twosmalltowns

John: thanks for the good comments. Appreciated! Jon H.: we are playing for pride, honour, yadda yadda yadda. At my club we do this match play tournament. rules are: single elimination (only winner advances) with eventually a final 8, final 4, etc. It takes a few months to get it all in (with travel.) Prize is bragging rights, likely a small prize... its a good way to meet new golfers. And yes, it is competitive - as expected with a bunch of retired guys who are alpha males! ; ) Stay cool.

Missed vappu AND juhanus this year (pardon spelling...). Bummer.

Hi all. Comments appreciated please! Situation; we have a match play competition over several months. Players A & B are having an official match and usually there are 1 or 2 guests (friends, etc.) who play in the group. Are there any " official" guidelines for the guests? What should we tell them before tee off? I assume something like: Guest hits green side chips and putts after A & B. No help reading putts, no advice before shots. Comments & suggestions welcome. Cheers.

To clarify: Spieth was stretching & working out (after breakfast, before his tournament rounds) at the Open. Exact workout routine was not mentioned. The point is: using muscles warms them up. ( I am quite certain there are precious few pools in town if St Andrews. : )

Played 18 Monday on course that previously hosted PGA events ( slope 135 from men's tee.) Had 10 putts on front 9: my 4 chips ( mostly 60 degree wedges from 10 - 30 yds) were all 12 -24 inches from pin, and approach shots were crazy close . Practicing those chips pays off.

Other benefits of yoga : 1. It is symmetrical and balanced. Golf is asymmetrical movement ( as is tennis, baseball, etc.). Rebalancing our body is important. 2. Yoga will help you with the hardest real estate in golf: the 5 inches between your ears. (Breathing & focus help relax the body, still the mind, control the emotions on command.) 3. Injury reduction (as we get older) is a great bonus...... Be well.

Here is a test I did. Old: Did 5 min stretches ( see lists above) Hit 20 -30 balls, Putt for 5-7 min. New: Full regime: Light workout ,(get heart rate up for 5 min.) 10-15 min stretches ( esp Lars, ribs, man strings, hip flexor a, hamstrings, then hamstrings.) Easy wedges, 75% swings, then full swings with wedge, 8 iron , driver and two clubs I am likely to use one holes #1 & 2. 2 putting drills for 6 minutes, then get my putting distances confirmed. Results: dropped 1.5 strokes off my index in a month. ( mostly from fewer dumb mistakes in first 3 holes due to stiff musculature .) Hit 'em straight.

I tried swimming before playing golf , along with 10 minutes of good stretches. It makes big difference for me. Warms up muscles . If I can, I swim, stretch, hit balls (systematically, of course) and putt before tournament games . Takes about 75 minutes in total. I smiled when I heard that Spieth was doing workouts each morning before tee off at The Open. Good luck.

I second the D.O. Suggestion. Find a good one that practices manipulation ( there are apparently only several hundred in entire USA , so any one city has very few.) Good luck!

Suggestion #2: You might explore a gluten free diet. Apparently approx ~30% + of U.S. population has an intolerance to genetically modified wheat. This causes a series of health effects, one of which is inflammation and swelling. I Tried gluten free for a few days and POW! Years of knee aches just disappeared. Fingers felt lighter, more flexible. Golf trip and movements got better. I felt mentally sharper and just "better." Exactly same for my sister (40 yrs old) and two of my golf buddies ( 50 ish.) we were all amazed that we had been living this long and not realized the negative impact of gen. mod. gluten. Might be worth 3 day trial. Be well.

Arthritis pain: Here is one off the wall thought. I had my knee scoped twice , 5 yrs apart ( painful multi-month recoveries, etc.). 6 yrs after second surgery, Dr recommended a 3rd surgery. I informed him " arthroscopic surgery is ineffective in 19 of 20 cases " ( yes, 95% failure rate !) His response was " hey, I'm a surgeon, I will always suggest surgery." This from a Dr to NFL football and NHL hockey players. Learning #1: get opinions from non surgeons!!! Strongly recommend a good D.O. Who practices osteopathic manipulation. Hard to find but worth it. Good luck!