Tag: sports

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The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

After a brief res-pet from blogging for a trip to see the Grand kids in San Diego back with another in a series of instructional conflicts. Yes, I am going to comment briefly on the Lexi Thompson incident.  This blog is going to concern itself with chipping. The two points of view.  You should chip like you putt, or you should not chip like you putt. First we need to define a chip, which to some, has changed.  In Utley’s book on the short game he has his own definition of a chip, which I am going to ignore. My definition is that a chip is a shot with little or no wrist action.  In other words,the chip has nothing to do with distance. You could chip a ball 5 yards or you can chip it 40 yards or longer.  A pitch by my definition is a shot where the wrists will cock from 45 to 90 degrees.  Again you could pitch a ball 5 yards or you can pitch it 40 yards or longer. This post is going to discuss only chipping

The first view point is, you should chip like you putt. Since there is little wrist action in both chipping and putting this would seem to make a lot of sense. However, the clubs, ranging from anywhere from a 4 iron to a lob wedge, that are used for chipping, have nothing in common, in design,  with the putter. There is going to be some adjustments, you are going to have to make. The first, you must make sure the bottom edge of the club is square. This  will put your hands ahead of the club, sometimes as much as 6 inches if you are using the lob wedge. A lot of instructors advocate using the same grip you use for putting, to execute these shots.  The weight should be on the left foot a little more. Even though you are using your putting stroke to execute these shots, they still must be hit with a descending blow and not swept along the ground. You must have a good lie to execute a chip.  With any method you can not chip from the rough with the ball down a little in the grass.

Some instructors feel you should not chip like you putt. The leaders in this group are Phil Mickelson and Stan Utley. Mickelson has his hinge and hold method and Utley tries to get his hands leading the club head on his chips to deloft the club. You can read or watch their videos to get more details on their respective methods.  There are other instructors who have a more handsy   approach to chipping.

Now to the Lexi Thompson debacle. The one thing that has got lost in the shuffle is the second penalty that was accessed for the incorrect scorecard. She may have been done in by the new rule change this year on signing for a lower score than you actually made. The LPGA should have  never assessed her that 2 stroke penalty, and they had the perfect precedent of the Tiger Woods incident 2 or 3 years ago at the Masters. After Tiger’s ball hit the pin and went into the water on 15, he dropped the ball in an improper spot. The next day he was charged a two stroke penalty, but was not disqualified for the incorrect score card on the technicality that at the time he signed it, the score was correct. If the disqualification rule would have still been in effect this year, do you think the LPGA would have walked up on that tee box and disqualified Lexi Thompson, no way.  I am sure the Tiger incident would have been cited. Because now it is a 2 stroke penalty, they in my view went ahead and  penalized her those 2 strokes incorrectly.  Technically, and its all technicalities, she signed a correct score card when she signed it, just like Tiger Woods. Obviously with only a 2 stroke penalty she would have won the tournament out right and there would have been no play off. Shame on you LPGA.

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The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

Today’s post will be slightly different, in that I am going to cover three aspects of the golf swing, that have conflicting viewpoints, plus I am going to put in my two cents worth on the subject.  I am going to look at hip turn, shoulder turn, and the backswing, which are so interconnected that it would be difficult to discuss one without getting involved with the other. First, the various viewpoints on each aspect.  You should restrict your hip turn or you should not restrict your hip turn.   You should turn your shoulders at least 90 degrees or you do not have to turn the shoulders 90 degrees.  You should keep your backswing compact and avoid over swinging, or you should make a nice long backswing, which will give you plenty of time to accelerate the club and keep your swing very smooth.

