Stick To One Thought

DISQUS, Ryan, or another responder. Here is my post to you. Please respond and I will post a reply through the Disqus email notification process, to see if it continues to post my email address in the blog post/site. Thanks for the assistance. If you scroll down, you will see an earlier post from a few minutes ago to another member which does in fact show my email address, however, I have edited it out partially with *'s.

I think I mentioned before that I like to warm up by winding it all the way down to 8 or 9 and swinging first with just the last three fingers of my left hand holding the "club". After four or five, I switch to just the last few fingers of the right hand and do the same, trying to be sure I keep the correct arm positions despite not having the other arm there for resistance. Then I wind it down to one above my normal setting and proceed pretty much as you describe.

Congrats to DJ on the even par opening round!  Aronimink must be a pretty tough lay-out, a lot of high numbers in the morning session.

I understand all that you fellows are saying about the OPEN'S, but did not realize it was any deal, let alone a big or even minor deal. Open at St. Andrews, is 6 syllables, British Open is only 4 syllables. I do not understand the desire to avoid saying British. It seems more of a hassle saying Open,and then having to clarify, than to just add the other 2-syllables, (British) in the first place. Am I missing something, why the distaste or avoidance with saying British in the modern era.  Sometimes, the old ways seem to be the best after all, that way there is no confusion. After all, it is merely two additional syllables, for certain clarification. 
Edit: The same, would also apply to U.S. Just two syllables for certain clarification.

Keep the faith,Steve. It'll happen.  I've missed 2 aces like that. Never had one, but ya never know.

Lynn42

Lord willing, hopefully you won't have to double cut your lawn like I did yesterday. That was no fun. Leisa got mad at me & went inside when she started resetting the lawn furniture and I waved her off on my first go round.

Thanks Ray (and Robert Meade, too) for your kind greetings. Indeed, we are heading into winter down here in NZ but as I live in Auckland towards the top of the North Island winter is more to do with wet as we don't get the snow the bottom of the North Island and the South Island do. That said, mud is becoming an issue, but a 15 cm clean and place rule and no penalty for replacing a ball which simply disappears into the fairway on landing, never to be seen again, means that the game is still playable. 

Of course, that supposes I can even hit the fairway in the first place; unlike our hero DJ who I see finished the first round tied first for driving accuracy.

Still seeking the vertical.
Hilbridan

Me too. We can all disagree without being disagreeable. If everyone thought the same as me, they would never learn anything.LOL, Sorry Karl.
In all seriousness, I have gained a significant amount of knowledge from many of the bloggers here, and that certainly applies to Steve's comments as well. Keep them coming Steve. We are bound to bump up against each other from time to time in the process of sharing and learning. I wouldn't want it any other way. Without the expression, exchange doesn't take place, and learning becomes stagnate.

Doc, a Fujian would have gotten that last 3" of roll on that shot!

I am doing it the same as I have been for months and also on the old site through DISQUS. I simply click the reply tab to the email, type my comment, and then click send.
Is that the same way you responded through your email to me.

My routine is very similar but I am lucky to have an area where the paving is brick, so I can set up parallel left and check alignment and see its maintained to the end of the set up. Also, I have a glass door that works well as a mirror. Another small thing has helped me get my swing speed up. I was setting up, "nose to the ball" now I deliberately lift my chin a little and look down my nose to the ball. this little difference has allowed me to extend my arms a bit more in the "into the mitt". Surprising increase in swing arc and speed.  

closest I've ever come was back in September of '85, Kentucky Dam Village hole #3 uphill into winds from the incoming tropical depression that was formerly Hurricane Elena. I hit a 5 iron ala Lee Trevino,aim left swing right to about 14 inches of the cup. Sadly,as I've told before, the round was washed out 2 holes later amid torrential rain and intense lightning.
 Okay, time to go  play a TW12 tourney with Matt & Walt and show them the old man can still play video games with the best of them.
 Have a good afternoon, everyone & Happy Golfing in whatever realm your playing.

It's the same issue as the current tennis event going on over there. The proper name is The Championships at Wimbledon. Both are the oldest championship contests in their respective sports and so have a certain claim to singularity rather than locational or national differentiation.

Said more colloquially, they did it first so neener neener. ;-)

Adel

I know the feeling all too well.  What helps me is concentrating on a full T finish and just letting the ball get in the way.  It takes some getting used to for me but getting better.

As Don says it really is feel the swing and then swing the feel.  Forget about the ball.

Lynn42

I did double cut - almost have to when the grass is 6" deep in places. If my whole yard was bermuda grass, I wouldn't have that problem, but 1/3 is tall fescue that I haven't gotten rid of yet.

Great news Roger :)

Congrats to Steve Smith and Janet M for the shout-outs from Don. Two of the many great people on this site I love exchanging ideas with about the golf swing and how to learn it and do it better.

