October 2, 2002

Welcome to The No B.S. Golf Newsletter

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I would like to extend a Warm Welcome to All of our new subscribers and say \"Thank You\" to everyone for your continued support. If you have any suggestions or comments that could better help us improve our newsletter, we look forward to hearing from you.

If you like this newsletter, I would appreciate it if you would send a copy to a friend or relative and ask them to subscribe. After all, it is free.

Special Notice

We have been selling the interview with Sensei Mark Anthony for $19.95 on our website, but now it is FREE to everyone. Just go to www.thinkandreachpar.com look on the right side of the page in a square and you will see it listed. You will have to use real player to play it, but it is a free download also. I hope you enjoy it. Go listen to it.

Special Notice

As an added feature to anyone that purchases any of our products, after you purchase the product, with your receipt, you will receive instructions so you can download the book The Swing In Golf, as our compliments. This book has five chapters and is only 82 pages, but has a lot of useful information in it. The five chapters are; hitting the ball, nature of the swing, learn the swing, wrist-play, and keeping your eye on the ball. Thanks to all of you for your business, and I hope you enjoy it, and I am sure it will prove beneficial to help you improve your game. Let me know what you think of it.


Quick Tips

Richard Myers

Putting Tips:

When putting, let your arms hang comfortably, but point your elbows more inward, toward each hip, rather than outward, If the hips stay still, so will the knees and legs.

Arch the wrists as if forcing the putter head downward. This will help to \"set\" them securely, keeping them inactive, as if in splints or casts.

For the correct putting posture, stand erect and lean over from the hips. Keep your hips comfortably still. Practice this posture often in front of a mirror to see the correct address and to achieve the feel of creating a steady base for putting. (Correct posture is vital. Lean of over from the hips with a straight lower back: the left shoulder sits a little higher than the right, parallel to the target line: forefinger overlaps fingers of the right hand.)

Downhill putts on fast greens often scare players and lead to tentative shots for fear the ball will race away. The best way to tackle this is to play the ball off the toe or heel of the putter. Stand back and assess the slope’s severity. Pick a target in front of the hole for the ball to reach before the slope’s contour takes over. Strike the toe or heel away from the sweet spot so to the ball leaves the putter \"dead\".

More on putting next week.


Discover The Amazing Simple Ways To Take 40 Strokes Off Your Game And Add 100 Yards To Your Drives In One Season! How Would You Like To Step Up To The Tee And Hit Your Target? This Body Golf Full Swing video comes with the Body Golf Full Swing book FREE order now
www.thinkandreachpar.com/tarp/





Hey Folks! This is a long one so you might want to print it out. From Sensei Mark Anthony. Enjoy!

Why The Body Golf System Works

If you\'re at all considering trying the Body Golf swing training system, please read this article and if you have to, print it out and take it with you. It’s on the long side but I think the information inside it will give you an insight into why more and more people are using the Body Golf method to easily learn the golf swing and more importantly, why more and more golf instructors are devising swing training systems after this Eastern teaching model. The Eastern teaching method has been in existence for centuries because it works. Please read on!

In this video I take you through some very effective exercises in the first half of the tape that are designed to teach the feeling of whipping the club through the point-of-impact without forcing you to agonize about what\'s going on everywhere in your body, which would only confuse you. Basically, I want you to take your brain out of the swing and learn it with your body.

The second half takes you through contact drills if you\'re a beginner, and more advanced practice if you\'re a more experienced player. Including how to curve the ball whichever way you need it to go.

The way that I\'ve put this system together is the way that martial arts systems are put together. It\'s really simple. Please let me explain how a martial arts system is built. On day one, the student is shown something that is needed to build upon for the next lesson. When I say needed, I mean it. The first thing that you learn in a dojo (training hall) is usually how to stand up and move your feet. Why? Because is you can\'t stand up and use your feet correctly, you will never learn the rest of the system the way it\'s supposed to be learned.

Without learning the day-one stuff, you may as well toss everything else out the window because it’s never going to be as effective as it could be AND nothing will ever make sense to you. Without this vital material, nothing else will ever work.

Let me apply a martial arts line of thinking to golf for a second. In the west, most people try to golf at a \"black belt\" level without ever getting a day-one \"white belt\" lesson and learning the necessary fundamentals. It\'s totally backwards. However, it\'s not anybody\'s fault. It\'s just the way it is.