So in order to start the discussion, one has to start out with the famous X factor of Jim Mclean’s, which started this whole mess.  The X factor states that the more you can turn your shoulders, without turning your hips, the farther you will hit the ball, plain and simple.  The standard difference between you hip and shoulder turn is about 50%  You turn your shoulders 90 degrees, your hips should turn about 45 degrees.   According to the X factor,  if you could make that 90 degree shoulder turn with only 35 degree hip turn, then you would increase your distance.  If you can make a greater than 90 degree shoulder turn, with less than 45 degree hip turn you would  hit the ball even further. Is this true? It is absolutely true. Should you swing a golf club like this? Absolutely not is the correct answer. If you want to play golf past your 50th birthday then this is not the way to swing a golf club. Watch Greg Norman’s swing  in the late 80’s and the early to mid nineties. He had minimal hip turn and maximum shoulder turn. Played very little golf after age 45. Same thing can be said about Tiger.This swing is so hard on your body you will see more and more of the modern player fall by the way side.So many of todays players swing this way, that you can bet not many of them will be playing on the senior tour.     It is no coincidence that Phil and V.J. who have larger hip turns have played great golf well past their 45th birthday.

Now let’s move to the shoulders where there is another swing method call the limited shoulder turn golf swing by Don Trahan. This swing is easy on your body and depends more on a vertical lift of the arms with the shoulders probably turning about 70 degrees. I don’t have a lot of problem with the theory here but this swing is harder to time than what Mr Trahan would lead you to believe. It is way too specific in making certain moves in the golf swing. At least this swing won’t put you in traction.

Finally, should your backswing be compact or should it be longer and no worry about “over swinging”.  I think this is a personal preference, but which ever way you decide to go there is one key factor. .If you decide to take a more compact swing then your tempo should be rather quick. If you are going to take a longer backswing then you should have a slower more languid tempo.  A slower short swing and a fast long swing just will not work.

My take on all of  this is very simple.  At the top of the backswing, the top part of your back or shoulder blades if you prefer, should be facing the target. I don’t care how you get there to do it. The thing that makes your swing compact or long is the arms, and how much the wrists cock.  The golf swing is a turn and the only thing that should limit the turn, is your physical capabilities. So if you have to turn those hips to get that back to face the target,  go right ahead. Do you think  Bobby Jones and Jack Nicklaus did all right with a big hip turn? Next post will be should you start the swing low and slow or is low and slow the worst thing you can do?

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The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

THE MASTERS, THE MASTERS, THE MASTERS, the talk of the town after the great Spieth collapse. After reading a cajillion articles about the subject, I still feel there were some things that were missed, and/or not emphasized enough in the reporting of the event and the aftermath.

First the event. I think the key spot, which led to the 12th hole debacle is what happened on the 11th hole and immediately afterward. After bogeying the 10th, he hits his drive in the trees, hits a smart recovery shot and then an absolutely brilliant wedge about 8 feet to a very dangerous pin. This is the type of putt he had been making the whole tournament to save many a par. He missed this one. Now walking to the 12th tee, I think he had to feel he still had a 3 shot lead at the worst. The big scoreboard right behind the 12th tee showed his lead had suddenly and I do mean suddenly been cut to 2 shots, when not to long ago he had a 5 shot lead. All of a sudden it was a golf tournament again and I think this threw him off just enough to butcher the 12th hole.

Second the SHOCK. Everybody expressed shock and disbelief. If we were paying attention should we have been that stunned. When Jordan Spieth walked off the 9th green on Sunday did I think he would win the Masters, absolutely, but I added, I bet he will make it interesting. Well, he made it a lot more than interesting, he lost the tournament. Why did I think he would make it interesting. He did the same thing on Friday and Saturday. Twice he could have taken this tournament by the throat and each time stumbled down the stretch. If he would have parred the last three holes on Friday and Saturday, he would have had anywhere from a 6 to 8 shot lead going into Sunday, and it would not have made any difference, if he had hit it in the water on 12 His double bogey on 18 on Saturday was particularly UG-UG-UGLY.

