Fred's Performance Institute

[SG_Fred]

Fred’s Performance Institute

I consider myself a big sports gamer, but maybe not as big as I could be. In years past I’ve mainly stuck with “the regulars” as I like to call them; Madden, NCAA, and NBA 2K. I quickly dismissed other sports titles such as FIFA, Tiger, and the NHL games because I really don’t follow those particular sports. Because I don’t know the real sport, I can’t get into the sports title. Last time I played an NHL game regularly was on the original Playstation and I played with the off-sides off. I’m sure the die hards are reading that and gasping, thinking what a cheeser I am. I didn’t know any better or cared since I didn’t follow hockey.

This year I’ve made a pact to try and learn to play all sports games. With new features such as online team play and clubs it’s hard for me to overlook these titles, which is why I’m creating this. Fred’s Performance Institute will be a way for me to learn from you, the community experts, in these respective sports titles. I’m going to assume in order to get a better understanding of how to play the game, you must learn the sport. If this means watching hockey games, soccer matches, or golf events, I’m game. I’ll do whatever it takes.

Anyone interested in showing me the ropes in some of these games please contact me. You can send me a PM or email at fred@sportsgamer.com. I will personally send every coach who is selected for the Performance Institute a prize once the training session is completed. The length of the program for each title will be determined by the instructor. I’d also like to do an interview for the From the Bleachers podcast. We’ll document the training sessions to update everyone, and eventually we’ll have a final match between teacher and student. I know there might be a few other gamers out there who might want to participate. If this is something you might be interested in, feel free to contact me. This could end up being a pretty big thing if more people want to join the Performance Institute.

The first game I’m looking to learn is Tiger Woods 09. It’s go time!

[i3rian_87]

tiger is easy to be good at, but very hard to master.

back when i was all about in the 03-05 games of the series (aka my prime) it got to the point where it was a combination that the game was so easy you could be so good that you could shoot in the mid-50's, sometimes even high 40's pretty consistantly but now they've made the game harder year to year.

i'm grabbing this years installment tomorrow myself after being impressed by the demo and i havent played it since the 2007 game.

the best part about the TWPGA series is that you dont have to be a fan of the sport to enjoy the game

[SG_Fred]

thanks for the advice

[i3rian_87]

yeah...really the best advice i can give is play a couple rounds casually not trying to get the best score possible but to get a good feel for the game.

eventually you should then try out power boosting during your swing

then you should try putting spin on the ball while its in flight

then as you get more experience you gotta learn things like how to play the wind and things like when you're in the rough over the ball in the bottom left of the screen it will say something like "89%-93%" meaning that at a perfectly timed swing without boost you will hit it between those percentages...meaning it will be 11 to 7 percent short of the landing curser, so then you learn to compensate

then there are things like when you tee off of a par three and its only a 150 yard hole but the green is 30 feet below the tee box you need to hit it short of the green because it would go past the green....little compensations like this.

then you learn how to grow a pair and go for the green or to actually sit back and realize that the best play is to lay up and play it safe.

all in all, if you play other video games, particularly sports games, you'll get good at it fairly quick, but its the experience and Golf IQ(similar to Football IQ) that will get your scores really low

[sg_HustlinOwl]

LOL @ power boost and putting spin on the ball while in flight. Hardcore TW fans frown upon these antics

[SG_Fred]

see i wouldn't have even known that.

[sg_HustlinOwl]

That is the main thing us TW fans have been complaining about for years is the relative ease it is to score low rounds with this game.

[Griswald34]

I'm in the same boat Fred, I'd love to get into some of these games, but my lack of knowledge on the sports is pretty bad. I've always liked the NHL series, back to the Genesis days, but last year, NHL 08, was the first year I actually had someone explain what offsides meant and played the game with that rule. I have to say it really makes for a much more strategic game (obviously) which in turn makes it more fun. I had to move to Minnesota before I met people who actually cared enough to explain the rule to me.

['Sider]

Consider myself tossing my name in there for a TW lesson. Ive played this game since the PGA Tour games back on Genesis and all the Jack Nicklaus series on PC back in the 90's. I played a round last night and learned ALOT about the GAMEPLAY, not the features, and I was quite disappointed. Ill be posting another Outsider's Insider today with some info on the game. But Fred, Id be happy to go through this game and GOLFING in general with a fine tooth comb. Im like Al Bundy and his football stories, I played in high school and went to state a couple years so Im fully aware of the game itself compared to a video game comparsion. Im in!

[IndianaTon]

FYI Fred, I sent you an email about Madden Training...