Friday, September 30, 2011

Mark Evershed on Academy Live

Here's our friend Mark Evershed's appearance on Golf Channel's Academy Live a few years ago.





Hit em Straight

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Interview with Pat O'Brien

We're going to continue with our Short Game Series and today we're going to interview one of the hottest putting coaches you've probably never heard of. His name is Pat O'Brien and he teaches out of Lakewood Country Club in Dallas, Texas. Pat is currently working with Zach Johnson, Vaughn Taylor, John Senden, US Amateur Champion Kelly Kraft and several others. We experienced some technical difficulties, so you might get some redundant comments. It's all good information so it's worth repeating ;0).

Here's the interview:



For more information on Pat and his philosophies please visit his website at:

www.patobriengolf.com



Hit em Straight

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Brad Faxon "Sigma Cum Laude"

Continuing our assessment of the best Short Games past and present, we will introduce a guy who like today's number one player is known for being "short and crooked" off the tee. That guy is Brad Faxon. Known for his amazing putting skills, Brad is also a great wedge player. I first took note of this in the 1995 PGA Championship where he fired a closing round 63 to finish 5th., a round that included a "popped up" tee shot.

Here's Brad's Putting:




Here's Brad's Chipping and Pitching:








Here's his bio from wikipedia:

Early years and amateur career

Faxon was born in Oceanport, New Jersey[1] and raised in Barrington, Rhode Island.[2] He attended Furman University, and earned a Bachelor of Economics degree in 1983.[1]

At Furman, Faxon was a two-time All-American (1982, 1983) as a member of the golf team. He played on the 1983 Walker Cup team. Faxon won the Haskins Award for the most outstanding collegiate golfer in the United States in 1983. He also received that same year's Golf Magazine and NCAA Coaches Awards as the nation's outstanding amateur golfer.[3] He turned professional in 1983.[1]
[edit] Professional career
[edit] PGA Tour

Faxon has won eight times on the PGA Tour and played on two Ryder Cup teams.[3] While admittedly not a great driver of the golf ball or a great ball-striker, Faxon has built a reputation as one of the best pure putters in golf history. He led the PGA Tour in Putting Average in 1996, 1999, and 2000 (when he set the single-season record with only 1.704 putts/greens in regulation), and finished 13th in 2005 at the age of 44. Faxon explains his success on the greens thus: "My only secret is confidence... I just try to hit every putt as if I've just made a million in a row."

Faxon had been one of the most successful players on the PGA Tour throughout the 1990s, a mainstay in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Rankings, but a knee injury began to hamper his effectiveness in 2003, causing him to suffer through his worst season in 14 years in 2004. Faxon bounced back in 2005, though, winning his first tournament in four years and finishing 45th on the PGA Tour Money List. On September 19, 2005, he underwent surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right knee. Faxon returned to competition for the 2006 season, in which he earned over $500,000.[3]


Hit em Straight

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Tiger Woods Magna Cum Laude

Much has been made of Tiger Woods' recent swing changes, however I have kept reiterating that he won in spite of coaching. He's won Tournaments with 3 different swings. And if you look at his record with Harmon and with Haney you'll find that they are identical. There is one reason and one reason only why Tiger was so dominant and that's because he had the best short game in history. Here is a video depicting the down portion of "Getting up and down".




This is a compilation of other people's videos so if your footage was used please let me know so that I can credit you.



Hit em Straight

Monday, September 26, 2011

Evershed on "Knudson"

George Knudson



Here's a different perspective on Mr. Knudson, from our good friend Mark Evershed.




 BTW the $3oo in today's money is $1266.00, so forgive me for my exaggeration. 
Hit em Straight

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Short Game "Sigma Cum Laude"

Little Poison aka Paul Runyan
Continuing, our series of Best Short Games. Today we're going to look at the next level of scramblers.
We'll start with a man known as "Little Poison", Paul Runyan.
Here's a news clip from his famous victory over Sam Snead in the 1938 PGA at Shawnee. It was said that Snead out drove him by up to 60 yards, but when it was all said and done Runyan beat him 8 and 7. I would consider that a "Blowout".




