Quantity vs. Quality

Dick,

I managed about 6 hours and am feeling much better. Finally got a warm shower. I'm low-man on the totem pole around here. Oh - I'm the only man around here (my 4yo grandson doesn't count) among 4 adult women. I sometimes feel like Custer - surrounded and outnumbered LOL! I wouldn't trade any of them for the world though.

Unfortunately, it is raining, so the only practice I get today is indoor swings with my mini-club and putting on the dining area carpet. My wife does not like me practicing chipping in the house, although it is really good practice. I'm forced to concentrate so that I don't break anything. ;-) On the course, I tend to lose that sort of focus. Steve had commented on my YouTube video about my hitting balls over a parked car. I learned to get the ball up doing that.

Kevin

Please describe as best you can just where you feel that the 12 o'clock position is?

Well, They are not the same person. Tina is married and a fellow Buckeye, just a little north of me. I do not know what the B stands for. As to being a babe, I think the safest answer would be yes. Though I have not met either. They are both babes in my mind. With that, it is now time for me to say good night. Say good night Dick.

Lynn

Night pal.

Good luck with your round. Let us know how it goes.

I ain't going to do anything stupid. Well, at least in golf.

No hopping here,
Dick

I have just set a date with John for this Friday in Sunbury. I am reviewing
some of the Tom Wishon clubs on line to see what appeals to me. Good luck
with your basement homework.

Surge Nation

I got in about 3 hours of chipping and putting again this afternoon. I would work on it for about 45 minutes then take a 15 break.

I am enjoying it a lot, but it is hard not to get over on the range and whack some balls.

I just got in and had some dinner with Kelly Jo. We are still going through all the military hoops to get KP back near us to spend some time with his father. Keep them both in your prayers.

It was a beautiful day out there today. It was in the mid 70s with a 5 mph wind. Where was all that last Friday when we played the tournament? Oh well, tomorrow is another day. I am going to spend a few hours at the chipping and putting greens in the morning. I have an inspection in the afternoon. I will probably stop off at the course on the way home and work on the short game some more.

I will keep being a good boy,
Dick

Kevin

You need your rest pal.

Hope you have a great day coming up.

You all remain in my prayers.

Dick

Lynn

At least you are out there and you are having some fun. Sounds like you met some great people.

Forget about it and do it right the next time,
Dick

Robert, Dick has been impersonating me
I've been out of town too
Jack

Steve,

Skunk and Dumplings? Mmm! I don't think so! :0)

Bob

T, you make this so easy. We should just make you the Surge Nation Librarian LOL.

I finally got a full-length mirror in the house (the other members of the family don't like it), and took a look at my position a few minutes ago after reading your comment with the link. I'm not quite as far off as I thought I was. I still haven't gotten myself loosened up and stretched out enough to get to the 1-o'clock face-on position, but I am getting to 12. A month ago, I was only making it to 10:30. This is probably where my extra distance is coming from.

Kevin

Dick

Is that heresay or from personal experience?

One positive though. You don't need to go looking for a toothpick when you're done.

Lynn42

Doc Griffin answered this the other day when someone else mentioned advice that the toe of the club should be up at address. If the clubs are PROPERLY FITTED and not made too long for your particular build and swing mechanics, then the sole of the club should sit level on the ground at address.

Mick, For a thicker more padded both hands set, you may want to consider winter or cold weather golf gloves. They will be more expensive than one regular golf glove, but much less than an actual arthritic specific glove style. They are also actually made to insulate the hands while providing ample traction to the club grip. Also, try a larger softer grip like the Jumbo Chamois that Robert suggested and I recently switched to. Good luck.

Seems logical but totally erroneous. The correction of the toe down effect is to have the correct lie angle of the club. It again has nothing to do with the static position of the club at address. Having the toe up or down at address has no impact whatsoever on what happens to the shaft and club head as you swing.

Well, as far as assumptions go, the club being flat or toe up or heel up has more to do with length of the club and the lie angle of the hosel. As I have stated, it really has no bearing at all on what happens with the head and toe down effect as the head comes through impact position. How the head sits at static address does not effect the droop as you swing.

To make the point, let's imagine a driver that has a lie angle of about 58* and a shaft that is 4 ft (48") long. In order to have the club soled completely flat, you'd have to have a stool to stand on. I know this is an over simplication but it should help illustrate my point. Shorter players with longer arms will have a club that has a toe up in the air particularly with longer clubs. This is one reason that when I build Surge's drivers that I build drivers that have about a 56* lie angle so that he can sole the club flat. He doesn't want to see a toe sticking up in the air.

Stay tuned as I plan to do a video addressin this point and hopefully it will go out soon.

