Foozled Golfer

I Played Golf

2011-03-19T06:11:00.000-07:00

I know, shocking. I played golf. Insofar as it was my first round in almost four months though, it does seem newsworthy. I hopped the ferry from North Captiva and made it back to Pineland just in time for my buddy Chris to pick me up and drive back an hour in the opposite direction to the Renaissance Golf Club in Ft. Myers. Chris spent four hours total in the car so that I could play with him and the Saad Man--above and beyond the "friend call of duty" if you ask me. Thanks again, Chris. I opened with a solid up-and-in for par, then pumped (ha--more like "ballooned") three straight tee shots on the par 5 second hole into the water. Dreams of a solid scoring round were quickly dashed, so I just picked myself up and decided to enjoy the day. Playing carefree, I managed to hit a few decent tee shots, had one half-shank 8-iron, and made some solid chips and putts to keep the car between the ditches, so to speak. Maybe an adjusted 86 or 87, I'm thinking. Lots of fun, either way. It was a beautiful golf course and a beautiful day--I can't ask for much more then that. I hope to use this round as a springboard to an exciting and laid-back season of golf. I'll likely have more time and less money to play this summer, so maybe I'll just enjoy it more? Here's to hoping so.

T-Minus Eight Days 'Til Golf

2011-02-21T10:24:00.000-08:00

One week from tomorrow I'll be playing golf for the first time in almost four months, and I feel, well, kind of excited about it? I'm not sure. Yes, of course, I'm excited that I'll finally be able to chase the little white ball around again. But I'm not as excited as maybe I had expected to be at this juncture of the game. Winter has been so cold and oppressive (twelve more inches of snow yesterday and today!) that one would think I would be literally chomping at the bit to get out there on the course. But my tempered enthusiasm makes me think that maybe I really have turned a corner and am not going to be obsessed with the game come this summer, or worse yet, completely distraught and downtrodden when I'm not able to play my usual number of rounds due to any number of potentially unfortunate circumstances. Did I finally just grow up?! Oh heaven's, please no. But seriously, I feel a great change coming on and I'm excited about it and a little scared. I've always (well, at least for the last ten-plus years) had my obsession with golf to fall back on when nothing else seemed right anymore. What now? A brave, new world, methinks. A brave, new world...

A Golfer In Retreat

2011-02-06T13:30:00.000-08:00

This phrase has been resonating in my head these last few days....a golfer in retreat. I'm so on again/off again anymore with my future as it pertains to the game I love--its maddening, really. But I'm starting to feel like its time to pull back. I wonder if I could rekindle my overall enjoyment of the game by going back to my roots, my humble beginnings in the game? Could I quit my golf club, and for all intents and purposes, quit playing the game with any regularity, and just enjoy the occasional trip to the range and/or the even less occasional 9 holes at dusk at the local muni? I think I could, but I can't be 100% sure. On the one hand, it might be a relief to no longer feel the need to constantly obsess over my path towards improvement and instead just enjoy the game for what it really is--a game. However, I may have spoiled myself a bit too much over these last five-plus years by playing in the relative serenity of a private course with decent enough conditions and anything but congestion on the first tee. More ruminating on this subject is definitely in order, but that might just be what I need to get away from doing in the first place.

2011 And Beyond

2011-01-15T11:58:00.000-08:00

So here we are, two weeks deep in 2011 and golf continues to seem like its months and months away. The Tour starting up in Hawai'i has jump-started the interest meter at my house, but I'm still feeling like a long, lost friend of the game right now. Not the active and ardent participant that I'm used to feeling like. I got some sweet new Footjoy Icon golf shoes for my birthday/Christmas and I've been debating whether I should start breaking them in around the house? That might get my juices flowing a bit. But I'm sure I'd get scolded if I walked on the new carpet with them on, so I keep trying to not get too excited about them. They are beauties though, aren't they? I might be playing a round or two in Florida the first week of March, so I've kind of had that in the back of my mind as to when I should be ready to fire up the ole' game again. But then again, maybe that won't ever materialize and I'll be left waiting for early April to debut this year's game. I'm working out 5 days a week, light weight-training and running, so that my body will (hopefully) be loose and limber and ready to go come springtime. Let's just hope I haven't lost all my touch on and around the greens--that's where I make my money, after all. Don't we all?

The December Doldrums

2010-12-19T06:31:00.000-08:00

It had been eight days since I last visited the Garage Golf Swing Laboratory when I made an appearance there yesterday afternoon...and I had nothing. I seem to have lost my thirst for the ecstasy that is solid contact and my pursuit of a good position at impact seems to have hit a major roadblock. It's cold in the garage and the two feet of snow on the ground outside make the Spring season seem like its many months and months away. I need to be re-invigorated and I know I will be in time, but it's not looking promising right now. I will try to hit some more balls again this afternoon while the kids are trimming the tree over at Gram and Pa's house, but I'm not going to hold my breath regarding any sort of positive results. Seeing the ball flight is such an important mental and emotional part of the process which connects the golfer to the game that I'm just not sure how much more I can get out of beating balls into a net five feet in front of me? I guess I just need to remind myself that the muscle memory that I'm storing up is a positive no matter which way I slice it, and that "not getting better" is analogous to "getting worse" in the Ben Hogan school of thought. And that's a School from which I hope to graduate someday, so I must soldier on.

Or Is It Really The End?

2010-12-11T05:50:00.000-08:00

Somehow, after a "come to Jesus" kind of talk, we've decided that I can continue to play golf. I just need to not enjoy it so much? Or keep it in better perspective, or something like that...whatever the case, I'm back on the journey to the center of the clubface. Yippee! We've had snow-cover here in Minnesota for the last four weeks, so there's really no chance of me getting out and playing 'til at least late next March. My wife is teasing me with our trip to Florida in late February including some golf for Yours Truly, but we're going for her 40th birthday so, for some reason, I don't think bringing the sticks will actually be that good of an idea. I haven't really felt like playing much in the last month or so anyways, partly out of frustration with the current state of my game, and partly out of pure scheduling exhaustion. Having two little kids who are growing bigger every day and getting more and more into their own interests and activities makes pursuing one of your own passions seem that much less important, especially when you're not enjoying it as much as you have in the past. So I guess you could say this snow-cover/wintertime temperature drop has come at just the right time. I've made three brief visits to the Garage Golf Swing Laboratory so far and they've each been fruitful in their own way. As a result of them, these things I know for sure: 1) If my grip settles into my fingers and not my palms, and my left wrist stays "high" and slightly ahead of the ball at set-up, I'm going to make a good pass at the ball. 2) If my takeaway is slow and starts with my shoulders, and during which my mind is focused on NOT swaying off the ball and instead just shifting my weight to my right foot, good things will happen later. And 3) If I make an aggressive move toward the ball in the forward-swing, concentrating on keeping my right thumb connected with my left thumb-pad and getting both hands to the "aim point" in front of the ball, impact will be effortless in feel and powerful in its result. That's all I can really ask for right now.

This Is The End

2010-11-22T17:16:00.000-08:00

Fitting my best round would be my last. My wife thinks golf is too expensive and time consuming. She's right because it is. But what will living with me be like when I can't play golf anymore? God only knows...I should probably start going to church right now.

Me and Old Man Par

2010-11-07T18:55:00.000-08:00

I wouldn't normally write, blow for blow, about my exploits on the golf course on any given day...but today was something special. I shot even par over the 22 holes I played today, being 2-over after 18 and then birdieing 3 holes in a row to get to one-under. I had to play one more hole to make our game come out even, and of course I bogeyed it, but oh well. Even par!
So here we go: I started on 16 and three-putted from the front of the green for bogey. I made par on 17 after a nice chip shot to two feet. Then I birdied the 18th (for the first time) after making a nice uphill 12-footer to get it back to even. Ho hum 2-putt pars on 1 and 2 followed, with another nice chip leading to yet another par at 3. I hit the middle of the green on 4 and made an easy par, and then managed to get down from the front fringe on 5 for (you guessed it) another par. 6 yielded a bogey, and a lucky one at that as I chipped well past the hole and was lucky to make the comebacker for a 4. #7 was another two-putt par. Then on 8 I hit a terrible drive in the trees to the left, then hit a 3-wood to 100 yards out. A wedge to five feet and a nice right to left putt later and I had yet another par. On 9 I hit a hybrid to about 20 feet and rolled the putt in for birdie to bring me back to even after 12 holes. I made par again from the front fringe on 10, then hooked my tee shot up the hill and in the trees on 11, and was lucky to make bogey. I popped up my drive on 12, hit my second behind a tree and then punched a 9-iron to the back of the green. My first putt was lame and I missed the comebacker for 2 bogeys in a row (!). 13 I got the train back on track after bombing a drive over the trees, leaving me 80 yards for my second. I managed not to shank that wedge and just missed my downhill 20-footer for birdie. On 14 I hit the middle of the green and coaxed my first putt up to tap-in range. Then, on my final hole of the 18, I hit a nice drive on 15, followed by a smother-hooked four-iron into the trees to the left of the green. I pitched it nicely over the bunker and snuggled in a nice downhill 10-footer for par and a score of 74. And then it got interesting...I hit hybrid to 15 feet on 16 and drained the putt for birdie. Then I hit my second pin-high to the right of the 17th green, and of course chipped it in for birdie! On 18 I hooked my drive badly and was left with too much to get near the green in two. So I hit 3-wood to about 60 yards, then pitched it 10 feet above the hole and made another nice putt for birdie, my second one on 18 today. On the last hole (the first), I popped up my drive a bit and was left with a 5-iron into the green. I pulled it a bit left, then hit a timid chip to about 15 feet. And I missed that putt, leaving me with and even par score for 22 holes. Ta-da! If anyone besides me is still reading this I'll be shocked :).

The Game Is Played "Out There", Not Between Your Feet

2010-10-10T17:57:00.000-07:00

This has been a tough post for me to write, but I feel its something that I need to come to grips with. When you're working on your swing (i.e. your game), I think its easy to become too focused on what's happening on the ground, between your feet, then where the ball is actually going and the target "out there" that you should really be focusing on. Like Peter Kostis likes to say about Tiger Woods sometimes when he's struggling, he looks like he's playing "golf swing", not golf. I think that is so true and it's something that I'm sure most of us (maybe all of us?) amateurs struggle with. The game is played out there, not between your feet.
George Knudson makes some really good assertions to this point as well in his book The Natural Golf Swing. He talks a lot of about the game not being one of hand/eye coordination, rather one of control, balance and fluidity. He's given me a helpful picture in my head of the clubface "collecting" the ball on its way through the ball's resting place as it (the clubface) travels to it's final destination, i.e. laying quietly behind my left shoulder. Taking practice swings in the rough sometimes helps me feel this impact position and I try my hardest to put that obsession with impact out of my head as I draw the club back for my next stroke. There's a lot to chew on here, and I'm not sure I've put this together in a succinct fashion, but it's something I had to bring up and I will continue to mull it over during the upcoming the winter months.

Paul Goydos Shoots 59!

2010-07-09T04:37:00.000-07:00

...and I don't think anyone really noticed. It's too bad really, because it happened in the Quad Cities, and he doesn't look good on camera, and he probably won't win the tournament anyways, which nobody really cares about to begin with because the Open Championship is next week, etc. It's the PGA Tour's version of a tree falling in the woods, I think, and I'm pretty sure no one was there to hear it. Sure, the John Deere Classic gets a solid number of dedicated fans to show up every year, but it's really flying under the radar by modern media standards. Hell, lots of people still dismiss golf news because they don't believe its a sport. It's silly and sad, all at the same time. I guess I hope he does it again today--then maybe we'll get Sportcenter's attention.

Things Are Heating Up

2010-06-21T19:29:00.000-07:00

Not only is the weather getting warmer, but so is my game. And it's all coming together in the Garage Golf Swing Laboratory, just like I planned. The set-up is simple, forearms together and left thumb-pad "high". The right leg anchors the take-away and the shoulders start the swing. The left shoulder "tilts" as the spine stays upright and the acceleration through the ball is "pushed" by the right forefinger. The last three fingers of the left hand turn down through the ball as the weight lands high and hard on the left leg. But even more important, I think I've come up with a warm-up routine that will take this from the GGSL to the course. I take 10 practice swings with a weighted 8-iron, then hit 10 chip shots with a 5-iron, feeling the shot on the aforementioned right forefinger. And then lastly, I hit 10 balls full-on with the 5-iron. I can't wait to try it out!

