| GOLF
FACTS OF THE MONTH:
The World’s Longest Golf Course is the international Golf Club in Massachusetts, a long par 77, 8325 yard
course.
The World’s Highest Golf Course is the Tactu Golf Club in Morococha, Peru, which sits 14,335 feet above sea level at its lowest
point.
The Longest Hold in the World is the 7th hole (par 7) of the Sano Course at the Satsuki Golf Club in Japan. It measures a long
909yrds.
The Worlds Largest Green is that of the 695yrd, 5th hole, a par 6 at the International Golf Club in Massachusetts, with an area in excess of 28 000
sqft.
Babe Didrikson Zaharias was an All-American basketball player, winner of two golf medals and a silver medal in the 1932 Olympics in track and field, Babe was a true all-around athlete. Turning to golf in the 1930’s, she would go on to win 82 tournaments in her dazzling 20yr career in golf. A founding member of the LPGA, she was one of the first four inductees into the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1951.
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As all my students will tell you I spend a lot of time developing the proper grip, stance, and (balanced) posture position over the ball. In fact I can’t stop talking about it. These three things I believe are the critical basic ingredients needed to maximize your ability to hit the ball correctly. Put these items in place and your odds of swing success will increase dramatically.
Why?????
a. The GRIP…..Every golf book on instruction you read starts with the grip. Why not, it’s where the game begins. How you attach yourself to the club has a huge determining effect on the flight of the ball, distance achieved and more importantly consistent ball flight. If you get a chance check out the guys and gals on the PGA tours. Their grips are almost all identical. Interestingly, most recreational players don’t want to change their grips because it feels awkward. Alas, the power of muscle memory.
b. The STANCE…..Where is the ball placed in your stance? Are you too close, or perhaps too far away from the ball? Invariably if your stance is not correct the entire structure over the ball has a very tough time working correctly. In addition how about direction, the feet and body alignment have a lot to do with that too.
c. The POSTURE……How is your posture? I promote an athletic position that can help you create power and consistency. Are you standing too tall, or are you too hunched over the ball? A common remark of spectators in all sports speaking of the professionals is, “he/she makes it look so easy”. In my opinion that’s what balance is all
about.
All this stuff is a BIG DEAL if you want to hit the ball consistently and more importantly lower scores. I know if golfers followed the drill of having these three items in the correct position every time they pull the trigger, their games would improve big time. Think of it like a puzzle…..the parts have to fit! Remember to get better in this game usually something has to change! If we can help, give your professionals at Island View a
call.
Cheers,
Scott
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| QUOTES OF
THE MONTH:
The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that
occur.
Vince
Lombardi
Failure? I never encountered it. All I ever met were temporary
setbacks.
Dottie
Walters
The closer one gets to the top, the more one finds that there is no
top.
Nancy
Barcus
Minds are like parachutes – they only function when
open.
Thomas
Dewar
The secret to success is to do common things uncommonly
well.
John D Rockefeller
Sr.
The three P’s of success: Passion, Persistence, and
Patience.
Doug Bronson
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We are truly witnessing history in the making. The display of the game of golf that Tiger Woods has been putting on in the last few months is unbelievable. His shot making ability, decision making discipline and fierce competitiveness has made watching golf that much more
exciting.
Another amazing anomaly that I am witnessing with Tiger has nothing to do with what he’s doing on the links, but the reaction he’s getting off the links, especially around the
range.
Greg Norman used to call it the tall poppy syndrome. This refers to when an individual rises above the competition; the tendency is for people to want to cut them down. You see it in all types of other sports, a good example is the Yankees in baseball. When they were playing the Boston Red Sox for the series, people were dying to see the Red Sox’s win, which they eventually
did.
The reaction to Tiger is the polar opposite to that. The more he wins, the more people want to see him win. Every time I’ve seen Tiger a few shots back and ventured down to the pro shop to watch the finally with Hyo, Andrew or Scott, I am greeted by other people in the shop cheering for Tiger to sink those putts and rise to the winners podium once
again!
Its great but it begs the questions of why aren’t we seeing the status quo
reaction?
I believe there are a few key components that are causing this
reaction:
-Tiger is humble in victory and defeat. Golf is a game of class and ethics, one of the few sports left that is, and he exemplifies
that.
-Tiger’s work ethic and dedication is well known. People respect someone who’s worked very hard to get to where they are. Sure Tiger was born with natural ability, but so was every other golfer in the PGA. He’s put in the hours and taken the natural born ability to the next
level.
- Tiger is a competitor. Too often in professional sports you have guys walking off the playing field early, whining about ref calls, etc. Tiger doesn’t make excuses and doesn’t play for second
place.
In any case, watching someone play this difficult game of golf at such a high level is a
pleasure.
Sean
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Is your golf game improving? I sometimes hear from people that their golf game is not really improving even though they practice a lot. What would be the reason? Shouldn’t their game get better with all the time, money and effort they put in? Yes it should get better but that’s only when they are practicing the right way. In order to improve your golf game you have to know how to practice right, not just smacking golf balls around the whole
field.
The best way to learn how to practice will be seeing a local CPGA professional and get some advice from them. However, here are some few things you can try next time on the range in order to improve your game:
1. Set the Target – Setting a target is very important when you are practicing because this is the game of putting ball to where you want to put it, so hitting balls without any target won’t help your game at all. Even Jack Nicklaus, a legendary golfer of all time, said he never hit any balls without a
target.
2. Start from short to long – start practicing with short iron and gradually move up to driver. However, I see many high handicappers taking out the big stick from the beginning of their practice and smacking the golf ball as hard as they can which will destroy their golf swing. Hit lots of short irons like pitching wedge; it will help you build a good tempo of your swing.
3. Use your imagination- when you practice on the range, Imagine that you are at the golf course you usually play, and hit every ball like you are hitting at the course. Also imagine every shot you hit, like how high how its going to go, and how far its going to fly.
For these to work, you would have to use the right
fundamentals.
Hopefully it will help your game and score better : ).
Hyo
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