The Big May Golf Book Giveaway

May 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Bingo

A few weeks ago, I recall thinking that it had been a while since any publishers asked me to review any books. Unfortunately, I jinxed myself because since then, I got inundated. Two good things have come out of this, though.  First, I have some cool books on my night stand which I will be reviewing in coming weeks. Second, the publishers have provided some copies to use in giveaways. That means I get to give the gift of golf books to four lucky readers. With fathers day coming up next month, any of these titles would make a great gift. Here’s how this will work: For the next four days, there will be a contest for each book.  Each day, I’ll tell you a little about the book and then what you have to do to have a chance to win. The books will ship directly from the publishers, so I have to limit the contest to those from the United States and Canada.  However, everyone who is eligible can enter and possibly win

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Training Aid Review: DivotMat

May 12, 2010 By 5 Comments
DivotMat

Recently, the fine folks at DivotMat sent me one of their products for review.  I have to say that I found it to be pretty interesting. Let’s step back for a second and I’ll tell you what DivotMat is.  According to their About Us page: DivotMat is the result of over 7 years of testing and refinement. Working with industry professionals we have developed an easy to use intuitive, patented system to show you exactly how you hit the golf ball with every swing. By working closely with paper manufactures, printing specialists and PGA Tour Professionals such as Fred Couples and PGA Instructors such as Laird Small with Pebble Beach Golf Academy, we have created a revolutionary product that works for beginners through advanced golfers. Well, that sounds interesting, but how does it work?  Fortunately, they go on to add: Simply swing your club, as you do the club leaves a market at the point of contact. This mark shows you exactly what your club face was doing at the point of impact. You see:

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Either My Mental Game Is Great Or It’s Awful

May 5, 2010 By 11 Comments

I can’t decide which it is. Over the years, I’ve read a lot of books on the mental game of golf.  Dr. Bob Rotella has written a few books that I have thoroughly enjoyed.  Not only that, but I feel like they’ve given me great insight into something which I believe is important to play great golf. This year, aside from playing my normal casual rounds, I decided to join a league.  I’ve played a few times this season so far, and I must say, I’ve really been stinking up the joint.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s been great and the guys I’ve met are a lot of fun. But when it comes to playing my best, I’m just not doing it.  I’m getting killed out there.  My typical 9-hole score for casual rounds since the beginning of the season has been in the 40-42 range, which isn’t great, but represents a huge early-season improvement over previous years. When I get out there in league matches, though, I’m lucky to break 50.  I had a

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Augusta National Golf Course: The Ultimate Test For Any Golfer

April 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Following is a guest post by Dr. Eric Wilson. Dr. Wilson is a PGA Master Professional in Instruction at the College of Golf, a Keiser University school in Port St. Lucie, FL. Every year the cream of the crop in the field of golf descends on Augusta for the Masters tournament.  The Augusta National Golf Club, first opened in January of 1933 for play, has hosted the Masters since 1934. Currently ranked the number one golf course in the United States by Golf Digest, it’s one of the top courses in the world. The course, known to be unforgiving, is the ultimate challenge to any golfer. But why? What makes the Augusta national golf course so tough? Golfers who have had the chance to play Augusta, quite often talk of the “mystery” of the course.  It is said that knowledge of the course is just as important, or perhaps more important, than a player’s actual golf skill.  Players study the course, sometimes drawing diagrams to get a feel for it. Not understanding Augusta National Golf

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Keeping a Practice Journal

April 24, 2010 By 6 Comments
Writing

What was going wrong with your game six months ago?  What was going right? How about three months ago? How have you spent most of your practice time over the last 12 months?  How many lessons have you taken?  What did you learn at each one?  How did your play and practice following each lesson improve?  Or did it degrade first? Hopefully you see where I’m going with this. Looking at the poll currently in my sidebar, a vast majority of respondents want to make significant improvement in their golf games this season.  That’s a pretty lofty goal, but it’s certainly achievable for just about everyone.  What each of us considers to be significant improvement is certainly a subjective measure, but how do we know when we’ve been meeting our goals? What if the goal was weight loss? Or, what if it is to learn oil painting? Or, what if the goal is to visit all 50 states in the U.S.? Fortunately, it’s usually fairly easy to recognize when a goal has been met.  If

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