Ball Unplayable?

June 25, 2007 By 4 Comments
Golf ball inside a tree

We’ve all been there. What a bad feeling. Especially when it looked like it was a good shot. Bad breaks sometimes leave us under a bush, against a tree, or in rough deep enough to lose a child. Lucky for us, Rule 28 covers situations where the ball is unplayable. It is completely up to the player’s discretion when to declare a ball unplayable. Before declaring a ball unplayable, you should carefully consider why the ball is unplayable. If it’s because of interference from an obstruction then you need to have a look at Rule 24. And if the ball is in an abnormal ground condition such as casual water or ground under repair, check Rule 25. In those cases, you are entitled to relief without penalty. If your ball is in a water hazard, check Rule 26. If you’ve grasped at all the available straws and you still have to declare the ball unplayable, then you have three options. Under penalty of one stroke, you may: Play your next shot as nearly as possible

Filed Under: Rules
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More Stack & Tilt Analysis

June 24, 2007 By 252 Comments
Stack and Tilt and Conventional: Address Position

Stack and Tilt seems to be the hot golf concept right now. Since my original two articles, I continue to get a lot of traffic looking for information about Stack and Tilt. I’d like to look at it a little closer. I’m not going to give a tutorial on the technique. I can’t do better than the original article at Golf Digest. What’s more interesting to me is the reaction I’ve gotten from people in person as well as what I’ve been reading all over the web. Many people seem to have a misconception about what’s going on in the swing. Some people have looked at the photo sequence of Aaron Baddeley in Golf Digest and have trouble seeing the real difference between the Stack and Tilt and the typical modern swing. Some people claim that Baddely isn’t actually doing anything different except taking a shorter back swing. So what I wanted to do is grab a video of Tiger Woods and a video of a Stack and Tilter and compare them. The Stack and

Filed Under: Ball Striking Tips, Stack and Tilt
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Plans are Useless but Planning is Invaluable

June 23, 2007 By Leave a Comment

My first manager out of college used to say that occasionally. I understood what he meant, but it took a while before it really sunk in. What he was telling me was that in a day or a week or a month, no matter how good our “plan” is, it’s going to be outdated. Things change. We learn new information. We change our goals. But it’s the act of planning that prepares us to deal with those things. As we go through the planning process, it makes us aware of alternatives. It helps us discover pitfalls. It helps us refine our goals. In the end, we’re left with the actual plan, but more importantly, we’re ready to refine it when things change. As I’ve discussed here and there, without goals, we’re just wandering through life. We need goals to help guide us. They must be clearly defined, and it’s of benefit to put deadlines on them. Once we decide upon a goal, it’s all talk until we start taking action toward reaching it. At first

Filed Under: Goals, My Progress
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HIIT it!

June 22, 2007 By 8 Comments

I’m talking about High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), of course. It’s time for a little fitness around here and I’m dragging you with me! I’ve been hearing about interval training for a while now as an alternative to a traditional cardio workout. The “traditional” workout might consist of 30-60 minutes of moderate intensity cardio on something like a treadmill or a stationary bike. Now, studies are showing that the old way might not be the best way. It’s now coming to light that actually, short bursts of intense cardio followed by longer rest periods is actually more beneficial. These sessions might consist of a minute on a stationary bike, treadmill, outdoor sprints, etc. at maximum effort, followed by a few minutes of rest. Then, the cycle is repeated. Do this three times a week and you’re getting a more beneficial cardio workout, and doing it in about 12 minutes. Anthony over at Better Golf with Fitness had a great podcast yesterday where he chatted for a while with Dr. Mark Smith, an expert in interval

Filed Under: Fitness
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Book Review: Paper Tiger

June 21, 2007 By 8 Comments
Paper Tiger

A while back, Dave recommended the book Paper Tiger: An Obsessed Golfer’s Quest to Play with the Pros. I just finished it and wanted to share my thoughts. The book follows author Tom Coyne’s year-long journey from 14-handicapper to his ultimate goal of playing in the PGA Tour Q-School to see if he has what it takes to play with the best. He brings us along for all his trials and tribulations encountered on his quest for greatness. Let’s jump right in, and below the normal good/bad/conclusion section, I want to talk a little about his quest. You should skip that section if you want to avoid spoilers and would prefer to let the book unfold. The Good Coyne’s writing style is one of a kind. His humorous brand covers all parts of the spectrum. At the same time, he finds a way to switch gears when the topic turns a little more toward the serious or sentimental side. Then it’s right back to funny. He puts into print the kinds of things most would

Filed Under: Book Reviews
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