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sonicblue

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sonicblue last won the day on July 29 2011

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About sonicblue

  • Birthday 11/30/1972

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    3 / 4 / 8
  • Your Location
    On the cusp of breaking out

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  • Index: 8.0
  • Plays: Righty

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  1. Oh Jesus H Christ on a popsicle stick... Before "the fire hydrant," Tiger was well known as one of the most knowledgeable guys on Tour regarding the rules. Now every half-cocked judgmental asshat wants to frame every single thing he does as dishonest, cheating, deceptive, etc... No rules official saw it, they don't have "aerial instant replay" available for the players. His playing partner AND his playing partner's caddie agreed on the drop. It's not like Tiger had free reign to do whatever he wanted.
  2. All of the above puts the cart before the horse, IMO. For someone three-putting out of his mind, he doesn't need to hear about the 'trailing hand' or go hit 100 putts. He's got some fundamental problems that need to be addressed first. The first thing to note about putting is this: it's just tapping a ball and rolling it. The ball doesn't slice, or duff, or skull....you're bumping the ball to make it roll in the hole. It's dead easy......in concept. However, it is unquestionably the most unforgiving part of the game; you can't change that, so you just need to realize the expectation. I think too many amateurs get freaked out about a 30-foot putt. Pick a line, you're probably pretty decent at it, and then you're just hitting it a certain speed. Two questions need to be answered: 1) why are the pros so deadly lethal at it, and 2) why are many amateurs so god-awfully bad at it? 1) They're that good because they practice INCESSANTLY. Their putting strokes are so consistent, their aim so pure, and their feel so good, that they make the ball hit that 4" wide target more often than you ever will. They haven't found some secret to putting, they simply do it A LOT. Forget 'pro-level' putting as your standard. 2) A lot of amateurs are that bad for one main reasons, IMO: they do not TRUST themselves. It's very hard to become a deadly putter. It is VERY EASY to become a 'pretty good' putter. There's a good explanation for why the students of Dave Stockton (considered maybe THE authority on tour right now) adopt the following approach: get behind putt, get a read, get over the ball, hit it. I can virtually guarantee, with any putt I show you, you could easily figure out how to hit it too far left, or too far right, or way short, or way long. The right putt is simply something in the middle of all those. The ball has to end up somewhere, it might as well be right around the hole. It's all about trusting that fact, and just going with it. If I had to bet, I would be willing to say that 90% of amateurs miss putts because they change their mind about some aspect of the putt while they're over the ball. You can't do that. Read the putt, pick a nearby spot to aim, and set up. Once you set up to the ball, YOUR LINE IS DETERMINED. All that remains is deciding how hard to swing the putter. You can't wonder if you're aimed right, or if you read it right, it's too late. If you're unsure, back off and reset. But get over the ball and just hit it. I don't think many amateurs have issues with the putter face opening and closing wildly. A consistent three-putter is making it way too complex. Simplify the concept, clear your mind, trust it.......and just roll the ball.
  3. Lest we forget that, as Rory, or Phil, or Dustin, or Keegan, et al, have all taken their turns as the media favorite 'next' contender, there's one guy that - save for about an 18-month period where his life FELL APART - has also been there the entire time: Tiger. I mean, through all this, after everything that's happened - the affairs, the injuries, the coach change, the swing overhaul - Tiger is NUMBER 2 in the FedEx Cup, behind the currently coronated 'next,' with a bunch of wins this year, very good play in the majors (yes, with un-Tiger-like weekends, but contending in every one) and now just a single step away from taking the Fed Ex cup. Even if he doesn't win it, to have yet ANOTHER year like this, winning tournaments, being in contention, missing a cut less often than Kevin Stadler misses a meal....Tiger is still the man on the PGA Tour.
  4. Pics available later tonight, sorry, wanted to put this up asap, as I just purchased a new (to me!) set online. I purchased these used several months ago, and they're just not the right fit for me. The shafts are stiff steel. All clubs only show normal wear. The 4-PW grips were changed out by the previous owner to a blue Winn grip; the 3-iron has the standard black TM grip still on it (I guess he didn't even try to hit it, and neither have I!). I'm playing in a tournament on Tuesday, the 24th. If, by chance, the new clubs haven't arrived yet, I'll need these to play in that, but otherwise, I will ship quickly. Please post or PM with any questions. As I said, I will get pictures up asap, I wouldn't expect anyone to commit without seeing them. Will meet up locally within reason, 19426. Thanks.
  5. Allison. So delicious. Aaaaaaaaannnnnnnndddddddddd.........I'm spent.
  6. I'm on my 3rd round of P90X. The first round I did the "lean" program, after being inactive for quite a while. I then did a round of the "Classic" but, toward the end, I realized I was still in the mode of "taking it easy," and decided I had to tee it up again to see how much I could push. This morning was the Plyo workout in Week 3. Bring it!
  7. When Tiger held the #1 spot, he was so far clear of the next player, that it took -- how long of his NOT EVEN PLAYING -- for someone to finally unseat him? I haven't bothered to investigate the math, but the occasional disapperance of Donald and McIlroy and Westwood from relevance in any given tournament, compared to how Tiger is already seemingly getting his flare back for always finding the first page, let alone winning, makes it nearly a lock that he will regain the #1 spot again very soon. I think he should, when I think of the #1 player in the world, that person should be someone who, when they're in the field, changes the competition level. The others who have held it haven't held up that definition. Regardless of how many wins/majors Tiger manages to rack up in the next several years, I think we're going to end up looking back on 2010-2011 as the Tour getting but a brief respite from Tiger strangling the #1 OWGR spot.