BTW, anybody who has played Shawnee knows what it's like to swallow 100+ gnats every time they open their mouth. So it was probably also a good test of concentration.








Here's his bio from Wikipedia:

Early life

Runyan was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He started out as a caddie and then an apprentice at a golf course in his hometown, before turning pro at age 17. He was head professional at a Little Rock club by age 18.[1] He served as an assistant pro to Craig Wood at Forest Hills Golf Club in White Plains, New York, in 1931.
[edit]Tour winner

Three years later, Runyan defeated Wood in a playoff in the title match, to win the first of his two PGA Championships. Of Runyan's 29 career PGA Tour wins, 16 of them came in 1933 and 1934. His nine wins in 1933 make him one of only seven golfers to win nine or more times in one year on the PGA Tour. In the first Masters Tournament in 1934, Runyan was paired for the first 36 holes with tournament host Bobby Jones. Runyan won the PGA Tour money title in 1934, and was a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 1933 and 1935.
Runyan was competitive for many years, winning the PGA again in 1938 and leading the U.S. Open after three rounds as late as 1951. In the finals of his 1938 PGA, Runyan defeated Sam Snead 8 and 7, the most lopsided title match of the era when the PGA was contested at match play. This was despite Snead's vastly greater length off the tee, as much as 75 yards per hole.[1]
Fellow golfers nicknamed him "Little Poison" (a take on 1930s baseball player Lloyd Waner, who had the same nickname), primarily because he did not drive the ball very far, but also because he had a terrific short game. Runyan had worked tirelessly on his short game from boyhood, since he realized early on if he were to succeed in golf, he had to compensate for his lack of length. Runyan opined that he is the smallest player in golf history who had significant success.[1]
[edit]Master teacher

Runyan's teaching prowess led many top pros to him over his 75 years of teaching, including Gene Littler, Phil Rodgers, Frank Beard, Jim Ferree and Mickey Wright. Golf Magazine wrote: "... since the late 1930s, he has probably been the most influential short game instructor. Untold thousands have been taught his methods for putting and chipping." Runyan wrote an influential book outlining his short-game methods(Title?). In 2000, he astoundingly completed the annual Par 3 competition held one day before the Masters at the age of 91. He died in Palm Springs, California.[2]

Hit em Straight

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Seve "Summa Cum Laude"

Here's a perfect example of why Seve was the greatest ever. Anybody else would have been closed out after 10. For those who didn't watch this, Seve was spraying the ball wildly off the tee, he eventually resorted to teeing off with irons and couldn't keep those in the fairway either.
(By the way, listen as Azinger goes into his playa hating routine from the booth)




Hit em Straight

Friday, September 23, 2011

Al Barkow revisited

Out of all the interviews I've done this is one of my favorites. Lots of History and tradition.




Here's Al's swing





Here's his Bio from wikipedia:

Al Barkow (born 1932) is an American journalist, award-winning author, editor, lecturer, historian and golfer.

College

Barkow was born in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Western Illinois University for three years, later graduating from Roosevelt University, Chicago, where he received a B.A. degree in 1960. He was a member of the NAIA national championship college golf team (Western Illinois Univ., 1959); and qualified and competed in the U.S. Amateur (1971).
[edit]Journalism

The main focus of Barkow's journalistic work has been as a golf writer, although Barkow has written on subjects beside golf - tennis, boxing, baseball - and on food. He has published hundreds of articles over a 46-year career in numerous leading publications. He has contributed hundreds of articles on golf, in magazines, newspapers, and more recently as an internet writer.
[edit]Publications

Barkow has made significant journalistic contributions to the following publications: The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, The Wall Street Journal, Golf Magazine, Golf Digest, Golf World, Sport, Senior Golfer, Golf Monthly (UK), USGA Golf Journal, Travel & Leisure, The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, Signature, Diversion, Golf Journal, Links Magazine, The Majors Series, Golfiana, Golf Tips Magazine, The GolfWeb, IDV/Sports.
[edit]Editor