Third will he be able to recover from this collapse. Most people feel that he will come back and win as much, just as if he had won the Masters. They write about he’s young, he’s mentally tough and he’s a great player period. I think it’s a flip of the coin and it may not even be that good if two things don’t change. The first one is just a mental thing. He has got to get out of this we mode.   It sounds gracious when you win but when you lose it sounds a little weird. What was more disturbing was when he said that we will prove that we can close the deal on a tournament. What are you talking about? You have already shown you can do that. Two major wins last year and numerous other victories. It would have been more appropriate to say I had a bad day and I will learn from it. Your the boss man. There is one thing that Jordan Spieth will have to change about his game. He doesn’t get much flak about this from the media and Faldo touched upon ever so briefly, but the bottom line is this, Jordan Spieth is SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW, OH SO SLOOOOOOOW. On Friday his group got put on the clock and despite the fact that Rory was hitting shots almost before Spieth’s ball stopped rolling on Saturday,  walking off the 17th tee they were the only group on the course. From taking forever to make some decisions and backing off short putts one two or even three times you wonder how long his nerves will last. Lets face it, every time he makes a 3 footer, it’s like he’s making it 2 or 3 times. Let’s hope he does come back, because Jordan Spieth is great for the game of golf, but some re-evaluation is in order.

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The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

This week I am going to discuss the mind-body connection. First lets look at one of the biggest mind-body disconnects in the history of golf. It happened in one of the most memorable majors of all time, the 1986 Masters. We are going to look at only two players, Jack Nicklaus and Seve Ballesteros, and one hole, the par 5 15th. So lets look at the timeline.

Nicklaus is on the 15th tee and Seve is on the 13th green with about an 8 foot eagle putt. At this moment Jack is -5 and Seve is -7.

Jack hits a great drive right down the middle and as he is walking down the fairway, Seve makes the eagle putt to go nine under par.

Jack is 204 from the pin and hits a 4 iron within 12 feet and makes the putt for an eagle to go to -7

Seve hits the drive of the day on 15 and is only 198 yards from the hole. Nicklaus has birdied 16 to go -8 and is trailing by 1 shot.

Seve also takes out a 4 iron and makes a horrible swing and pull hooks the ball right in the middle of the lake, not even close and goes on to make a bogey, which is a 3 shot swing on this one hole.

Jack Nicklaus goes on to win the Masters with a birdie on 17. Even though Seve and his caddie, who happened to be his brother, had plenty of time to make the decision on a club selection for the second shot into 15, there was enough doubt to cause the mind-body disconnect. The result was a very bad swing and an even worse result. Lets say that Seve was absoulutely sure that 4 iron was the right club. He was totally committed to the shot. His mind and body were perfectly in sync. What would have been the result. He would have smoked that 4 iron and quite possibly would have flown the green and maybe would have even put the ball in the back lake. But he would have hit a solid shot. That is the difference when the mind and body are connected and when they are not. The mind-body connection does not mean that you are never going to hit a bad shot or miss a putt. It does not mean that you are going to go out every time and be in the mythical zone. The Zone is another subject all together. What the mind-body connection does mean, is that it gives you the ability to execute the present shot or stroke to the best of your ability. How is this accomplished? I do not know. Over the next few weeks, I am going to give more examples of the mind-body disconnect, discusss if this mind-body connection even exists, and talk about a lot of theory.

 

 

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The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

