Winter Practice to Perfect Your Golf Swing

Great golf swing improvement tips from Richard Myers

Here is one way to practice your iron shots indoors during the
winter. Correct practice will help anyone. You can learn how to
keep your left side and arm from collapsing at impact with this
method:

Exclusively from ThinkandReachPar.com

Richard’s Quick Tips:

Putting

One of the worst things a golfer can do is think too much about
putting. It’s better to take one quick look at the line from
behind the ball and another from beyond the hole and then hit the
putt based on your first conclusion.

Too many golfers examine putts from all directions, plumb-bob
with their putters-that’s the strange exercise that involves
dangling the club vertically in front of your face and closing
one eye-when they know neither what they’re doing it. Then they
stand over the putt, staring at the line until they start seeing
all manner of bumps and swales and breaks, and before they know
it they’re all but frozen stiff and incapable of putting a good
roll on the ball.

Trust your instincts, instead-and the first impression usually is
based on instinct. Addressing your ball and hitting it swiftly
won’t necessarily make you hole more putts, but you’ll eliminate
any opportunity for double to creep in and you’ll also get into a
good rhythm.

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Comments from subscribers:

Thank You,Rich., for sharing this with me. I too,am a veteran!
God Bless you & yours! I will pass this on to my friends & family.

Thanks for the email Mr Myers...as i am still on active duty it
is a special weekend for me as it was the day i joined the United
States Navy 21 years ago...and still going strong by the way..

Love the golf tips and articles by the way...keep them coming..

V/R
PNC(SW/AW) George

Richard,

I'm sure you'll be flooded with replies in regards to your golf &
women story, whilst I found it an enjoyable read I was astonished
at the ladies only day. I'm emailing you from Australia and I am
a full paying member of my golf club (the club decided to cut out
associate memberships) yet cannot get a tee time on Saturdays.
This is mens day, and we are still living in the archaic times
when only men worked and women stayed home with their kids and
played golf through the week. As most women either work full or
part-time these days you are left with Sunday as your only choice
for a game, and if you have family things on you get no game at
all. Whilst you stated that you had taken the afternoon off (I'm
presuming it was a week day) do women get equal Saturday tee
times at your course?

Lisa Neal
Sydney

R.M. Nice to hear from you Lisa. To answer your question,
nearly all courses in the US, women can get a tee time anytime
they want it. Of course Augusta National is an exception, but
then again, it is Augusta National. Most courses now have no
specific men or ladies day. Pretty much equal. Thanks for the
email.

You know I don't usually read the newsletters because I hate to
read, but you better bet your ass I'm gonna read this one.
The Subject line just sucked me in. Can't wait to hear this one.
LOL

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Quote of the Week:

"Conditions are never just right. People who delay action until
all
factors are favorable do nothing."

William Feather
1888-1981, Author

===============================================
Golf quote of the week:

In primitive society, when native tribes beat the ground with
clubs and yelled, it was called witchcraft; today, in civilized
society, it is called golf.
-- Anonymous
=================================================

Questions and Answers by Teaching Pro Mr Joe DeLorenzo THANK YOU
for taking your time to answer these Joe.
Joe is also available for private lessons. "For private or group
lessons in
Chicago's northwest suburbs, contact Joe at golfwithjoey@yahoo.com

Hi,
I am still considered a novice golfer as I took the sport up 4
years ago. I try and get out as much as I can and truly love the sport and
wish I had taken it up at an earlier age. I'm 44. I can hit my irons pretty
well but have limited success off the tee. I find that most of the drivers
available today have graphite shafts and that is where I have the most
trouble. I've been told that you need to alter your swing to allow for the
"flex" in the shaft. How is one supposed to do this without totally screwing up
our normal method of swinging a club? Should I instead try and find a driver
that has a stiff shaft so I can swing the same as with my irons?
Thank you,
Jeff J. Najduk

Hello Jeff,
I like your thought process, you should not have to change your
swing for a driver or any other club, especially if you are hitting your
irons pretty well. You should definitely find a different driver. Too much
flex results in wildness. Too little flex results in loss of distance, but
usually better accuracy. Many people are having success with graphite shafts
that have "low torque", which means it has flex without twisting. It is the
twisting that causes wild shots. Also, most drivers do not have enough loft for
the average player, so you lose distance when your ball has less hang
time. That is why many golfers do better with a 3-wood. Try to attend demo
days where you can try different drivers with different specs and see which
ones work best for you. Some driving ranges also will let you try some of
their demo clubs. Phone ahead and find out which ones will do that. Good
luck, and let us know how it turns out.
Joe

Joe, my local courses are either too crowded, or too expensive.
The only courses that are affordable and uncrowded are the shorter par 3
courses, but I like to hit my woods someplace else besides a driving range,
and I don't like traveling long distances to get to other courses. Any ideas?
Abe

