I have! I sent a message to both Senator Barbara Mikulski and Senator Ben Cardin asking them how many furlough days Congress will get. I have yet to get a response…you can send them a message as well! Just use the links below
http://www.mikulski.senate.gov/contact/shareyouropinion.cfm
http://www.cardin.senate.gov/contact/
I am sure they would love to hear your thoughts about furloughs and how many days they will lose because of furloughs!
The work out regiment:
So obviously not having any physical stamina or strength is not a good way to get better at golf. This new year I’ll be looking at and hopefully keeping a routine of exercises that I have linked below.
http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/2009-02/coreworkout#slide=1
The hope is that not only will not only be more fit, but this should improve my golf game by providing me more of a fluid swing and a stronger swing. As I am reading more, I am finding that strength is important, however a more limber and loose body can be more effective.
So now that it looks like Baltimore’s going to get a casino. Are you prepared? Excited? Nervous? Getting the hell out? The traffic congestion from the construction behind the stadium is going to definitely make things interesting!
Almost every billboard I drove by this morning on the way in was either without power or had its front ripped off. I will admit, I did not take this hurricane seriously until Monday morning when the news was showing the size and breadth. My best wishes and support to all my friends and everyone in Baltimore while we work through this cleanup process. If you have some good photos, feel free to email me and I will post them.
I played Waverly Woods Golf Course with my friend last week. It’s an open course with long rolling fairways that tend to slope in either direction. This provides an interesting challenge because a player wants to be technical with their shots, hitting to sections to provide the ride bounce and roll to carry long distances. This proved and interesting challenge to me because it tried my patience. Also note, we started on the back nine first, so we played holes ten through eighteen and then came back around for one to nine.
The day was a windy day, not that I think it hurt or helped my game in any way. Often times the wind was either at my back or in my face. The true issue of the day was that I was not confident in my routine that I was using. The first nine holes I stepped up to the tee box and I topped every single shot. It was extremely frustrating which drove me to continue being frustrated. Instead of stepping back and thinking about what was different here than the driving range, I continued to play the same style. My friend was kind enough to eventually point out the mistakes I was making when we hit the back 9. After he pointed out what he thought was what I normally don’t do, I was able to realize my mistakes, correct, and play a decent game.
The simple, yet crucial, mistakes I was making were that I was pulling back too fast and I was bending my left arm. Both were intertwined with each other. Because I was pulling back too fast, my body was not comfortable with the turn, and I was bending my left arm in my swing to correct my body’s position. This was causing me to come down on top of the the ball, sending it forward ten to twenty yards. The simple mistake of pulling my club back too fast caused such a simple mistake in my swing and ruined nine holes of golf. I shot a 56 on the first 9 holes. The quality of the drives caused me to attempt to make up for my short comings with longer shots. This did not work out in my favor because I was still making the same mistake in the back swing for my long fairway shots.
Two suggestions I can make for this is to try to get to the golf course with at least ten minutes to warm up. This is ten minutes on top of a small stretch. Between a small stretching and a decent warm up this should help work out any bad habits that might try to present themselves. The problems I was having are from bad habits. These habits will eventually fall away as my swing becomes more ingrained in my mind and my muscles. Until then, its necessary to do everything you can to get this routine down and keep it consistent.
I am so sick of the lack of decency, consideration, and common sense at the south bound 295 at 695 merge. People coming off of 695 on to 295 south do not yield for on coming traffic. This is not helped by the fact that people are pulling in to the shoulder to allow people to come off of 695. All of this is exacerbated by the fact that people wait until the last second to merge across 2 lanes of very busy traffic to cut in to people who have waited patiently in line. All this does is back the line up even further, perpetuating the time it takes for people to merge.
I will admit, it is difficult to keep the left arm straight in the back swing. About half way through the bucket I realized that I started bending my left arm. The bend was not as prominent as it was initially before I started keeping my left arm straight. I had to get used to shifting my weight too. My weight was shifting on my back foot more than it should have, causing me to almost lean back on my swing. If you feel yourself not stationary or not moving forward doing your swing then you might be putting too much weight on your back foot.