A very busy week with two new courses added, a tournament, and a good round today. On Wednesday we went to two new courses. We went to Bedford Trails in Coitsville, Ohio about a 70 minute drive.  I had never heard anything about this course but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The course was about 6300 yards from the blue tees and played to a par of 70. The course was nice and flat with some heavily tree lined fairways. We had to start on the back due to some on course maintainance, and the back nine was much narrower than the front nine. To start off on the back it was more of a challenge than coming into the turn when you know what kind of state your game is in. The greens were very smooth and ran about a 6.5 on the stimp. This course had a great variety of holes with some being pretty tough but none of them were unfair. The fairways were very good and the rough did have some bare spots but was not overly long.  This course was very enjoyable to play and was well worth the trip and very reasonbly priced. The hot dog at the turn was nothing special but was tasty.  We played pretty well with David shooting an 82 and I came in with a 75. Then we went back down the road into Pennsylvania to Tanglewood Golf course in Pulaski Pa. This course was about 6100 yards from the back tees and played to a par of 72. Although I liked this course and the price was right here too, it just wasn’t quite as nice as Bedford Trails. The greens ran a 5 on the stimp and fairways were not as good. The design of the course was good with a good variety of holes and some that were quite difficult. But it had what I call the typical fake par 5 of 425 yards which was tricked up so it would play as a 5. It was a shame, because this would have made a great par 4 with water down the left and close to the green. But all and all this course was fun to play with a nice  flow to the course. Just to do something different, I got a chile dog at the turn which was quite good. Even though I thought this course was easier some of the holes were tough to play for the first time and both David and I scored a little worse. I shot an 80 with some erratic driving and David had an 85. Then on Thursday I played in the South Park Senior Championship and my day was a synopsis of my entire year. It was boring, some chip yips and a putter that was luke warm. I drove the ball pretty well, but my iron game was just so-so and wound up making only one birdie. I did not take advantage of the par 5’s just making 4 pars. Twice it took me 4 blows to get down from about 20 yards which led to a double bogey  and a bogey. Despite all that I managed to shoot 78 which put me 4th in my age group and about 18th in a field of 70. For some reason the scoring was not that good. There was a 3 under 69 and a 71 but no one else in the field broke 74. There was some wind and few tough pins but I really don’t know why the scores were so high. Today we went to Buffalo Golf Course, which is one of my favorites and shot a nice solid 4 over 75. I did something today that was pretty drastic on the mental and physical side of the game that has been evolving. Again, this could be just dust in the wind but we will see. Overall this was one of the better weeks with the weather being just gorgeous and getting to courses 89 and 90. So the original goal has been met. I have played 90 golf courses within 90 minutes from my house. It has taken just a little over 3 years. When I started this I thought it might take a little over a year. Maybe I should I run for Congress Ha!  I am still going to try to make it an even 100 and will still try to find the answer. I think I have a better chance of getting to 100.

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The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

Decided to do the holiday blog since I played 18 today. It was an interesting week with some hope on the horizon. Played 4 rounds this week beginning with a 73 at Indian Run, an 80 at Fort Cherry, a 77 at Rolling Hills Country club my old stomping grounds back in the late 80’s and early 90’s, and finished at Highland Springs with a 78. The funny round was at Fort Cherry. After giving my big disertation on club selection in my last blog, I had some real issues with club selection at Fort Cherry. I hit short irons, a PW, 9iron, and a 55 degree SW all long on holes 7, 8, and 10. This definitely got in my head later in the round which made for the 80 on a fairly easy golf course.   I think what the issue was, I was not playing attention to some swirling winds. My short game made a vast improvement this week. Putting was my best of the week. Even though this did not translate into any spectacular scoring it was nice to see the ball go into the hole a lot more. My chipping is improving also. I think I may be making some progress on the mental game. Only time will tell.   For the four rounds I had 29, 31, 27, and 31 putts. My GIR’s were not that great 11,6,6, and 7 but I am not too worried about that. My chipping and putting are impoving simply because of a new mental process and one that I am applying to the long game as well. I am dividing the mental game into three sections and each one is pretty critical to playing decent golf. This has only been one week of success, so we will see if this will be worth revealing or not. This week I will be playing in the South Park senior championship and we will see how some of this holds up under the heat. I am going to add two new courses this week as it looks like the weather is going to be very nice. The search continues with new vigor.

