Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 160, Ed. 1 Sunday, May 24, 2009 Page: 7 of 16
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Sweetwater Reporter
Sunday, May 24, 2009 ■ Page A7
BIRDIES AND BOGIES
Room with a view
I thought I’d seen everything from Tiger
Woods, but the most amazing feat came in Tiger's
third round at this year’s Players Championship,
when he shot a 70 that would have been 80 for any
other human on the planet.
Remember that Tiger played in one British
Open at St. Andrews and in four days, despite the
fact that then? are 112 bunkers, never hit into one
— Plus he won the championship. He’s made
binlies in the dark to win, and he won the US.
Open at Pebble Beach by 15 shots and the Masters
by 12 shots after shooting a 10 on his first nine
holes. Plus he’s the fastest player to reach 64 ca-
reer wins and, of course, he already has 14 ma-
jors at the age of 33.
Despite all these spectacular fireworks, his 70
at the Players was a rocket eclipsing them all, pri-
marily because he was hitting it lousy really
lousy. He missed 50 percent of the fairways and 10
percent of the greens, froze his ball against trees,
hit a ball left-handed w'ith the club turned upside
down, was in rough over his shoes, hit huge push
slices and darting hooks, then threaded heroic
punch shots between narrow gaps in the forest
back to the fairway In the face of all this, he went
from 22nd to second, passing players who were
striking the ball much better than he was
The thing is that Tiger is a scoring machine,
not a ball-striking machine a mindset you can
learn. I think he’s the best par putter ever, and his
wedge play from 40 yards is immaculate. So when
it goes in the bushes, you can almost hear him
holler, “Give me a room with a view."
When trouble comes, Tiger switches to his
scramble skill set: squeezes it out through the
opening and runs it up to 40 yards, pitches it to 8
feet and makes it for par. This skill set (punch-
out, wedge, putt) holds par for him until a lew-
holes later he makes two perfect sw ings that re-
sult in a birdie. Now he’s one under where the av-
erage player would be two or more over.
Sounds easy, but when you’re swinging poorly
as Tiger has since his knee operation, you have to
be strong of mind not to let it get you down. And
nobody but nobody is mentally stronger than
Tiger. Still, it won’t he enough if he doesn’t find
his golf swing. Not even Tiger can survive on
scrambling alone.
Cox News Service
Tiger Woods has been swinging poorly
since his knee operation.
Peter perfect!
Wow1 Has Peter Jacobson improved as an an
nouncer. They must have sent him to announcer's
school because he has a new persona no longer
is he trying to he the center of the action. He's
very knowledgeable, a fine player, great voice and
now, instead of trying to be a scripted standup
comic. Jacobson lets his natural humor come out
when it 's appropriate
At one point in the Players championship,
when Tiger hit into the bushes, Jacobson quipped
that Hank Haney (Tiger’s swing coach) hoped
that Tiger’s swing would rub off on Charles
Barkley, whom 1 lanes has been coaching on a
Golf Channel series, but it looked like Barkley
has rubbed off on Tiger Good one, P.J.
GOLF BY THE NUMBERS
Big bucks
In case you didn’t know it. there is a lot of
money to lx- made out there if you can play good
golf
Let’s start w ith the Race to Dubai and the
Dubai World Championship. Players will compete
fora total of S10 million at the Championship,
while another $10 million will be shared among
the top 15 European Tour players participating in
the season-long race.
Then there's the HSBC Champions in China
with a total purse of $7 million.
The top five purses on the PGA Tour are:
1. Players Championship
2. British Open
3 Accenture Match Play
4. CA Championship at Doral
5 Bridgestone Invitational
$9.5 million
$8.6 million
$8.5 million
$8.5 million
$8 million
But the cash doesn’t all go to the players: Since
ia38. the PGA Tour has donated more than $1.4
billion to charity (with SI billion of that raised in
the past 15 years). Kudos to the PGA Tour.
.. . l•imtnkiit®!:
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Half-way back in my swing, the clubface looks toward the sky
Your golfing
MANTRA
By T.J. TOMASI
IT’S GOOD FOR YOUR GAME
Golfer see,
golfer do
After you have learned the basics of
the golf swing, watching a go<xt player
sw ing a club can be most helpful.
Having repeated the general moves
many times, you are sensitive to seeing
movements Ilia I are similar hut not
identical to the ones you’ve rehearsed.
When you see someone swinging a golf
club, certain motor areas of your brain
respond as if you were making the
swung yourself . This may lx- the reason
that some golfers play better when they
play with better players. It’s a case of
"golfer see. golfer do.”
A few years ago, 1 saw a video of old-
time star Al Geiberger’s fluid swing
with no audio or instruction. The idea
was to watch the swing over and over
again from slightly different angles
without dissecting it This tracks one
way your brain learns a motor activity,
according to neuroscientists. You don’t
have to actually make a golf swing to
learn one as long as you "see it."
Granted, you must have learned the
basic mechanics, but once you do, you
can practice by mentally visualizing not
only your swing but also an expert’s
swing.
My advice is to learn the basics, then
choose a pro with a body type similar to
your own, record his or her swing on
TV. then watch and mimic the swing.
This way you can add swing images and
visual mimicking to your normal prac-
tice routine, and it sure beats pounding
balls
THE GOLF DOCTOR
a s a golfer, it’s good to
/\ have a mantra a
XA. phrase you repeat
every time you make a
practice swing that will
cue up your actual swing.
Here’s an example.
One thing most players
have a tough time keeping
track of is the face of the
golf club. Where is it and
what does it look like din-
ing the swing? If you are
inconsistent hitting one
ball straight, the next to
the right and the third to
the left chances are the
following mantra can help.
