Bucket of Balls

Testicle Therapy

"I woke up this morning and this Asian guy was attached to my foot."

Here’s a funny joke that guest author Brian Blackburn sent in.  Happy Friday!

Two women were playing golf. One teed off and watched in horror as her ball headed directly toward a foursome of men playing the next hole. The ball hit one of the men. He immediately clasped his hands together at his groin, fell to the ground and proceeded to roll around in agony. The woman rushed down to the man, and immediately began to apologize. ‘Please allow me to help. I’m a Physical Therapist and I know I could relieve your pain if you’d allow me, she told him.

‘Oh, no, I’ll be all right. I’ll be fine in a few minutes,’ the man replied. He was in obvious agony, lying in the fetal position, still clasping his hands there at his groin.. At her persistence, however, he finally allowed her to help. She gently took his hands away and laid them to the side, loosened his pants and put her hands inside. She administered tender and artful massage for several long moments and asked, ‘How does that feel’? Feels great, he replied; but I still think my thumb’s broken!

Six Reasons to Play Golf

Came across this nifty little article today in my Google Alerts.  Take a gander.

Six Reasons to Play Golf
Houston Style Magazine
By M. Ernest Marshall

Golf is a strange game, particularly, to those who don’t understand it. One must ask why so many people want so desperately to play the game as often as possible. With a little thought, at least ten reasons emerge for this:

1. Golf is a very difficult game. If it were easy, there would be little interest in it.

Read More…

FixYourGame.com – Why am I not Getting Any Better?

Guest Author: Brant Kasbohm
PGA Director of Instruction
Fixyourgame.com
info@fixyourgame.com

“Why am I not getting any better?”  This is a question asked by golfers since the first game was played.  We should take a look at how we learn, and the psychology of learning that applies to all tasks, including golf.  Believe it or not, but there are only two ways that humans learn things–instruction and repetition.  Unfortunately, there are no ways around this. (Despite the nearly unlimited number of quick fixes out there, like “learn a foreign language in one weekend”, and “buy this club and take six strokes off your game.”  You get the idea.)  If you think I’m crazy, I’ll get you two examples to prove my point.

1.  Think of you first day at your current job, vs. what you know now.  If you’ve been at the same job for 5+ years, I’d bet that you can nearly do it in your sleep.  The amount of initial instruction, and continuous repetition have built the tasks into your long-term memory.  But on that first day, you were likely clueless.

2.  Think of the last time you drove a new car, or someone else’s car.  You probably couldn’t figure out how to turn on the wipers or lights, and the cruise control buttons are completely different.  Compare that to your own car.  I’d bet that you can adjust the radio, and cruise control without looking.  I’ve had the same car, and automatic, for about one year now, and my previous car, a stick-shift, for about 9 years before that.  I still am not used to the automatic, and reach for the clutch with my left foot.  That tells you how hard it is to change long term habits!

Learning golf is no different.  Without quality instruction, and repetition of the fundamentals, a golfer is going to revert to their old habits.  Most golfers play once a week or less, and practice even less often, so they’re simply not getting enough repetition necessary to build the fundamentals into long term memory.  And it’s human nature to want the quick fix, (lottery anyone?) so when working on a swing change, many give up if immediate results are not there.  There is a learning curve to everything.

A very interesting and unique look at the learning curve is presented in Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, where Mr. Gladwell postulates that it takes 10 years or 10,000 hours for one to become an expert at something.  While no one that I know has 10,000 hours to spare on their golf games, the point is that success is no accident.  Golf may be the hardest of all sports to learn, everyone is a beginner & high handicapper at some point.  So don’t get discouraged if you aren’t seeing rapid improvement in your game.  Keep working, and keep practicing.

For instruction, see your local PGA Professional, and for affordable, online, interactive golf instruction, please check out www.Fixyourgame.com.