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The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

This was a busy week and that is why the blog is a day late. The best way to write about this week is to take it in chronological order. On Wednesday added course number 88 by going to St Jude golf course in Chicora Pa. which was about a 70 minute drive. This was an interesting course but difficult to play for the first time. The course played to a Par of 70 and played about 6500 yards from the back tees. The greens were smooth and ran about a 6 on the stimp. There were many blind shots and doglegs, and to get from one green to the next tee was sometimes a great challenge. Little did I know how well this prepared me for the golf course I would play later in the week in the Poccono’s. On one hole, I even went to the wrong tee box and hit my drive before I realized I had played the wrong hole. At time the holes were very tight and hilly and overall not a very enjoyable course to play. I shot an 82 with most of the time putting myself in some real bad positions due to lack of course knowledge. There was no hot dog and this course was not worth the trip. I was going to play another new course but map quest gave me the wrong directions and then the skies started looking threatening and decided to go home. Then I let the dog out and the skies were better so I went over to South Park and shot a lackluster 75 and just beat the rain.  On Thursday I headed to Indian Run and shot one of my better rounds of the year a 2 over 73. I hit the ball really well and seemed to have my swing down, and short game and putting under control. So on Friday off to the Pocconos I go to play in the United States Golf Teachers Northeast Regional tournament. I had a good nights sleep, got to the course in plenty of time, despite getting bad map quest directions AGAIN, and then had a complete meltdown and shot 92. I could make all kind of excuses for this score. First time playing the course, many blind shots and doglegs, and many in course out of bounds stakes, where I knocked it out of bounds on three holes. But the bottom line I stunk. Unfortunately I was only staying on the second floor of the motel and I figured if I jumped out the window I would probably just break my legs and I would still be alive and in pain. There really isn’t any more to write about this, and today I found out the nine hole course I go to about 1pm to work out issues is closed till about 3 for highschool try outs. My next round is going to be at St Clair which is one tough golf course but at least I know it.   They say there is a reason for everything and maybe a day like I had will help me out in the long run. I have had these days before and it hasn’t helped. But another week has started I have 88 courses down and only 12 to go. See you Sunday.

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The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

This week I was only able to get 2 rounds in because of getting a re check on my orat surgery and an outing on Friday at South Park, that closed the course. The rounds were not that great an 80 at Madison Club and a 76 at Riverview today. This will mark the third anniversary of starting the blog. I have played 87 courses, found what I consider the key to the golf swing and now in search of trying to figure out the mental side of this game. Along the way I have walked off a golf course after the 12th hole, hurled a sandwedge into the woods never to be found, battled the chip yips and shot a 4 under 69. I have read other golfing and non-golfing blogs and have marveled how everyone struggles at this game but continues to enjoy and love the game. The blog and fellow bloggers have kept me going, at a time when I had really thought I was through with this goofy game. This year has been an odd year so far, in more ways than one. The search for some mental answers has brought my game down a notch, just like the search for a key to the golf swing did. Believe me some of the things I have done trying to find the mental keys have been just bizzare as some of the things I tried with the golf swing. Getting a flu cold bug and having to have a tooth root removed has also slowed some progress. But progress has been  made. Right now I am in the process of losing the chip yips. My new putting technique, more mental than physical is starting to show so slow but steady improvement. My swing has suffered some, from the mental challenges. But today I got back to the shoulders controling the swing. Hopefully I may be on to something that can make this game just a little easier for all of us diehards. At the end of this week I will be playing in a tournament in the Pocconos so the blog may be a day late. Meanwhile keep on swinging, the ball will wind up somewhere.

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The Goofy Game of Golf: The Courses

This week I thought I would index the golf courses that I have done over the last 3 years. After each course will be a number 1 through 5, with 1 being a very poor, 2 poor, 3average, 4 good, and 5 excellent. The ratings are based on what I call the overall experience not just the golf course. This includes, the course, the condition, the facility, the staff, the hot dog, and the price we paid to play.  Later I will rate just the golf courses. The month and year was when the full review was done.