You see, people get all types of instruction form every kind of source available. There are magazines, tips on TV, buddies putting their two cents in every time you swing, etc, etc. It can get very confusing and before long, you\'re so confused, you don\'t know who\'s telling you the truth, who\'s a well-meaning, misguided novice and who really is going to help you. In fact, you\'re about ready to give up and resign to the fact that you\'ll ALWAYS be a short-hitting hacker, duffer and slicer and never be an ace.

Do you really want to spend a lifetime wondering if you had the potential to shoot par?

Do you really want to spend your time wondering what the secret to effortlessly hitting long straight drives and hitting the greens in regulation is, and wondering how it is that some people have it so easy and why you have it so hard?

I\'ve put Body Golf Full Swing video together the same way that a martial arts system is structured. The very first body movement that you\'ll learn (Shoulder Turns) is an absolutely necessary and vital component of a correct golf swing and what you\'ll build upon in building your swing throughout the whole program. Without it, you\'ll never reach your potential and you\'ll never begin to feel what a proper, powerful swing feels like. This exercise is the most vital base movement of the golf swing. Period. At least the way I teach it!

I\'ll let you in on another secret...every time you do the additional exercises in the system; you\'re reinforcing the first, vital exercise that you learned in the first segment, which makes it more and more permanent. Remember, practice makes permanent. Perfect practice makes perfect!

The bottom line is that you NEED this base movement. And after you learn it, you\'ll recognize it within the swing of every single tour player and ace amateur that you see swing. You\'ll be saying, \"Why didn\'t I notice that years ago?\" But once you have it, you\'ll have it forever. That\'s the great thing about this system. It contains what every pro golfer uses in his swing to be powerful and what you need to bring your game to the next level and reach your potential.

Here\'s why I believe the Eastern way to teach golf is superior
traditionally in martial arts, there is a formal, disciplined relationship between the student and the sensei (teacher). This relationship is necessary for the students benefit because the reasons that one is doing a certain exercise isn\'t always explained to the student. Sometimes, the drills are quite tedious. However, every one of them is considered necessary and has a specific goal.

The sensei tells the student to \"do this\" and the student does it until he understands why. He doesn\'t ask why..that would be very disrespectful. He just does it. Westerners would think this as arrogance. It\'s quite the opposite. There are many reasons for this method of teaching.

Here in the West, we\'re so wrapped up in wanting to know everything about everything, that we get lost in the \"whys\" instead of learning the \"how-tos.\"
If the sensei were to go on and on with an explanation of all of the physics involved in a simple punch, he\'d cloud the students mind so badly that he would never learn a most simplest of day-one techniques. This is called information constipation, and is the biggest reason that most amateur golfers can\'t hit the ball straight. It\'s just more economical to do it the Eastern way. Why confuse the student?

\"Wax on, wax off.\"
With the Eastern way, the teacher is not wrapped up in needing to explain the deeper meanings and reasons that everything works. Like I said before, the student is told to \"do it this way\" and he does it. He\'ll learn the what\'s and why\'s later. In the beginning, he needs a foundation in the proper mechanics and there\'s only one way to do this...by doing it, not analyzing it. If you remember the old \"wax on, wax off\" drill from the movie The Karate Kid. You\'ll know what I mean here.

You have to put in the reps to get skilled and that\'s all there is to it. There\'s plenty of time to learn the physics if you stay with it. But you need to learn the foundation of the movements to get a grasp of how to be powerful. If all you did were agonize and analyze instead of actually doing it, you\'d never be able to defend yourself with the techniques!

Practice, practice, practice
In golf as well as martial arts, practice does not make \"perfect\" as much as it makes \"permanent.\" With the Eastern method contained in Tao of Golf, you\'ll make perfect practice into a permanent good swing.

My Tai-Chi swing!
The method that I teach is a simple way to \"burn in\" the necessary mechanics that 99% of amateur golfers have no idea how to use, and, what keeps them from breaking 80, 90 or even 100. The slow deliberate practice of the Tai-Chi swing at the end of the video is borrowed from an ancient Eastern way to train body movement first developed centuries ago by the founders of Tai-Chi Chuan.

Considered the father of all Eastern martial arts, Tai Chi is learned and trained in meticulous slow motion and constantly refined over a lifetime of practice.

