Pr0fessional golf is essentially a game of minimizing misses. That’s how Nicklaus won all those majors: played approaches to the middle of greens and let the competition implode. Golf is also a game of uncertainties, like wind, for example, particularly swirling wind, lodged up in tall trees where you can’t really calculate what’s going on. […]
Tiger Woods
The Masters: Day 1
Good stuff, eh? It’s why this major is the best. Jordan’s in the lead, sure. Kind of expected–at least my brother got it right. But Haotong Li is in 4th. Remember, the Chinese Communist Party banned golf a couple years ago as a bourgeois activity. He taught himself English off his smart phone. And this […]
The Masters: Back to Tradition
Unlike most spectator sporting events, golf is known more for its polite applause than end zone antics. Even at the height of Arnie’s Army or Tiger’s legions, fans would quiet down when a shot was about to be executed. And I’ve been watching early episodes of Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf in the 50s and […]
The Return of Tiger
Yes, amazingly, he is back. Months ago, I had recommended he retire and go out in relative style. But the guy obviously has little or no quit in him, especially after this fusion surgery has him feeling, and playing, quite well, thank you very much. In fact, he’s been in contention–top tens–in his last several tournaments. […]
Pain
All sentient beings, possessing a body, eventually come face to face with pain. In the course of a lifetime, there’s no getting around it. We are in a certain relationship with the experience of pain, and that relationship is often an adversarial one. Pain is something to avoid or get out of, and whole industries […]
Mindful Golf at the Battle at Birkdale
Jordan Spieth was three shots clear of Matt Kuchar going into the final round of the 2017 British Open at Royal Birkdale. In the first four holes of that round, Spieth, unbelievably, scored three bogeys, erasing that lead, giving Kuch and the field new life. Most golfers, pro and amateur, would have collapsed further from […]
Golf: The Ultimate Body/Mind Connection
The body/mind connection is well established, and affects every aspect of sentient life on this wonderful planet of ours. But we often take it for granted and get so wrapped up in the pace of daily life, we don’t notice its nuances, changes, and subtleties. It’s not until years later–say, sometime after 50 or so–do […]
Swing Tips and other Tidbits
Good posture at address, bending from the waist, knees flexed, and keeping the back as straight as your body will allow. In starting the club back, I recommend extending the arc by directing the clubhead a bit outside the plane keeping the shaft relatively vertical with the arms in front of the body, before the club flattens out […]
Happy New Year
A healthy, happy, prosperous New Year, my faithful subscribers and others who have stumbled upon this humble but hopefully helpful site. I wish you all the best of golf experiences throughout 2017, full of the feels of direct and solid contact, leading to pars, birdies, good scores, and, maybe, a hole in one. Who knows? […]