Bucket of Balls

It’s All About Impact – The 84° Secret

I recently finished reading a new golf instructional book on the market: It’s All About Impact: The Winners of Over 100 Majors Prove It by Andrew Rice.

The main point of the book is the belief that there are multiple ways to swing a golf club, however, there is only one way to strike the golf ball directly.

Rice demonstrates this by analyzing the swings of 25 of the top golfers in history, including Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Tom Watson, and Annika Sorenstam.  Although all of these championship-level golfers’ swings fit within the broad terms of the fundamentals, nearly all of them have their unique idiosyncrasies.  What they do have in common, though, is where their bodies are positioned at impact, and that is what Rice clearly defines throughout the book.

One area of It’s All About Impact that I really enjoy is the technical descriptions and logic behind the golf swing in relation to weight distribution, the shoulder plane through impact, and many others swing aspects.  All you other analytical and scientific types will like that too.

On the other hand, there are also a number of real-world examples and golf drills to work on to improve your impact position even if you aren’t a technical person.  I especially like the down slope and the hip press drills to accentuate the weight shift.

All in all, it’s a pretty impressive book identifying key areas for amateurs to improve their games with drills that you can monitor on your own.  Thanks for the read Mr. Rice.

Here’s a couple credible testimonials:

“I have known Andrew Rice since he was a young man growing up in Southern Africa. I have always been thoroughly impressed with Andrew’s dedication and passion to play, teach, and constantly discover the intricacies of our great game. I know you will benefit from his diligent pursuit of finding the most efficient manner in which to play the game and produce results. The quest for improvement at every level of golf is never ending, but I am sure you will find Andrew’s thoughts to be an efficient way for you to achieve your potential.” – Nick Price, Three-time Major Winner

“Even as a youngster, I focused on the strike. I would go down to the beach and practice hitting the ball first and the ground second. Andrew has laid out a solid framework for every golfer to improve their ball-striking.” – Ian Woosnam, Masters Champion

“All of golf’s great players have had different swings, but it is the solid strike that makes the difference. This is a simple concept explained well and will be helpful to golfers of all levels.” – Ian Poulter, Victorious Ryder Cup Member

Happy Gilmore – Send the Ball Home

Funny Happy Gilmore clip.  Hey, what’s the better golf movie?  Caddyshack or Happy Gilmore?  I love Happy Gilmore, but Caddyshack is still the king of golf movies.

20-Month Old Amazing Golf Swing

New Sponsors for Tiger Woods

Here’s a short clip from some dude on Fox Sports.  He’s got some ideas for new sponsors for Tiger.  (Thanks for the find Moe!)

<br/><a href="http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/on-the-mark-tiger-in-his-element/12ldl2kn?fg=sharenoembed" target="_new"title="On the Mark: Tiger in his element">Video: On the Mark: Tiger in his element</a>

Ludacris – Tiger Woods Sexting Song

Good Takes on Tiger Woods

It’s been almost a week since Tiger Woods’ apology.  Personally, I think people need to cut this guy some slack.  I mean, I don’t condone cheating on your wife, but he didn’t friggin kill anybody, get accused of rape, throw someone through a plate-glass window, get busted selling a trunk-load of cocaine and marijuana, not pay child support, stab his wife in the driveway, bite a woman’s ass, or the hundreds of other things that other pro athletes (and Marv Albert) have been accused and/or convicted of.

No one is perfect, but that doesn’t affect what this guy can do on a golf course.  He’s still the best of the best, no matter how you slice it.  In a few years, he’ll be hawking products again like nothing happened.

Here’s a few good Tiger Woods takes that I’ve read the last couple of days:

Tiger Woods apparently wasn’t suspended, but why not?
Devil Ball Golf
Jay Busbee

…Still, while Woods’ relationship issues are a family matter, his impact on the game most certainly is not. So what actions might the PGA Tour take against Woods for actions detrimental to the game? PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem has reiterated several times that Woods has not been suspended for his actions. To which many reply, “why the heck not?” Read more…

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As I See it: The Tiger Who Won’t Go Away
Golf Girl’s Diary
Patricia Hannigan

You see, I came away from the Tiger Woods press conference feeling much the way I felt a couple of months ago when the scandal first broke and Tiger’s transgressions first came to light: I like Tiger Woods. Read more…

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Meet the Press with Tiger Woods
Yahoo Sports
Michael Arkush

…Eventually, however, Woods will have to answer a lot of tough questions. When the day of facing the Fourth Estate (instead of his friends and associates) comes – hopefully, it will be sooner than later – reporters should follow a few lines of questioning: Read more…

Head Dipping

The definition of frustration is knowing what you’re doing wrong, but not being able to fix it.  Case in point – my spine angle.  Here’s a video of a drive I hit about a month ago:

Here, I tried to show this in a side by side.  The picture on the left is my backswing.  The picture on the right is my downswing.  I drew in the red line at my head and the yellow line on my shoulders.  When I start my downswing, my head comes down, I bring the club up, and my shoulders come in.

That causes a number of things explained in this video:

During my practice sessions I’m trying to concentrate on keeping my spine angle consistent and my head up.  It seems to work.  The problem is when I am in the middle of a round and it happens.  It’s not just on my full swings either.  The head bob/shoulder dip pops its ugly head during chips and pitches too, causing either super fat shots or sculls.

Guess I’m going to research how to fix this and see what I have to do.  Damn, how can hitting a little white ball be so tough!

A New Pair of Shoes

Thanks to my lovely wife, I bought a new pair of golf shoes for Valentine’s Day.  Historically, I’ve always treated my golf shoes like a red-headed stepchild with a glass eye and a wooden leg.  This will be the first time I’ve had a really nice pair of golf shoes.  They are DryJoys and here is the pic:

I’m going to change my ways.  I have the ability to change [see: Michael Corleone from Godfather II].  I promise to take care of these golf shoes and make sure they don’t look like I wore them working on the farm for 10 years.

For those out there that are looking to keep their golf shoes clean, I found a couple of articles to review:

• FootJoy Golf Shoe Care
• eHow.com Keep Golf Shoes Clean

Along with the new shoes, I’ve also recently received as gifts new golf pants, new golf shorts, a new golf belt, a new TW golf hat, and new golf shirts (I’m the guy at work who always wears a golf shirt).

I’m going to look like a professional golfer in my new get-ups, now I just need to get a game to match!

Golf Bloopers

Golf Equipment: Confessions of a “club ho”

(Welcome guest author Brian Blackburn.)

Like many addicted golfers who struggle with their swing, I always find myself looking for answers.   That new swing thought, drill, club, stance, ball position, and on and on it goes.

I am a high handicapper and I like to try out different clubs as well as different swings.  Ebay makes it possible to sample some affordable equipment and then choose to keep them, or (more commonly) sell them at a later date.

Well I had been accustomed to this practice of “trying out” different clubs for a few years before I realized that there is a term for this habit.  I was at the driving range two years ago and was chatting with the teaching pro there….showing him a new club I was playing around with.  He then addresses the other teacher out there and says: Yup “Brian’s a real club ho”.  Read more…