I know that most people have never seen Tai Chi demonstrated dynamically, but let me tell you I know from hard, first-hand experience that the dynamic application of the technique is truly devastating. In fact, the reason that the soft, whipping power in golf is effective is precisely why you see little young guys like Sergio out-drive the big guys. It\'s all technique, not muscle. This is nothing new.

Tai Chi uses the same exact technique to generate power in strikes that golfers use to hit long straight shots without big muscles. However, without the proper mechanics and the use of correct body structure, generating effortless power is impossible. Hence the slow, deliberate practice utilized and refined over a lifetime.

The Body Golf system gets the student started on the road to that effective technique and in the second half of the video; I take the student to the driving range to develop the swing more dynamically. I\'ll demonstrate my simple drills and show you how anyone can do it with this exceptional technique.

What really works is that after learning and training the swing without hitting any balls, I ask the student to forget about mechanics I teach to swing while the ball is \"in the way.\" This is what every amateur golfer needs to understand, bar none. In order to be powerful, one must swing and not hit.

The average weekend golfer will try so hard to \"hit the ball\" that his swing becomes a chop and will stop at the ball. This, every pro knows, will actually slow down a swing instead of improve it and its one of the most elusive concepts in golf to teach and grasp an understanding of. However, I think that I\'ve developed a system that will show any golfer this little-known feeling of a powerful swing in this professionally produced well-done, one-hour video.

This video is a great step-by-step tutorial on how to develop a smooth fluid, effortless swing in 30 days or less and I give you my personal guarantee that you\'ll learn what makes a swing powerful and effective in the opening minutes. Give it a try and see why people all over the world are using this system to quickly and easily improve their swing and overall game.


Don\'t wait. Get this great video and learn how to swing powerfully and CORRECTLY with unbelievably simple exercises.
You can purchase the Body Golf Full Swing video from www.thinkandreachpar.com

That\'s all for now friends.
Best.
Sensei Mark Anthony

Unique Opportunity
If interested, just contact Craig directly.

Hi Richard.

Awesome newsletter.
You ask the following question.

\"If any of you have any golf articles, tips, or announcements you would like to present to this group of over 20,000 golfers, please send them to Richard@thinkandreachpar.com\"
Please see if this fits the bill.

I am about to start a golf Xchange. It’s out there for any golfer to use and it’s free of charge.
It’s a database that you submit your details to and you will be able to search the database for people in other countries or towns that you would like to swap a golfing holiday with.
Eg, I contact you and we decide on a week. You host me for a week at your local clubs and then I do the same for you.
Go to http://www.golfingwithcraig.co.za and click on the golfing Xchange banner.
Please let me know.
Your feedback would be greatly appreciated.
As mentioned I am almost complete.
Thanks

Craig Sinclair
craig@bluegecko.co.za
http://www.golfingwithcraig


\"Body Golf is the best set of golf video\'s I have ever seen!! These video\'s covers it all from long game, to short game, fitness and flexibility conditioning, and specialty shots that every golfer should have in his bag. I could not give them a higher recommendation.\"
- Jan T. Knight (retired teaching Pro), Columbia, SC


Round-Robin is Best Bet
by
Mac Stevenson
Most of us like to make some bets before a round of golf. And most of us do. That’s all well and good, and when handled properly it adds to the enjoyment of the game.
What’s most important to remember on the first tee is that what’s easily affordable to some of the players may be excessive to others. Don’t be a part in embarrassing one of your fellow players into playing for more than he’s comfortable with.
Affordable betting lends excitement and interest to a foursome, but it can also cause sleepless nights if someone gets in over their head. Friendships can be ruined if betting on the golf course gets out of control. Some of the worst offenders are the big-money boys who go on an ego trip on the first tee by trying to get players--who can’t afford it--to play for more than they should.
You’ve undoubtedly played in some foursomes--like all of us have--where you have so many matches going you can’t keep track of what’s going on.
When you’re playing individual and team matches at the same time, your strategy on putts and some full shots can be conflicted. As an example, in a team match, say your partner has a par leaving you with a six-foot downhill birdie putt. With your team having a par (in low-ball matches), you can charge that putt. But you may have one or two individual matches and can’t afford to three-putt, so there’s a conflict that’s not fair to you or your partner.
You’re better off playing all individual or all team matches. Team matches are the most fun. And a six-hole round-robin match is the best of all. In this format, you have each member of your foursome for a partner for a six-hole match. In other words, there are three six-hole matches over the 18 holes, and you have every player in your foursome for a partner once during the round.. The bet is the same for each six-hole match and you can play for enough to make it exciting, but an amount you can forget about on the 19th hole.
Handicaps can be used in a round-robin, but it’s most fun if the contestants are close enough in skill to play it even up. If you have two players with eight handicaps and one with a 10 and the other with an 11, you can also play a nine-hole robin. In this format, you change partners after nine holes, but the two eight handicappers are on opposite sides during both nine-hole matches, keeping the contest fair.
Individual matches can get too personal for players who are just out for exercise and a good time. And they can get way too personal if someone starts playing for more money than he can afford to lose.
No matter what type match you’re playing, it’s a good rule to allow presses only when a team or individual is dormie or out. Dormie means when a player is down by the number of holes left to play. In other words, if you’re two down standing on the 17th tee, you’re dormie because there are just two holes left to play. The best you can do on the original bet is tie.
No one likes to lose, and that’s as it should be. However, if you’re gambling for modest stakes, you’ll be able to forget about your losses on the way home. And if you play a round-robin, you can think to yourself as you drive home, that damned Harry played like Tiger Woods while he was against me and Old Ned the barber when he was my partner.