Putting, Putting, And Yet Even More Putting

2010-05-05T18:25:00.000-07:00

As is often the case, the more time you spend concentrating on your ball-striking the more your short game (and especially your putting) is going to suffer. As both of you, my readers, know by now I've been spending an awful lot of time working on my ball-striking. And I'd like to say that I'm finally starting to reap the rewards of that work, but it might be a bit premature for that declaration. Regardless, my putting has definitely been suffering as a result. I even went an entire round putting left-hand low last weekend, something I haven't done in over two years. And what is ultimately a confidence thing has started to creep into my actual stroke. I'm having a hard time taking the putter back with any sort of conviction and its really starting to show. So.....I've been working on a few things the last few days. 1) I'm trying to clear my mind over the ball by asking myself "Where am I?" and then answering "In the hole over there..." and visualizing the bottom of the cup. 2) I'm trying to keep my grip pressure as light as possible. I've found there's much less twisting and pulling/pushing of putts when my grip pressure is the lightest. And 3) I'm trying to take the putter back with my shoulders and just rock them forward as I make my stroke through the ball. Again, we'll see how this all plays out as the proof will be in my scores. Stay tuned...

Yet Another Revelation!

2010-05-03T03:14:00.000-07:00

"The Fix" with Michael Breed on the Golf Channel Monday nights is oftentimes just an annoying rant, as far as I'm concerned. But he said something the other night about the position of the clubface at the top of the backswing that really stuck with me. He was talking about the position of the left wrist and how it needs to be flat for a golfer to make a really good pass at the golf ball. I figured out (somewhat on my own?) that to get to that position without manipulating the hands too late in the swing you need to turn the left wrist downward in the takeaway. I'm not sure if this technique would hold water with some of golf's greatest teachers but I'm finding its allowed me to return the clubface in a much square(r) position at impact. It's shank-proofing the swing, sure, but it can also produce a nasty duck-hook if you don't swing down and through the ball "out to right field", if that makes any sense? With a limited amount of research I have found this to also be a very effective technique out of the greenside bunkers as well. With a face open at address and a swing executed along the open stance-line that is universally recommended, too many bunker shots seem to squirt out weakly to the right. Closing the face during the takeaway gets the club back into the sand with that ultra-pleasing "thump" sound and seems likely to continue to softly splash the ball (and the sand) onto the putting surface.

More Learning About the Golf Swing

2010-04-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

I've learned a few important things about the golf swing in the last few weeks that I'd like to share them in the blogosphere. The first came from, of all places, a recent episode of the Golf Channel's "Haney Project: Ray Romano". In this particular piece, Hank was explaining to Ray how his takeaway was too much to the inside, making it impossible for him to do anything other then come over the top in his downswing. Sound familiar? Yeah, so I decided to add what feels like a little loop in my backswing. Drag it straight back with quiet hands and arms and drop it inside, essentially. The second nugget came from another mainstream media source, none other then Golf Digest. There was a short blurb with Butch Harmon where he talked about how shots that are left out to the right generally are the result of the golfer's hips spinning out too fast in the downswing. Guess what? Since I left my winter home in the Garage Golf Swing Laboratory, I've noticed that a lot of my shots are being left out to the right. Bingo--quit spinning the hips out so fast, Einstein. And lastly, I've gone back to a stiff shaft in my driver, and it's an old driver at that. I can't stand the look and feel of swinging a 460cc head anymore (never could, actually) so I'm using my old Titleist 905S and loving it! I can even hit a tight draw with it, that bounces and rolls, if you believe it? Maybe there's hope for me yet.

There Are No Arms in the Downswing

2010-04-03T05:55:00.000-07:00

That's it. That's the key--take the arms out of the downswing and you'll be fine. Drag the club back with relaxed hands and arms a little to the outside, then feel the right elbow land in the right hip, unwind quickly while firing the right leg and watch with delight as the ball soars far and true. Easy game, huh? A word of caution, though: the shank is the cousin to the fade so be careful when trying to swing this way. A lack of commitment will most-definitely produce the dreaded hosel rocket, so as Lee Trevino once said "Aim left, swing right, and walk straight ahead."

GOLF!

2010-03-21T06:37:00.000-07:00

I played golf yesterday, my first (9-hole) round of the season and definitely the earliest I've ever played here in Minnesota. I took an 'X' on the first hole, tripled the second hole and then finally, and mercifully, made par on my third hole. Looks like all that practicing in the garage over the winter was officially a waste of time! :) For some reason I felt really stiff the whole time and I even stretched out before going to the course. It was 36-degrees, I guess, and playing with other people is always a bit more anxious of a "golf experience". Oh well, I'm still excited for Kansas City next weekend. I just hope by Sunday I've got a little more pop in my swing. I think I have the tools to hit the ball better in my mental golf bag--I just need to LET GO TO GAIN CONTROL of my game. Easier said then done, for sure...

Tiger Woods' Return

2010-03-16T19:35:00.001-07:00

I'm sure everyone in the world (including the Dalai Lama who, by the way, claims to not know who Tiger Woods is) has heard that Tiger Woods is planning to return to competitive golf at this year's Masters. Assuming that is true, does Tiger have any reason to be concerned about playing the minimum number of events (12?) that he needs to keep his card for next year? I know it sounds ridiculous but doesn't the Tour have a minimum number that players must play to retain their playing privileges? He plays a pretty sparse schedule to begin with and having missed 2-3 events he would've normally played already, might this become an issue? I would love to see him have to play, like, the Frys.com Open in late October to keep his card. That would suit me just fine. Whatever the case, I'm glad he's coming back sooner rather then later, if for no other reason then we, as golf fans, can finally get past this "when's he coming back?" banter and get on with rooting for the best golfers in the world.

The "D" Plane

2010-03-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to Richie3Jack for posting this picture of the "D" Plane. It's something I've been working on visualizing/ feeling/understanding for a long time and it really helps to finally have this image to consult. And even better, it's a picture of Sam Snead on Augusta's par-3 12th--two of my favorite things to boot! So what is the "D" Plane? It looks like a description of the shape formed by the lines of the swing path and the clubface when connected at their (infinite) ending points. Most importantly, though, this image also shows how the ball flight results from the given angles of the clubface and swing path. Awesome! I will burn this image into my mind forever.

Golf and Archery

2010-03-06T06:11:00.000-08:00

We all know this winter I've been on a quest to drastically improve my golf swing. I've spent hours hitting balls into a net in my garage and I've certainly stumbled upon some (at least to me) earth-shattering revelations along the way. Recently, I've begun to feel the unwinding of the downswing starting before the end of the backswing and, when timed properly, the amazing feeling of stored-and-released energy pre-and-post impact. As always, I've been trying to come up with a visual image that would relate to this "experience" and I'm starting to think it's a lot like pulling back a bow string in an attempt to fire an arrow.

When I was in junior high school, we had a unit in gym class that was devoted to archery. It seemed like a bad idea at the time and, come to think of it, it still seems like a bad idea. A bunch of knuckleheaded 12 and 13-year olds on the football practice field with bows and arrows in their hands? Yes, it was a disaster waiting to happen. But more importantly to this discussion, it was also the last time I pulled back a bow string and attempted to fire an arrow towards a target. Now that I'm playing golf, I'm thinking there is a similar sensation in the golf swing. The first 80% of the pulling-the-bow-string action is done with little or no resistance. It's when the string is almost taught that the hardest part begins. Continue to pull the string, however, and you'll feel the bow stiffen and know that you have a legitimate chance of firing that arrow far and true. Stop pulling the string when it gets hard and you'll likely fire a weak dribbler of an arrow a meager distance towards the target.
Similarly, take the club back in your backswing and until you get to at least halfway there is little or no resistance from your body. However, once your hands reach your shoulders, if you begin to unwind your lower body and start to shift your weight towards the target, you've essentially "tightened the bow string" and are ready to fire the golf ball far and true. Again, stop the backswing before you've become fully coiled (or even worse, don't begin the unwinding of the lower body before the backswing is complete) and you'll likely hit a soft, weak shot that comes up well short of your desired target.

Interesting, huh?

Work of Art

2010-03-03T20:43:00.000-08:00

You'll never feel anything better in your hands. Seriously, why would you want to swing anything else?! If Monet was re-incarnated as a clubmaker, I'm sure he'd making something similar to this Hogan blade.

Piece of Sh*t

2010-03-03T20:40:00.000-08:00

These things suck! It's like trying to swing a small, dinner plate and feels like one too. Ick. Look down at it at address and nothing but feelings of unrest and potential disaster will fill your head. Avoid these "clubs" at all costs.

Kansas City, Here I Come!

2010-02-23T19:41:00.000-08:00

It looks like me and the boys will be heading back to KC this spring to kick off the golf season in style (again). We've made our reservations at a hotel that shares a parking lot with a Waffle House and tee times have been secured at our new favorite golf course, Shoal Creek. A suitably-sized SUV has been arranged to transport we four hulking lads and now all we need is for the weather to cooperate. Hooray for me! Hooray for us! Four more weeks and this brutally long and snowy "non-golf season" will be over. Whoot! New swing, don't fail me now.

Feelings (Nothing More Then Feee-lings...)

2010-02-21T12:24:00.000-08:00

The golf swing has become, to me, a series of "feelings" that I need experience on the journey between deciding what shot to hit (i.e. club, shape, etc.) and posing over my finish position. 1) I need to feel the weight of the club head in my hands as I settle into a nice, comfortable grip while stepping into my stance. 2) I need to feel my weight balanced on the balls of my feet. I'll check my posture and make sure that I'm not going to lunge or fall over during the swing. 3) I need to feel my shoulders "drag" the club head away from the ball in my first, larger waggle. 4) I need to feel my weight anchor around my right leg and knee, paying close attention to the instep of my right foot. 5) I need to imagine the feeling of solid contact between club face and ball as I glance at my target one last time before beginning my swing. 6) I need to feel my shoulders drag the club away again as I start my swing "for real" this time. 7) I need to feel my right elbow anchor into my right side as I continue my turn away to the ball. Note that his feeling will coincide with the feeling of my wrists cocking as I approach the end of my backswing. 8) I need to feel my hips unwind as my right leg fires my weight over to my left side. 9) I need to feel my right shoulder go under my chin after impact as my head stays down over the ball until it has long since left it's place on the turf. 10) I need to feel my weight entirely on my left leg as I stand tall in a high (non-Reverse C!) finish position.

Lie Angle Musings

2010-02-20T06:01:00.000-08:00

I'm kind of a hypochondriac when it comes to my golf swing--I read articles and watch instructional videos and think "yeah, that's probably what's wrong with my swing", etc. My latest ailment (I think) is the fact that the lie angles of my clubs needs to be adjusted. I was looking at some Ping irons on eBay and noticed all the different color codes listed; they all referred to the different lie angles of the clubs. I dug into Ping's web-site to try and understand their fitting system and followed their instructions for measuring one's "wrist-to-floor" distance to determine (along with one's height) what lie angle your clubs should be? As an aside, I've always had a hard time finding long-sleeved shirts whose sleeves were long enough, so I wasn't surprised when...my wrist-to-floor measurement came up much shorter then the average person my height. Of course, my arms are too long! I didn't have shoes on when I did this, and it's hard to actually see (without looking in a mirror) where your wrist's really are in relation to the measuring stick, but I decided to go along with the idea anyways. After all, if my clubs are too upright then that would explain my tendency to hit the ball too close to the hosel, right? And since I don't play with irons made in the mid-sixties, I should be trying everything I can to make impact more towards the center of the clubface, right? So why not get my irons bent 1-degree flat? That would be cool, wouldn't it? The downside, of course, is that if I'm not "normal" when it comes to clubfitting, then all my clubs from now on will have to be custom fit. This won't be cheap but I'm sure it will be worth it. At least until I decide that something else is actually the cause of all my inconsistencies when it comes to ball-striking.

Tim Clark's Playing A Yellow Ball!

2010-02-18T19:45:00.000-08:00

As I'm sure you've all heard, Tim Clark is playing Srixon's new yellow ball this week at the Match Play Championship. I know, I know, yellow balls are for old people or misers who aren't embarrassed to play with something they've swiped from the range ball bin. But according to Srixon, “Science has proven that yellow is the most visible color in the visual spectrum and psychology has correlated green with calming and stress relief; therefore Srixon has combined the two colors based on these findings to tap into the player’s mind and expand the benefits of playing a better ball.” Basically, the yellow ball will make you calmer standing over it and hence, you'll make better shots/hole more putts. It sounds like we'll all be playing yellow balls in the not-too-distant future.

Where's David Howell?

2010-02-18T18:32:00.001-08:00

Seriously, where is he? I'm asking because I don't know. Currently ranked 383rd in the World, I fear we may have heard the last of Mr. Howell, which is a shame because I always kind of liked him. And to think he was ranked in the Top Ten in the World as recently as 2006?! My, how fleeting success can be...Oh well, maybe he'll come back as a ping pong star?