Barkow was editor-in-chief of Golf Magazine (1970–72) and Golf Illustrated (1985–90; 1994–1996). He is currently editor-at-large for Golf Illustrated. He produced his own golf newsletter, Al Barkow's Golf Report (1991–92), and was the editor of The Journal of the Shivas Irons Society (2005–07).
[edit]Author

Barkow's books include histories - Golf's Golden Grind: the History of the Tour (1974- Reprinted, 2000); Gettin' to the Dance Floor: an Oral History of American Golf (1986-Reprinted, 2000) The History of the PGA Tour (1989); The Golden Age of Golf: How America Came to Dominate the Old Scotsgame (2000); and Gene Sarazen and Shell's Wonderful World of Golf (2004). Gettin' to the Dance Floor was the winner of the inaugural USGA International Golf Book of the Year Award (1986). A collection of his articles entitled That's Golf: The Best of Barkow was published in 2002 by Burford Books. His most recent book is a biography of Sam Snead, entitled Sam, The One and Only Sam Snead (2005).
[edit]Golf instructional books

Barkow has also written a number of golf instructional books in collaboration with golf professionals. They include: The Good Sense of Golf (with Billy Casper, 1980); The Venturi Analysis (with Ken Venturi, 1982); The Venturi System (with Ken Venturi, 1983); The Master of Putting (with George Low, 1983- Reprinted, 1997); Play Lower Handicap Golf (with Phil Rodgers, 1986); Getting Set for Golf (with Carl Lohren, 1995); Dave Stockton’s Putting Secrets: The Final Word on Putting (with Dave Stockton), 2009.
[edit]Television and radio

Barkow got his start in golf journalism in 1963, when he landed the job of golf writer on the Emmy Award-winning television program, Shell's Wonderful World of Golf television show. His first assignment was working on the famous "Hogan vs Snead" match at the Houston Country Club. Barkow became the chief writer and associate producer for the Shell's Wonderful World of Golf series from 1963-69. Barkow eventually became a co-producer of the show.
Barkow worked as an on-camera commentator for "Inside the PGA Tour", and "The Senior PGA Tour" Shows (1986–1999). Barkow also worked as a "play-by-play" radio broadcaster and anchor of PGA, Senior PGA and LPGA Tour events for "Sportsband", and "One-on-One Sports" (1986–92); And, he contributed commentary on Sports Illustrated's Golf Plus radio broadcasts (1998).
[edit]Awards

Barkow, a member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA) since 1969, has won writing awards given by the GWAA, second and third Place, GWAA magazine division (1983–95); he was also awarded the 2003 Journalism Honoree at The Memorial Tournament; 2004 ING Non-Fiction book for Sarazen/Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf; 2005 PGA of America Lifetime Achievement-Journalism; 2007 Linc Werden/Metropolitan Golf Writers Assohociation (NY) Golf Journalism Award; and the USGA's International Golf Book of the Year award in 1986 for Gettin’ to the Dance Floor, an Oral History of American Golf.



Hit em Straight

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Short Game "Summa Cum Laude"

Although Mickelson makes the videos and gets the media hype, I would classify his short game as mediocre. Of course the casual uninformed golfer finds some of Mickelson's antics amusing and impressive,but those "in the know" know better. So, let's start a countdown of the best short games out there, past and present.

Here are the best ever. Why? Because they were able to win Majors while driving the ball every which way but straight.

We'll classify these guys as "Summa Cum Laude":

First up, Severiano Ballesteros: Creativity, Imagination and Sheer Determination








Next Up, Tiger Woods: Although many choose to focus on his once prodigious length and his athletic ability, what got him his Majors was his deft touch and his ability to scramble.






(this is a compilation of Youtube videos posted by others, if your video was used and want credit, shoot me an email, for now we know team weichman, lake and Bulldawg)

Hit em Straight

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Bunker Play by Dan Whittaker

We're going to continue with our Short Game Series, today we are going to feature Dan Whittaker discussing bunker play.