Richard’s Thoughts

Astronaut to help downtown airport event blast off

That was the headlines in our local newspaper the other day. Caught my eye. As I was reading the article it said \"The shuttle has got a lot of power-seven million pounds of thrust-and it weights about four and half million pounds,\" Frank L. Culbertson Jr. said.
Who is Frank L. Culbertson, Jr.? Culbertson has flown into space three times. He was in space over Canada when planes crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. Culbertson said he grabbed a video camera and started taping when New York City came into view. Culbertson, 53 plans to talk about his flights aboard the space shuttles Discovery and Endeavor and his four-month stay on the International Space Station, the article in The Greenville News stated.

What’s the bid deal about Frank Culbertson? Frank Culbertson and I attended the same high school about 200 miles south of here in South Carolina. A small, rural, mainly agricultural, southern town in the 1960’s. We were classmates in the class of 1967, which graduated 43 students, of which Frank was our valedictorian. Our high school, grades 7 thru 12, had 332 students in it. When you go to a school that small, especially in the south in the 1960’s, you know pretty much everything about everybody. You get to know your classmates almost as well as your brothers and sisters. You become close, or definitely decide that you do not like each other.

Let me tell you what I know about Frank L. Culbertson, Jr. Frank moved to Holly Hill when we were in the 8th grade. He was a small boy, but had the determination of a giant, and was as smart as they come. Even in the eight grade, if you asked Frank what his future plans were, he would tell you that he was going to become an astronaut. During our high school years, Frank participated in all high school athletics. Even football. I can remember this little kid that probably weighed 125 pounds and was 5 feet 5 inches tall, as a senior, playing varsity football. Needless to say, he wasn’t the team star, but he never missed a practice and he never gave up. Frank was always trying. He was as tough as nails, and more determined that anyone.

Upon graduation from high school, Frank went to the U.S. Naval Academy, and after that fighter jet school, was stationed on as aircraft carrier. Most people would have been happy and content in a career such as that, but not Frank L. Culbertson, Jr. He was determined to reach his lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut. Well finally he was accepted into astronaut training, and trained, and trained, and trained. Eventually he was selected for a couple of flights aboard the Discovery and Endeavor, but what really topped his career, was the four month stay on the International Space Station. This was Frank’s dream come true. This is what Frank had worked his entire life for. He had achieved his goal.

This little kid from rural South Carolina would not take no for an answer. He keep trying and working and trying and working, until he made it happen.

What does this have to do with golf? I think you know what I am going to say. If you get the proper training, and keep practicing and working, you too can lower your golf score. You can become good at golf at any age. It just takes the proper training and practice.

While I was sitting there at the Greenville airport, listening to this ole friend tell about his adventures and discoveries, and answering questions from the crowd as fast as they could throw them at him...I could not help but think what my Daddy use to tell me when I was growing up. He use to ask me, Do you know the difference between a little shot and a big shot? A big shot is just a little shot that keeps on shooting!! That’s what Frank L. Culbertson, Jr. did, he just kept on shooting, until he made it to the top. Congratulations Frank!!!

Richard Myers


IF YOU LIKED THIS ISSUE
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I hope that you have enjoyed this issue and until next week...good golfing.


Richard Myers
www.thinkandreachpar.com
www.bodygolf.com