Mick

I was sure that somebody would be able to help you out with this situation.

Let us know how it works out for your wife,
Dick

to ALL:

Played 18 holes today -- many good ones, but some bad also and one totally lousy hole. I'm blaming it on the breezy conditions (but not really) lol

11 of 14 fairways, 3 GIR resulting in 8 pars and 5 bogies -- but also 3 double boges, 1 triple and1 ugly "other" ( a 9 on a par 4 -- got in a freshly worked up sand bunker and took 3 to get out, followed by my only 3 putt of the day). It was such a shock to find "good" sand on our course that I had to relearn proper sand technique "on the fly" LOL -- and it would have to occure on the first hole! Kind of sets a bad mood for the day. Shot 48 on the front side, about 3 over my normal score for that side.

However, I managed to resurrect myself on the back nine (the easier side of the course) with pars on 10, 11, 12 and on 16 and 18. scored 43, including a ball in the water on 13 that hit about 1" below the top of the cross tie posts in the pond (similar to the Pete Dye style at Harbor Town. If only I could carry about 1 more yard with my 9 iron -- the shot was will hit, good trajectory, etc -- just not quite enough carry. 10 and 11 are two of the hardest par 4's on the course and usually bogie or doubles for me.

I also had 5 one putts, 1 holed putt from off the green and 1 three putt for 31 total putts used . Longest putts made - one from 20 feet, one from about 18 feet -- the others were from 6 feet or closer - and the off the gren putt was about 15 to 18 feet.

All in all, 48+43 = 91 -- about 2 shots over my "average" -- and considering a 9 on the opening hole, I was rather pleased with the overall game. BTW - the 8 pars is a "personal best" for me in the last 3 years or so. Never give up, never give in! Maybe it is no mistake that I went to a University that uses a Bulldog (NOT Georgia!) as a mascot.

Keep hitting them STRAIGHT and LONG

Amos

Robert

Welcome back. We tried to rein Jack in while you were gone, without much success. ;0)

Lynn42

The 12:00 position:
ok. Looking down the line, in the mirror, at 12:00 my club is pointing at my toes and my hands are over my toes/forefoot, and the club appears to be in line with 12:00, not laid off toward 11 or over-vertical toward 1:00.....
Eureka! Just went to the basement to check and the club if I lowered it came down on my ear, not my shoulder as I think it should. Moving the club back to the shoulder also seemed to level the elbows. The left wrist looked flat, not cupped or bowed. Am I on to something? But moving the club back also moves it back over the middle of the foot, is that OK?

Coach

You don't really need to watch it.

You already know what he said.
Dick

Dick, glad to hear your healing and being "good'. BTW, you are a very blessed man as you know. There are thousands of us out here in blog land who would love to afford to work part time on a golf course health and God willing, play golf several days a week and or be able to chip and putt as you do. I know you've worked hard your whole life and certainly deserve it. I'm still working full time and glad I can but will be living a lifestyle closer to yours some day God willing.
Actually in the coming days I will be able to stop by the GC after work to practice as the summer days give us light until 7-8 oclock. And I'm starting to play at least once a week.
I think I'll start doing what some of the other guys do and find a course that'll let me play an early 9 holes before my 10 hour workshifts.Love will find a way right?!

Mick: When Doc Griffin built my 4 new hybrids, I had him install some AWESOME, no-taper, oversize cushion grips: they are WINN Excel # 7715 Soft, Oversize Jumbo Grips, #W-7. They are outstanding grips and work extremely well for arthritic hands; very comfortable, vibration free, and positively non-slip! I like them so much I'm going to regrip every one of my clubs with them. Cost is not too bad; about $6.50 each off eBay. Just another option for you to consider. Good luck and hit 'em straight! R2

Rather than gloves, getting her clubs regripped with softer, slightly oversized grips might really help. Ones like the Avon Chamois grips really reduce the transfer of shaft vibration that can irritate the arthritis, more so if they're oversized (more cushion and easier to grip with arthritic hands).

Robert F and Lynn42

Regards to toe up or not. I understand that under the centrifugal force of the swing at impact the flexion of the shaft causes the toe to drop a little bit. This would infer that the toe should be slightly up at adress so that at impact the sole of the club is parallel to the ground (as suggested by the earlier comment).

At least they don't have to deal with constant PMS ;-P

Correct amundo chacie!

Kevin

I looked in the swing manual. When chopping trees, it is ok to come over the top. I recommend alternating between being closed and open on every other stroke. That should cut a nice "wedge" for you.

A bad shot with an axe will result in more than one penalty stoke.