  8. I was just reading the golf.com article on Tiger's win. I had to double-take: "Bay Hill marked Woods's last start before the Masters at Augusta National, where Woods hasn't finished worse than a tie for sixth since 2004 ." Take careful note of that comment. Just five months after "2-Iron-Gate" and then a year after that, somewhere admist the change in swing coaches (can't remember exactly when that happened) and the recovery from the "under the pine tree swing" injury.... Tiger kept the "top 6" streak alive at Augusta. Think of the number of golfers out there that come to Augusta feeling completely primed and ready, game in top form - without the media basically expecting/pushing you to win - who can't say that. It reminds me of what I like about watching Tiger: no matter what state his swing or game (or life!) is in, he manages to get out there and just grind, just manage, just keep working to get into contention. Even when someone isn't right there within a shot or two, you never get the feeling he pays any less attention to each shot. Here's hoping for a GREAT Masters!
  9. It's really pretty amazing when you think about it. They were talking to Ernie about how off his game has been for a year and a half. Sergio is a mess (still). Phil had a horrible week. There are so many players out there who did not go through the ridiculous turn of personal events Tiger has in the last two years, yet they're still struggling to compete consistently. Meanwhile, we've all put this albatross around Tiger's neck of winning, but looking at his last few months, this guy is playing some staggeringly consistent, competitive golf, now finally getting a convincing win in VERY difficult conditions, with a guy in the last group with him who has taken him down before. And he's done it all after going through a period where people basically have been trashing the very fabric of his personal being. As a pure translation to the game of golf, I find it hard to say anything other than, Tiger is simply the toughest competitive golfer out there, ever. What he has had to grind through - physically and mentally, both of which have been astronomical hurdles - to come out and play like he did this weekend, manage his game, manage the conditions, and win by a bunch of strokes, is just amazing.
  10. It's this easy: watching that kind of finish was awesome for golf. A 62 from a guy down the leaderboard, by eagling 18 no less, to put a scare into Rory, fantastic. Rory stumbling on a couple approach shots and hitting some amazing bunker shots/par saving putts, clutch. If you didn't like that, or you were influenced by WHO it was, then you suck - stop being such a gossipy school girl (or a self-righteous schmuck). As for "is Tiger back," "will he win again," or "is Rory the new face of golf"....man, are we as a society so desperate for a "story line" that we just can't watch and be entertained? It's always about something more. I've lost all patience. Every f***ing time Hunter Mahan wins (which ain't been a whole lot, let's keep in mind), I hear, "this guy could be a multiple winner, look out, he's peaking now," blah, blah. We had a thread here dying to crown Keegan Bradley the next great American golfer (I assume Kyle Stanley has jumped into that role?). In my opinion, and I've stated it elsewhere here, there is one, and only one reason, for rooting for Tiger's "return," and it's the same reason I rooted for him before. What's hard about golf - and even other-wordly hard at their level - is doing it "again." Over the years, so many amazing final round duels, or great finishes, etc.., involved Tiger. The fact that he, by either grinding through a wobbly game, or by just surgically deconstructing a course for 3.5 rounds, is in that Sunday drama so often....and that it usually is along side just "the guy playing well that week," is an additional piece I find riveting and awesome about him. Moreover, think about it, PFH (pre-fire-hydrant...stolen from Rick Reilly), you can quite literally count on one hand the number of times Tiger, in his career, was completely irrelevant. If he wasn't hunting for the win, or at least lingering enough to be scary, he was still top 10, top 15. He was NEVER out of it. If Rory takes that title from him, I'll find that riveting, too. Phil, as much as I hate to admit it, has showed much more consistency (I dunno...he's just so....aloof...or spacey....) but across his career, very often goes AWOL from contention. Will Rory be that 'in it every tournament' guy? It sure always looks like it when he's on, but he's not established that just yet. Golf's got a ton of great talent right now, let's just watch, eh?
  11. Golf tends to move in opposites. Sounds like you're trying to drive the ball lower and it's only I making you come harder downwards. If I was a betting man, your weight is probably getting way over our toes, too, with a lot of bend at the hips. Work on standing a bit straighter, which will flatten your shoulder plane and swing plane. Then swing easiminot keep the spin to a minimum.
  12. My one word: BELIEVE I remember watching a PGA broadcast a while ago, where they mentioned how Vijay Singh had been putting really well. They referred to the fact that he had adopted a method of saying to himself, "I'm one of the best putters in the world." I remember thinking how powerful that was. True? At the time, it seemed so, but historically, Vijay was erratic. I comes down to, what is the alternative, "I'm marginal"? I adopted it to my putting in this way: when you read a putt, there's really only two things you can say, "I've read this right, I've got the speed, it's going in," or "something's off, it's going to miss." The first won't always be true, of course, but if you thought the second, why bother? The bottom line is, if you're going to bother, then you must BELIEVE the first. I find this easier to do on putts because you're not worried about push cuts, smother hooks or water hazards on putts, it's just rolling a ball. That strikes me as more achievable on an given shot. My swing has been in an overhaul period, but I can tell you that, when I believe on those shots, good things happen, too. So, I'd say the one word is BELIEVE.
  13. If I could strangle anyone in the world and get away with it, it'd be Gary Koch. What a pretentious ass.
  14. I have a set of Cleveland CG Red Irons is good-to-very-good condition. They show signs of play but really no dings or nicks to speak of. DG S300 shafts with Golf Pride Tour Velvet Jumbo grips that are in very good condition. Pics attached. Asking price is from a quick check on eBay, reasonable offers considered. EDIT: 3-wood originally mentioned is sold.
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