And, as always, thanks for your insights, Don. I know that for me I can trace almost every bad shot to my brain deciding to try thinking while I'm swinging. ;-)

Brian, I think Steve's comment below is correct. You are using part of my argument to defend a different conclusion than I. I think You, Me, and everyone else, in every location, to avoid any and all confusion's, need to ALWAYS apply the prefix of, British or U.S. in speaking, or in print, if for no other reason than the very proof of this stupid discussion that has gone on for two days now. After two days of discussion, no agreeable conclusion, We have made enough of that point in it's self. It would seem we are in need of some clarification, what can it hurt.

I guess we can blame that one on the grain, Steve!

That previous one, like this one, I use Mail in Mac OS X and just press Reply. Is your email plain text or does it included the embedded images? Mine shows the full "Disqus" stationery.

Thank's for keeping it simple
Even if I dont say it often,I have learned
more from you in the last couple of years
then my fourty five years of golf,
listening to the advice on your videos.
Well I came to realize that when you were
wrong I hate to admit it  but just mabe
I did not Get it and only by practicing
did I understand. Things as simple as
swing the feel those are magic words.
And what about in the glove and up
the tree dont forget to ringf the bell.
A golfers job is never finished but your teaching
as made the game an evolution and the more
I practice the more you make sence.
Thank you Don for all you have done and
dont give up on us.
With respect and gratitude
student: Ron from Qc. Canada.
 

Greetings Hilbri--Just wanted to say "hi" to a  New Zealander and fellow Surgite.  I was fortunate to visit your country in '95 and '05 and would re-visit in a heartbeat if possible.  Great country, extremely nice people---one of the best places to visit one could select.  If only it wasn't a 14 hour flight from LA---a bit of a grind now that I'm 71.

Got to follow DJ after talking with him awhile last Sunday at the Travelers tournament in Cromwell, CT.  Tried to connect with him earlier to offer a dinner invitation but to no avail.  Hopefully we'll connect next year.  He played beautifully but was snake-bit on the greens (could easily have made another 5-7 birds with any kind of luck).  Almost every drive was over 300 yds. and in the middle of the fairway and he hit the long 6th par 5 green on his 2nd shot but it ran through the green into heavy grass and as luck would have it the flag was in the back of the green on a downhill slope.  He left a birdie putt about an inch short.  If he can get his putter going he'll be winning tournaments and getting to the top 50 with no sweat.

Are you in the North or South Island?  I know it's winter there now---any chance for winter golf? 

Best wishes from CT,
Ray

Understand, However, By my way of thinking. A more pronounced distinctive and prestigious recognition of any event, place, or person, is by the usage of it's or their full distinctive title, and not through a shortened modern day derivative or nick name. I still prefer, The British Open and the U.S. Open, for their individual prestigious distinctions. It is not just any old open, It is the U.S.Open, one of distinction and in need of prestigious clarification. That's just my old style thinking though. Distinctive titles used to mean something, Today, it's just buddy, dude, or hey you. We seldom hear proper titles being used in any reference in the modern world. I vote for keeping the full titles of distinction.

Thanks,Kevin, I've been through Meridianville on several ocassions.We take 231 up to Tennessee every other trip to break the monotony and seeing how once I'm a mile from home it's just the same road, different designation and makes for a nice drive.

Alright reporting on my range session after picking up my rebuilt MOIed Mizuno JPX 800 Pro's 5 - GW and my 3 and 4 Wishon HYBRID irons  today. When I picked them up he mentioned that he hoped I would not have hooking issue with them being i wanted to go from basically a 5.3 flex  were my APII's were to 5.0 with the Mizunos. I assured him that it would not be a issue if it was I would keep the APII's for a year or so and then switch to the Mizunos later.

After hitting them at the range tonight all I can say is awesome. They feel way better with easy distance without feeling like I have to come out of my shoes a little.like with the APII's. I only had 1 shot that hooked a little due to a hack swing other than that hit them dead straight had a few shots that missed 5-10 feet left or right of the target but were straight shots. The 2 hybrid irons took about ten shots each to figure them out and they produced nice high straight soft landing shots. He was going to put the same shafts that he put in the irons but his guys at KBS sent him 2 hybrid steel shafts that they wanted him to try out and  test and consider putting them in my hybrids which he did and they are great.

i am a happy camper and cant weight to get to the course Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Roger

Yes his all around game is great right now. If he can avoid some of those  bogies and continue to improve his putting which has been much better lately he's there.

I think you are quite terrific, but your new process of reading letters is too time consuming, and we are all here to learn from YOU.  Please take the input from all who wish to communicate and give us your thoughts.. the feedback from other students  may be fine, but is not why we tune in to your daily blog. 

this too be a good thought..and he is looking too funny..i like this video lot..it is a meaningful..and good thinking to post here.well thinking of it..thanks for sharing here..

seo usa

Like this?