More Shoulders

2010-02-15T20:24:00.000-08:00

I've been spending a lot of time practicing my full-swing in the garage this Winter but I fear I've been neglecting my putting in the process. I went downstairs with my kids tonight and rolled a few putts on the carpet and had yet ANOTHER revelation! Why not putt with my shoulders, too? I line myself up with them, start my club back with them and then picture them rotating on a plane that bisects the line of my putt. And guess what? 9 out of 10 putts rolled straight and true towards the hole (actually, a cd I've laid on the carpet)--nothing to it. Genius!

It's All About the Shoulders

2010-02-15T12:42:00.000-08:00

When Paul Goydos was in contention at the '08 Players Championship, they interviewed him after his Saturday round and asked him why he buttoned the top button on his golf shirt in the toasty Florida weather? His response was that if he didn't his shirt would fall off because he has no shoulders. I only bring this up because he was in contention again at Pebble Beach yesterday (until he made a 9 at the par-5 14th!) and ironically, I'm starting to think that everything in my golf swing revolves around the shoulders. I start my takeaway and if I get them started on the right plane I can't help but hit the ball solidly. Too far upright (head and left shoulder dip down towards the ball) and I hit fat, smother-hooks. Flatten it out a bit (left shoulder goes "under"the chin and I feel the right elbow "folds" into the body near the right hip) and I have wonderful extension going back and coming down through the ball. I can feel the club being pushed along by my right forefinger in the downswing and the "long arms at impact" I so desperately covet seem to appear on their own, as if preordained by the shoulder plane on which I started my swing. It's a wonderful feeling, I assure you.

My Secret

2010-02-14T07:36:00.000-08:00

My practice sessions in the Garage Golf Swing Laboratory have become longer and more frequent as the swell of wintertime presses more and more heavily on my psyche. My wife is starting to roll her eyes at me now each time I put on my stocking cap (always the Houston Oilers one, btw) and disappear into the garage. If she only knew the things I was discovering!
Last night, for instance, while swinging my late-90's Hogan blade 5-iron with the "4" flex apex shaft, I could feel beautiful contact between the ball and clubface but shots that were left out to the right. It's like the shaft was too stiff (which I believe it is) for me to be able to close the clubface properly at the speed with which I was swinging it. This is something I never could've felt even just as frequently as two months ago--amazing.

But the real find came even later last night...I couldn't find my golf glove (turns out it was inside my Oilers stocking cap; damn velcro got it stuck there) so my hands were feeling a bit naked. I hadn't been wearing my Tac-Tic lately so I decided to put it on. And then it hit me--when the left wrist breaks in the backswing (the Tac-Tic "pops"), that's your cue to start the uncoiling of the hips. Start the downswing before you finish the backswing and voila! You have wonderful extension and power going through the ball towards the finish. To purchase one, visit http://www.bendoylegolf.com/products.htm#tactic

Putting At The Crosby

2010-02-13T05:40:00.000-08:00

I caught a few minutes of the action at the AT&T National Pro-Am (aka The Crosby) yesterday and was impressed by the exchange I saw between professional Ricky Barnes and amateur Brandi Chastain at the home hole. Brandi had just hit a very solid fairway bunker shot to reach the green of the par-5 in regulation and was left with some 30-feet for her birdie. Her partner Ricky Barnes came over to help her read the putt and together they spent about 10 seconds conferring over it. Brandi then stepped up to the ball and gave it a rap and watched as it barely skirted by on the low side, leaving her a tap-in for her par (net birdie) and smiles all around. I found this impressive because, although some might of thought of Mr. Barnes' behavior towards his partner as being indifferent (or worse, chauvinistic), I saw it as a pro telling an amateur the general speed and direction of the putt and then leaving it up to her to make the play on her own. See, most amateurs likely don't hit putts exactly where they aim them in the first place, so why waste a bunch of time on details like "two balls out to the left, play it like it's six more feet in distance because it's uphill such-and-such degree, etc."? I imagine Ricky said "it's uphill, so give it a good hit. And it looks like it'll break in a little from the right at the end so aim just outside the hole on the right", or something like that. And then Brandi hit it, mentally uncluttered with images she likely didn't need in her head in the first place. And guess what? She almost made it. Good team work all around--I hope they're in contention come Sunday.

Ruminations On The Golf Swing, Part 38

2010-02-12T19:30:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to start my take-away with the shoulders, sort of "dragging" the clubhead away from the ball, if you will. Lately, though, my laziness in executing this move has lead me to dip my head and left shoulder down towards the ball in a Lee Westwood-like move. It works for him but not this guy. George Knudson's book The Natural Golf Swing stresses balance and I've been trying hard to work on that tonight. Both laterally and front-to-back--balance is the key. A byproduct of not dipping my head and left shoulder in my backswing is I feel like the club is going back on a flatter plane and I'm much more comfortable with the point from which I'm making my transition back to the downswing. It was definitely too upright before and that was making me nervous.

My downswing is starting to get lazy too--all hands and arms and upper body all-of-a-suddenly. This is making me contact the ball too close to the hosel, and even (gasp!) shank a few here or there. Hence, shifting my weight towards the target, riding the hip turn (which is finally initiating my downswing), has been another point of my focus in the Garage Golf Swing Laboratory tonight. As Mr. Knudson says, the hands and arms are just along for the ride. Don't use them to manipulate the clubhead in any way, shape, or form.
And lastly (and probably most importantly), I'm getting closer to taking the "hit" out of my golf swing, maybe even making contact with my hands...ahead...of...the...ball. Oh my God! Could it be? George also talks a lot about the golf swing being a vehicle to get you from your starting position to your finish position. Thinking about "where I want to finish" while I'm making my transition has given me a wonderful feeling of the clubhead merely collecting the ball on it's way through it toward my finish position. My one caution right now with my finish position, though, is it's starting to resemble a Reverse-C and I desperately want to fix that before my back tells me it's too late. I need to land more upright on my left leg, something that working on my balance throughout the swing should help with for sure.

These (Swing) Truths I Hold To Be Self-Evident

2010-02-07T19:16:00.000-08:00

First, I must grip the club firmly with my hands in the new hybrid "double-overlap, single interlock" grip that I stole from Jim Furyk (sort of). The left hand must remain weak for this to work. I will take a few practice swings over the ball and try and concentrate on hearing the "whoosh" as the clubface passes over the ball and into the sky. I will then position myself over the ball with my left foot slightly open and visualize the shot I want to hit. Next, my waggle will emphasize taking the club back with my SHOULDERS FIRST during which I want to feel my weight anchored in my right knee. I will check the clubface position (toe up?) as the shaft reaches parallel to the ground and then return to the ball to start the swing (slowly!) for real. At the top of the backswing I will begin the transition by rotating my hips to the left and pushing off the ground with the inside of my right foot. The feeling that I will focus on, however, will be DROPPING my right shoulder and PUSHING the club with my right index finger (aka the #3 pressure point, for those of you keeping score at home). This should accelerate me smoothly through the ball and ONTO MY LEFT LEG, posing in a nice, high finish. The pleasure of knowing and feeling that I've just hit a quality golf shot will then consume me for the entire time it takes for the ball to reach it's intended target. Sounds easy, right? Well it should be...but it isn't always. The more I practice, though, the easier it will get. As an aside, should the dreaded shank rear it's ugly head, I now know two of it's causes: 1) If my downswing motion involves my shoulders rotating on the same plane as my hips (instead of on a more upright plane like Woody Austin taught me) then I'm reaching for the ball and El Hosel is going to get in the way. 2) If I try to manipulate the squaring of the clubface through impact I'm also likely to "reach" for it and smack the darn thing off to the right like a rocket.

Vintage Clubs

2010-02-07T14:19:00.000-08:00

I decided to take the advice of some well-respected fellow bloggers (Sevam1, Richie3Jack, etc.) and buy myself a vintage muscle-backed iron to help me improve my ball-striking. Less forgiving and more likely to amplify any faults you have in your swing, the thinking goes that "re-learning" how to hit the ball with the old clubs will make the newer implements we all carry that much easier to handle. It reminds me of high school football practice, actually, when our coaches insisted that the quarterbacks (of which I was one) practice throwing the ball with our off-hands so that throwing with our dominant hands didn't require anything but our normal rhythm and instincts. I can't wait to get this baby (pictured above-right) in the mail and give her a rip.

And even though I know no one else is reading this, for my own sake of accuracy and completeness I need to amend my previous post about the Jim Furyk double-overlap grip. Since I don't have the magazine to re-consult (somehow I missed that issue in my subscription; I was forced to read it in the waiting room at the auto dealership I got my oil changed at last week) I'm not sure that what I've "stumbled upon" is actually what Jim Furyk was championing. My new grip is a double-overlap with a traditional interlock mixed in, if that makes any sense? I'm interlocking my left index finger between my right middle and ring fingers, with my right pinkie finger overlapping the crevice between my left ring and middle fingers. That was a really important clarification for me to make, I know.

Jim Furyk's "Double-Overlap" Grip May Have Changed My Life

2010-02-06T12:26:00.000-08:00

Jim Furyk's cover article in the December '09 issue of Golf magazine mentioned his "double-overlap" grip. On a whim I decided to try it in my Garage Golf Swing Laboratory today and, boy was I amazed! Upon first gripping the club with my right pinkie and ring fingers between (and on top of) my left middle and index fingers I thought I would be lucky to even hit the ball holding the club this way. I took a few practice swings and felt nothing that would dissuade me from my original thought. Regardless, I raked a ball into position on my hitting mat and took the club back and WHAM! I hit the ball dead-center in the clubface of my 5-iron. Thinking this must've been a fluke I tried it again and the same thing happened--another ball rocketed off the middle of the clubface of my 5-iron. Five more swings in a row with the exact same pleasing impact results and I thought I might've stumbled on to something major. I then switched to my wedge and hit a number of balls purely and effortlessly in the middle of that clubface and watched them jump backwards with tons of spin as they caromed off my hitting "net". What could be wrong with this? I'm still wondering but I can't come up with anything. I'm going to keep working on it, that's for sure.

My Garage Golf Swing Laboratory

2010-02-06T12:07:00.000-08:00

So it's routinely below freezing for months at a time up here in Minnesota, and the ground is typically covered in snow from late November until late March. So what's an ornery golfer like myself to do if he wants to keep his game sharp and interest piqued when most others in my predicament have put their games in hibernation? Well, build a practice area in my garage, of course! Here's a picture: first, in the upper left you see my homemade hitting net. It's a one-inch PVC frame with a net stretched over it and attached with zip strips. I wore a hole through the original net in the backyard this Summer, so I reinforced it will another heavier net in the Fall. That net also wore out so I decided to hang to blankets over the frame for my Winter practice sessions. The outer "moving blanket" is starting to fray but I think it will make it another 6 or 7 weeks. To the right of the net is the wooden plank I store everything on when I'm not hitting balls so that I can actually get my car in here every once-in-a-while. I have a few clubs waiting on it in the photo, a wedge and a 5-iron and a weighted wedge I use to loosen up. The light from the upper right is from a window I have covered with a blanket so as not to worry my neighbors with how weird that guy is who's hitting balls in his garage all night. I have some hooks above it which hold my "swinging rope" and a few other practice gadgets I've accumulated over the years. In the lower right you see a mirror which I use to check my ball position and address alignment before every swing. And lastly, in the foreground, you see my precious hitting mat. My wife got me this for my birthday and it's made all the difference in the world. It's the "Vijay Singh" one with built-in give to the carpet so as to a) not hurt your left elbow with every impact, and b) simulate the feeling of taking a divot. Not bad, huh?

The PGA Tour Is In Trouble

2010-01-31T17:30:00.002-08:00

The first three full-field events of the 2010 PGA Tour season have seen Ryan Palmer, Bill Haas and Ben Crane in their respective winner's circles. I don't think I'm alone when I say I think the Tour will die a slow death if this keeps up. And I don't mean any disrespect to those aforementioned gentlemen, I assure you. I couldn't pick Ryan Palmer out of a line-up and I'm a big-time fan of (televised) professional golf. Bill Haas has a semi-famous dad, sure, but he's done nothing up until this point in his career to validate his lineage. And Ben Crane? This guy's famous for playing really, really, really slowly and nothing else. The Tour needs Tiger Woods, and if he still can't figure out how to keep his tiger in his pants, then Phil Mickelson needs to pull his head out of his you-know-what and seize the opportunity Tiger's infidelity has afforded him. Please, for the love of God, I can't watch another tournament with a Johnny Nobody holding off a bunch of other Johnny Nobodys down the stretch on the back nine on Sunday. It's just not gonna happen, I'm sorry to say.

