Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 225, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 9, 2009 Page: 7 of 16
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Sweetwater Reporter
Sunday, August 9, 2009 ■ Page A7
Golfi^ Insider
By tj. TOMASI
ITS OOOO FOR YOUR GAME
Covering the ball
he advice to stay beh lnd the
I ball Is common, and In some
X. ways correct, but when Its ap-
plication Is overdone, trouble brews.
On average, the human head
weighs about 10 pounds, so allowing It
to hang over your back shoulder as
you swing to the ball, makes It very
difficult to keep your upper swing
center over (or covering) the ball.
When you hang back trying tostay be-
hind the ball, two problems threaten:
ABOUT THE WRITER
Dr. T.J.
Tomasi is a
teaching
professional
in Port St.
Lucre, Fla
Visit his Web
site at
tjtomasi.com.
(1) It's hard to make a proper weight transfer to your front hip
Joint, and (2) hanging back can promote a flip where your hands
wrap around your body, sending the ball wide of target.
In the modern swing, the player keeps Ills head In the middle of
his shoulders, and If necessary, rotates his head toward the target,
a la Annlka Sorenstam. This hyper-modern move Is an acknowl-
edgement of the role of our modern equipment, making covering
the ball a must to maximize your performance. It’s not that you
can't hit the ball while hanging back; It's that nowadays you can
hltltbf tter by covering it.
It Is one of golf’s little Ironies that the dominant female golfer,
Sorenstam, whose signature move was rotating her head toward
the target, was replaced by Lorena Ochoa, who rotate* her head in
the opposite direction. In my opinion, Ochoa would be well served
by eliminating or at least moderating her move, but time will tell.
ASK THE PRO
Kids learn best by imitating
Q: What’s the best way to teach my kid golf? He’s 81/2, and
I want to get him started on the right track.—A. B.
A: The best way Is to send him to a PGA teaching pro, but
If you must teach him yourself, here are some guidelines.
Kids learn by copying, called modeling. So start by allow-
ing him to watch a decent demonstration. If It’s the grip,
show him what a good grip looks like. Then ask him to take
that grip and give him feedback as to how well he's doing.
Make adjustments until his hold on the club is perfect, then
have him repeat it until it becomes a habit.
At this point. It's on to the next model. When all the funda-
mentals are on board (and there are not that many), turn
'em loose and let 'emplay.
(To Ask the Pro a quest ton about golf e-mail him at:
TJlrisklermwl.com.)
DON’T MISS IT
Swing for the fences
Want to hit the ball farther? Then Don't Miss The Speed
St lk, a teaching aid that measures your clubhead speed
when you swing it. VIJay Singh says: “Since 1 started
swinging The Speed Stlk, my swing speed has Increased by
10 miles per hour. I am hitting the ball farther and
stralghter. and because of this my scoring average has
Improved on the tour. 1 know that The Speed Stlk will do
the same for vour game as well.”
Yes, I know he’s paid to say It. but he actually uses It. and
It has helped.
Not only does The Speed Stlk report how fast you swing,
but if you swing It enough. It can help build up your golf
muscles. It comes In two slzesfor men. defending on your
size, and Is available for ladles and Juniors too. Prices
range from $ $29.88 to $49.88 at The Golfers Warehouse:
www.tgw.com.
At address, the line from my upper swing center about
half way down my sternum runs just behind the ball.
During the downswing, the swing center line is over or
covers the ball. Because I’m driving toward the target,
the angle between my left arm and the shaft is still 90
degrees. That’s called lag. but all it means is that the
clubhead is behind the hands where it should be.
At impact, because I've moved aggressively to my left
side and rotated my core, my swing center is essentially
still covering the ball. How much you slide your swing
center depends a lot on ball position: The farther back
you play the ball, the less you move laterally. Players
who use a more forward ball placement move more
laterally to cover the ball at impact.
TEEING OFF
Dreams that come true
Bon Hogan was not one to waste time,
even while he slept. He told of a recurring
dream where he made 17 holes-ln-one In a
row, and then off die 18th tee he rimmed
the cup. Therapists could have a field day
with this one.
Was he afraid of Impotence when It
counted most under the ultimate pressure
to perform? Was he trying to Intimidate
by sharing Ills dreams with competitors
whose lower talent levels became evident
to them when their dreams featured mere-
ly one hole-ln-one. Or was Hogan simply
way ahead of everyone else In maximiz-
ing the use of hours {ter day?
WTiatever the case, Hogan, knowingly
or not, did use his sleeping hours to
cement his expertise. He would carefully
review hlsday’s play and plan his next
roundjust before he went to bed.
Per usual, “Hennv Bogan." as he liked
to call himself In Ills more Jovial moods,
was onto something. Jessica Payne, Ph.D.,
of Harvard Medical School, says tliat one
advantage of sleep Is to consolidate the
day’s learning and save In long-term
memory those facets of the day that
might be useful In the future, it’s like
closing yourself In a dark room with no
Interruptions and playing back an
audlo/vlsual tape of the day’s events. You
can edit the tape, mark the important
stuff, then lilt save.
Payne sums It up: “It may be that the
chemical and physiological aspects of
sleep underlying memory consolidation
are more effective If a particular memory
Is ’tagged’ shortly prior to sleeping."
Another handy thing you can do during
sleep Is solve problems. Sleep expert l)r.