It is a very tough course. What the score doesn't show is that DJ hit 13 of 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens in regulation. If he keeps that up, he'll move up the leader board over the next few days. Aronimink requires players to be accurate with their tee shots and approaches and players who get sloppy will get punished.

Steve, I checked the course out, it looked pretty nice in the photos they have on line. I noticed the slope you mentioned. Glad you & Mike had a good time together and congrats on your near-miss perhaps one day soon it'll make those other couple of revolutions and drop. :)

Kevin

i do that myself sometimes at the range just to check were I am in the back swing. Then I just stop and set back up to the ball and make the swing without thinking about it. On the course I will do this once in a while during the practice swing if I feel I am having issues other than that when I play my best golf I am thinking really of nothing other than seeing my ball fly to the target during the practice swing and set up and make the swing.

Roger 

That must have been cool to see the ball nearly go in!

Lplotnick,

Just my 2 cents here.  Personally, I like knowing the fact that Surge takes the time out of his busy schedule to read and respond to our blog questions and concerns.  Seven minutes to read and respond to those questions is what makes him who he is and I like his approach.  For what Surge's method has done for my game, I don't find a seven minute video too :time consuming at all.  Just one thankful hacker's humble opinion.

Lynn42

Brian, In this regard you are correct. I did not intend to use Tradition. My two points were, Simple Clarification beyond any doubt, and, As a Title of Clarified respect to the governing/location of the event, ie U.S or British, as being distinctive and respectful. I am not necessarily concerned with tradition, unless it was one of respectful intent. Their are many traditions that need to be dissolved, but that is not our topic here. Why not avoid any and all possible confusion's and just add U.S. or British. What is such a big deal about it anyway. I like hearing U.S. and I would think the British would like hearing their homeland in the title as well.
Enough, and too much time has been wasted on this silly discussion. I hope it is over for me at this point.

Disqus generic email template
Yes, I use windows mail, and it does show the entire DISQUS imbedded image page format.
In this reply to you, I used the following process.

1. click the reply tab in the email header
2. type my reply
3. click the send tab in the email header.

I like Robert start on a setting of 9 and make short swings about to the mitt simulating pitch shots and then move down in increments of 2s until I get to 3 and work there for the remainder. I do now,however, after last week's time with Doc simulate that the 3 is my Driver and make sure I am set up with the proper ball placement.

I noticed that Robert & I think his one missed fairway was just off the fairway. I pretty much followed him all round while checking out some golf equipment on-line. I agree with you, he keeps that up he'll definitely be moving up the board over the next few days.

Roger,

A void likes to be filled. If I let all the thoughts go away, one will pop in. For some reason, it will be one of the comments on this blog that has made an impression on me. The discussion between Steve and Doc on getting to the toe line is one of those. It just hits me sometimes - Am I getting to the toe line? - and I glance to see, quite unintentionally.

Kevin

Hey Dave,

You're missing a couple points about it. First, the Bump shifts the lower body forward slightly by moving the weight onto the front foot and kicking in the back knee. That does not lower the body or fold the hips and knees more than they were at setup, but it does create a secondary spine tilt which stops the upward progress of the arms and starts them back down. As long as the point at base of the neck--where your head is stuck to your shoulders--stays stable, you will come back to the ball just fine. That's the point your shoulders are rotating around. The shoulders themselves don't stay at a fixed height, anyway in any golf swing unless you're swinging a ten foot pole. The point is to return them to the same place they were at address.

With the bar now less than a month away, my practice is now limited to 10 minutes a day with the swing rite. I just wanted to solicit ideas for efficient and effective practice with the swing rite from all of you.

Here is my current routine:
I make a few warmup swings with the swing rite set one number higher. Once I feel a little loosened up, I then begin my practice with the swing rite at my number. Before taking a practice swing, I select a spot on the grass as my imaginary ball, and select an imaginary target. After I set up, I stand up straight and accordian down. I try to make the swing with my nose on the imaginary ball.

So far this routine has seemed to work for me. I feel like I am consistently getting the "click" at the proper location and am getting up to a balanced finish. It will be interesting to see the effect that this swing rite practice has on my game.

Yes you absolute goons ( T MEDLEY & STEVE SMITH ) what he is saying (quite clearly in my opinion) is that we invented the sport ok, like most other well loved sports  in this world. We created all your beloved golf traditions and gave them to you so you can sit at a computer all day talking your brown nose banjoness to each other, so show a little respect and call it by its correct name, "THE OPEN"....... If someone likes golf, they know what the open is, if somone doesnt like golf, they dont care so why do you. Typical Yanks tryin to undermine a British blogger cos he was correcting your stupid narrow minded thickness. 

RULE BRITANIA.  

Heh. Closest I've come was thinning a ball straight at the flag on a 160 yard hole with a strong cross-wind. The wind held the flag straight out and my ball wrapped right up in it and dropped three inches from the hole.

Funny that yours always includes "Disqus generic email template" at the beginning. :) Clearly the folks at Disqus like Apple Mail better. ;-)