Ken Green's Comeback

2010-01-31T17:30:00.001-08:00

So I'm sure you've all heard the story about Ken Green's tragic motorhome accident last year that claimed the life of his girlfriend, brother/caddie and his dog. And oh yea, it also cost him the bottom half of one of his legs. Well, he's currently trying to make a comeback to play professional golf again and is raising money by selling these sweet hats pictured at right. Seeings how I have the same initials, I thought it would be extra-cool if I bought one but had to ask beforehand about the crown-size on the hat. See, I have an abnormally large head so "one size fits all" doesn't always pertain to me, especially if the hat in question has a shallow crown depth. And if I buy one more hat that I don't wear my wife is surely going to kill me...So I e-mailed Mr. Green before making my purchase and he responded that he would just send me one regardless, and if it didn't fit well I didn't have to pay for it and should just give it to one of my smaller-headed friends. What a guy! I can't wait to try on my new hat and pay Mr. Green for it in spades.

Long Arms Through Impact

2010-01-31T10:24:00.000-08:00

In my daily perusal of my favorite golf blogs, Richie3Jack's contained something in particular that caught my eye. He was talking about people's obsession with creating lag (and hence, power) in their golf swings and made a reference to 'running out of right arm' and that this was something that Homer Kelley talked about in quite a bit in his seminal text, 'The Golfing Machine'. I've noticed lately in my garage golf swing laboratory that some of my best feeling shots have something I'll call 'Long Arms Through Impact'. It sounds like something similar to what Mr. Kelly was explaining, I believe. Let me explain: when I truly feel like I've created good extension and a powerful release through impact, my arms feel very "long". Its like my left forearm has become an extension of my left wrist and hand (and ultimately, the shaft) and they're helping to sling the ball off the club face in a very forceful way towards the target. This is a feeling that I'd like to replicate as much as possible--doing so is another matter entirely, however.
Now back to Richie3Jack...he says "And I think what happens is often times when you try to create too much forward shaft lean and you 'run out of right arm', that running out of right arm causes golfer's to flip. Yes, trying to create too much shaft lean I believe helps *cause* throwaway." This sounds exactly like what I'm trying to avoid. Funny how this is all coming together, isn't it? Thanks, Mr. 3Jack. If you'd like more info from this fantastic blog, check it out at http://3jack.blogspot.com/

John Daly's Done?

2010-01-29T20:02:00.000-08:00

So John Daly said he was quitting professional golf today? If he really did, I hope he means it. I heard he said that he wasn't playing up to snuff and felt bad about taking spots away from people who could still actually compete at the highest level of golf. If this is true, then I applaud him. I just hope he doesn't pull a Brett Favre and unretire, like, 7 or 8 times in the coming months/years. The game of golf needs personalities like Big John but his act has become tiresome, if you ask me, so I'll just wish him the best in his next endeavor and be done with it. For some reason I don't think we've heard the last of him, though. Anyone crazy enough to wear those pants (or as Boo Weekley calls them, "britches") probably won't go away quietly.

Swinging A Rope

2010-01-24T06:08:00.000-08:00

While goofing around on YouTube the other night, I found an amazing video of a guy working on his golf swing by swinging a rope. For all you "casters" of the club out there (you know who you are), it is absolutely impossible to cast a rope down from the top and make any sort of reasonable golf swing-like motion. You have to initiate the downswing with your body if you hope to have any chance of getting the "club head" back towards the "ball" without looking like a fool. And the backswing cannot start with the hands, either. You must begin your takeaway by moving the big muscles (i.e. shoulders) and accelerate slowly and smoothly with this swing training device. And the best part? You can buy five feet of rope at your local hardware store for less then three dollars. I know because I just did. Put a soft weight on one end of it, like a nut wrapped in lead tape, and start swinging your way to a better golf game.

The Mid-January Blues

2010-01-18T06:03:00.000-08:00

Golf seems so far away right now, both literally and figuratively. I haven't actually played the game, outdoors and on grass, in over six weeks and its going to be at least another six weeks until my buddies and I are able to make our now-annual trek south to Kansas City to play again in late March. The PGA Tour is finally back in action but they're playing in Hawaii right now and the images on my television screen look like they're playing on another planet. I've been busy at work and fighting a cold for the last couple of weeks so my work-out schedule and "range time" in my garage have dwindled to almost nothing. Sounds hopeless, right? Well not so fast...next weekend I'm signed up to play in a golf tournament on a neighboring lake called the "Bearly Open". Sure, its a scramble played on ice with a tennis ball and holes the size of hula hoops, but I'll be wielding a 7-iron OUTSIDE so I'm going to call it golf. I'm looking forward to it right now like its the Masters, which oh-by-the-way, I also plan on attending this year for the first time. But more on that later. So its on to the Bearly Open!

Did You Get Better Today?

2009-12-27T19:41:00.000-08:00

It's hard to stay focused and excited about playing golf when you live in a place where snow covers the ground for approximately 1/3rd of the year but I manage to get by just fine, thank you. I've read a lot of books about Ben Hogan and one of the things that stuck with me was the way he felt about practicing, that if you didn't get better every day through practice then you were essentially getting worse (by comparison) because you could damn well bet somebody else did. So every day I ask myself if I've gotten better? Did I go swimming, lift weights, go jogging, hit balls or practice putting? If the answer is no, then I do everything I can to accomplish doing at least one of them. Then I can sleep better at night. And before you know it, its late March and I'm ready to go day-one when the snow melts.

My Dream About Tiger Woods

2009-12-23T18:05:00.001-08:00

Two nights ago I had a dream about Tiger Woods. First, some background though...I've always been a fan of his (how could you not be if you're a fan of golf?), but I've never really "rooted" for him. I enjoy the excitement he brings to a tournament and watching him win on a regular basis. And the more he wins the more fun it is when an underdog does actually knock him off. Say, Y.E. Yang at this year's PGA Championship. How much fun was that? Like most other golfers, I'm in awe of what he can do with a club in his hands and naturally just assumed that aside from his mastering of the game he did little else. I imagined (I guess) that he'd probably had sex twice in his life (he has two kids) and didn't have much time for anything else, what with all the working out he does, and all the time he spends practicing at the game. Essentially, I figured he was just a golfing eunuch, one who was constantly and forever changing how the game of golf was played and to be perceived. Well, we all know now that that was not the case at all. So be it--he's human like the rest of us.
My dream then...In it, Tiger and I were sitting together having a pleasant conversation in a setting that was undefined but not out-of-the-ordinary. We certainly weren't "friends" when the conversation started, but we began to carry on somewhat comfortably considering how dissimilar we both are, save the fact that we both like to play golf. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was remorseful and exhausted but also somewhat relieved when I finally worked up the courage to ask him the million dollar question--why did you throw it all away (when arguably he had everything) on some cheap, floozy broads and one-night stands? His answer? He said he was so tired of being who he was, the most recognizable and most socially imprisoned person on the planet, that he finally realized the only way to make all the fame and notoriety go away, was to do the most unthinkable (yet legal) thing possible, ultimately leading to him being universally despised. He wanted to make people hate him so people would just leave him alone.
I was amazed.

My (Less Than) Triumphant Return to Blogging

2009-12-12T06:34:00.000-08:00

Has it really been more than three months since my last post? Wow, I've got some catching up to do. September, October and November proved very fruitful as far as number of rounds played was concerned, with our season here in the chilly climes of Minnesota lasting all the way until the 1st day of December! I played on November 30th by myself at a local muni and managed 24 holes in just under three hours. I made my last birdie of the year, missed a few other short birdie putts after making fine shots to reach the greens, lost the head of my 4-iron while attempting to tee off with it on a short par-4 (bad idea), and generally had a wonderful time. It was a great note to end the year on.
As far as the odyssey that is my swing is concerned, well as Johnny Cash once said "I've been everywhere." Bobby Clampett's "The Impact Zone" book has had as profound an effect on my golf swing as any text I've ever read. The hands-ahead-of-the-ball-at-impact idea actually feels like it will become a reality of my game soon. My wife bought me an artificial hitting mat that I've been able to use regularly in my garage to work on my swing even though the temperature is in the single-digits outside. My grip feels good, my backswing is slow and smooth, my transition is solid and allowing me to accelerate through the ball at impact. And I'm leading the swing through the hitting area by pulling down from the top with my left arm (still straight), allowing me to feel some actual clubhead speed and release during and through impact. It's a wonderful feeling, to tell you the truth.
Now if I can just keep this thing going all winter, at least until late March when we head down to KC to get the 2010 campaign started off with a bang! Swimming, jogging, weightlifting, ball-striking.....swimming, jogging, weightlifting, ball-striking.....

More Golf Swing Revelations

2009-09-07T05:37:00.000-07:00

I'd seen an episode of the Golf Channel's "Playing Lessons From The Pros" some time ago with Woody Austin playing the part of the professional. I'm sure it was wintertime when I saw it because it was only when it was re-run recently that I realized something Woody said would help my game immensely. Again, having to do with the transition at the top of the swing, Woody made it clear that to hit the ball solidly your shoulders must start to rotate back through the ball on a much steeper angle then that of your hips. Turning your shoulders parallel with your hips will pull your arms and hands away from your body and cause you to slap the ball with the dreaded "inside-out" swing path. So now I'm thinking "load the club in the backswing, smoothly accelerate into the downswing with the right shoulder driving down towards the ball, right knee firing through the ball, hands close to the belly rotating with the torso through to a high finish." Nothing to it, right? And oh yeah, don't forget the new hybrid "interlock/overlap" grip that's been feeling so good wrapped around the grip of the club. Regardless, I'm playing the best golf of my life right now so I think I'll stick with it for now. Only if I could get my chipping and pitching game back to where it used to be, then I'd be a real force on the course!

2009 PGA Championship

2009-08-22T08:07:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to score tickets to the last round of the 2009 PGA Championship last weekend at Hazeltine. I met some friends behind the 3rd green at about 11am and we sat there for 3+ hours until all the groups had played the hole. Watching 20-some groups play into that long par-5 was quite an eye-opener in that none of the players went for it in two shots and all but a handful had very makeable putts for birdie because of it. Tiger Woods was close enough that I could see him breathe and I must admit he was quite a vision on the golf course. His torso seemed shorter then it does on tv (maybe he had his pants hiked up pretty high?) and his skin looked smooth as a baby's butt. After his group finished, we hustled over to the 14th and stood behind the green for an hour or so, watching players go for that "short" par-4 off the tee. We just missed Yang's chip-in for birdie as we had just moved on to the 15th fairway to watch the big boys bomb it on that extra-long par-5. What a sight! After Woods and Yang played to the green, we hustled over to seventeen but were too late to really be able to see anything. We finished the day watching the final group play eighteen from well down the fairway. If you think Yang's second shot looked hard on tv, you should have seen what it looked like from down the hill behind him. I was amazed when the crowd roared up by the green--it was a shot I couldn't have hit once with an entire bucket of balls at my side. Indeed, these guys are good.

I Think I'm Onto Something

2009-07-06T19:57:00.001-07:00

"It's all about the transition," Bob Torrance said. So I started thinking about it and couldn't say I necessarily disagreed. I went outside to my hitting net and started trying to take it back slow and starting the downswing gradually, thinking that you can't accelerate into the ball if you're swinging as hard as you can as soon as you start the downswing. The only thing you can do is slow down, and we all know that's a killer. One after another the ball jumped off my clubface and smacked into my homemade net. My left wrist felt flat (and long) and powerful going through the ball. Even 4-irons were rocketing off the tee and into orbit. Wow, I think I'm onto something. I can't wait to go hit balls again.

Career Low Round

2009-07-05T19:01:00.000-07:00

I shot my career low round today, a 1-over par 73 from the back tees at my home club. In hindsight I didn't do anything extraordinarily well (11 fairways, 10 greens, 29 putts) I just didn't do anything terribly bad either. I had one ugly 3-putt from about 40 feet and a shanked 4-iron approach to the difficult 15th green, otherwise it was just a steady stay-out-of-trouble kind of round. It was that simple, I guess. I hope I can do it again sometime very soon.

Sandbaggin' At The Member/Guest

2009-07-01T19:13:00.001-07:00

I recently played in a member/guest at a relative's club and had the exact same experience there that I had the last time I played in it some five years ago. The same people win the tournament every year, according to my relatives, because these people are sandbaggers. My relatives won't even entertain the possibility that these people are good pressure players, or better yet, that they themselves choke under the pressure of playing for "big money". Maybe their $5 saturday morning games haven't prepared them properly for the high stakes of the member/guest. And they certainly won't even think for a minute that maybe the majority of the players in their club who don't win the tournaments are actually reverse-sandbaggers (or vanity handicappers, as we call them) and can't possibly play to their index because, well, they aren't as good as they pretend to be. Now granted, a 5-handicapper who shoots 68 under tournament conditions (tough pins, greens running 11 on the stimpmeter, tees back, etc.) should be thoroughly investigated. But hey, I'm willing to entertain the possibility that this guy has ice-water in his veins and just shot the round of his summer under the greatest of circumstances. Immediately crying "sandbagger" when someone plays well cheapens the experience of competing and thriving in that setting, and I'd hate to think how they (the vanity ones) would feel if they caught lightning in a bottle and played over their heads one day and no one felt the need to congratulate them. Its sad, actually.

