January 29, 2003

Welcome to The No B.S. Golf Newsletter

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Special Notice

We have put up another free golf training book on the website for your use and enjoyment. The name of it is Golf Simplified and it has many good tips and a lot of good information in it. You will have to use acrobat to open it and the print is real small, but you can print it out and read it without any problem. Hope you enjoy it. Just go to the website and click the link “Golf Simplified” that is on the left side of the page.


Richard ==Can\'t say enough about how all 3 of your programs have helped
my game= this ole 70 year old is having the time of my life==\"
Thanks again
- E. Williams, N Little Rock, Ark.



Special Notice


For Women Only: Have a new e-book on the website Golf For Women that can be down loaded 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 for 2002 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:

Being defeated is often only a temporary condition. Giving up is what
makes it permanent.

-- Marilyn vos Savant 1946-NA




Golf Quote of the week:

I found out that all the important lessons of life are contained in the three rules for achieving a perfect golf swing.
1. Keep your head down
2. Follow through
3. Be born with money
4.
By: P.J. R’ourke


Question for Sensei Mark Anthony:

A friend of mine was looking at your website, and found something
about your \"New Body Golf System\". The reason he pointed it out to me was
that the person it taught himself how to swing the other way (lefty instead
of righty).

Why is that intriguing to me? Well, about 3 and a half years ago, I
was in a car accident. I shattered my hip and femur, and made a mess of my
left knee. About a year and a half after the accident, I swang a golf club
again. I then had problems walking for a month. About a year later, I
tried to pick up golf lefty. It was a mess. It wasn\'t pain that stopped
me, but I was completely uncoordinated, and couldn\'t hit it 30 feet. I go
frustrated, grabbed a righty club, and spent another month paying for it. I
now accept the fact that I could only golf lefty. So my question comes down
to, would this actually help me to swing backwards (lefty)? I\'d take a
crack at it again, but didn\'t want to toss money down the drain if it
couldn\'t be used for that purpose. I just miss golf.

Dave

Mark’s Reply:


Dave...
God Bless you!
You have a great attitude. Everybody should think as you when it comes to golf (just have a good time and leave the stress to the tour guys)
Anyway, as far as taking up golf from \"the wrong side of the ball,\" you CAN do it if you commit lots of time at the range.

What to do is get the Body Golf Perfect Practice Video. It will show you how and what to practice for one. And, it will help you develop a system and method of practice so you don\'t develop any bad habits.

In the meantime, get a couple of irons and do hundreds of \"double-clubbers\" left handed. In addition, begin with \"half swing contact drills\" to develop your hand-eye coordination from this side of the ball.

Hopefully, this will give you a start.

Good luck and stay in touch.
Sensei Mark

The Body Golf Full Swing video can be purchased from our website www.thinkandreachpar.com






Article of the Week:

Press Bets--Watch Your Rear
by
Mac Stevenson
Subtleties and strategies are involved in the wise use of the press bet. Some golfers don’t even fully understand what a press bet is.
A press bet is a brand-new wager starting on the tee where it is announced. As an example, if a player is three down coming off number seven green on the front nine, he’s out on the original bet. On the eighth tee, if the players who is out says, “I’ll give you a press here,” you’re starting a new bet. It’s for the same amount as the original bet and is played on holes eight and nine on the front nine. Press bets are used in match play only.
The rules for press bets can become confusing. On the first tee, you need to decide when presses will be allowed or you might have so many bets going you won’t be able to keep track of them. One of the most common golf wagers is a dollar Nassau over 18 holes; that’s one dollar on the front nine, one dollar on the second nine, and one dollar for the 18 holes. It’s three separate matches.
Most presses are limited to situations where the individual player or team is dormie or out on the original bet. Dormie means you’re down by the same number of holes that remain to be played in an individual match. An example: two down with two to play. You’re “out” when you’re down by more holes than there are left to play.
Some guys who like to gamble will press every chance they get. If there are no restrictions, you can have as many as six or seven bets riding on the last hole. That’s pressure. And it can be exciting and fun so long as you know what you’re getting into on the first tee.
Make it very clear on the first tee that you will not accept any presses on holes where your opponent has a stroke because of handicap betting. Strokes are given to even out a match over 18 holes, and it is grossly unfair for a player to get a stroke over one or two holes on a press bet. The best way to handle this is to let it be known on the number-one tee that strokes won’t be allowed on any press bets. Period.
Strategy comes into play on when and where to give your opponent or opponents--in team play--a press. If you’re playing against a long hitter and number 17 is a par five that he can easily reach in two and you can’t, then wait until 18 to press.
If you’re in a friendly and familiar group, you might want to wait until your opponent is about to start his backswing before you announce the new bet. A little extra tension might be beneficial to your cause.
Don’t think it’s a negative reflection on your manhood if you decide not to press. If you’re having a bad round and think you’ll lose, swallow your pride and wait for a better day.
Used properly, press bets add excitement and fun to your golf games. Whether it’s for a half dollar or $100, press bets pack on the pressure. It’s best to play for something you can well afford in case you lose--you’ll play just as hard for half a buck as you will for the $100. And it won’t hurt nearly as much if you lose, which all of us do from time to time.