Initial post: http://golfwithgoogle.com/?p=53
A major component to beginners golf that I never realized is that you must keep your left arm straight. This was pointed out to me by my friend who was watching my back swing. Look at the pros, the left arm in the back swing is straight. If you take your left arm, point it straight away from your body, take your right arm and grab your left shoulder, pull left arm to the right. This motion is crucial to the golf swing because it helps build compression in the back swing and maintain a steady follow through.
This is not a tip I learned through Google, however hitting up youtube and following the instructions in these videos will emphasize my point.
Left arm straight at the start, through, and at the finish of the swing - http://youtu.be/Lo_HvZxTBSE
The below video is ideal for people who cannot obtain full rotation with a straight left arm. If you have a thicker upper body or a heavy middle section that makes it difficult to get a full rotation, which is bringing your left shoulder to the point where the ball is, then look at the below video.
Left arm straight at the point of impact - http://youtu.be/4Lw9eYpZyrs
I played at the Cacapon Golf Resort on Saturday with my father and to be honest, I played like shit. It didn’t help that the gnats were so thick that the second you stood still they would try to fly in your ears. Also the sun came out after a nice humid morning and created a very muggy atmosphere. I don’t want to try to make excuses for myself and my absolute breakdown on Saturday, however the conditions were difficult and the mental side of my game was not prepared for it. I did have some beautiful shots but those happened when I was comfortable and completed my full swing without thinking too hard or getting distracted. However, since I am very much a beginner along with the rest of you, I won’t beat myself up any further.
This week I will be going to the driving range to make up for my failures on the course. There is a large difference in quality of play on a course versus a driving range. The important part of the driving range is to reinforce muscle memory and to help build a comfortable swing. I used to go to the driving range and just swing my driver, thinking that was the most important part of my game. This is incorrect, as the driving range should be looked at as a place to test all possible shot combinations, including chipping, punching, driving, and other approaches you might take.
Paul Wilson’s driving range warmup is a very important video to watch. Stretching is important in a golf game. Fluid and fast motions are achieved by relaxed and flexible muscles. Stretching and warming up properly form good habits.
Next, be sure to make the most efficient use of your time at a driving range. Just hitting golf balls with your driver is not the most efficient use of your driving range time. Follow Paul Wilson’s video here to help understand proper time usage at a driving range.
There are three general styles that people hold a golf club. There is the Baseball Grip, Vardon Grip, and the Interlocking Grip. I seem many people default to the baseball grip. This grip can tend to lead to fat shots and poor form because one feels they should swing the club like a baseball bat. I personally default to the Interlocking grip because it seemed to be the most common at the time. Many people use the Vardon Grip as well. The important thing is to become comfortable with the grip and understand the best way to use it. Just holding a golf club with a grip does not mean you will successfully hit a shot. It does mean that you are one, of many, steps closer though.
The two main videos that I focused on for trying to find the best approach for my grip style are these two.
Paul Wilson – Stylistic of a soft, guided swing
Shawn Clement – Strong grip, no hold bird!
Without getting too much in to swing technique, I chose to go with the strong grip over the soft grip. Paul Wilson’s grip guide is nice but I didn’t seem to get as much power as I would have liked from my shots. Also if I happened to hit fat, duffing behind the ball, my shot was severely limited in distance. Shawn Clement’s strong grip was more effective in properly forming my swing and follow through to get more power from my shot. Shawn’s reasoning seemed more logical too. I don’t know too many tennis players or baseball players that hit for power with a soft grip.
Important Point To Take Away
Determine your golf style, avoiding baseball grip if possible. Practice the grip and feel comfortable with it. Comfort is an important factor with Golf. If you do not feel comfortable in a shot, you will most likely fail the shot.