April 09, 2003

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Amazing New 3-Video, Golf School-in-a-Box INSTANTLY Gives You Pro-Level Power & Accuracy...WITHOUT Years of Practice
Finally - Learn What The Big-Bux Equipment Companies Don\'t Want You To Know About Power, Distance, Accuracy AND…Instantly Vaporizing A Chronic Slice With Two, SIMPLE \"No-Brainier\" Exercises That Will Destroy Your Slice Forever - No Matter What Brand Clubs You Play
www.thinkandreachpar.com


Special Notice


Are there any topics you would like discussed or anything you would like information on in this newsletter? If so, just let me know and we will see what one of us can come up with.

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!! They will also receive the free book, “8 Steps to Golf.”

Quote of the week:

The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his
influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful
jewels of wisdom.\"

James Allen
1864-1912, Author of \"As A Man Thinketh\"

Golf Quote of the week:

I don’t think I’ll live long enough to shoot my age. I’m lucky to shoot my weight.
Bruce Lansky

Special offer:

If anyone is interested in a Golf Car Cooler, I have some on sale. I am discontinuing them and will let the ones I have left in inventory go for half price. That is below wholesale. If you are planning on buying one, I promise you they will not be cheaper anywhere else. They also make great gifts. You can see the special offer at www.thinkandreachpar.com/tarp/cooler.htm

Question for Mark Anthony

I swear by Body Golf. I also have the Shot Savers and the Short Game.

Mark\'s tapes are confirmation of nearly everything I do with Joe. As a former baseball player and coach, I tend to get a little quick with the right hand and there are days I\'d like to be an amputee. I have some drills I have been doing and things are going better. Maybe Mark could address that terrible move that adds loft to the club and numbers to the score.


Jerry,
Here\'s the deal with the right hand...
You want it to be as inactive as possible during the swing.
The only thing that you should be thinking about is how you set it on the grip.
As described in the video, you should make sure that the line where the thumb meets the base of the fingers is pointing at your right shoulder. (neutral grip)

As far as adding loft to the club, you want to do this. (also in the video).
Make sure that your hands are OVER THE BALL at setup. Not behind it. This will look like you have a diagonal line from your hands to the ball. That is what you want. It\'s as if the club\'s grip is leaning toward the target.

Hope this helps!
Stay in touch.
Mark



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teach you the pro\'s secrets. Eliminate your swing flaws, learn the secret
to accuracy and ball control. Increase flexibility, strength, health, and
perfect your swing...all in one video!!! Eliminate your slice for good.
Just 3 minutes per day. Go to www.thinkandreachpar.com


Comments from subscribers:

Jerry Greupner is a high school golf coach and he commented on a couple of questions from last week.
I have been playing for about 12 years ( I play in the low 70s when I play
often or low 80\'s when I do not), and I am still working (with my golf
teacher)on finding the right swing for me.
Since I will be starting from the bottom, I need a good overall starting
with good foundations

Jerry’s reply:
To the poor guy who\'s teacher is helping him find a swing: If that is
indeed the case, he is possibly receiving his pay under false pretenses.
Buy the tapes and sell the teacher a set. He probably needs them worse
than you.

I go to the range and see teachers who just fleece people.
A few years ago I was on the range and a woman was taking her first lesson from this big name teacher who was often interviewed on local tv spots. He had a table and two chairs at the practice tee. During her 30 minute lesson, he interviewed her at the chair, had her hit three balls, talked to her at the table again, and gave her no drills or anything, just to come back in a week. I caught her in the parking lot and asked her how her lesson went. She was very excited and positive. I asked her how much her half hour cost her. $50 and that was nearly 10 years ago.
I could go on for hours about several I have seen who are absolute frauds. They can play, but they can\'t teach. I believe their expertise is in cashing checks.
On the other hand, there are some wonderful teachers around here who are very sound. I have taken lessons from both ends of the spectrum. I refer many to them.
I also have two of my young students going to Arkansas a few times a year for Gravity Golf with David Lee and his cohorts.
Mark Anthony\'s tapes are excellent supporting materials for anyone taking lessons from a teacher who understands and teaches the necessity of footwork and body movement.