Wrong Ball

2009-06-06T21:21:00.000-07:00

I hit the wrong ball today for the first time in my young golfing life. We were playing as a six-some and it was cold and rainy. I'm easily the shortest hitter in the group so after we all teed off on the long par-5 7th hole at my club I started walking towards the nearest ball in the fairway. Seeing it wasn't mine I naturally proceeded to the next ball and, trying to keep things moving, quickly went ahead and hit it. Turns out it wasn't my ball that I hit--I had actually out-driven two people in my group and was the 3rd shortest ball in the fairway. Two stroke penalty, I would go on to make a 7 on the hole. Didn't cost my partner any money as he thankfully went ahead and made par (net birdie) to halve the hole for us. But I didn't give us a chance to win the hole either and it was embarrassing to boot. From that point forward I have amended my pre-shot routine to include the question "is this your ball?"

Play Golf

2009-05-28T20:18:00.000-07:00

I know it shouldn't bother me so, but I can't help but be annoyed by people who use the word "golf" like its a verb and not the name of a game you play. Do you golf? No, I play golf. Are you golfing today? No, but I plan on playing golf at some point before the sun goes down. I've decided to make it my life's work (among other things) to change the way people talk about the game and get everyone on the same page. You play golf, you don't golf. Everyone got it? You aren't golfing, you're playing golf. Okay, let's move on...

Release The Club

2009-05-06T18:22:00.000-07:00

You must release the club to hit good golf shots. Its harder to do then it probably should be but I think I've made a breakthrough in regards to my own game. Instead of trying to release it with the right hand (flipping at the ball) I've started visualizing the back of my left hand "covering the ball" as my hands pass through the hitting area. Try it sometime--think "cover the ball with the back of my left hand" as you take the club back and then accelerate through the hitting area. Its working for me.

My First Hole-Out From The Fairway

2009-04-29T19:45:00.000-07:00

I holed out from the fairway for an eagle-two on a par 4 for the first time in my life tonight. I was playing by myself in a light rain (did it really happen?) as I drove wildly to the left of the fairway on the short par 4 13th hole at my home course. Thinking I could do better, I drove again and watched as my ball sailed well to the right this time. I walked to my first ball and saw that I'd gotten a nice carom off the trees, leaving myself with a side-hill lie in light rough approximately 150 yards from the center of the green. Unsure of where the pin actually was, I decided to hit a 6-iron and hope for the best. The shot came off pretty well and I watched as it bounced on the front of the green and started rolling towards the flag. Unfortunately, I decided to go and locate my second ball before the first one stopped rolling and when I got to my second tee shot I looked at the green and could no longer see my ball. It was at this moment that I realized I must have holed my approach and couldn't wait to get my second ball to the green. Sure enough, some three shots later, I found myself on the surface and went and looked in the cup and there she was, my first ball! What fun--I sure am glad I didn't quit after making my first birdie of the young season on the 9th hole some hour or so earlier.

DIY

2009-04-26T19:37:00.000-07:00

Maybe the single greatest thing I've ever done for my golf game is make a net I can hit balls into in my own backyard. I've looked at ones at retail outlets in the past but they seemed too expensive to really think about buying them. Then I tried to win one for a while by cashing in a bunch of MyCokeRewards points and putting them towards said contest, but when that didn't happen I decided to just try and make one myself. So I bought some military grade netting at the local surplus store and made a 4'x8' frame out of PVC to hold it. I propped it up in my backyard against some large, annoying bushes we have against the north side of our house and voila! Ball-striking satisfaction just outside my sliding glass door! I can take full swings and hit REAL balls into the net, grooving the positions and feelings in the swing that I need to make some real hay on the golf course. Practice makes permanent, after all, and since my game was recently rejuvenated by a very eye-opening lesson I took from my club's teaching pro, everything seems to be coming together. Now my weekly trip to the course will not be all about a panicky practice session before teeing off and spending the first six or so holes figuring out which swing I have that day, maybe enjoying the last twelve holes if I like the one I got. Instead it will be all about taking confident, aggressive swings at the ball and watching it fly high and far towards my intended target. Eureka!

Lesson Tee

2009-04-19T18:51:00.000-07:00

I took a lesson last weekend and it was another eye-opening experience. Every lesson I've ever taken has been just that so I don't know why I should sound so surprised by it happening again. We changed my grip, my takeaway, my ball-position and the posture of my stance during the backswing/downswing transition. We then focused on my approach angle into the ball and learning how to turn and release the clubhead through the ball and beyond. I was able to play with my buddies yesterday without hurting anyone or embarrassing myself too badly so that was definitely a step in the right direction. Now if I could just get a few more practice sessions on the range under my belt, perhaps my confidence could begin to repair itself and I might be able to really enjoy a decent round of golf again in the near future.

Angel Cabrera

2009-04-11T07:24:00.001-07:00

Let the record show that I'm pulling for Angel Cabrera to win the Masters come Sunday evening. The power and passion with which he plays the game is so inspiring that I can't help but pull for him. Aside from the last two years of Death Marches around Augusta, in equal part due to brutal course set-ups and the weather, the Masters generally rewards players who play like Angel Cabrera does. They are technically sound, sure, but they also play with their hearts and great feeling. Perhaps this is why so many Europeans have won this finest of majors over the years. And the way he steps into the ball and pulls the trigger before he has a chance to think about anything other then where he wants the ball to go is something most of us amateurs could learn from too. He appears happy-go-lucky all the while, like the Opee Taylor of Argentina I guess. You win some (the '07 U.S. Open, for example) and you lose some--just have fun while you're out there. I know I'll be having fun watching him perform his craft on the golf course all weekend long.

Good Friday

2009-04-10T06:01:00.001-07:00

Good Friday might be my favorite day of the year. My wife and I shared our first kiss some ten years ago on Good Friday. And nine years ago I made my first birdie on Good Friday, at the par-3 seventh hole at Manitou Ridge golf course in White Bear Lake, MN. Spring has usually sprung by this time every year so Good Friday is often a symbol for the beginning of the golf season. And oh yeah, the Masters is almost always on TV on Good Friday. What could be better? I'll be taking a swing lesson this morning for the first time in some four years then I'm heading back home to color Easter eggs with the girls and hole up for the afternoon to watch the first major of year unfold before my very eyes. A little slice of heaven, if you ask me. I hope everyone else enjoys their Good Friday as much as I'll be enjoying mine. Cheers!

My Golf Sensei

2009-04-04T20:53:00.000-07:00

My buddy Matt noticed my struggles on the course the other day and said plainly as we pulled up my ball in the fairway, "Dude, we gotta do something about your (lack of) distance. I'm sixty yards past you." Though not the first time I'd heard something similar from one of my playing companions, the tone in which Matt imparted the phrase struck me as being constructive and not derisive, perking up my ears more then they otherwise would've been. Matt worked some time ago on the retail side of the golf business and said he could tell from watching me play that the shaft in my driver was too stiff. Indeed, what once was a low, going draw has since morphed into a high, short "fade", landing like a loaf of bread on the soggy fairways of springtime in Minnesota. He said this was because my swing wasn't fast enough to close the clubface with my stiff shaft and that I'd likely be more happy with the shape and distance of my drives if I switched to a regular flex in my "play" club. Appreciating his suggestion, I dug out an old, regular flex-shafted driver from the basement when I got home and went out back and hit some wiffle balls into the night air, feeling more control of the clubhead then I have in some time. I followed that with a week of non-golf reflection and then braved the driving range this afternoon and enjoyed watching the ball jump off the clubface of my new (old) driver. Thank you Matt, my Golf Sensei. You have imparted a breath of life into my almost-dead golf game. Now, can you help me get rid of those nasty (and hilarious?!) shanks too?

A Leave Of Absence From The Game?

2009-03-31T18:57:00.001-07:00

I seriously considered giving up the game on Sunday as I rode around a near-frozen golf course with a buddy and a couple of strangers. Though I was excited to be out and playing again, my game seems to have deserted me completely. I was routinely out-driven by my playing partners by some 60 yards. I shanked a chip shot on the 2nd hole. I chunked (yes, chunked!) a putt on the 14th hole. And I found reasonably short and "playable" par-4s unreachable with two full shots. But playing poorly your first time out after a long winter is nothing to be alarmed at, right? Well yes and no. I have a wife who I love very much and two wonderful little girls who I can't seem to spend enough time with and all this hit me in the head on Sunday as I struggled to enjoy myself on the golf course--why am I here? Why did I pay $50 to ride around on a cart, freezing my tail off, just to be away from the ones I love for six hours? I finally couldn't answer that question and that's what got me to thinking that it might be time to give it up. I'm not saying that I'm giving up the dream of playing the kind of golf that I know I'm capable of, but I'm seriously considering it. To play well and enjoy myself it seems that I'm going to have to spend way more time then I can afford perfecting my game and that probably won't ever happen like I really want it to. Why play the game if you can't play it well? Perhaps I'll just take to playing by myself again for a while, away from the pressure of "competing" with my buddies and try and rediscover what it is/was that I love about this game. Maybe quick, purposeful sessions on the range in the evening after the kids are in bed, only to be followed by 4 or 5 holes as the sun goes down. I can continue to practice at home when time is even more in demand and maybe, just maybe, I'll find again what I'm looking for. Whatever the case may be, I cannot continue to play like I am right now. I will not continue to play like I'm playing right now.

Nick Faldo the Golf Commentator, Part II

2009-03-15T09:49:00.000-07:00

Nick Faldo's obsession with the CDW TechCenter technology the tour uses to measure a player's ball flight characteristics on tee shots hit on "driver" holes has gotten silly. It's all he talks about anymore, to the point that he even talks over his broadcast partners who are simultaneously trying to actually explain where the shot is going. Faldo's just blubbers on about the clubhead speed, whether its above or below average, same with the spin rate. "That's way too high," he'll say. "Player X needs to get on the launch monitor and figure that one out, blah, blah, blah." It makes me think that Faldo spends all of his free time on a launch monitor of his own, trying desperately to come up with the perfect combination of shaft, clubhead, and ball so that he can maybe, just maybe, one day compete again and challenge for a title of some significance like Greg Norman did in last year's Open Championship. It's sad, really, because its so transparent.

The World's Tiniest Violin

2009-03-08T12:11:00.000-07:00

Top-flite touring professional golfers are grossly overpaid for what they do, no matter how you look at it. I don't think any rational human being could disagree with that statement and I would even go so far as to bet you that under oath and in the strictest of confidences, most of these golfers would agree with that claim as well. So why should we feel sorry for them when their title-sponsors are leaving the station faster then they can yell "bailout"? And stories of their investments with many of these sponsors dwindling just as fast as your 401(k) are splashed all across the sports pages? The answer is: we shouldn't. The market is correcting itself as we speak. Things have gotten bloated and out-of-hand and now they're coming back down to Earth. Its painful to everyone involved but its only temporary, I assure you. In the meantime let's get back to appreciating these players for what they can do with the golf ball and hopefully they'll get back to appreciating what it is that they do for a living. I want to see more pros playing for the love of the game and not the still-relatively absurd spoils that go with it. That would make my own personal economic "slowdown" a little easier to stomach.

They Ain't Makin' Golf Courses Like Sunningdale Anymore

2009-03-01T08:11:00.000-08:00

Early in the 20th century, England's Sunningdale Golf Club was home to one of the toughest and most revered golf courses in the world. I remember reading about a particular round of golf played there by Bobby Jones (ever heard of him?) that totaled 66 strokes, masterful play considering the relative conditions and equipment in vogue at the time. He used 33 strokes from tee-to-green and 33 strokes on the greens, registering nothing more then a 4 on the scorecard for any one hole. He referred to it as a perfect round of golf and it sounds to me like he wasn't much for exaggerating. What really caught my eye though was the length of the holes played that day--not a single par 4 (of which there were 12) had a yardage between 300-399 yards. They were all less then 300 yards or 400 yards or greater. I'd hazard a guess that the average golfer today plays a course of almost the exact opposite, meaning every single one of the par 4s they play has a yardage between 300-399 yards. Perhaps one of those holes they're charged with conquering creeps just barely over the 400 yard mark, like 405 yards maybe. So when did things change so drastically as far as course design is concerned? A quick perusal of the current hole yardages of Sunningdale's Old Course confirms that two of the three par 4s that once measured under 300 yards have been lengthened to a whopping 318 and 322 yards respectively, while the other 9 holes still measure well over 400 yards. Fascinating, indeed. The next time I play my home course and start feeling sorry for myself that half of the par 4s are too long, I'll pretend I'm at Sunningdale with a persimmon wood in my hand and a rock-hard gutty at my feet and see how much harder this game once was.