Hit em Straight

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Stan Utley on "Putting"

The more I'm around this game the more I start to realize that one can learn more about certain aspects of it from those who have competed on the highest levels and have had to perform these tasks under the heat of tournament competition. I believe this is the case with Stan Utley. I watched Stan last year when he played in a Nationwide event. He had what appeared to be an impossible chip shot, the green ran away from him, he was coming out of the rough and there were quite a few undulations between him and the hole. He also had the pressure of being a short game Guru, so all eyes were on him. He walked up to the hole, looked at the line from both ends, calmly stepped up to the chip and nearly holed it out (left it on the lip). That's my kind of guy. Over the next few weeks we're going to look at and study some of the best putters on tour and in History.

I'd like to thank Gotham Golfer "Rollyourrock" for allowing me to use his footage.




Hit em Straight

Monday, September 19, 2011

George Knudson by Norm Moote

In our constant search to learn more about George Knudson we have been tracking down those who were fortunate enough to have spent some time learning directly from him. Norm Moote is one of those people.








 Here's Norm's tribute to his mentor, Mr. Knudson:

george knudsonI first meet George Knudson in the spring of 1981.  He was giving Assistant Golf Professionals a free clinic up at the Huntington Golf Club in Bolton Ontario.
Like many young pro’s, I was struggling with my golf game and was trying to find a way to swing the golf club that not only made sense to me, but  would repeat more often then not.
In those days it was very hard to find a teaching pro that really knew what he was doing.
 There weren’t Golf Academies or full time teaching professional in Canada, in fact, the CPGA didn't’t even have a classification of Teaching Pro until some time in the mid 1990’s. 
So as a young assistant, I would learn from watching others, reading golf magazines, or books. 
If I did take a lesson, the lesson would consist of the pro watching me hit a few balls, would going over some basics like grip. Alignment, etc, then they would just watch the ball and try to give me some kind of band aid to fix the result. 
Knudson was the first to establish a golf school in Canada and I feel he lead the way for all these other teaching academies and learning centers that exists today.
George Knudson had a theory which was simple, and for me made more sense then anything else I was exposed to.  After that session at Huntington, I saw immediate results and was hooked on the Knudson theory.   I felt I now had at least an idea.
  I continued to work with George, and felt that every time I had a session with him, I left with a better understanding of the golf swing.
Eventually, Knudson ask me to work for him at his location in Buttonville.  It was the best experience of my life.  George was very passionate about his teaching and wanted golfers at all levels, from all walks of live, to learn and enjoy the game of golf and wanted each and every one of his students to reach their individual potential as a player.
I remember when George asked me to work for him he said,” when you play the game for a living, your doing it for yourself, but when you teach the game for a living, its totally giving.” He said he got more satisfaction out of teaching the game then he ever got out of playing the game.”
I have now been teaching Knudson’s method for the past 25 years and have taught thousands of golfers develop a better understanding of the golf swing.  My goal is to help keep George Knudson’s swing philosophy alive as well as the memory of a great man and good friend.


For more information on Norm and his philosophies please visit his website:



Hit em Straight



Saturday, September 17, 2011

Understanding the D Plane by James Lietz

Here's some more great information from Mr. James Lietz.




Hit em Straight

Friday, September 16, 2011

Thursday, September 15, 2011

LAG?

We report, you decide:







Here's NateP's link from below:

http://www.tutelman.com/golf/shafts/ShaftLab1.php


Here's Jeff's op/ed:



Jeff, in the future if you want me to post a rebuttal video, please refrain from using Ustream. I'm not getting paid to post their advertising on my blog. There is a protocol for that, email me and I will let you know how we do it.




Hit em Straight

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Pitching by Dan Whittaker

Here's Dan with some thoughts on pitching.





Hit em Straight

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Tiger Woods, once the best Putter in the World

Here's our friend Wayne DeFrancesco with an analysis of Tiger Woods' putting stroke.