William Dement from Stanford University
says that history Is full of examples of
sleep problem solving. Dement gives Jack
Nicklaus asa modern-day example:
“The golfer Jack Nicklaus once
dreamed himself out of a long slump. One
day he suddenly got back Ills champi-
onship form, and a reporter asked him
what he had done. Nicklaus replied: Tve
been trying everything to find out what
has been wrong. It was getting to the place
where I figured a 76 was a pretty good
round. But last Wednesday night i had a
dream about my golf swing. I was hitting
them pretty good In the dream, and all at
once I realized I wasn’t holding the club
the way 1’vo actually been holding It
lately’”
Jack listened to his dream, changed his
grip and shot 68-65 to get his game back
on track.
So when you need a solution to a swing
problem or you want to remember some-
thing good you did In golf during the day,
write It down Just before you go to bed
then sleep on It.
GOLF SPOKEN HERE
Smile
Balls that are skulled or otherwise
mishit often wind up with a cut on
their surface that resembles die parted
lips of a smile, although, at three bucks
a ball, what's to smile about9
BIRDIES AND BOGIES
Is this what they mean by “growing the game”:
to the w.tv It was when the game wasn't so
"growed."
The 16th hole at TP(' Scottsdale and the 17th
at Warwick Hills In Michigan are the breeding
grounds for a dangerous trend that needs to be
nipped In the bud -or perhaps nipped In the
Helnekens, given the "libations'' stateof the
nolsemakers.
I'm talking about the mob, the horde, the
rabble whatever you want to call them
screaming, chanting, doing the wave, shouting
out nicknames and booing bad shots. More
football behavior than golf.
At Bethpage they hollered to Sergio Garcia
that Tiger's girlfriend (now Ids wife) was
better looking than Sergio's. Even If true,
there was no class w hatever In that crowd. TV
announcer Gary McCord, whllea guest In the
"house of class" Itself. Augusta National,
called the Masters Gallery "a mob,"
qualifying him for a one-way ticket to
Palookavllle.
Mobs are noisy, out of control, frantic. Golf
is a quiet, ambling game, a gameol < < >ntr< I
where the best players stay < aim. And It may
be that golf Issopopularbecausequlet Is the
natural stateof man (and women too),
s ientlsts tell us that if you give monkeys a
choice between sounds and silence, they
choose silence.
Pro golfers are classy people, and It used 10
be that golf galleries were a classy group, ux),
but now comes the Influx of loudmouths
shouting. "You da man" or "No soup for you.
It seems they even named a clothing company
after the mob (LoudMouth Inc.) with John
Daly as Its spokesman.
Noise, rowdies, loudmouths let s go back
Will Tiger win 10 Masters?
When Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer
first saw Tiger Woods play in U*97. they both
agreed that Tiger would win at least 10
Masters titles. So how's he doing?
Tiger was born 12 do 1975. and he'll be
;H for the2010 Masters. Given that Nicklaus
won Ills last major (the Masters) at age 46
and assume that Tiger continues at his
current rate of winning majors (28 percent).
So. figuring that Tiger has 12 years to age
16.20 percent of 12 Is 3.36. Hound It off to
three and add the four he already has gives
him seven, three short of the predicted
in Masters.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Great read.
He even got the
bug right. ”
GARY MCCORD
Commenting when
Tiger asked his caddie to
read a birdie putt at this
year’s Buick. Tiger
thought he missed it until
It hit a bug and jumped
into the cup.
r
THE GOLF DOCTOR
GOLF BY THE NUMBERS
Champions find ways of shedding expectations
Other people's expectations can be a vice that
squeezes the life out of your performance.
1 ’sing an Injury or sickness to Improve perform-
ance Is a mental tool of champions, and It hap-
pens,! lot In athletics when the expectations for
performance are very low because the champi-
on Is lust sick enough to have a rationale that
blots out expectations. This Is the reason they
say "lie wary of the sick" after all. whocould
expect yon to perform well when you're not 100
percent?
Tiger won throwing upon the course* because
of foul poisoning, and a few years later with a
__
Injured knee; Padralg Harrington won with an
Injured wrist and Mark Calcavecchla had Ills
version of a sore knee:
"I'm surprised, to tell you the truth, said
Calcavecchla after he played so well at the
Honda a few years ago. losing on the ?2nd hole
to Jesper Parnevlk. "I had no expectations
this week. I don't know what to say. I can't
explain It."
But like any mental tool, it's all In how you
use the affliction: Champions use It as a reason
to succeed: non-champions use It as an excuse
to fall.
_J
3.3: fin handle apof Fox News ant hor Bret Baler, who replaced Brit
Hume tills January And It's a conservative estimate.
10 percent The percentage ln< rease In sales fot \dldasGolf when
its snlrt Is worn by the winner on a Sunday afternoon. “We set* the In-
flux online, and out customer service phone line will gei the calls front
retailers w ho are reacting to requests from consumers." said Tlss
Dalian, senior director of global apparel at \dldasGolf.
250,000 million: The number of dollars paid to Tiger Woods by
Nike since 1996. When you add up all of Woods' Income, lie’s on track to
become the first bllllon-dollar athlete. Most of Ills wealth comes from
endorsement deals with prize money accounting for only one-tenth of
Ills earnings.
GILBERT CARREON D.D.S.
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Rodriguez, Tatiana. Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 225, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 9, 2009, newspaper, August 9, 2009; Sweetwater, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth561841/m1/7/?q=%22%22~1&rotate=90: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.