Tour Striker Review

Welcome Guest Author Brian Blackburn, aka “Club Ho“

Well my equipment ho ways continue with this training aid I purchased not long ago.  It is called Tour Striker and is designed to teach you to swing your irons with your hands in front of the ball…..making a descending blow……hitting the ball first then the ground.  I am sure you have all heard these things before….and I have read many times that this is a very common amateur mistake.

Well I thought, I might as well give this a shot.  What do I have to lose besides some cash.  I started checking eBay and could not find one cheaper than around $100.00 and thought like most of my other purchases….if I don’t want it I can put it back on eBay and get all or most of my money back (sometimes I even make a few bucks).  It arrived about a week later and I was lucky enough to get the box off the front porch before my wife spotted it.   The club comes with an instructional DVD that is fairly simple.

The way this club works is this, it has a rounded leading edge at the bottom of the face of the club.  If you cast your club from the top, or if you flip your club at impact your bottom lead edge will hit the ball first as opposed to the sweet spot in the center of the club face.  It is also called “scooping”.  If you hit this way with the rounded bottom of the tour you are likely to get a skulled ball, or worm burner.  With a typical “game improvement” iron you are likely to get a high shot that lacks power.  So basically you get better feedback if you are impacting the ball too low on the club face.

I took it to the range immediately and noticed that among my many, many swing problems, this is not one of them.  No skulled shots for me.  It did hit the ball lower than any other “8 iron” I use but that would be expected since it is thinner at the very bottom, the opposite of any other clubs I use.

The other thing I learned is that “trying” to hit down on the ball causes the exact opposite.  When I made an effort to ensure that I was holding my wrist cock through impact, or that I had a descending blow….I achieved the opposite.  This is the only time I skulled this club.

So the club did not work for me and will be going on eBay soon where hopefully I will get all my money back.

Perception of Woods

Check out this Tiger Woods article from Doug Ferguson, AP Golf Writer, at Yahoo Sports:

He last won a major in the 2008 U.S. Open, when he had only one good leg and needed one extra day to beat Rocco Mediate at Torrey Pines. The 0-for-7 streak he is riding still doesn’t match a pair of 0-for-10s in the majors from the 1997 Masters to the 1999 PGA Championship, and from the 2002 U.S. Open to the 2005 Masters.

It’s not time to panic just yet.

Read More

FixYourGame.com – You’re Swinging Too Fast

Guest Author:  Brant Kasbohm
PGA Director of Instruction
Fixyourgame.com
info@fixyourgame.com

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard someone say after a bad shot, “I swung too fast”, or “I swung too easy”, or “you let up on that one.”  So what is the ideal tempo to swing the club?  Should you swing short and fast like J.B. Holmes, or long and slow like Ernie Els or Fred Couples?  Unfortunately, there is no simple answer.  Everyone has their own, internal clock that sets your tempo.  And people get into trouble in their golf swings when they try to swing in a way that is unnatural to their internal clock.

What does this mean?  If you’re the kind of person that’s always in a hurry, drives fast, walks fast, talks fast, etc., you’ve got an internal clock that ticks fast.  So your golf swing tempo should mimic this.  J.B. Holmes is a modern example of this type of player, and possibly the best example is Nick Price, who was a #1 ranked player in the 90′s.  You could see him walking fast down the fairways, and talking fast in interviews, so it’s natural for him to swing the club at a quick tempo.

Conversely, you have a player like Fred Couples, who has a slow tempo, and you can see that in his manner as well.  So the lesson here is to not fight what how your body works.  Take a look at yourself and determine if you’re a fast-tempo, or slow tempo player.  If you’re not in a hurry to do anything, then you shouldn’t be in a hurry to swing the club either.  Just make sure that you accelerate the club during the swing.  You can still generate a tremendous amount of speed at a slower tempo–no one ever accused Fred Couples or Ernie Els of being short hitters!

For instruction, see your local PGA Professional, and for affordable, online, interactive golf instruction, please check out www.Fixyourgame.com.

Golf Lessons – Create a Great Downswing

Hey people, I’ve had one of those weekends.  It was raining all of last week in Houston, but it broke during the weekend and I had a chance to hit some balls on the range.