Desert Target Golf...No Thanks

2009-02-27T20:02:00.000-08:00

The Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain course the PGA Tour pros are playing this weekend at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship does nothing for me. Its so artificial looking, especially from those normally coveted blimp shots overhead, that I find it hard to get too terribly excited about what's going on in the individual matches. The patches of grass, co-mingling with the vast desert landscapes, make me think more of the irrigation nightmares they must face every day to keep it alive, rather then the brilliance of the designer (Jack Nicklaus) behind it. Be they tree-lined "parkland" lay-outs or Old World links-type tracks, I need a golf course that blends in with its surroundings to get my juices flowing. I'm sorry Ponte Vedra, but I think you swung and missed at playing this big of a tournament at this uninspiring of a lay-out. I know the weather is a mind-numbing 80 degrees and sunny this time of year in Tucson, but I need more then that to justify playing at this contrived of a venue. 536-yard par-fours that the guys are hitting mid-irons into for their second shots because of the elevation and "warm air" also make me feel like they're playing this tournament on the moon. That's a healthy par-five where I'm from, after all. What's a guy to do? Watch the LPGA this week?

Nick Faldo the Golf Commentator

2009-02-26T18:27:00.000-08:00

I'm generally not as critical of "Nick Faldo the Golf Commentator" as most people are so I guess it should come as no surprise that I thought he said something interesting and insightful yesterday during the Golf Channel's coverage of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. He and Paul Azinger were talking about caddies on tour and even the ones who had looped for them over the many years of their playing careers and the tone became somewhat derisive at one point. Faldo then quipped "its no wonder why they're called 'Rats' on the European Tour." Fascinating--I never knew that! Its the kind of stuff I want from my commentators and Faldo delivered. Azinger, on the other hand, was really starting to get under my skin. He kept referring to the trajectory of a golf shot as "traj", to the point where you got the impression he was fishing for an explanation of the neat folk term he was using about tour players. It seemed a bit forced to me and made me a little uncomfortable. He might as well have asked Zach Johnson out on a date he was gushing so much about his traj-conscious golf game. Get a room, Paul.

Swing Speed

2009-02-23T19:03:00.000-08:00

In just 18 days I've managed to increase my swing speed with my Speed Stik swing trainer by 10 mph to a now respectable 97 mph. I'm stronger and swinging harder, but more importantly, I'm swinging "smarter" and hope that my work-out routine and practice regime will translate into stronger shorts on the course this coming spring. Its the first time since I've gotten really serious about the game some four years ago that I feel like I've made a noticeable step in the right direction, that direction being towards playing a more powerful and competitive game of golf. I'll keep at it, for sure, buoyed by my discovery tonight that what I'm doing is actually working. Half the fun of getting better at the game of golf is figuring out what you need to work on, figuring out how to improve upon that weakness constructively, and then seeing tangible results. I'm seeing results and I couldn't be happier.

Golf Trip

2009-02-15T18:31:00.000-08:00

This winter I've finally found a few kindred spirits who agree with me that the worst part of our five-month long, weather-imposed sabbatical from golf is the last two weeks in March. You're so close to playing you can literally smell it in the air, but the ground is always too wet and/or still covered in snow. The wait will be over before you know it, but those last few weeks can seem like months. (Last year, in fact, those last two weeks did take a month, as I was prepared to play golf on the Friday of the Masters but we got 2-inches dumped on us that day.) I was able to convince the aforementioned buddies that the thing to do would be to get in our cars and start driving south and not stop until it was warm/dry enough to play golf. We've decided that Friday, March 20th will be the day we set sail and we're pretty sure at worst we'll be driving 6.5 hours to Kansas City before we can play. I got people on the ground there scouting out some courses for us, as well as in the much-closer Des Moines region, and we'll see where we end up playing. We should be able to play at least 36 holes and still be back by Sunday night--I hope we're back by then because my wife said I could go and have fun but I better be back in time for her birthday on Monday the 23rd.

Swing The (Weighted) Clubhead

2009-02-13T19:17:00.001-08:00

Just like Ernest Jones said (kind of), swing the weighted clubhead. Get off the couch, go outside, and swing the club. Feel the whoosh of the clubhead as it cuts through the still, night air. Feel your stance rooted firmly in the ground and your torso rotating around your center. Feel the clubhead swing around your body--downward, outward, and forward. Do it. Breathe it all in and revel in the fact that you're figuring something out about this confounded game (finally), one swing at a time. Forget where you are and what else you "should" be doing--just swing the club. Swing it, feel it. Be the clubhead, Kenny. Be the clubhead.

I Need More Sweater Vests

2009-02-09T20:33:00.000-08:00

I just saw a shot of Vijay Singh on the Golf Channel wearing a light blue shirt with a cream-colored sweater vest over it. Always resplendent and nicely logo-ed with the "Singha Light" patch on his sleeve, Vijay looked quite dashing in this ensemble and got me thinking that I need more sweater vests in my wardrobe. I think once I start wearing them regularly I won't want to take them off. They keep the trunk warm (which is good for flexibility and the swing) and I think they give off just the right vibe--serious about golf but also ready to have a good time. If only I could find some affordable cashmere ones online somewhere...time to start surfing...and oh yea, I think I need some houndstooth-patterned accessories too. Perhaps a hat, like Bear Bryant used to stalk the sidelines in. Nothing says class like a nice houndstooth hat.

The Nighttime Is The Right Time For Golf

2009-02-06T17:25:00.000-08:00

I look forward to going outside each night to work on my golf swing. Its so dark and peaceful once the wife and kids have gone to bed and the neighborhood is all shuttered and still. The air is crisp and invigorating and makes me feel alive--corny, but true. So I've been swinging a weighted club for the last two months and recently I added a regular wedge to my exercises, working on my pre-shot routine, set-up and impact position (sometimes even with my homemade impact bag). Yesterday, however, I added a new weapon to my arsenal. I finally got a Speed Stik to start measuring the approximate speed of my swing, something I can hopefully improve upon before the ground thaws in April. I overhead a couple of guys talking about the Speed Stik last week while I was at the Golf Dome, and one of them even had one with him in his bag. He explained that 4 miles/hour increase in swing speed results in roughly 10 yards of increased distance--that perked up my ears. He then took the Stik out of his bag and started swinging it and I could hear the "whirrrring" sound it made at impact--a sign that his swing was accelerating properly through the hitting zone. I've been looking for some sort of feedback in regards to this dilemma and decided it was finally time to pull the trigger. Lo and behold, Rock Bottom Golf had them at half price ($49.99) and was running a %15 off promotion to celebrate Super Bowl weekend--it was an offer I couldn't refuse. Last night I swung the Stik for the first time and could hear my swing accelerating at the wrong time (too early in the forward swing). I was also maxxing out at roughly 87 mph so this should be fun to chart my progress as the off-season progresses. More on this later, for sure.

Golf's New Fashionista, Ryan Moore

2009-02-01T08:07:00.001-08:00

Did anyone see Ryan Moore's get-up this week at the FBR Open? He looked quite snappy in a pair of spikeless sneakers, an Arnold Palmer-era cardigan sweater and underneath the sweater, a shirt and tie. What a classic look (sneakers notwithstanding). And as a former US Amateur and US Amateur Publinks Champion I couldn't be more proud of him. I'd like to think he's respecting the history of the game with his choice in fashions. Word on the street is that he's without a clothing sponsor and actually bought everything he was wearing himself (gasp!). I've been concerned, of late, as to how the tides of fashion have been swaying on the PGA Tour. When Jesper Parnevik paired up with fashion designer Johan Lindeberg and introduced a more classic style of clothing to the tour back in the early part of this decade, things looked promising. The Europeans had obviously been ahead of this curve for some time, but more and more players on the American tour were starting to wear clothes that fit and accent those clothes with colorful shoes and belts and gloves, etc. You'd see argyle every so often and maybe even a non-baseball style golf cap, be it a bowler or a derby or maybe even a pork-pie. But in the last two years or so, fitness has obviously taken off on the tour and players are really beginning to exaggerate the fit of their clothes (too tight, Camilo?), and in lock-step, manufacturers seem to be designing exclusively clothes that are more athletic and less refined. I don't want to sound like an old fuddy duddy but I rather like the era of fashion that translated into "casual nice" work attire rather then "work-out tough" exercise gear. Hopefully guys like Ryan Moore (and Kevin Costner at Pebble Beach--always natty in his shirt and tie) can help sway things back towards the classic look, but I fear the prevailing consciousness on tour may be too far gone.

Winter Blues

2009-01-31T19:31:00.000-08:00

Today was the first time in the last 33 days that the temperature has crept above freezing here in the tundra that is Minnesota. In conditions like this its hard to stay sharp and focused on the season to come but I've been doing my best to not get too out of golf-shape by swimming at the local community center and swinging the weighted club in the back yard at night. I've decided to try and swim the equivalent distance of crossing the English Channel (34 miles) this winter and just passed the half-way point to my goal on Thursday. I got the idea a few weeks ago when I was forced to share the pool with a water jazzercise class that was populated by a large contingent of immensely overweight women. When they got to "rocking and rolling", the water became so rough that I felt like, well, I was trying to cross the English Channel. On the days I don't swim I might go for a jog on the treadmill in the basement if there's some interesting tournament to be watched on TV, but otherwise I have promised myself that I'll go outside and swing the club no matter how cold it is. I don't think I've missed more then half-a-dozen days so far. Last week I also made my own impact bag, after contemplating the purchase of one at my favorite web-site TGW.com. I took an old duffel bag and filled it full of old clothes as tightly as I could--it seems to work pretty well. My recent readings on the swing have left me thinking I need to work hard on my impact position and making sure my left wrist is flat when I strike the ball. I know from watching video of my swing that I have a tendency to flip my wrists through the ball--the kiss of death to solid and consistent ball striking. Hopefully the homemade impact bag will help me with this. Like always, I'll keep you posted.

Digvijay Singh

2009-01-25T06:14:00.001-08:00

Apparently there's a professional golfer from India named Digvijay Singh. I'm not kidding. I'm certainly not extolling you, the reader, to dig the "real" Vijay Singh. I'm just letting you know that there is a guy out there who's also pretty good at the game of golf who's name is Digvijay Singh. I don't think I've ever come across a cooler name. And oh yea, he's not afraid to wear pink pants either. That is all.

sevam1

2009-01-24T08:15:00.000-08:00

I discovered this swing theorist/amateur instructor/golf guru on YouTube called "sevam1" just this last week and I must say its like I've finally found an old friend that I might not have even known existed, if that makes any sense. I came across his work thanks to the very comprehensive and informative list of golf blogs provided by the Artful Golfer (you da' man!). This sevam1 fella is a devout disciple of Ben Hogan and Moe Norman, arguably to the two greatest North American ball-strikers of all time. He has some fascinating videos available that show him hitting balls out of shoe-high grass in his backyard into the lake that borders his property. He ambles along in a delightful Canadian accent (hitting 5-irons into a lake all the while) about how simple the golf swing really is and how you can do it too if you only understand a few of the most basic principles behind it. What originally caught my eye, though, was his liberal use of Hogan's most famous phrase "The secrets of the game are in the dirt." Most people have taken it to mean that to really find your game (or The Game?) and a consistent ball-flight from all of your shots, you must practice "digging them out of the dirt." Hit more balls--understand the game more. Although sevam1 seems to agree wholeheartedly with this claim, he has taken that famous quote of Hogan's one step further to mean that the secret of the swing is really rooted in your feet and how they connect with the Earth (aka dirt). He stresses over and over again in one of his videos about the significance of Hogan having golf shoes specially made for him with an extra spike under the ball of the right foot and how this alone tells you, the average golfer, that the secret behind a solid and repeatable golf swing must come from having a solid anchor to the back swing in your right leg and also how you rotate around that anchor. Fascinating stuff, indeed. I'll post more about my discoveries of his work as I continue to enjoy his videos--until then, perhaps you'd like to enjoy some of them for yourself?