Take your normal setup
and make sure the face of
the club is pointing at your
target, then repeat this
phrase as you pause at
each position: Face at the
target, face at the sky. face
at the target, face at the
ground.
1 Address position
“Face at the target "
2. Half-way bark: "Face
at the skv.”
3. Impact; "Face at the
target.”
4. Half-way into follow-
through: "Faceat the
ground ."
As you say do this in
stop action, you’ll notice
that the key to the mantra
is correct rotation of the
forearms. In position 2. the
left forearm (for right han
dels) is higher than the
right (pose it and you'll
see), while in position 4,
the right is higher than the
left, documenting the fact
that the forearms rotated
from 2 to 4. It is in the mid-
dle of this rotational arc
ABOUT THE WRITER
Dr T.J Tomasi is
a leaching
professional in
Pori St Lucie,
Fla. Visit his Web
site a I
tjtomasi. com.
that position 3 is reached,
where the face looks at the
target at impact.
By rotating the fore-
arms. the clubface moves
f rom square at address to
open during the hack-
swing. then square at im-
pact. to closed during the
follow-through. Any varia-
tion from the mantra caus-
es the ball to fly wildly.
At
impact
the face
looks at
the target
Halfway into
my follow-
through, the
face of the club
is looking at the
ground.
Let your internal clock
pace your swing
We all have internal clocks, time
keepers that pace the speed at which
we walk, talk and swing the golf
club Some players are slow swingers
of the club, and their speech and
movement mirrors that tempo on
and off' the golf course. Witness Fred
Couples and Ernie Els whose speech
rhythms, facial expressions and
composure match up with their lan
guid swings.
Other players live in the fast lane
try keeping up with Tom Watson
and Bat Perez. Watch the speed with
which they travel between shots, and
listen to the pacing of their words as
they speak. Their swings match
their life teniix). and so should yours.
In normal situations, your swing
matches the lx-at of your natural in-
ternal tempo The danger is in "over
doing” under pressure. When the
heat is on. fast players tend to get too
fast and slow players are loo slow.
Players who can maintain their
tempo down the home stretch, like
hyper Nick Price did on his way to
the British Open Championship a
few years ago, get to hoist the trophy
The player lie beat, fast-paced Jespoi
Parnevik. got antsy and couldn't
keep pace with Price.
How do you master your tempo? If
you are fast, practice ways to slow-
down. Try taking deep breaths and
walking slowly. If you are too slow,
pick up the pace of your walking,
hum the melody of an up-tempo
tune, and be the first one out of the
,t art and onto the tee box j
Mickelson takes break
to care for sick wife
Golfer Phil Mickelson announced
Wednesday he will suspend his PGA
Tour schedule indefinitely to care for
his wife, who has been diagnosed
with breast cancer.
The three-time major champion
was to play the Byron Nelson
Championship this week.
Mickelson's management company
said his wife Amy was to begin treat-
ment with major surgery scheduled
as early as the next two weeks.
Amy Mickelson. a former Phoenix
Suns cheerleader, met her husband in
1992 when Mickelson was a senior at
Arizona State, a year after he won his
first PGA Tom’ event as an amateur.
They were married in 1996 and have
three children: Amanda, 9. Sophia. 7.
and Evan,6
ASK THE PRO
Tipping rule prompts question
Q: Should I tip my teacher? My
club has a no-tipping rule.
- M.H.
A: Your club may not allow tqr
ping, but that should apply only
to the support staff, like the guy
who straps your bag on the cart
or cleans your clubs after the
round. Since your teaching pro is
a professional, the no-tip rule
shouldn’t apply, especially after
you've received a great lesson or
your pro has given you extra
time. ,
A tip Ls definitely in order if
your instructor is a pure teaching
pro, meaning that his or her spe-
cialty is teaching and that's all he
dex-s If you have a teaching pro al
your club, you’re lucky because
he can focus on making your
game better with no dish-actions
like shop duty, running member
tournaments or finding lost um
brellas. Granted, there an- some
very fine teachers who are also
head pros, but when you need
brain surgery, you don’t go to a
GP
(7b Ask the Pro a question about
polj, e-mail him at:
TJfnsideriitaol.com.)
GOLF SPOKEN HERE
Pose
What a golfer does
when he hits a shot
lie’s especially proud
of, holding his follow-
through for everyone
to admire. It is also a
good learning tech
nique when the stu-
dent poses in the posi-
tion he wants to learn
and checks it out in
the mirror, making
sure he matches it
perfectly
DON'T MISS IT
The grip that keeps on giving
Want golf-strong hands and arms'' Then Don't Miss the
Forearm Flexor and its pal, the Grip Master I've seen golfers
with all sorts ot body builds, but every great player, no matter
the build, had stn>ng forearms and hands.
The Flexor is a heavy-duty steel spring with an adjustable
foam stabilizer pad that targets wrist and forearm muscles You can do regulat-
or reverse wrist curls, and the Flexor is small enough to fit in your gym bag
Grip Master conditions the lingers, hand, wrist and forearm through an iso-
lated resistance workout, and you can carry it in your pocket. It will help im-
prove your strength, control, endurance, coordination and dex
ferity.
Grip Master comes in three strengths, a light tension model
for rehabilitation or players who wish to gradually increase
strength, a moderate tension recommended for most golfers,
and seven- tension for those who "eat steel vvtxil in place of
Mini Wheats for breakfast." according to the manufacturer
Forearm The Fbreat m Flexor is $25and tie- Grip Mastei is$18 Check
Flexor them Ixith out at www.golfaroundtheworld.com
Grip Master
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Rodriguez, Tatiana. Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 160, Ed. 1 Sunday, May 24, 2009, newspaper, May 24, 2009; Sweetwater, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth560391/m1/7/?q=%22~1~1~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.