April 16, 2003

Welcome to The No B.S. Golf Newsletter

This newsletter is by subscription only. The only way you could have
received it is you requested a subscription or someone you
know gave you a subscription. To unsubscribe please scroll
to the bottom and follow the simple instructions. If the link is not
active in your email program, you may have to cut and paste it in your
browser.
=========================================================================
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:

\"Goals: There is no telling what you can do when you get inspired by
them. There is no telling what you can do when you believe in them.
There is no telling what will happen when you act upon them.\"

Jim Rohn
Author and Speaker


Golf Quote of the week:

When you get up there in years, the fairways get longer and the holes get smaller.
Bobby Locke

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




Dear Richard:

I enjoy your tips. However I have started pushing my woods and irons. It occurs about 20% of the time which ruins my scores for the day. I never know when it\'s coming even with a full finish. Any ideas?

Thanks

Jerry Murphy


Jerry,
You\'re pushing the ball?
OK, let’s go with the most common mistakes (symptoms) Remember, the slice is a SYMPTOM, not the disease. The DISEASE is poor/incorrect, inefficient body movement.

1. Make sure that your grip is in the NEUTRAL POSITION as described in the Body Golf Slice-Buster Video. That is where the hands are parallel and the back (right) hand is in a straight line from the wrist. In addition, you should be able to see the first two or three knuckles of your left hand when you look down on it.

2. Have a friend watch you swing. You are probably straightening your BACK leg on the backswing. Although you may put your weight on it, if you straighten it, you\'ll push - guaranteed!

3. Be sure that you are in a SQUARE setup. Again, have someone else look at your setup because what looks normal to you may be off.

4. Be sure that your stance is not TOO WIDE. If your stance is too wide, you\'ll always hit it right unless you\'re ultra flexible like a kid. Bring your feet in so you are too narrow and work your way out incrementally until you are hitting it straight.

Hopefully those tips will get you going in the right (straight) direction.
Please write back and tell us how you do.

Best.
Sensei Mark



Hello Richard, my name is Ralph Stock. I have a query which you may be able
to help me with. I\'m 73 yrs old and play off a 13 (summer) 17 (winter). My
swing is fairly slow and rhythmical with a fairly good follow through.

My problem is that I have great difficulty in starting my downswing by
moving my hips first, yet when I do a practice swing without the ball there,
my swing just goes in a great flowing motion and I know that if I could do
that while actually playing I would play much better golf.

Why is it that when the ball is in front of me I just seem incapable of
hitting it with a swing the same as my practice swing? At times I just can\'t
seem to get my hips into action.

Can you shed some light on my dilemma?

Many thanks, Ralph

PS Your newsletter is very enjoyable.




Hey Ralph,
This is Mark Anthony answering. First, God bless you for still being able to play! I hope to God that I\'ll be capable of the same health when I reach my 70\'s.

OK, so you say that you\'re having trouble with your hips?

Here\'s what I think. If you have a nice smooth practice swing, and everything goes to hell in a handbasket with a ball there. There is only one explanation. It\'s all in your head. At this point, its a mental thing that you have to overcome.

ALL of your energy and thought is focused solely on the OUTCOME of the swing instead of the swing itself. And, where the ball ends up after the fact. You\'re putting too much pressure on yourself and its killing your smooth swing. Now don\'t get me wrong. I\'m not saying that you should be over thinking the mechanics either. The drills in Body Golf will help you conquer that issue.

However, when you have total confidence that you\'ll hit your target, you\'ll nail it most every time. You see, there is nothing on the line when you practice swing so everything moves like a well-oiled machine. But, put a little pressure on you and BOOM! Your nice smooth swing goes the way of Saddam Hussein - HISTORY!

Go to the range and do the following mental drill. Put yourself on your favorite, most memorized golf course. Play an entire round (except for putts). Before you shoot, during the practice swing, say in your head (or out loud) the word \"fluid\" during the backswing, and \"swing\" on the through-swing.

Also do this when you swing with a ball in the way. Doing this will distract your conscious mind so your subconscious can take over and swing like it knows you can swing. I\'ve done this many times just to get myself out of thinking about mechanics when I swing. It works.