Be careful
Dick

This makes me think of some things I am learning of late. The first thing I observed is that as I was sitting down eating lunch one day at the Driving Range and watching everyone hit, it occurred to me, they are just beating balls which would have been bad enough but I realized that I do the same the thing! So, that started me to thinking and has lead to some good stuff. I realize its important to pick a good range to practice at if possible, one that will give you a variety of shots to work on, the range I was eating lunch at and at others have are unlikely to help my game as the targets are too few or hard to see (blind shots) because of their design or location. Another thing I learned from someone who was once voted as of the top ten teachers in Texas is:
1. Evaluate the Situation
2. Picture in your mind exactly how you are going to make a successful shot.
3. Rehearse physically what you just evaluated and pictured.
4. Perform exactly what you evaluated, pictured and rehearsed.
5. DONT change the Script!
This has helped me to understand that sometimes my execution is not the problem but an improper evaluation of what was required for the shot to be successful, so now I have identified an area that needs improvement and I am starting to see better results.

Ken

Kevin

I know that Custer feeling. We just have to make use of all our hiding places and "man cave escape tools." You have the work to do outside when you can to escape. Never let a good emergency go to waste. A little history note. When Col. Custer and the 7th cav. were getting ready to depart for their mission, he was offered several Gatling guns. He declined them, saying they would slow him down. Oh well, I guess that is why they say hind sight is 20/20.

Sorry the weather has you pinned in.

You have much more confidence about hitting over your cars than I do. I think I remember you mentioning something about a banged up tail light or something. LOL.

Have a great day.

Dick

Kevin

See, you guys all made fun of me for carrying my "rescue club" in my bag.

Who is laughing now?
Dick

Amos

They say when you get a whole herd of them like that in one pen, their cycles start to line up and eventually all come at the same time. One of my neighbors in Florida had his wife and five daughters at home.

Let's just say that he found a way to travel for business that one special week of every month.
Dick

Hi All

Anyone heard of a golf glove that assists people with arthritic hands? My wife needs a pair of these gloves desperately. I'd appreciate if anyone can help.

regards

MickJo

As Steve says, if you're not getting the right elbow away from your body and getting your arms into that equilateral triangle at the top of the back swing, you're losing both control and power and are not likely to be actually getting vertical, no matter what you FEEL like you're doing. Some of the difficulty may be that when you are letting the elbow away from your body, the right forearm may be vertical (which will lay the club off and cause all sorts of control problems, rather than being tilted so that the right and left elbow form the corners of the base of the equilateral triangle with your forearms as the sides, and that base is parallel to the ground. That will get the club in a vertical, light position and allow you to drop into the slot without letting the club get stuck behind you and pushing the ball off to the right.

Really, a down-the-line video is a MUST to help you sort this out. I thought I was vertical when I first switched to this swing, and I was nowhere close. That right elbow wasn't lifting and my club was consequently well laid off.

TinaB,

No replies left on yours, so I'll just say here that as long as your hands are in front of your ankles, you're fine.

Lynn...

You are in an unusual business:
upset or frustrated
golfers want to totally have a fit...
...and you are good with that.

SG

Robert, off topic but I wanted to let you know that I have a new e-mail address and would like to talk to you soon. I've asked Doc to send my new one to you so I'll hope to hear from you soon.

No need since you can as easily pass the blame to Lynn and Dick now. :-)

Hello Fellow Verticules!

Something that I like to do on the range, is take the yardage book for the course with me. I'll use the markers on the range to simulate each hole in the book. I'll either play the front nine or the back nine, and use the yardages in the book to determine which clubs I am going to hit, and to pick a corresponding target on the range.

BTW, I always buy a large bucket of balls. That way, I can take a mulligan whenever it suits me. Sorta helps me to master the tougher shots.

Hit'em Long and Straight!
Bob

Jerry,

Like Doc points out all the time, clubs are too long. Try gripping down an inch or two, and see what difference it makes.

Kevin

Hi Dick,

We have porkys up here, but I've never heard of anyone eating them. No possums or skunks though. This episode of the food network sorta reminds me of the movie version of "The Beverly Hillbillys," when Jethro stops the truck to pick up the dead possum for that night's meal of roadkill stew. MMM! That's mighty good eatin'

Bob

I have discovered over the last couple of days that the Surge Swing does not work ... for chopping trees. LOL!

However, chopping trees is helping with my upper body conditioning so that I don't have to try to hit hard. I'm not regripping at the top of the backswing.

Kevin

When I was a little klutz, my mother threatened to wrap me in cotton batting to keep me from getting hurt. Think I could play golf like that? ROFLMAO!

Kevin

Robert T.,

I'm a klutz. Chainsaws are too dangerous for me. As it was, I dropped the axe on my foot twice. Fortunately, I had good steel-toed boots on.

Kevin