January 15, 2003

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Special Notice

We have put up The History of Golf as a free e-book on the thinkandreachpar.com website. It covers from the beginning of golf in about 1413 thru 1963. Has some very interesting information in it. The link is on the left side of the front page. Check it out and I hope you enjoy it.

Special Notice


For Women Only: Have a new e-book on the website Golf For Women that can be downloaded free of charge. GOLF FOR WOMEN is a complete instruction guide for women golfers. Here is a must read book for every woman who has been, is, or wants to be, on the course. Hope you enjoy it and let me know how you like it. Go to www.thinkandreachpar.com and you will see the icon to click on to download.


How A Bona-Fide \"Hacker\" Turned A 40 Handicap into an 8 in
one season with two simple swing drills and can show you
his secret in minutes. \"It\'s so simple, it\'s embarrassing,\" he says \"and he INSISTS he can quickly teach his simple secret to you\" and show you how easy it is to swing a golf club, and add up to 70 accurate yards to every tee shot you hit for the rest of your life.
www.thinkandreachpar.com/tarp/bodygolf.htm



Special Notice

Don\'t forget that we put up a new golf tip on the website each week. Also the newsletters thru October have been listed on the website.

All of the Body Golf videos are now available in PAL for all of our friends in Europe.

If you like this newsletter, I would appreciate it if you would forward a copy to your friends and ask them to subscribe…it’s a free gift!!

Quote of the week:

\"Goals give you more than a reason to get up in the morning; they are
an incentive to keep you going all day. Goals tend to tap the deeper
resources and draw the best out of life.\"

Harvey Mackay
Author and Speaker





Golf Quote of the week:

”If you are going to throw a club, it is important to throw it ahead of you, down the fairway, so you don’t waste energy going back to pick it up”
Tommy Bolt


Comment from subscriber:

Thanks for the best golf instruction I have ever witnessed in over 20 years
of golfing. My problem is not spraying the ball allover the course, but is
one of distance. I once hit a drive about 295 yards, and I remember what I
did in the setup. I widened my stance and did not even care if I hit the
ball or not. I just swung the club. But believing that this setup made that
happen is very hard to do. Am I wrong in assuming that setup is a prelude to
disaster? Your video makes it look so easy, and I know it is
not!
Edward C Wells

Here Sensei Mark Anthony answers Edwards question:

Edward.
The set up is everything!
You can make the ball do whatever you want with the right set up.
If your stance is too wide though, you\'ll tend to hit the ball to the right if you\'re not as flexible as a skinny 18-year-old. (But that\'s an issue that you can resolve with our fitness videos. Read up on them on the site.)

You should start with a set up of roughly shoulder-width. MAKE SURE that you swing with a toe drag too! If you don\'t, you\'ll hack it to the right regardless.

Like I said, start with a shoulder-width set up and see what happens. If you\'re hitting it left, widen slightly. If you hit it right, narrow it slightly.

You were very right to think that the set up (could be) a prelude to disaster. OR NOT.
do this stuff at the practice range of course and get back to me.
I know what I said will help you.

Thanks
Sensei Mark
Get your copy of the Body Golf Full Swing video now from www.thinkandreachpar.com


If anyone has a question for Sensei Mark, please send them to Richard@thinkandreachpar.com




This weeks article.

Beat the Winter Blahs
by
Mac Stevenson
Sometimes during the short, cold days and long, frigid nights, it’s hard to keep a positive attitude where our golf games and other endeavors are concerned.
Enthusiasm is all important in golf. When your mood is really good, you generally play well and vice versa. Believe it or not, a six- to eight-week layoff is good for your golf just because of the mental factors. This time off gives you a chance to rekindle your enthusiasm for the game, and that’s true for golfers of all ages.
If you live in a climate where you play almost every day during the year, it can become boring. A break in the routine is good for almost everyone.
For one thing, time off from golf gives you some time for reflection on your most serious weaknesses and potential equipment and swing changes that could remedy the problems.
Winter is a great time for indoor practice on your short game. All you need is some plastic balls, a small net mounted on a stand, and a chipping mat that has an astro-type surface. None of these items are expensive and you can practice chipping into your net with a nine-iron or pitching wedge. And for putting, all you need is your putter, a few balls, and something to cushion your putts like a pillow against the wall.
Another good practice tool is a short, weighted practice club that you can swing indoors. This will help keep the muscles you use to swing a golf club toned during the winter, and you can work on swing basics. Swinging this weighted practice club is also an excellent way to stretch and warm up at home before you leave for the golf course, even during the summer.
When and if you do get a break in the weather and have a chance to play some in the winter, be sure and select your clothing carefully. Remember, you can take something off on the course, but you can’t put something on that you don’t have.
On the Central Plains where the north winds can blow unabated, several items are a must: (1) long john bottoms, (2) long-sleeved thermal top, (3) three layers above belt, the last being a nylon-type windbreaker, (4) ear and mouth ski band, (4) stocking cap, (5) and easy-on, easy-off gloves.
Here’s an excellent tip in conjunction with the stocking cap: The sun can be blinding during the winter months and an adjustable golf visor worn under your stocking cap and over the ski band is a wonderful accessory.
Golf on TV--shown in a place like Hawaii--while the north wind is howling by your window is soothing for the psyche, knowing that kind of weather is coming for you. Just watching makes you want to go out and play. And it’s a great time to get up and do some indoor practicing during commercial breaks.
After a dark, cold winter, warm spring days on the golf course are truly uplifting for the human spirit. And there’s always the hope that your game will be better than it was last year.