On Augusta National Jerry reply’s

As for Augusta National: I am as nostalgic as anyone. But women are
becoming captains of industry and politics, put in harms way in the
military, and many play golf better than many men. I believe if they
can afford to pay the freight and would want to belong to a club such as
Augusta, they should have the opportunity. Society is changing and I
believe it is for the better.
I just wish there was some way the rest of us every day Joes could
afford such a prize.
Jerry


Richard,
I agree with you about women at Augusta National. It seems only fair to me that there should still be some places women are not allowed.
I don\'t mean this in a mean way, either. They have full access to men\'s locker rooms to do interviews and the like; I just wished we still had a few places to go to be by ourselves, just us guys!
Thanks for the newsletter, I really enjoy it and the articles.
Sincerley,
Bill
I don\'t think the question should be \"should Augusta National allow women members?\". The Supreme Court says they have the right to have any type of club they want.
The question should be should the PGA hold a Major Golf Tournament, or any golf tournament, at a golf course that clearly is discriminatory in their membership? The answer of course is NO.
The PGA is suppose to have a rule against the holding PGA sanctioned events at Golf courses that are discriminatory in their membership, that is why Cypress Point is no longer used as a venue at the Pebble Beach Tournament. Of course the PGA says the Masters is not a PGA sanctioned event., yea right.
The problem is that the PGA is just to afraid of Hootie Johnson to tell him to either open up their membership or the PGA will ban ALL PGA pros from playing in the tournament. That is the choice they gave Cypress Point and I think that is the choice they should give Augusta National. That\'s just my opinion.
Bruce

On another subject:
As we know, the power to hit long drives, comes from a late release of the wrist. I have never seen a practice method to accomplish this. It is as if the golf instructors don\'t want us to know, or they don\'t know how to teach it. Thanks John


Thanks for your comments and input.


Keep Your Expectations Realistic
by
Mac Stevenson

Your golf game will be improved immeasurably if you occasionally take a day off from your regular 18 holes of golf and partake in a serious and extended practice session. This isn’t something you need to become obsessive about, and how often you do it should depend to some extent on how much you enjoy practicing.

During the first 18 holes after one of these intensive practice sessions--when you start hitting a lot of shots the way you want to--you’ll probably flub your first attempt at a shot that you hit perfectly while practicing . Don’t slam your club down and say, “That practice hasn’t helped me at all . . . it’s a waste of time.” It will help over the long haul.

During the first round on the course following a long practice session, it’s human nature for us to expect immediate improvement; it doesn’t always work that way. You may even play worse. This is particularly true if you hit so many good shots during your workout that you expect to walk up to the first tee and start hitting the ball the same way you did on the driving range. You’ve created unrealistic expectations in your mind.
It’s all right to be disappointed when you hit a pitch shot fat that you’ve been stroking perfectly during your practice sessions. Don’t give up. Remember, a shot during a competitive round of golf is much different from the same shot in a relaxed atmosphere while you’re practicing.

Where practice will really help is that your confidence will rise when you hit a lot of really good, solid shots on the driving range. You know you’re physically capable of doing it. However, this shot-making ability won’t always transfer to the golf course during a competitive round.

Improvement in golf is a gradual process. As the season and warm weather extend, you’ll find yourself hitting more good shots on the golf course if you spend a few days each month in an arduous and concentrated practice session.

Just because you practice them often and successfully, don’t expect to get up and down on almost every chip shot, pitch shot, and sand shot from just off the green. But, over time, you’ll see gradual and concrete improvement on these vital shots if you’ll just persevere with a practice routine. Success begets success.

What constitutes a serious and time-consuming practice session? Anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours can cover almost every shot you’ll face on the course.

Start with your short game--sand shots, chip shots, and pitch shots. Then, go to the driving range and practice with all of the clubs in your bag. Finally, complete the session with 15-20 serious minutes on the putting clock. And don’t become discouraged if you begin to hit some bad shots when you start to get tired. That will happen during regular play too.
Expert instruction from your pro and videos is invaluable. It doesn’t do any good to practice if you’re not developing proper techniques and fundamentals.

If you set aside one day for a long practice session once every 10 days to two weeks, it will help over time. You game will improve and golf will be a lot more fun. Just remember not to become caught up in unrealistic expectations--patience is a virtue.

Article by Joe DeLorenzo

Will We Someday Need A Player’s License?

Golfers, be thankful that you live in the good old
USA, because if you lived in other countries where
there are not enough courses, you might have to get a
license just to be allowed to play. To get the
license, you would have to pass written and playing
tests, including your understanding of course
etiquette, rules, and proper pace of play.

Will this ever happen in our country? It might because
our population is ever-growing, courses are getting
more and more crowded, and there is a growing
frustration level about slow play. Most courses would
rather not have unskilled golfers who do not
understand pace of play and etiquette. Courses that
are very popular and never have a problem fully
booking all tee times might start trying such a
license rule, forcing unlicensed golfers to find less
popular courses which might be happy to get business
from any level of golfer. Higher handicap players
would either be excluded from playing the better
courses, or might be allowed to play only on a standby
basis during off-peak periods, if and when open tee
times are available.