Since I had my last lesson at golfTEC last week, I was working on some stuff and it really came together for me… on the range.  I was crushing balls, not always straight, but consistent contact, and NO SLICE (my worst nemesis).

My buddy invited me to play at the crack of dawn on Monday and I was sure I could take my progress to the golf course.  I envisioned clean strikes and slight draws.  Then I got up to the first tee and reality crashed on my head!  Revert to old habits.  Revert to old habits.  Revert to old habits.

Damn, this game got the best of me again.  Watch your back, golf game, watch your back.  I’m coming for you and one day, I’ll get the best of you.

(Oh, and here’s a good video I found about creating a great downswing from Barry Power.)

golfTEC: Mastering Uneven Lies

Read a good article in the latest golfTEC newsletter.

Mastering Uneven Lies
By Todd Smith
golfTEC July Newsletter

The most beautiful golf courses in the world are commonly sculpted from sloped terrain. One of the challenges of playing golf on this terrain is playing a majority of your shots from uneven lies. The keys to being able to successfully execute solid shots from these lies are:

* Recognizing how the hills will affect the ball flight
* Customizing your setup for a given amount of slope
* Accentuating certain swing moves based on the slope

Read More…

Play Like the 2nd Man

As noted in an earlier post, I haven’t been playing much lately because I’ve been working on new swing mechanics.  I mustered up enough courage to go out and give it the proverbial old college try.  Instead of Brock Park, ended up going to Gus Wortham.  You know that short par-3, Hole 8?  You have to clear some water.

One of my playing partners, Paul, hit a shot that landed short and rolled back.  We thought it for sure went in the drink, but no one saw the splash.  We went up there and the ball rolled into the most bizarre spot – under the wood but not quite in the water.  Safe to say that Paul took the penalty.

Another guy we were playing with, Michael Moore (although not the famous one), said one of the best lines I’ve ever heard.
He said, “We need to play like the 2nd man.”
I asked, “Who’s the 2nd man?”
Mike answered, “You know when you hit a shot off the tee that sucks, and you get pissed off, so you tee up another ball, and you just walk up to it and knock it without thinking.  And that shot always ends up in a great spot… That’s the 2nd man.”

Golf course wisdom at its finest.

Now for the winners of the 3rd June Trivia Contest.  The question was:

The current format of the U.S. Open is four 18-hole daily rounds.  In the past, the U.S. Open used different formats, including 36 holes played on each of two days and 18 holes on each of two days then 36 holes on the third day.  What year did the present format of four 18-hole daily rounds begin?

The answer from the U.S. Open website is (http://usga.usopen.com/2010/history/index.html):

The format of the U.S. Open has changed several times. The USGA extended the championship to 72 holes in 1898, with 36 holes played on each of two days. In 1926, the format was changed to 18 holes played each of two days, then 36 holes on the third day. In 1965, the present format of four 18-hole daily rounds was implemented for the first time.

The winners, chosen at random from the correct entrants, are:

Brent Paugh – One Free Round of Golf at Clear Creek Golf Club
Robert Rosado – Free Foursome with Cart at Blaketree National Golf Club

Next contest is starting Tuesday, July 6th. Grip it and rip it over the holiday.

Back in the Fire Pit

I’ve only played one round in the last 3 months or so.  After the disaster I had in the last league event I played in, I decided to take a break and work on my game.  (In the order of complete honesty, I have played about 3 or 4 times at Melrose Par 3 course, but that doesn’t really count, does it?)

I’ve taken about 4 or 5 lessons at golfTEC and have been working on my assigned drills (although not as much as I should be).  Two weeks ago, I bought a 3-foot 4×4 and I stand on that and practice my takeaway 20 or 30 times.  “It’s all about balance.”

Tomorrow, I’m ending my self-imposed sabbatical from golf and will go out to Brock Park at the crack of dawn and beat the heat.  See if my drills have paid off.  Or more realistically, see how many holes it takes before I revert to my hacker ways (reverse weight-shift anyone)?

We shall see.