Golf Tips from Joe DeLorenzo

Did you know that there are 4 swing aids you can buy
really cheap at your local hardware store?

1. Get a good sized hammer with a grip about the same
size as your club grips. With this you can work on
your swing indoors without hitting the ceiling. The
weight of the hammer head will simulate the weight of
a clubhead.

2. Get an ordinary yardstick to use as a putting aid.
There are a number of things you can do with this.
First, pick a target and get into your normal putting
setup and have someone else place the yardstick flat
on the ground flush against the face of your putter,
then stand back and see if the yardstick is properly
aimed at your target. Most people are consistently
off to one side. Then step back and aim the yardstick
at the target and line up your putter face flush
against the edge of the yardstick, and you will be
aiming properly (does it look right or wrong when you
stand over the ball?). Then replace the yardstick
with a ball and putt the ball at the target. Most
people again are off consistently to one side, but it
helps to understand your tendencies. Another thing
you can do with the yardstick is to view your stroke
directly over the yardstick to see how steady your
stroke is compared to the target line.

3. Get piece of PVC pipe, diameter 3 / 4 inch, 18
inches long. On any smooth rug (or actual putting
green), try to putt the pipe in a straight line. If
your putting stroke is faulty, the pipe will spin.
The direction of the spin tells you if your stroke
tends to push or pull the putt.

4. Get a foot-long piece of soft pipe insulation
tubing that has a slit on the side. Wrap this around
your putter grip and have a contest to see if you putt
better with a thicker grip. The theory is that any
unwanted hand rotation during the stroke will
translate into the face of the putter moving off
square. The amount of this movement off square is
reduced with a fatter grip due to the ratio of hand
movement to the circumference of the grip. This may
also improve your chipping as well because it reduces
unwanted wrist action on the down stroke.



\"I purchased the \"Body Golf\" video and implemented Mark\'s techniques. The part about the double-club pendulum swing really helped in my timing that otherwise was erratic, at best. From the practice tees to the course was the real test. Without getting too long-winded about my new playing style, the lower score at the end of the game set the tone for the rest of the day.
Thanks Mark, I enjoy walking away from the 18th with a smile on my face. The neat thing? I now have the tools for more improvement.\"
Sincerely,
- T. McCarl, Huntington Beach, CA

Richard’s Thoughts

Bruce Walker, an average golfer, reduced his handicap from a 26 to 16 in two months. I asked Bruce which of the Body Golf Series of videos has helped him the most thus far. He said “ The Full Swing and the Slice Buster videos”. Bruce went on to say,”You often hear that the golf swing should be one fluid motion. Fortunately, I have learned from the Full Swing video that you practice little pieces of the swing one at a time using the drills that Sensei Mark Anthony has put together to make one correct motion. It has taught me that practice doesn’t make perfect, however perfect practice can and will make perfect! Practice all day if you like, but if you aren’t practicing perfectly you will not achieve the desired results. In fact, it deteriorates your golf swing and ingrains bad habits that are very hard to break. The time I spend on the range now rewards me with solid ball striking and consistently lower scoring. I enjoy my time practicing now more than I ever did before and the results are tangible.

Thanks to Sensei Mark, I have come to realize that it helps tremendously to have a teacher who is able to coach in a way that produces results. I hope to continue to refine my practice routine and ultimately my level of play so that I can successfully compete at the next level.” Bruce also make a statement that I found amusing…”I have paid our golf pro, Tim, a couple thousand dollars for lessons over the past year and one half, and the Body Golf Full Swing has lowered my score more in two months than all of those lessons! I think I have his attention now”.

Thanks Bruce, I appreciate your candid and honest opinion. Please keep us updated.

Until next week…good golfing!
Dr. Richard Myers
www.thinkandreachpar.com
www.bodygolf.com

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