MRR

Been "playing" for about 20 years, but never even close to good. In fact, my first birdie was last year and I've had only three since. 272 yard par 4 with a steep valley from 200 to 260. I drove the ball either 260 yards or 200 yards with such perfect roll that it went all the way down and all the way back up. Either way, I was at the very end of the fairway and four feet from the green (eight feet from the pin). I had neither the skill nor the luck to get my easy eagle, but it was a nice second par of my life and this is only about my best single shot.

Seems to be more that they are allowed to despite the rules. Frankly, I'd be a bit more interested in allowing them to play at whatever pace they want, and have the broadcast be a five-minute delay. Then I might not have to watch someone fool the producers by taking twenty practice shots when the TV could have been showing two other players sink 20-foot putts.

That makes no sense to me. Sure, a "star" can go longer before getting hurt, but if the fines increase exponentially, then it will eventually happen. Likewise, a "lesser" player gets hurt after only a couple warnings and then a fine. It might take Kevin Na ten penalties and a latest fine of $125,000.00 to change his routine, but the "lesser" player should figure it out after the second fine of $5,000.00. If this rule is actually on the books (and I have no reason to doubt you), then the issue isn't about changing the rules or adding stroke penalties, it's about actually enforcing the rule that exists.

Part of the problem with this is that it is hard to draft a rule that is inherently fair when there are dozens of variables at play. What if a golfer is "within time parameters" on every shot, but he uses every last second he has and thus falls further behind? What of another player to certainly violates time rules on five shots, but all his others were so fast that his total pace of play is must quicker than the earlier example? How do you enforce a rule for a player to stopped his swing due to excessive cheering at a nearby green and had to restart? What about if the player only claims that, but his partner says that the noise wasn't "excessive"? I'm all for having rules and at least one of those rules being to move it along. I'm not sure I agree with stroke penalties, though. I'm more in favor of warnings and then increasing fines on players after the tournament. This would not affect the round itself, but does lead to deterrents for future behavior and other golfers.

It's obviously low enough that you can walk in it. Paint your balls black (or put on your warmer kilt) and get to the course. This is the time when my father used to don the cross-country skis and hit a tennis ball.

Another book that I find quite useful, but fails for lack of pictures. More accurately, fails for an author who thinks he can explain things in words and does not need pictures, even though he uses the incorrect words. Can anyone explain this drill from the book? Observations when I attempt this drill for the above steps. 1a) The proper grip with the left hand will NEVER form a straight line with the club unless you grip it like Moe Norman (a swing I hope to never use). 1b) In order for the club and arm to both be parallel to the ground, the hand would have to be pronated (palm facing the ground) or supinated (palm facing up) 2a) As a former fencer, I understand the difference between "using fingers" and "using the wrist". Using the muscles of the last three fingers is NOT the same thing as cocking your wrist. Perhaps he means that the three fingers are what holds the club steady. 2b) If the hand is supposed to be pronated or supinated, the club will never form a 90 degree angle by lifting it up. 2c) If the grip is with the Anatomical snuffbox up (which appears correct to me), this sort of gives what I believe is correct left wrist-cock. But, again, "snuffbox up" is NOT what step 1 said. 3a) Lowering the club to horizontal again gives a Moe Normal grip that is far beyond the angle of the club and wrist at impact. Unless all my reading is wrong, the arms should be pretty much hanging vertical from the shoulders towards the feet, while the club should angle from that line towards the ball placed some distance away from the feet. If that is not the case, 3b) The wrist-cock appears to be on a completely separate plane from the flat-left-wrist we want to achieve at impact. No less important, but this drill does not end with "the flat-left-wrist alignment we want to achieve at impact". 4) "Straight alignment with the left arm" is already uncocking the wrist far beyond where it needs to be at any time in the swing. Am I misinterpreting something or missing something obvious?

So far, this has been the book that was the greatest eye opener for me. I found the initial 40 pages or so of background information somewhat interesting and the “hour hand swings” useful. My main problem with the book is how narcissistic Mr. Pelz appears to be, and it has truly hurt both his book and his ability to convey useful information. 1) As stated, it takes over 40 pages to get to any sort of instruction. The book itself is probably two-thirds fluff. 2) The parts of the book that are instruction fail to go into necessary detail. For instance, he does not explain “dead hands” sufficiently for me. I had to look elsewhere to figure out if he meant my hands should be locked tight, as if in rigor mortise (so my wrists do not move), or completely loose as if my hands were asleep. (I think it’s the latter) 3) The book horribly suffers from poor photos. Mr. Pelz’s large physique is NOT something that adequately demonstrates how someone should be standing for any of the shots he discusses. This has carried over into is many articles in golfing magazines. His points would come across much stronger if he had drawings of the ideal form, or proper poses by people much thinner than himself. 4) From what I can tell, he has no decent videos posted anywhere to help explain his instructions. This fine book could easily be shortened to 100 pages, half of which could be drawings or photos of people thin enough to show exactly how one’s spine, shoulders, arms, and hands should be. Instead, Mr. Pelz took it upon himself (he’s the author, he has the right) to give us a few photos, mostly of himself, and remove all the other useful photos. He then padded the book with at least 1,000 words for each photo that should have been in there instead.

Thanks. I thought my subscription ran out before that issue. Guess I need to renew my efforts to find what has been lovingly misplaced.

Within the past two months, I saw a very interesting drill that I assumed came from one of my recent golf magazines, but now I cannot find it. The drill involves taking two different irons (one in each hand) and swinging them. This appears to be a standard drill to help with either action or timing. What was added to this drill is placing two balls on the ground and hitting them at the same time. If I recall correctly, one ball was placed a few inches farther away from the golfer. Does anyone have any idea where I saw this drill? My fiance recently cleaned up some of what she calls a mess and now my magazines are out of place or outright missing. Thank you,