One more thing...you should think of your swing as a means to an end. Par or better. By doing this, you\'ll have less pressure on yourself. In addition, before you swing, in your mind, have the ball ALREADY on the target. Have it there in your mind before you even set up. This will increase your confidence and help you to swing smoother.

I think that\'s enough to work on for now. See you next time. Make sure you write back to Richard with some feedback!

Best.
Sensei Mark



TIRED OF YOUR FRIENDS LAUGHING AT YOU? The Body Golf Full Swing video will
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


The USGA Handicap System is too Complicated
by
Mac Stevenson


The USGA hierarchy--well-intentioned though they may be--has made the handicap system way too complicated and ineffective.
At the present time, your handicap is based on what your potential is, not an average of all the scores you’ve actually shot.

Your latest handicap rating is based on the lowest 10 of your last 20 scores that you’ve turned in. In other words, your 10 worst scores are discarded and count for nothing.

This makes no sense. If you happen to have one hot round, it lowers your handicap dramatically. And conversely, your poor rounds are tossed in the trash and disregarded.

Every single round and each stroke should count and they should all be averaged together in order to come up with a fair and reasonable handicap.

It appears that the present system is set up primarily to thwart cheaters. Golfers that strive for unfair handicaps by posting only their high scores can’t be stopped, but they will be discovered over a period of time. And they can be ostracized by the players who try to establish fair handicaps.

Weather is another factor that plays too big a role in the USGA method. By throwing out the worst scores, they also discard most of the high scores that are recorded on bad-weather days.
But all the players with handicaps don’t play on the same days. If all the scores were counted, the windy days would even out over a period of time and the weather factor would be fairly equal for everyone.

Another rule the USGA imposes that detracts from realistic evaluation is not letting players with low handicaps take more than a double-bogey on any hole. That’s ridiculous. Every stroke on every hole should count.

If everyone records every stroke and the total score from each round, you’ll come out with a fair handicap. Players shouldn’t be penalized for having a hot round; however, those good rounds should be averaged in with the worst and mediocre scores.
The USGA Handicap System manual resembles the fine print in insurance policies; trying to read and understand this manual is tough going indeed.

Here’s an example of how everything could be simplified: If your course is a par 70 and you post your last 20 scores and divide the total strokes by 20--and that figure is an average of 82--then your handicap should be a 12. It’s that simple.
The only other consideration on your home course should be which tees (red, white, or blue) you use.

While on the subject of handicaps, be very careful on the first tee with handicap bets. The handicap system is based for play over 18 holes of golf. If you have a seven handicap and your opponent has a 14, make it clear on the first tee that you won’t accept any press bets on holes where your competitor has a stroke and you don’t.

If you come to the 18th tee and you have your opponent out and he has a stroke and you don’t, letting him press is giving away your hard-earned money. That’s the same as giving him a stroke-a-hole on a bet. That’s a loser.

The USGA handicap system is too complicated and it’s not an accurate reflection of your golfing skill.

Undoubtedly the people in charge are trying to regulate a fair and useful system. But they need to simplify the entire process and make the handicaps reflect what players actually shoot, not what their potential is.



Comments from subscribers:


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 Logan

Thanks, I love the tapes. Nice job.
I set up with almost a straight line from left shoulder down the
arm, through to the clubhead. It is consistent for all clubs that way
and I don\'t have any trouble with ball placement. If I want to hit it
higher I move it forward, lower it goes back a bit. Being an old
baseball player and starting golf relatively late, that right hand jumps
in there to hit down 3rd base line. There are days I consider
amputation. When I switch my brain on and think.... It happens so
infrequently. The handicap is 5.9. The goal is 2.0.

Again, good job on the tapes. I use them with my golf team,
especially the double club drill. Last night on the range my some of my
new 9th graders were all out of whack. I took them in back and throttled
them thoroughly. Then we did the double clubs together, discussing what
we could feel. Then back to the range. They each made several good
swings before it deteriorated again. We\'re getting there.
Peace,
Jerry

Thank for your explanation Of the booklet. I like the news very much great job on the writing. ,Vince





Article by Joe DeLorenzo

Which ball is best for the average golfer?