Ryo Ishikawa And The Million-Dollar Driver

2009-01-23T20:49:00.000-08:00

Apparently there's a 17-year old kid in Japan named Ryo Ishikawa who's playing professionally on the Japanese Golf Tour and will soon debut a driver that Yonex made especially for him that cost them 100 million yen to develop. They claim that this driver will help him in his quest to hit 350-yard tee shots (he currently averages 290 off the tee) and continue to aid him in his rise to international prominence. Already a winner on the JGT, Ryo appears to be on the verge of becoming a household name in places other then just his native Japan. Of his testing of the new driver he says, "It's a stange feeling. I've never hit it so far. The ball feels lighter somehow." I wonder if this driver could help me hit 250-yard tee shots? I'd pay at least $100 dollars for that!

Pre-Shot Routine

2009-01-21T19:44:00.000-08:00

Grip the club in the finger tips and waggle into your (slightly) closed stance, feeling the club head all the while...sSet-up with your left shoulder (slightly) higher then the right shoulder, feel your forearms relaxed and close together and rest most of your weight on your right leg, knee bent into a strong position...Rock back and forth ever-so-subtley, making sure to feel the weight of your stance on the balls of your feet (toes in the air, heels lightly touching the ground)...Take the club back to the "outside" (think Ryan Moore) and fold your right elbow into your side as the left forearm rotates you into the backswing position...See the ball over your left shoulder as it passes under your chin...Start the downswing by firing the right knee through the ball towards the target and make sure your hips open up quickly, feeling your left hip "stand up" as the leg straightens to absorb the weight shift (don't slide!)...See where the ball was after impact over your right shoulder as you make a full, high finish...Do this while thinking about your right forearm rotating over your left forearm and then pose in a balanced position until the ball drops softly next to its target--simple enough? All this in about five seconds, too...

Blogging Or The Bachelor?

2009-01-19T18:33:00.001-08:00

My wife is watching the Bachelor tonight and I like being in the same room as her but I can't bring myself to pay attention to this show. So, I'll blog instead...I sold a shaft on eBay this weekend that I had pulled from my driver this winter. It was an aldila VS-Proto "By-You" S-65 graphite shaft that I found produced a higher-then-desired ball flight with my very handsy swing. At $180 new, though, it certainly wasn't worth just stuffing in my extra-clubs bag in the basement so why not sell it on eBay? A bunch of people bid on it and the winning bidder got it for $38--a steal considering how good of shape its in. But there's a rub--the winning bidder, instead of questioning me about the validity of my post before bidding, decided to wait until he won it to tell me that I hadn't had it pulled from the club head that I said I had because "the Titleist D2 club does not have a bore-thru hosel design." He then went on to tell me that he was a club maker who had reshafted many Titleist drivers and, in fact, had been playing them himself for some time and that he'd never seen one with a bore-thru hosel design. I still have my Titleist 975 and 983 drivers in the basement and they both, along with the aforementioned D2, have a bore-thru hosel design. So is this guy nuts or am I losing my mind? Its like trying to explain the color green to someone--where do you begin when they obviously can't see what you see? My gut-feeling tells me that the buyer realized too late that he didn't want the shaft and is trying to frustrate me into cancelling the sale. What a sissy-ass manoeuvre! Caution to all of you out there who might want to make some extra cash by cleaning out your basement/garage/closet, etc. and selling some stuff on eBay--I've sold six things in the last two months and only four of them have gone off without a hitch. I actually had one item sell in December that the buyer never even responded to my invoice--they just ignored it completely and never paid for it. Beware because its not as easy as you may think it is.

Finding My Game

2009-01-17T06:03:00.000-08:00

I went to the indoor driving range the other night (again, I know...) to try and find some semblance of a golf game in this long, frigid winter I'm forced to suffer through. I've temporarily decided to abandon the idea of having a picture-perfect looking golf swing and just go with what I got that will get the ball in the air and headed for my target with a reasonable amount of reliability. To do that, I've closed my stance just a little bit to force myself to release the club. I'm also taking the club back a little bit more on the inside, for no other reason then it seems to help me get the club back to the ball in a little better position. I'm seeing a slight draw to most of my shots, or at least for the first 65 or so yards of the shot before it hits the teflon wall of the dome. I'm trying really hard to relax my arms as much as possible, keeping the feeling of my forearms being "connected" for as long as I can in my swing. And most importantly, I'm starting my downswing in the correct order (legs first, then the chest, then the arms) and firing my right knee at the ball like I used to so many years ago, before I had read about the game and the swing so much that I could barely even hit the ball. We'll see if I can keep it up, keep gaining confidence in the results this swing will produce, and take it to the course in the spring when the proof will definitely be in the pudding. I'm keeping my fingers crossed regardless--maybe 10 more weeks before the possibility of playing golf again for real will be part of my daily daydreaming regime.

The Mercedes-Benz Championship

2009-01-11T08:33:00.000-08:00

I caught a little of the tape-delayed coverage of the Mercedes-Benz Championship on the Golf Channel last night as I was drifting off to sleep. It sure is encouraging to see the stars of the golf world back at the office for the start of another exciting PGA Tour season. Geoff Ogilvy looks focused and flawless, Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas appear poised to challenge in every tournament they enter and Boo Weekley, God bless Boo Weekley--he's steady and in the mix like he was almost all of last year. That four-putt double on 18 on Friday didn't do him any favors, for sure, but he's never been mistaken for Ben Crenshaw on the greens either. I saw a statistic during the coverage that there were twelve drives measuring over 400-yards in officially sanctioned Tour events all of last year and through Friday there had already been ten at this year's Mercedes alone! Are things getting past the point of no return on the Tour? I know its windy and hilly at Kapalua and most of those drives wouldn't have gone past 350 under normal conditions, but still? 500-plus yard par fours that are being played with a driver and a wedge?! Goodness gracious, this is definitely not a game with which I am familiar. Maybe that's why its so fun to watch on TV...

More Game Improvement

2009-01-10T09:42:00.000-08:00

Is it possible to really "get better" at golf without actually playing it? I ask this question somewhat rhetorically for myself and other snowbound golfers who live in northern climes and can't play for roughly 1/3 of the calendar year. I feel as though hope springs eternal in these wintry months since we can't play--therefore we can't be reminded of the shortcomings of our games. Lack distance of the tee? Well you wouldn't know it in January in Minnesota because there isn't a place you can easily go to that will remind yourself of that fact. Need to improve your touch around the greens? Well, we got no greens right now so you might as well just think you're pretty deft at chipping and pitching until the snow melts and you're reminded that you aren't. Let's say you're more realistic about the whole "state of the game" thing though and you vow to truly improve during the downtime that the weather has forced upon you. Can you really improve? I'd like to think you can but I'm beginning to think its a lot harder than anyone would care to realize. Assuming you have a life full of other responsibilities (spouse, children, job, etc.) and can't just plant yourself in the weight room and on a jogging track and then in a hitting stall somewhere with a video monitor watching your every move, I believe the best you can do is stay optimistic about your coming season and try to keep yourself in decent-enough shape that at the very least you don't regress to the point of nearly "starting over" every spring. Enjoy the fact that golf is coming down the pipe in a few months and be ready to hit the course running when the snow melts and the greenskeeper starts cutting the holes again. I guess that's my two-cents worth, anyways.

I Already Miss The Game I Love

2008-12-27T21:13:00.001-08:00

Okay, I admit it--I already miss playing golf. Just one month into our snow and temperature-imposed four month-plus off-season, I'm itching to get back out on the grass and pinch some shots off the turf and onto the greens. I want to swing hard from the tee box with a driver in my hands and stroke a delicate downhill putt confidently into the back of the hole. I want to try and bend a shot from the rough around a tree or two and splash one out of a greenside bunker that stops within tap-in distance of the cup. I want to walk purposefully down the fairway and enjoy the rattle that my irons make as they bounce off each other with every step I take. I want to hear the wind in the trees as the sun begins to set on a cool, spring evening, knowing that there are countless more rounds to be had in the long and adventurous summer ahead of me. I want to laugh with my buddies as I unexpectedly drain a 30-footer or chip-in from off the green and rejoice in the fact that I just made my wallet a little fatter. I want all the things that go along with playing golf on a regular basis. Instead I guess I'll have to settle for working out, getting stronger, improving the fit of my equipment, and gaining confidence every day that this coming year is going to be the one where I finally play up to my potential on a regular basis. Hope truly does spring eternal in the Great White North, where we can't play for an extended period of time and having nothing else we can do except dream of the golf that lies ahead of us.

My Off-Season

2008-12-20T20:34:00.000-08:00

Three weeks into my official golf off-season and my preparations for the 2009 campaign are comfortably underway. I've started swimming at the local community center to build some muscle tone and stay in shape. I've been swinging my weighted club outside (in the snow!) to keep the swing loose and hopefully make it a bit more powerful. I'm re-shafting my driver to give me a lower, more bore-ing trajectory off the tee and I've been to the indoor golf dome twice to keep my passion for the game stoked and alive. Now all I need are some juicy after-Christmas sales to update my wardrobe a bit with some new shirts and jackets and I'll be primed and ready come April and the Masters this Spring and the beginning of a new year.

Are There Two Kenny Perrys?

2008-12-15T17:12:00.000-08:00

I'm sure my eyes didn't deceive me but what other explanation could there be for what I saw on TV Sunday? I saw Kenny Perry participating in the Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge at some non-descript golf course in the Las Vegas area and I saw Kenny Perry participating in the Merrill Lynch Shootout at some non-descript Greg Norman-designed golf course in Florida...at the same time! Has the Silly Season of the PGA Tour reached a new low and actually aired two tape-delayed events that contained the same player at the same time? Or are there two Kenny Perrys? C'mon, man.

Harrison Frazar

2008-12-11T19:47:00.000-08:00

Hardly anyone noticed but Harrison Frazar shot a 59 last weekend in the third round of the PGA Tour's Qualifying Tournament, arguably the most pressure-packed tournament a professional golfer at any level can play in. Literally playing for his job, Mr. Frazar did the unthinkable and went low, and I mean really low, in shooting his 59. I, for one, am impressed. Too bad the rest of the world doesn't really seem to care...If Tiger Woods would have farted in church I think there would've been more press coverage then there was for this epic round of golf played under the most-stifling pressure possible.

The Weighted Club

2008-12-03T20:40:00.000-08:00

I'm swinging the weighted club every night this winter--every night. It was 17-degrees Fahrenheit outside tonight but I ventured out nonetheless and swung the weighted club. I can feel the muscles stretching and strengthening while I swing and the cool, evening air is invigorating to my lungs. Best part? I'm not just outside swinging willie-nilly, I'm swinging with a purpose. I'm working on a stable foundation in my set-up and take-away, rotating the hips and chest on the downswing and releasing the club in my follow-through. Its awesome! I can't wait for next spring and my stronger, more aggressive golf swing. No more hitting fairway woods into par-4s for this guy! I'm finally going to be an opponent to be taken seriously on the golf course.

Shane Bertsch

2008-11-27T05:39:00.001-08:00

I read a couple of weeks ago in a golf rag that Shane Bertsch had just missed the cut in the season's final tournament and in doing so had fallen to no. 126 on the money list, just narrowly missing out on fully-exempt status for the coming golf season. The gist of the story, though, was that we were to feel sorry for him because due to confusion surrounding his medically-exempt status for 2008 he didn't realize he hadn't already secured his card for 2009. I finished the article and couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at the fact that a guy who made well over half-a-million dollars this year playing golf (!) was actually trying to elicit sympathy from the work-a-day world of people who read golf magazines because he wasn't "smart enough" to understand what he had to do keep his job for the immediate future. I don't know of too many factory workers who can show up late for their shift and say they didn't know they were supposed to be there earlier who still keep their jobs for very long. And this guy had more then ample information from the Tour advising him of his situation that he claimed he "didn't read because he's on the road all the time and who has time to read all their mail anyways." Seriously, I don't feel sorry for this guy at all. I know he's no pampered superstar but still, he has a great gift for playing the game we all love and he couldn't figure out how to keep doing it against the best players in the world? No sympathy here.

Golfing And Ice Skating

2008-11-23T18:20:00.000-08:00

My buddies and I played golf this afternoon and saw something none of us had ever seen before. As we were coming down the 18th fairway we looked over and saw kids ice skating on the pond bordering the 10th green. Golf and Ice Skating are two games/past-times whose paths don't usually cross. I've always thought the seasons were complementary, if you will, but I guess I was wrong. Maybe it was too cold to be playing golf but I don't think so. A nice sweater and stocking cap and some choppers to keep the hands warm in between shots was all I needed to stay loose and comfortable. Sure, the ponds bordering the fairways and guarding the greens were certainly frozen. But who wouldn't enjoy hitting balls off of them and watching them bounce back onto the playing surfaces. I drove the ball just short of the green on the par-4 1st hole, a hole which measures some 350-yards in length. And I'm no John Daly, mind you. But the frozen water next to the fairway and fronting the green provided a perfect trampoline for a low draw with the driver off the tee and Boing! Boing! there goes the ball right up by the putting surface. It was crazy, indeed. Crazy fun.