August 2010  Copeland Hills 4   Firestone Farms 3    Reserve Run 3  Kennsington 1 Castle Hills  4   Tam O’ Shanter 3

September 2010  Riverview  4      South Park  3

October 2010   7 Springs 3

November 2010   Cedarbrooke Red 3   Westwood 2

March 2011 Grandview   3

April 2011   Butlers Lakeside 3  Scenic Valley  4  Meadowink 3   Murraysville 2

May 2011  Rolling Green 3  Chippawa 3  Oak Lake 3   Moon 2   Linden Hall 4

June 2011 Cedarbrooke Gold 3    Cloverleaf 3    Madison Club 3  Manor Valley 2   Fort Cherry 3   Pheasant Ridge 3  Rittswood 3

July 2011   Village Green  3   Hartmans 3  Strawberry Ridge 2   Highland Springs 4  Millcreek North 5 Millcreek South 5   Ponderosa 4   Blackhawk 2   Rolling Acre 4  Beaver Creek Meadow 4  Turkana 4

August 2011 Mannitto 4    Quicksilver 4  Lake Arthur 4    Indian Run 3   Oak Tree 3   Yankee Run 5   Castle Shannon 3    Blackmoor 3  Foxwood Acres 1

Sept 2011   Lindenwood 2  Rolling Fields 3  Hickory Heights  2    Fairway Riverlinks 3  Becwood Hills 3  Krendale   3

October 2011 Red Oaks 3   Spring Hill 4   Stonecrest 3  Foxrun 4   3 Lakes 2

November 2011 Timber Ridge 3  Links at Spring Church 2

March 2012 Cranberry Highlands 3   Beaver Valley  3

April 2012  Suncrest 3

May 2012  North Park 3   Birdsfoot 3  Champion Lakes 3  Buffalo 4    Old Stonewall 3

June 2012 Donnegal Highlands 4     Pine Lakes  4   Knoll Run 4

July 2012  Lake Vue North 3  Rose Ridge 1   Lenape Heights 2   Totteridge 4

August 2012 Pittsburgh North 4   Spring Valley 3  Green Meadow 4    Dubbs Dread 3

September 2012  Pittsburgh National 3  Saxon 3   Phoenix at Buffalo Valley 1  Stoughton Acres 4

October 2012 Norvelt 4     May 2013 Conleys 3

As far as the rest of my week went, my mouth was more interesting than my golf game, as on Thursday, I had to have a cracked root removed and a bone graft put in, OOUCHH! Since then I have played 63 holes. I am one tough hombre. Of course drugs help too. My scores for the week were 79, 76, 76, and today a big fat 81. The philosphy of golf was what I was afraid it was, bullshit. However because of it’s failure I feel I made have made some progress on the mental side. My short game is improving some and the scores will come. Hopefully we can hit some new courses this week. See you next Sunday.

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The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

With the grand kids in town and a big morning storm on Wednesday, only played 2 rounds this week. Shot a 75 at South Park and a 78 today at Rolling Acre. I totally psyche myself out today on having a good round. I don’t want to get into how I did this, but believe me I did. I continued my new golf philosphy and it worked out pretty well. Even though neither score was anything to shout about I continued to hit more quality shots than the score indicated. As I stated last week anytime you are doing something new with your game even a new mental thing you should expect some ups and downs with more downs than ups. Today I also missed some short putts that hurt and again this new philosphy is even being applied to putting which at times has caused some bad putts. I think for the higher handicap player this is the number one reason he does not improve his game. They just can not develope the attitude that in order to get better you sometimes have to get worse. Any time you change something in your game particularly if you have been playing the game for any number of years, it is not going to feel right and it will lead to some poor shots and higher scores. But if you know what you are doing is sound golf fundementals, then you must gut it out for a period of 4 or 5 rounds, depending on how much you play, and eventually you will be rewarded with lower scores. I have often criticized pros for changing their swings, but even those, where it seems  to work out, there is always that period of adjustment, where their overall game suffers. To me it is a simple fact. In order to get better you are going to be worse for a certain period of time. If you can not accept this then you going to have to accept the fact that your handicap will always be double digits. This is why I like what I am doing now. It does feel akward. Even though I hit many quality shots I have hit some really bad ones. This has helped me with the chip yips but not completely. I made some great up and downs today, but also messed up some routine chips. Next week will be back to normal if the weather co-operates and I have some real challenges coming up. We will see what the new philosphy brings.