John Smoltz is throwing out another changeup — and we’re not talking about a new pitch, either.

While his teammates are playing spring training games, the ageless right-hander is going about the business of preparing for his 21st season on the back fields of the Atlanta Braves’ complex, an obscure place usually left to the minor leaguers.

There are no cheering fans, no curious reporters. Just Smoltz and a few hitters who tag along, standing at the plate while he goes through a lengthy checklist of simulated situations.

“It just gives me the best opportunity to work on the things I really need to work on that are going to have to be different this year for me to be able to pitch like I want to pitch,” he explained. “I need to follow a game plan that typically you just can’t follow when a spring training game comes around.”

It hasn't all been serious in the nether reaches, either. On Wednesday, Smoltz took to the mound to face PGA star Tiger Woods. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Woods stepped into the batters box to face his friend Smoltz. The report said Woods wore a batting helmet and a Braves jersey tucked into his shorts.

The report, which cited "Braves officials who were present," said Smoltz struck out Woods twice, walked him once and allowed a "controversial" single.

"I've got the second baseman making that play," pitching coach Roger McDowell to the newspaper in jest.

Smoltz goes to the back fields every fifth day, just like he’s heading out for a start. But he does it with no fielders backing him up, just a complex man alone with his thoughts, convinced that he’s knows better than anyone what he needs to do with his 41st birthday approaching and four elbow surgeries in the rearview mirror.

“At this point, it probably looks like I’m being selfish. Maybe I am,” he said, before quickly adding, “but only from the standpoint of what’s going to end up being better for the team.”

Smoltz already has changed more than a chameleon in his long, accomplished career, which includes the 1996 NL Cy Young Award and standing as the only pitcher in baseball history to reach 200 wins and 150 saves.

Slide show   Signs of spring The defending champs limber up, Johan Santana greets his new fans and kids get in on the fun as baseball teams reported for spring training. more photos

Early on, Smoltz broke ranks as one of the first players to work extensively with a sports psychologist, seeking to learn more about what made him tick on the inside.

After a dozen years as a starter, he agreed to shift to the bullpen, going along with the Braves’ contention that fewer innings would cut down the strain on his troublesome elbow. Then, having put in three full years as one of the game’s top closers, he made the unprecedented move back to the rotation in his late 30s, having decided that working every fifth day was actually the best antidote against further injuries.

Smoltz hasn’t missed a beat through all the twists and turns, going 44-24 in his second incarnation as a starter. As the lone member of the 200-150 club, he seems to be drumming up plenty of sentiment that — even with all the injuries, including one full season missed, and just a single 20-win season on his resume — he’s a guy deserving of being in Cooperstown some day.

It’s quite a change for Smoltz, who was seen for many years as someone who never quite fulfilled his enormous potential. Still, he can’t seem to shake those previous criticisms from his mind, using them as the me-against-the-world stick that continually stirs his ultra-competitive psyche.

“If I told some of the things I deal with, nobody would believe it,” Smoltz said. “There’s a lot of things going on. I’m in a Catch-22. People assume everything I’m doing is only making it harder than it is. But they have no clue.”

The Braves had no objection to Smoltz working for nearly a month out of the public eye. He won’t pitch in an actual spring game until late March, with the idea of getting in two starts — one covering five innings, one six — before he heads north to pitch in games that count in the standings.