Golf In The Dark

2008-11-06T17:12:00.000-08:00

I played golf in the dark last night. Sure I've played as it was getting dark before--many times in fact. But yesterday, as I was feeling the end of the season drawing ever nearer, I decided to keep playing well into and after it was dark. It took a little more concentration to "feel" where the ball was going, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that balls hit reasonably well on a course you are familiar with can be found with just a little extra attention paid in the dark. If the ground hadn't been speckled with fallen leaves who knows how much easier it would have been to find my balls? Still, I managed to par two of the four holes I played in the dark (I lost four balls on the other two--thanks, leaves) and couldn't have been happier to find both my drive and my second shot on the par-5 finishing hole right where I expected them to be. If you've never tried it I urge all you serious golfers out there to play in the dark sometime before you hang up the spikes for good, preferably by yourself. You'll be amazed at what you discover about your game.

The Rules of Golf

2008-11-01T05:48:00.000-07:00

I realized the other day, after consulting the rules of golf, that I was in err on October 18th when my playing partners ball hit mine while it was at rest further down the fairway and I proceeded to play my ball as it lay. Turns out I should have replaced my ball where it lay before it was struck by his ball in motion but I did not. I should have assessed myself a two-stroke penalty for the hole and signed for a 7, not a 5. My apologies to the karmic gods of golf--I acted not out of selfishness but of ignorance and I promise it won't happen again. Seriously though, given that I and the rest of my playing companions were some 200-yards down the fairway when the collision of golf balls happened, I'm not sure how I was supposed to realistically assume with any accuracy where my ball had originally come to rest. It seemed more "accurate" and perhaps appropriate to just continue the hole playing my ball where it lay after it had been moved by my opponents ball. Oh well, live and learn.

Billiards On The Golf Course

2008-10-19T19:36:00.000-07:00

Playing the par-5 7th hole at my home course yesterday a most curious thing happened to me. I'd hit a decent drive down the left side, just into the rough and short of the fairway bunker. It was sitting up nicely so I was able to get a 3-wood on it for my second and I made good enough contact with it to leave myself just under 100 yards for my third shot into the green. One of my playing partners (who had driven the ball some 30-yards further than me off the tee) was sitting in the middle of the fairway and prepared to challenge the green with another driver, this time off the deck. He hit it hard and low and somewhere around 100 yards from the green it landed, bounced once and then crashed into my ball, kicking it forward and to the right. My playing partners ball caromed directly sideways into the rough and behind a tree. Talk about rub of the green? It looked like we were playing billiards out there, for pete's sake. Not knowing how to proceed, I assumed that since it was impossible for me to accurately estimate where my ball actually lay before it was struck by my playing partners ball (I was roughly 200 yards away at the time of the collision) that I should just play it as lay after the contact. And for those of you who are interested, I proceeded to chip onto the green and make a routine two-putt par while my partner hit a miraculous low hook-chip to the back of the green and then dropped a bomb from about 30 feet that hit at least 5 different leaves on its way to the bottom of the cup for the most unlikely of birdies. Rub of the green, I guess.

The Shank

2008-10-11T19:04:00.000-07:00

I hate to even type the word (let alone say it) but I have to after what happened to me today. I went to the golf course this morning to play in a two-man tourney at my club and God help me if I didn't shank my opening tee shot about 80 yards forwards and 40 yards to the right. Luckily my partner got it over the water on our par-3 starting hole and I was able to chip us close enough to make a par. The next hole, however, was a par-5 and was to be played alternate-shot. I hit a decent drive so my partner hit a 3-wood up within 125 yards of the green. And then, you guessed it, I shanked our third shot 80 yards forwards and 40 yards to the right. We went on to double-bogey that hole and the next hole, a long par-4 that I half-shanked a 7-iron just to the right of the green for our third shot. About to cry and about to walk off the golf course, we managed to steady the ship and play the next four alternate-shot holes in 1-over par and then somehow (and to this minute I still don't know how) I managed to play the next six holes of better ball in 1-under par. What a comeback, I must say. We managed little in the last five holes of scramble (even par, we were) and finished the tourney as a team at 1-over. Considering we were 5-over after the first four holes and I was fighting the shanks something fierce, I'd say we had a pretty good showing.

'Tis The End of The Season (Almost)

2008-10-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

Up north here in Minnesota the golf season is winding down. We can no longer post scores for handicapping purposes as of next Wednesday and as the nights come sooner and the mornings get colder, the playable hours of the day dwindle with each passing sunset. We're usually still playing in early November but only on weekends and more than likely only at run-down municipal tracks. The one closest to my house was open into December a few years back and they didn't even move the holes for the last three weeks of the year. The greens were as hard as my driveway and those oft-used hole locations were worn out and the size of a kid's basketball by the time they finally closed their doors for the winter. Its time to start thinking about improvements to the game that can only be made over the winter, like what new clubs to get and what new swing thoughts to start implementing. I'm sure I'll start jogging on the treadmill again and maybe even start doing some push-ups and sit-ups this year. I'm not getting any younger and golf courses certainly aren't getting any shorter. Oh well, maybe tomorrow I'll finally make my first hole-in-one. I've still got a few more weeks of dreaming about how I'm going to play the game I love.

Cashmere Is God's Raingear

2008-10-05T18:06:00.001-07:00

Ever wear a cashmere sweater in the rain before? I have and I've found it's a lot like wearing the latest and greatest waterproof raingear that's on the market these days. Except you don't get as hot in it--yes, it's even moisture wicking. Try it out sometime--I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Turning Stone Championship

2008-10-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

Personally, I enjoy seeing the Tour Players playing golf on TV in stocking caps this time of year. But for the life of me I can't understand why the Tour agreed to play a tournament in upstate-New York in October? It seems like they're just asking for trouble with the weather, and we all know that if these guys can't go super-low in a non-major type tournament they're going to bitch and moan. Any chance this event last more than another year or two? I doubt it. Pretty soon I'm sure they won't play an event after Labor Day above the Mason-Dixon line. Enjoy it while you can, I guess. I sure am.

10 Million Dollars?

2008-09-30T17:57:00.000-07:00

Did Vijay Singh really just make $10 million-plus for just showing up and completing four rounds at the Tour Championship last week? That's amazing. I know a lot of hard work went into putting himself in position to claim such a prize, but seriously, $10 million for just showing up? Things have certainly gotten out of whack, if you ask me. I hate to say that it takes some of the fun out of watching golf on TV but sitting here pondering how I'm going to make my family's budget adjust to this sagging economy and the slow-down of our personal profitability, its all starting to seem a bit silly to me. Much like the NFL has begun to distance itself from the everyday fan by how much they're charging for parking, tickets, concessions, etc. at each game, I'm starting to think the PGA Tour is going down the same path. Who pays for these ridiculously large purses that golfers compete for each and every week? Corporate America fronts the money, sure, but you can bet your bottom dollar (pun intended) that they're making sure that we, the fan, ultimately pay them back for their support of the tour.

The Putter Will Make You Money

2008-09-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

I bought a new-used Scotty Cameron putter on eBay last winter and boy has that thing paid for itself this summer. Make putts--make money. Miss putts--lose money. Its that simple. So why don't people spend more time working on their putting? I don't know but I guess I won't labor about it, otherwise it would just be harder for me to beat them on the greens. I did make the mistake of getting my circa 62-model putter a bit damp one foggy morning and then covered her up and put her away for the week only to find she had rusted slightly upon my next unsheathing of her. Anyone got any suggestions on how to carefully remove said rust spots? I'd love to know because she looks like she has chicken pox now and that's no way for such a powerful weapon to present herself for battle each Saturday morning.

Jay Williamson's Pants

2008-09-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

Has anyone been watching the Viking Classic this week during the Ryder Cup? Me neither, but I did see enough late last night to bring up a question I've been wondering about for weeks: why does Jay Williamson wear his pants so high up his stomach? I know he's short and stocky but he looks silly, like an old man almost, with his pants so high up. Would someone please tell him that golf fans like me can't concentrate on the action when he's traipsing around the golf course looking so silly. And speaking of the Viking Classic, why did the PGA Tour think it was a good idea to have no event the week before the Ryder Cup and then play an opposite-field event the week of the Ryder Cup? That seems silly to me. People are missing out on that spoiled little brat Casey Wittenberg actually playing some decent golf this week, just like everyone thought he was going to do every week after his low-amateur finish at the Masters a few years back.

Andres Romero

2008-09-06T11:12:00.001-07:00

This guy seems like a cool customer on the golf course. I don't know why I am so drawn to him when he's on TV or why I always seem to root for him when he's in contention. I think part of it has to do with the fact that he looks like the Calibos (minus the horns, of course), the main antagonist from the epic 1981 movie "Clash of the Titans." Perhaps its his reported humble beginnings growing up in Argentina that make me root for him as the eternal underdog? Whatever the case, I certainly hope he continues to play well and prosper on the PGA Tour. I'll certainly never forget his back-nine charge at Carnoustie in 2007--I was so moved by his bravery and bold shotmaking that I bought the same adidas shirt he was wearing that day so that maybe, someday, I could make a similar climb up the leaderboard at one of my clubs many less-important events. It never hurts to dream, I guess.

Practice

2008-09-03T18:25:00.001-07:00

I hit 50-some bunker shots out of my practice bunker in my backyard today. I'm home with the wife and kids this week so I had some time to kill during nap time and thought I might as well use it constructively and get better out of the sand. I had two breakthroughs today with my technique too: 1) I'm bending my knees more at address, giving myself more of a feeling of getting ready to go down and hit through the ball, and 2) I'm trying not to release the club with my hands, keeping my right hand "under" my left through the impact area. Nothing earth-shattering, that's for sure, but I felt like I made some progress and that's half the battle.

The U.S. Ryder Cup Team

2008-09-01T05:40:00.000-07:00

Who should Paul Azinger pick for this year's Ryder Cup team? I can't remember the last time I was so excited about the upcoming Ryder Cup matches--I think its because I'm relishing the idea of the U.S. team actually being an underdog this year and I love pulling for the underdog. If experience is what the team needs, then I think you can't go wrong with the likes of Steve Stricker, Rocco Mediate, Woody Austin and Scott Verplank. Stricker and Mediate don't necessarily have a lot of Ryder Cup experience but they've been around the game for some time and likely won't get too overwhelmed by the magnitude of the matches. For some fresh blood, however, I think Hunter Mahan, Bubba Watson, Brandt Snedeker and J.B. Holmes might be solid choices. They might just play like they don't give-a-damn and maybe that's what the team has needed to play like these last ten or so years. To be honest, I wasn't even slightly disappointed when Tiger Woods announced he would be out of golf for the remainder of the year, and hence, would be missing the Ryder Cup. They haven't done diddly with his "Greatest Player of All-Time" moxy on their team so far so why should he presence even be missed this year?
My only concern is that Azinger is going to try and out-smart himself and make one, maybe two, out-of-left-field type picks and have a couple of really questionable players on the team. I hope he can put his own ego aside and make four solid selections come Tuesday morning and a couple of weeks from now we can all be rejoicing in a victory by our American team. Only time will tell, I guess--I'll be watching his press conference tomorrow, that's for sure.

Videotaping Your Swing

2008-08-10T06:14:00.000-07:00

I videotaped my golf swing the other night for the second time this summer. I did it for the first time earlier in the season for no other reason than my wife had the camera out and I had a few minutes to kill with golf on the brain. I kind of forgot about that first session and then, the other night, I found myself home alone with the kids already in bed and a few hours of sunlight left before darkness would fall. What a perfect time to videotape my swing again, I thought. This time my taping session had a purpose, though. See I've recently come to realize that my tempo vs. distance debate might actually be all in my head. Maybe I could continue to have a good tempo and yet still achieve more respectable distance with all the clubs in my bag. I should just swing "harder" and see what happens. So I recorded three swings from two different angles of me swinging at my normal, much-envied "smooth" swing speed and then three more from both angles with me trying to swing "as hard as I can without falling over." Lo and behold, upon further review of the tape, there was almost no discernible distance in the look of my swing. If I didn't know that I was trying to swing harder in the second set of swings I'm not sure I would've been able to tell any difference in the two tapings. My conclusion? Maybe I can swing harder at the ball (assuming I can do it and still actually hit the ball) and not lose my game altogether. No pressure or anything, of course--my club's championship tournament is now less than a week away. Now or never, I guess you could say.