Although pace of play is one of the problems with
inexperienced golfers, in reality I have seen some
pretty good golfers who play awfully slow, and
conversely some less talented players who play
briskly. Therefore, you can\'t license people based on
their pace of play, so a logical criteria would seem
to be the player\'s handicap, the assumption being that
lower handicap players for the most part are probably
experienced enough to know about rules and proper
etiquette.

If pace is the main issue, I would suggest that any
course having pace problems could create a local rule
to abolish the stroke and distance penalty. In the
name of pace, it makes no sense to ever, ever, ever
make someone walk back to the original spot to hit
another shot. That is just stupid, stupid, stupid.
Don\'t get me started on what I think of some of the
other ancient sacred rules that supposedly cannot be
changed, I could go on forever.

How about this for a concept? If preferred tee times
go first to the lower handicap players, what
automatically happens to the cheaters who artificially
inflate their handicaps? Ha ha ha.

Joe DeLorenzo



\"It\'s Not How Long. It\'s How Many.\"

By Jennifer Scott, Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist

Too many golfers think they\'re entered in a Long Drive Contest every
time they step into the tee box. You know, \"grip it and rip it.\" Well,
if this were what golf\'s all about, John Daly would win every
tournament
he enters.

But he doesn\'t.

So instead of swinging for the fences, swing within yourself. Don\'t
get
tight and stressed. Relax. Which is the exact feeling you get with Own
The Zone.™ On command, it puts you into a pre-shot \"bubble\" where
tension and stress (and the urge to KILL it) are excluded from your
swing.

When it comes to swing models, why not picture \"The Big Easy,\" Ernie
Els? Or Fred Couples, Grace Park or Se Ri Pak? Their swings are
easier,
more fluid, less tense. Exactly what you need to be more accurate and
thus lower your scores.

And you could live with an average drive of 285 yards, couldn\'t you?

www.thinkandreachpar.com/tarp/jennifer.htm



Richard’s Thoughts:

Thanks to all of you for your input and comments.

Will Tiger do it again at Augusta? It has been raining here for the past four or five days. Practice was canceled Tuesday, and rain is forecast for the Pro-Am on Wednesday.

Guess we will just have to wait and see what happens the rest of the week. Weather should clear, but the greens are going to be fast!!

Either way, it will be a good Masters!

New Dunlop Balls

Dunlop is one of he oldest brands in golf, and they are trying to re-establish themselves with golfers interested in quality and value.

Dunlop, while trying to keep prices low, are showcasing three ball lines for 2003. The DDH that features an MSRP of $11.95 for a 16 pack of balls. The LoCo Bite, a new version of the popular LoCo distance ball, features an MSRP of $16.95 for a pack of 12. And the 65- one of the classic golf ball brands of the 20th Century – has been updated as the 65u with an MSRP of $24.95.

Shane Duffy, VP/Marketing for Dunlop Sports Group says, “We keep our overheads down and concentrate on making the game affordable by offering consumers great prices for high performance.

When it comes to quality, the 65u packaging includes the following: “Compare performance and price to Titleist Pro V1 and Callaway HX.”

“For the 65u we wanted to make a urethane ball for the average player – as well as one the average player could afford, “Duffy says. “Most urethane balls have a high spin rate, which is great onto the green, but not good off the tee as more spin (especially side spin) equals less accuracy. So on the 65u, the target was to make a urethane ball that flew straighter off the tee but still offered a high spin into the greens.”

The LoCo Bite – which goes to market this month, has a solid low-compression core and features a new “SpinFlex” cover that utilizes the HPF polymer developed by DuPont.

The result is better spin into the greens than the original LoCo, but with the same distance on drives and softer feel on irons.

I think due to the fact Dunlop is comparing the ball to the V1, they are confident of the quality of its products.

Asked how does it manage to keep prices so low, Duffy says there are several factors.

“Firstly, we own our own factory, producing all of our golf balls in the U.S.,” Duffy says. “There are some premium brands out there who “source” balls from factories they do not own. This adds a step in the process and results in higher prices for the consumer. We do not have to deal with this so we can be sharper on pricing.”

Dunlop also does not pay tour player to use its products.

“One of the key ways to grow the sport of golf is to make it affordable for more consumers,” Duffy says ”We feel we are more than playing our part in this.”

Dunlops largest customer is Wal Mart.

Until next week…good golfing.

Richard Myers

www.thinkandreachpar.com

100 Gilderbrook Rd
Greenville, SC 29615
864.675.0038


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