Hit em Straight

Monday, September 12, 2011

"The Short Game" by Dan Whittaker

We're going to dedicate this week to the short game and putting. Today we have Dan Whittaker explaining a couple of options we have around the green.




for more information on Dan and his techniques, please visit his website at:

www.danwhittakergolf.com

Hit em Straight

Friday, September 9, 2011

Swinging and Hitting

Here's Tom Tomasello with a review of Swinging and Hitting. This way some of you can follow along with what we're discussing here.



Craig Parry efficient Hitting



Craig Stadler closely approximates Tomasello's Hitting definition


Kenny Perry
TGM Hitting? Not even close




While we're on the topic.

Efficient Hitting, Greg Norman




Homer Kelley demonstrating radial or angular acceleration


Linear and Radial for the umpteenth time








Jamie Sadlowski hitting a short iron:
It's pretty obvious that he starts his downswing with a hip bump/slide to the left (longitudinal):




Here's Jamie hitting a driver I drew the line so that you can see the Hip Bump/Slide, In my opinion it would be humanly impossible to generate that king of power and sustain that kind of lag without the lateral move.
If you watch, he loads onto the right side and bumps/slides back to the left and then he rotates:



Mike Finney's video







Hit em Straight

Bradley Hughes on "Plane shifts and Pressures"

Here is our friend Bradley Hughes with some thoughts on Plane Shifts and Pressures.



The video Brad refers to in the comments section below: (vimeo had a problem so I think I embedded the right one from youtube)



Hit em Straight

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Hitting, "Everybody adds"

I agree with Mike on this notion. Hogan said he did it and I realize there is a bit of add on most PGA tour golf swings. I've said it before on this blog, that you want to get to the release interval(or in the slot) and hit it with everything but the Kitchen sink. I sincerely believe this can be done without over-accelerating. So, you accelerate longitudinally to about waist high and then proceed radially with a little help from the right hand and arm. I told Jeff Mann in a conversation we had at the end of the interview, that I release accumulators 4-1-2-3 in that sequence.

Here's an excerpt from 5 lessons:

Let us first study the correct motion of the right arm and hand in the impact area. It always seemed to me that, in its general character, this motion is quite similar to the one an infielder makes when he throws half underhand, half sidearm to first after scooping up a ground ball. as he swings his arm forward, his right elbow is very close to his right hip. The elbow "leads" the arm- it is the part of the arm nearest to the target as he begins to make the throw. The forearm and hand catch up with the elbow, and the player's arm is extended relatively straight when he releases the ball. As he follows through, the wrist and hand gradually turn over, and his palm faces the ground at the finish of his follow-through.
On a full shot you want to hit the ball as hard as you can with your right hand. But that is only half the story. HIT THE BALL AS HARD AS YOU CAN WITH BOTH HANDS. The left is a power hand, too. If you hit hard with only the right and let the left go to sleep, you will not only lose much valuable power, you will also run into all the errors that result when the right hand overpowers the left. YOU MUST HIT AS HARD WITH THE LEFT AS WITH THE RIGHT.



Here's Peter Senior:
He drag loads it, almost to the point where the club is riding on his back. He then gets to waist high or so and hits it with everything but the kitchen sink. Of course some would categorize this as some sort of swinging. There is no doubt in my mind that he is utilizing right arm muscular thrust through and beyond the impact interval.





Here's Peter Lonard



I've removed Hogan, it' not clear enough to prove my point.

Jeff's analysis of Peter Senior:


Image 1 shows him approaching the delivery position where his hands have reached waist level. Note that his right elbow is still bent (which means that PA#1 is still loaded), that his clubshaft is still >90 degrees relative to the left arm (PA#2 is still loaded) and his GFLW is roughly parallel to the inclined plane (which means that PA#3 is still loaded). Note that he has already started to release PA#4.

