , a model not currently set to be included in the California line, which debuts in late September. However, Cameron created one especially for Villegas and decorated it in Florida colors. Follow David Dusek on Twitter (Photo by David Dusek)

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Camilo Villegas’ New Putter Shows Gator Pride

JERSEY CITY, N.J. Several top Cobra Golf staff players are currently testing the company's new adjustable-face ZL driver here at Liberty National. Among them are Geoff Ogilvy, Ian Poulter, Camilo Villegas and J.B. Holmes. In fact, Ogilvy and Villegas have both Tweeted about trying the club. According to Brian Parker, Cobra's manager of tour promotions, Ogilvy saw the club as a prototype, but Tuesday was given the final product for the first time. The Aussie had been using a Cobra S9-1 Pro D (10.5 ), but after just one afternoon's practice with a ZL (9.5) set 1 open with an Aldila RIP 80X shaft, he is planning to use the club this week in the Barclays Championship. (Alidla's RIP shaft will be available in 2010.) “The club is easier to draw and easier to fade [than the S9-1],” he said during his practice round this morning. “But it's harder to hit it really wide.” The ZL driver has a titanium face and body, but the crown is made from weight-saving carbon fiber. A weight plugwhich is not adjustablehas been positioned on the lower-back portion of the club to increase the moment of inertia, lower the center of gravity and create a higher initial launch angle. Using an included torque wrench, the ZL driver will allow golfers to set the head into one of three different face angles 1 open, square or 1 closed. Cobra's ZL driver will be available to the public November 1. Follow David Dusek on Twitter. (Photo by David Dusek)

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Cobra Players Trying New ZL Driver at Liberty National

I’ve played Mystic Dunes in Florida a few times and I have some pals there. I like the course, though I haven’t played all that well there. They’re having a two man scramble on the 29th of August called the “Kickoff Golf Classic” in honor of the upcoming football season. The direct link for

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Mystic Dunes Kickoff Golf Classic

Click here to hear this latest episode of TravelGolf.com This Week . In this week’s podcast, host Dave Berner talks to TravelGolf.com’s Brandon Tucker about golf in Spain. “I just got back from Spain yesterday,” Tucker says. “I gotta tell ya, in terms of a golf destination, you really couldn’t ask for a whole lot more.” WorldGolf.com’s Mike Bailey raves about golf in South Padre Island, Texas. “What you’re looking at when you go to the South Padre Island area is kind of a non-commercial version of south Florida,” Bailey says. “It’s a lot more relaxed, a lot cheaper. The golf options aren’t as numerous, but there are two or three pretty good choices down there.” Two-time PGA Tour winner J.L. Lewis talks about his new book, “ Golf Tips from the Tour .” The book “is for players of all ages and ability levels,” Lewis says. “Hopefully, [it] brings simplicity” to the game. “That’s what I was trying to bring.” This podcast is supported by OrlandoGolf.com and ResortsGolfAndSpa.com .

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Golf in Spain, hitting the links in South Padre Island, PGA Tour winner J.L. Lewis’ ‘Golf Tips From the Tour’ book

Click here to hear this latest episode of TravelGolf.com This Week . In this week’s podcast, host Dave Berner talks to WorldGolf.com’s Tom Spousta about the PGA Tour’s upcoming Florida Swing. Brandon Tucker talks about some new golf courses in Myrtle Beach . “We have two that will be open in the spring, and there’s a third that won’t be open until later this year,” Tucker says. “The first one – it actually opened in December – is The Valley at Eastport Golf Club.” What can the average duffer learn from the guys on the Champions Tour? A lot, says PGA Hall of Fame member Gary Wiren , director of instruction for Donald Trump Golf Properties and founder of Golf Around the World . “There are a lot of examples of players that never were that great on the regular tour, but when they got on the senior tour they’re actually beating guys who used to beat them,” Wiren says. “Why? Sometimes it’s the fact that they started later in life to take care of themselves, work out, get into good physical shape.” This podcast is supported by Arizona Golf Packages and ResortsGolfandSpa.com .

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Looking ahead to the PGA Tour’s Florida Swing, new Myrtle Beach golf courses, and Gary Wiren on lessons from the Champions Tour