You have probably seen and heard advertisements from
several different manufacturers claiming that their
ball is the best. Hey, they can’t all be the best…or
can they? Since there are rules that limit a ball’s
initial velocity, it stands to reason that all the
major golf ball makers are already pushing those
limits. If they wanted to, they could probably make a
ball that goes much further, but it would be illegal.
Some pros are under contract to play the ball brand of
their various sponsors, but they probably would do
just as well playing a different brand, so it is not
likely that these balls can be all that different.

That means if the average golfer wants more distance,
any of the major brands will be OK. Some balls claim
to have “high spin”. Sounds cool, but if that is
true, you can expect to increase your slice or hook,
which negates the value of being able to stop the ball
on the green more easily. Trying to spin the ball on
“public” greens may be futile, because those greens
are usually not as soft as the greens on plush private
courses, so the extra spin might not be of any benefit
to the average golfer anyway. If you really, really
like spin, use a ball with a cut or scrape on it (just
kidding). If you like more distance, line up the seam
of the ball vertically along the target line (not
kidding, this supposedly also promotes a better roll
for putting).

Some people claim they can feel a difference in the
“softness” of the ball when they hit it. Don’t be
fooled by this. Any ball will feel softer if you hit
it on the sweet spot of the club, and the same ball
will feel hard if you fail to strike the ball on the
sweet spot. Some people say they can tell by the
sound; gimme a break, does it go “doink” or “squish”?
If you think any of these balls are soft, allow me to
bounce one of them off your head, and then you can
tell me how soft it feels.

They used to say hard swingers were supposed to use
harder higher compression balls, yet the lower
compression Lady Precept has changed this way of
thinking, and now all the major brands are making
balls with specs similar to the Lady Precept.

So the bottom line is this: Unless you are a low
handicap golfer, it probably makes little difference
which ball is better for you. The marketing hype is
just playing on your mind. For the average golfer,
brand guchi-fufu will probably get no better scores
than Brand A or B or X. However, the mind is a very
powerful thing, so if you feel more confident by
playing an expensive ball, then go for it, a positive
attitude will help you. Otherwise, the average player
can save a lot of money by just using whatever the
ball retriever can dredge up from the nearest ponds,
and put that money to better use, like maybe for some
extra beers at the 19th hole, or better yet, some of
the products mentioned in this newsletter.

Joe DeLorenzo


Richard’s Thoughts:

Okay…now I can confess…I play golf left handed.

Mike Weir brought me out of the closet!! I have never been ashamed of playing left handed, it’s just that most left handed golfers are that good. Can’t say that about a few of us.

What Mike Weir does after this, only time can tell, but meanwhile he could be an ideal inspiration for many, and not only the young.

Instead of being defeated by early failures, from the way he has described it in press conferences, Weir has become more determined.

By the time he was 13, he asked Nicklaus in a letter if he should try switching to right handed. Nicklaus advised him to stay with his natural swing. That didn’t guarantee success. Although Weir won some amateur tournaments in Canada, he had been to the Australian tour and there missed more cuts that he cares to remember.

At times things were so tough that his wife, Bricia, caddied for him. Let me tell you, times are bad when you have to get your wife to caddy for you.

He failed five times to get his tour card at the PGA Qualifying School before leading the class of 1998. Others have given up after fewer times.

Tough times didn’t discourage him, but the memory of them contributes to his determination.

He is only 5-9 and weighs only 155 pounds.

His Masters victory raised his total earnings for this year to $3,067.625, elevating him above Tiger’s $3,067,250.

Unrelenting work ethics and a belief in himself has bought him thru bad times, and a belief that “one of these years” would come. Sunday may become the richest memory of Weir’s lifetime.

Congratulations.

Until next week…good golfing!

Richard Myers


www.thinkandreachpar.com

100 Gilderbrook Rd.
Greenville, SC 29615

864.675.0038

IF YOU LIKED THIS ISSUE
If you liked this issue, we would appreciate it if you would,
right now, just forward a copy to one or two of your golfing
friends with a short note encouraging them to subscribe. We\'d
really appreciate it. Thank you!

PRIVACY
Rest assured that we will not share your e-mail address with
any other party for any reason whatsoever.