Image 2 shows him at impact - he has released PA#2 and PA#3 and the right arm has significantly straightened. If his right arm straightens with enough force to keep up with the left hand, but doesn't apply a push-force via PP#3 that drive-loads the shaft during the late downswing and the club primarily releases via a CF-release action, then he is still swinging in his late downswing. If his right arm straightens very actively so that it drive-loads the shaft during the late downswing and over-rides any CF-release action, then he is hitting in his late downswing - and he could be said to be actively releasing PA#1. A hitter (who actively releases PA#1) will also be releasing PA#3 via push-force applied to PP#1 during the right arm straightening action. A swinger can also use push-force from the right arm (applied at PP#1) during the right arm straightening action to synergistically help in the smooth release of PA#3, but that doesn't represent an active release of PA#1. An active release of PA#1 is deemed to only be present if the right arm straightening action is active enough that it induces the release of PA#2 and over-rides any CF-release action that is operant AND if the club is drive-loaded into impact, and through impact.

If Peter Senior is drive-loading the shaft into impact (as you believe) then he is hitting in his late downswing. The question then becomes - is he a pure hitter or a swing-hitter? Here is my explanation of how to resolve that dilemma - by studying what happens in the early-mid downswing BEFORE the hands get down to waist level. Note that his right elbow is bent at his end-backswing position with the right forearm roughly parallel to the spine and his hands are roughly opposite his right shoulder socket area. That's an optimal position to start a TGM hitting action, but it doesn't mean that he is hitting from the top-of-his-backswing. If he releases PA#4 in his early downswing (between his end-backswing position and his delivery position) by actively thrusting his right shoulder downplane so that its pivot force pushes the two-hand unit forward via a loaded RFFW, then he is activating the release of PA#4 via a right-sided push force applied to PP#1, and I would label that a pure hitting action. If he releases PA#4 in his early-mid downswing via his pivot action, then he is swinging in his early downswing and I would then label his overall swing action as swing-hitting - because he is swinging in his early-mid downswing and hitting in his late downswing.



Note that his right elbow is bent at his end-backswing position with the right forearm roughly parallel to the spine and his hands are roughly opposite his right shoulder socket area. That's an optimal position to start a TGM hitting action, but it doesn't mean that he is hitting from the top-of-his-backswing.

I disagree with the above statement, in order to drag load like he does he needs the quarter turn of pp#3 which is part and parcel of a swinging procedure. He then proceeds to start the club down as if it were," an arrow drawn from a quiver feather end first". He is still maintaining a passive hand attitude at this point and  at about waist high he activates the hands and and begins accelerating across the shaft. For those not familiar with what drag  loading (arrow out of a quiver) looks like  here's a video:





Here are my comments from below:



Jeff,

He is drive loading into impact, the swivel is irrelevant (the ball is gone). At impact if you follow the remaining frames, you will see that his pivot is so violent that it sweeps him off his feet and into a "Parametric Acceleration" attitude. In short, this hitting motion is optimal. There is no Steering or Powder Puffing here. You may find it blasphemous because Homer didn't define or condone it but in my opinion this is what a real "Hitter" should strive for. If you're more comfortable calling it "Swing Hitting". I can live with that. But you have yet to produce a competent Golfer who uses Pure hitting as defined by TGM. I think I did it for you in today's post, because Stadler closely approximates Tomasello's description. if I pull up video of Palmer and Lon Hinkle you can rest assured that they were not doing what Tomasello described above. He's basically advocating mega chip shots and punches with a left to right ball curvature. the last player I saw play like that was Mark McCumber and he was accused of doing many other things to survive at that level.

Ralph






Hit em Straight

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Some Time with The Hat Part 3

In this episode we have a few laughs, I try to convince Gregg that "throwaway" is good for some short game shots (I still use the technique in my short game). The guys in the background are California Gotham Golfers Richard B. Esq and John Ball Turf M.. We had a blast together.



Tiger using Gregg's technique



Tiger using throw away




Jeff's analysis: (click on the image to enlarge)





I think that it is incorrect to use the term "clubhead throwaway" for his swing action as that term implies flipping pre-impact and the loss of clubhead lag before impact. I think that it is best to state that Tiger is using an active wrist flipping action through impact where he actively straightens the right wrist and flips the clubface under the ball. Note that he has little forward shaft lean at impact (image 3) due to the use of an active wrist flipping action and that allows him to increase the loft of his club through impact. Note that his clubface continues to face skywards after impact (image 4) and that he has a lot of backwards shaft lean - and that is due to his use of a wrist flipping action through impact.