As a golf instructor, I always understood the importance of mental attitude. But I never worked with it appropriately until I applied the techniques that Jennifer taught me. Now I understand that I haven\'t been in control of my thoughts. I\'m learning how to do that. I recently played in a skins game with some friends and performed above my expectations. I was amazed.\"
Tom Hardesty, Teaching Professional,
Cypress G.C., Scottsdale, Az
You can purchase Own The Zone from www.thinkandreachpar.com/tarp/jennifer.htm

This week’s article by Joe DeLorenzo:


Does video golf instruction always work? It seems
like it should, right? Compare your swing side by
side with a pro who has a similar build as yours. On
the surface, that seems to make sense, and it has
helped many people improve to a certain level.
Others, however, have not been able to benefit as much
from this, and here’s why. Consider the following
factors. Human beings have inner workings that are as
different as fingerprints, even for people that have
similar builds. Their hinges all behave differently,
hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees, ankles,
etc. It may be asking too much to assume you someday
will make your swing a carbon copy of a pro’s swing.
The pro swings every day, and probably hits more balls
daily than you ever will in a week. The pro is
probably blessed with better than average athleticism,
eyesight (depth perception), and hand-eye
coordination. Some instruction seems to take this for
granted. Even if you are a pretty good athlete and
you have good eyesight, you still can’t assume that
your depth perception and hand-eye coordination are
the same as anyone else’s. Just as good eyesight is a
gift, hand-eye coordination is also a gift. The two
gifts are related, but are not exactly the same. A
person can have good eyesight, but poor hand-eye
coordination. The only way to improve hand-eye
coordination is to practice, practice, practice.
However, golf is an expensive game, so unless you make
a lot of money, your opportunities to play or practice
may be a lot more limited for you as opposed to others
who can afford to play or practice every day. As a
result, your ball striking pattern on your clubs is
going to be a lot more random than the pros, who can
hit the sweet spot on the clubface almost every time.
Meanwhile the rest of us, even when we think we are
swinging well, are still occasionally hitting it fat,
thin, off the toe or heel, etc. So are we all doomed
to mediocrity? No, just try to understand that ball
striking is more important than making your swing look
pretty. You may not want to take the same full
backswing as your body-type pro. The further back you
go, the more trouble your hinges can get you into.
Look at the way Dana Quigley, Allen Doyle, and Moe
Norman have become successful with much less than a
full swing, almost a half swing. Even Tiger has his
“stinger” swing. When all else fails, this is the way
to begin improvement. But this only addresses the
full swing. What about the hand-eye coordination
necessary for finesse shots? How many times have we
tried a delicate flop shot only to either chunk it or
catch it a bit thin and send it over the green? We
even do that sometimes with simple chip shots. Is
there any way to improve contact on pitches and chips?
Yes, but you may have to dare to be different. More
on this later.

Joe DeLorenzo

Thank you for the article Joe.


Richard’s Quick Tips:

From the book “Body Golf” and “The Body Golf Full Swing Video”

Putting Head-on-the-Wall
Here’s a simple drill for you to get the proper feeling of not moving your head when you putt. Set up and practice putting while leaning your head against a wall. Use a pillow if you need to. With this setup, you’ll get immediate feedback by feeling whenever your head moves while you stroke the putter and be able to quickly adjust the error. Watch any tour pro. You’ll see that during the stroke, the head will remain completely still and the visual focus will remain on the point-of-impact throughout the stroke.


Richard’s thoughts:

Well we made it back from the PGA Merchandise Show. Was a good show, learned a lot and met a lot of new friends.

In the coming weeks I will share with you some of the info that I learned. One of the most interesting persons that I met was Carl Wolter. Carl is World Long Drive Champion for this year. If I remember correctly he hit the ball 395 yards in competition. One quite unique trait that caught my attention by Carl, is that his swing is very much like Sensei Mark’s swing and the Body Golf Full Swing. Has quite and interesting story and I will relate it to you here in the next week or so.

All of the major and some of the not so major companies had new products to introduce. I could go on and on, but Dunlop has a new ball, Callaway has many new products including a new driver, wood, putter, and irons. Everything from shoes to bags to new carts to health. I even struck a deal for a few new products for the thinkandreachpar.com website. We will have to test them before they will be available on the website.


Received many positive remarks about the Full Swing video, and also picked up a couple companies that want to market them in their chain of Pro Shops.

Let me get caught up on my work and will get back with you next week.

Until then, good golfing.

Dr. Richard Myers

www.thinkandreachpar.com
www.bodygolf.com



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