Hello Abe,
Years ago, Jack Nicklaus was looking into the future and he saw
this happening. His idea was to make a new ball called "half-golf"
which would allow the construction of more short courses for people to play
without consuming so much real estate. Jack's idea did not catch on, but
another company has come up with a similar idea. In my opinion, this is
an idea whose time has come. I recently visited a website
'almostgolfball.com' where they have designed a new ball that travels about
one-third as far as a real ball, but it is dense enough to allow chipping and
putting,
unlike most practice balls. It also hooks and slices just like a real ball.
If you try these on a short par 3 course, it suddenly plays like a full
sized course. At first it might seem like it will mess up your distance
judgment, but just change the 'yardage' to 'footage'. Since the ball travels only
one-third the distance, and a 100 yard hole is 300 feet, the hole will play
like 300 yards if you use the "A-Ball". You already know what club to use
for yardage with a real ball, so that translates into FEET for that
same club with the A-ball. That same website also has a lot of other
interesting information, check it out. For example, they have tournaments
and Happy Gilmour style driving contests in any open field. The A-Ball is
safer also, you are not likely to be hurt if you are accidentally hit by one.
These balls are available on line, and also at some of the larger golf stores like
Golf Galaxy.
Joe

Joe,
My friends and I have noticed the same thing with matched sets
of clubs. If the set is supposed to be matched, why is it that some of the
clubs tend to hit the ball consistently more to the right, while other clubs
tend to hit consistently more to the left, even when we think we are swinging OK?
Matt

Hi Matt,
In the October 2001 edition of Golf Magazine (page 82), a
detailed explanation is given. Many libraries carry back issues of
magazines. You may be able to check this out at your local library.
To summarize, every club has different dynamics, center of
gravity, variations in lie angles, swingweight, shaft length and flex,
etc., so the tolerance buildup of all these variances may cause each club to
behave differently. However, this can be somewhat corrected by applying
lead tape to certain locations on back side of the clubhead. Pros have
already been doing this for some time, and you can too for a few bucks. You
can phone your local golf store to see if they carry this lead tape.
Here's how it works:

If you want to reduce a slice, put the lead tape towards the heel of the
clubhead. If you want to reduce a hook, put the lead tape towards the toe
of the clubhead.
If you want to hit higher shots, put the lead tape towards the
lower side of the clubhead, but not on the bottom, where it might get scraped
off, unless there is a recessed area.
As you use more and more tape, you may notice the club getting
heavier, but that is OK as long as your results are good.
Joe

Question for the Evil Twin:
Jody, how can I get more distance on my drives?
Answer: Purchase a more fuel-efficient automobile!

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Golf Potpourri
by
Mac Stevenson
Examine Your Lies Closely

by

Mac Stevenson

In many respects, golf is like poker--you have to play the
percentages on every shot. Don’t try and take more than the golf
gods are willing to give you. Examine your lies ever so
closely--even in the fairway--before you decide on the shot you
want to play.

When you hit your drive in the fairway on a long par four or a
par five, don’t automatically pull your 3-wood out of your bag
for the second shot. Check your lie. If it’s a good one, go ahead
and hit whatever club you want. But if it’s a tight lie and you
think you might have trouble making good contact with a 3-wood,
go to a more-lofted club like a 5-wood. The distance you lose
won’t be that important and a missed shot with a 3-wood could
prove costly.

During PGA tournaments on TV, many golfers watch the pros hit
their drivers off the fairway and they can’t wait to get to their
course and try the same shot. Don’t do it. Unless you have a very
good lie, it’s most

difficult to hit a driver off the fairway. Under normal
circumstances, the risk far exceeds the reward on this shot. It
takes a highly skilled player to use a driver from the fairway.

Trying to hit a high pitch shot from a tight lie on the fairway
is asking for trouble. The tighter the lie, the tougher the shot.
Most sand wedges have a wide flange on the bottom and it’s next
to impossible to get the club under the ball from a tight lie.
When feasible, you’ll be better off playing a pitch and run shot.
The pitch isn’t a hard shot from a good lie, but it’s a demon
when the ball is sitting down.

Lies in heavy rough are harder to judge and it’s best to err on
the side of caution. As a general rule, don’t hit a wood any
lower than a 5-wood unless you have an unusually good lie. And
quite often you’ll be better off hitting a lofted iron just to
get back to the fairway.

Never try and hit a big fade or hook from the rough; the grass
gets between the clubface and the ball and it’s impossible to put
much spin on the ball.

Another tough shot is when your ball comes to rest against the
first cut of rough adjacent to the putting surface. Quite often
the best shot you can play is with a putter, making sure you hit
down with a chop-type stroke on the putt. This shot takes
practice.