I think that the problem related to this "wrist flipping" technique is that it requires precision timing and precision hand movements through impact, and a nervous professional golfer, who is under considerable mental pressure due to competitive tournament conditions, may perform this "wrist flipping technique imperfectly with disastrous results. I think that the method recommended by Greg McHatton, and used by Phil Mickelson, is technically likely to me more reliable under pressure because it doesn't have an active wrist flipping motion superimposed on the body/arm motion.

Jeff.

Hit em Straight

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Issac's Lesson with Dan Whittaker

Isaac plays to about a 14 handicap and he's very athletic. He's only been playing for 2 years and I believe he has the potential to be a single digit golfer with a little professional guidance, so I filmed him and sent the footage to Dan Whittaker and requested an analysis. Here are Dan's Findings:





Hit em Straight

Saturday, September 3, 2011

The Virtues of an intact Flying Wedge by Jeff Mann

As promised here is my interview with Dr. Jeff Mann:

First I made a small video describing the flying wedges since I think Jeff's props might not have been adequate.( I think I got it right)



And Here's Jeff:





Hit em Straight

Friday, September 2, 2011

7 Days in Utopia

Lucas Black and Yours truly

Before every Golf Shot you start with a blank canvas, from there you need to become Micahelangelo.
--David Cook author 7 days in Utopia



I'm a firm believer that there are no coincidences, everything has a purpose and everything happens for a reason. I was feeling a little down about life and my World was turning on itself. I opened my email and in my inbox was an invitation from a local PR firm to an advanced screening of some golf film. I read the synopsis and I figured, "why not". After having seen it, all I can say is WOW!!!!! It was everything I needed and then some.

The movie was"7 days in Utopia", it's a film about Faith, Golf and Sports Psychology. If you enjoy watching me pursue perfection via my "Eternal Chip Shot", if you Enjoy listening to Gregg Mchatton's mellow voice, if you enjoy Fred Shoemaker's extraordinary Golf, if you enjoy The Solar Sweetspot, if you enjoy Tim Galloway, Bob Rotella etc., or if you're just struggling with anything in your life, GO WATCH IT!! You'll thank me in the morning. It'll do wonders for your spirits and it will definitely help your golf game.

You'll walk away with the mantra "See it , Feel it, Trust it"

Robert Duvall and I
 Here's the synopsis:

About SEVEN DAYS IN UTOPIA
Opens In Theaters September 2nd

Principal cast: Robert Duvall, Lucas Black, Melissa Leo, Deborah Ann Woll, Brian Geraghty, Kathy Baker, KJ Choi, JosephLyle Taylor, Madison Burge
Director:  Matt Dean Russell
Rating: G
Official Site: http://www.sevendaysinutopia.com

SEVEN DAYS IN UTOPIA follows the story of Luke Chisolm (Lucas Black), a talented young golfer set on making the pro tour.  When his first big shot turns out to be a very public disaster, Luke escapes the pressures of the game and finds himself unexpectedly stranded in Utopia, Texas, home to eccentric rancher Johnny Crawford (Robert Duvall).  But Johnny’s more than meets the eye, and his profound ways of looking at life force Luke to question not only his past choices, but his direction for the future.

Based on David L. Cook’s best-selling book Golf’s Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia,  SEVEN DAYS IN UTOPIA also stars Melissa Leo, Deborah Ann Woll, Brian Geraghty, Jerry Ferrera, Joseph Lyle Taylor, KJ Choi and Kathy Baker.  The film is directed by MatthewDean Russell from a script by Cook, Rob Levine, Russell and Sandra Thrift.    The film was produced by Mark G. Mathis (Brick, Precious) and Jason M. Berman (The Dry Land).

Here's the trailer:




Ralph Perez                   Lucas Black


Hit em Straight

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Help with Stack n Tilt

My friend Ernesto is trying to self teach himself Stack n Tilt. I told him he needed help, so we called on the services of our friend Nick Clearwater to help us out.




Hit em Straight