When you find yourself in a fairway bunker, the most sensible
shot in most cases is with an iron. If it’s a long way to the
green and your ball is sitting up in the trap and you don’t have
a steep lip to go over, sometimes you can hit a lofted wood from
fairway traps. But usually it’s best to play the percentages and
hit an iron back to the fairway.

Back in the fairway, you can get unlucky and find your ball in a
deep divot. In my opinion you should get a free drop, but that’s
not what the rules say. Who said life is fair? Your best shot is
to use an iron and hit down and through the shot. You have to hit
it like a punch shot. Don’t try and hit a wood or you’ll really
mess up the hole.

There’s one place where you determine what kind of a lie you
have, and that’s on the tee on par 3s. A lot of players toss
their ball on the ground and hit it. That’s poor thinking. Put
the ball on a tee and you’ll improve you chances of hitting a
good shot. You can set it very low if you like, but the tee shot
on par 3s is much easier to hit from a tee than off the ground.

Keep your poise and use common sense when deciding what to do
with a bad lie, whether it’s in the fairway or rough. Don’t try
shots that are next to impossible because of an unlucky lie. The
breaks will even out over the long haul.

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=======================================================

Richard’s Thoughts

How To Handle Anger

What about temper?

First of all, those who wish to control anger must give up the
feeling that they are entitled to become upset. Once a person
feels that he is entitled to gripe at bad luck, the elements, a
baying dog in the distance, or even his own incompetence, the
battle is nine-tenths lost and the golfer must forever fight
being a golfing emotional cripple. Griping is first justifiable
for major items, then justifiable for lesser disturbances, and
finally it becomes a senseless self-destructive habit. To avoid
such a disintegration of the golfing personality, it is best to
give up the idea that you are justified in any anger.

Second, if you make this decision, you must practice continuous
self-control. Since the time of the great Sigmund Freud, it has
become the almost universal belied that if we repress of suppress
anything it is automatically bad. I believe this is not true.
In the ordinary pursuit of our daily affairs, we exercise
considerable repression. We do not spontaneously embrace strange
people in public places merely because we like their looks. We
do not steal in a department store merely because we don’t have
enough money. We go to great lengths to train children not to
wet the bed or to move their bowels in public. In fact, the
whole process of making the transition from child of making the
transition from child to mature adult involves continuous
repression. No double the suppression of legitimate and
realistic impulses can lead to trouble, but we must believe that
as a fundamental principle, suppression is neither good nor evil,
but depends on the particular circumstances.

Third, for those who are not able to train their intelligence to
govern their emotions, there is a way of channeling anger.

Direct the feeling into a resolution for practice. Punish
yourself with remedial practice. The more times you become
angry, then, the better your game will get. Every missed shot
thus produces its own correction.

Anger that is misdirected can cause trouble, but anger in itself
is not bad. The stimulus toward improvement would very well
disappear if it were possible for a person to train himself not
to react alt all. As a manner of fact, there is some question as
to whether a person could learn to play golf unless a bad shot
was a source of discomfort. In studies of the learning process,
it has been found that a response that is followed by
unpleasantness will get weaker. If it were possible for us to
train ourselves to become completely undisturbed by a bad shot,
learning would not occur.

The best attitude to have toward the game, then, is to practice
self-control so that useless anger is not permitted to develop,
and useful anger is directed into a quiet but completely
determined resolve to remove golfing flaws through remedial
practice. People who play golf on a narrow course hit straighter
shots than those on a wide open one. Shots which arouse no
unpleasant feeling on a wide course are quite distasteful on a
narrow one. The “noxious stimulant” acts like an electronic
device to stimulate constant correction. On an open course, this
would be lacking.

The above implies that for the very good golfer to become better
he must set up his own higher standard, and set them so high that
there will be unpleasantness attached to the shots that even good
golfers would consider good enough.

Until next week…good golfing!

Dr Richard Myers
www.thinkandreachpar.com
www.superbabysitting.com

864.675.0038

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Winter Practice to Perfect Your Golf Swing

Great golf swing improvement tips from Richard Myers

Lower Your Golf Score
With Our Simple Golf Instruction

Top Products!

New Products

Body Golf Complete Video Series

Some other great golf training videos & DVDs

Exercise

10 Reasons Why Most Golfers Never Break 90

Earn Money With Our Affiliate Program

Welcome to The No B.S. Golf Newsletter

Exclusively from ThinkandReachPar.com

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Winter Practice to Perfect Your Golf Swing

Great golf swing improvement tips from Richard Myers

Lower Your Golf Score With Our Simple Golf Instruction

Top Products!

New Products

Body Golf Complete Video Series

Some other great golf training videos & DVDs

Exercise

10 Reasons Why Most Golfers Never Break 90

Earn Money With Our Affiliate Program

Welcome to The No B.S. Golf Newsletter

Exclusively from ThinkandReachPar.com

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Lower Your Golf Score
With Our Simple Golf Instruction