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moderation Note to Media: Knee-Height Drops Make Sense!
DeadMan posted a blog entry in The Rules Chair
We're in that special hell of rules controversies with the implementation of the new Rules of Golf. There have been some growing pains with the new rules, and that has allowed the golf media to tee off on its favorite target, the USGA. Which, to be fair, can make itself an easy target: https://www.golfdigest.com/story/despite-harsh-words-from-some-tour-pros-usga-pleased-with-roll-out-of-new-rules-of-golf. That aside, I wanted to talk about the "controversy" about the knee-height drop that the Rules now require. Rickie Fowler got a one stroke penalty for dropping from shoulder height this past weekend. Cue the complaining from him: https://golfweek.com/2019/02/22/rickie-fowler-hit-with-one-shot-penalty-for-illegal-drop-at-wgc-mexico-championship/ I can forgive him - he just had a brain fart, probably didn't gain an advantage in this situation, it cost him money. I'm always annoyed when I get a penalty, personally, and it's absolutely never my fault, okay? But cue the pearl clutching from the media: https://www.golf.com/news/2019/02/25/backstopping-pro-tours-under-policed/ I'm here to tell you that this is wrong, and knee-height drops actually make a ton of sense. One of the best things the new Rules do is simplify dropping. Now, all you have to do when dropping is land the ball in the relief area (without touching you or your equipment before hitting the ground) and ensure the ball comes to rest in the relief area. If you don't do this, you have to redrop. Pretty simple. Yes, you have to figure out what your relief area is, but that's pretty simple, too. (For a fuller explanation of this, see Rule 14 and the definitions in the Rules of Golf.) The old rules were much more complex. Specifically, if your ball rolled to one of 9 areas after you dropped it, you had to redrop. For example, if your ball rolled more than 2 club lengths away from where your ball hit the ground, you had to redrop. You had to know all of these 9 areas to know if you needed to redrop or not. So, the new way is simpler, right? Instead of learning 9 different triggers for a redrop, you only have to learn 1. Great! Why am I talking about when you have to redrop? This is why we're dropping from knee height. Generally, under the new Rules, your ball cannot go as far after hitting the ground as it used to without triggering a redrop. Dropping from knee height reduces the chance that a redrop will be necessary. It also means that a ball has less of a chance of embedding in sand when you drop it. It makes a ton of sense, really. Now, you might say, that's all fine, but why not allow dropping a ball from anywhere above knee height? I think you could easily game the rules to be able to place the ball when you really want to by simply dropping from shoulder height instead of knee height. Think about dropping on a side slope, for example. You're much more likely to have to redrop and place if you drop the ball from a higher point. Sure, this is rare, but why take the chance? We're all on the same page, right? Knee-height drops make a lot of sense. (If you want to know more about the changes to dropping, this is an excellent article that talks about this in a bit more detail: https://rulesgeeks.com/2018/12/30-days-of-2019-rules-changes-day-16-procedure-for-dropping-a-ball-in-playing-it-from-a-relief-area/) Now to the point of all of this: golf media, please take 5 minutes to understand the rule before issuing a HAWT TAKE about the rule. The USGA has a one page sheet that explains the rule: http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules-hub/rules-modernization/major-changes/new-procedure-for-dropping-a-ball.html. You don't come off very well when you fail to read that. I know it's fun and easy to just mindlessly bash the USGA, but they do get things right. This is one of them. (Oh and by the way, the Rules are actually really good, as a whole. Maybe I'll talk about that in another post later.) -
You can get better at any age. Many here would trade their swing for this one…
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It has been exactly 6 months after I retired. Here's what happened to my golf after I have retired. I have been playing 5 - 6 times a week. However, a simple majority of the rounds have been less than 18 holes. I simply quit when I get too tired, get hungry, etc.. Being able to play everyday, I don't feel I need to finish around. With more time, I thought I'd get warm up before a round but I don't. I feel I can learn more by playing. Instead, I go to range practice whenever I can't play a round - raining, course bought out, etc.. I avoid playing during busy hours, like Saturday. That means I am playing a lot by myself or with my wife. This gives me time to focus more on each shot. When I play in 4-some, sometimes, I get distracted. My HI improved immediately after my retirement. Playing 5 - 6 times a week helped me improve on my short game, and course management. HI improved by about 4 - 5 strokes over the 6 months, not all at once though. However, I don't think it will continue to improve unless I do something different.
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Before retirement: Practiced on weekdays for average of 60 - 90 minutes at home, and range. Did golf specific workout on Mon, Tue, Thur, and Friday. Played 2 rounds on weekend. Played about 125 rounds in 2015. In retirement: Practice 3 times on weekdays for average of of 90 - 180 minutes at home, range, and/or in field. Do golf specific workout for 2 days, 1 day off, 2 days, 1 day off, ... Play 2 rounds on weekdays, and 1 - 2 rounds on weekends. Play about 170 - 190 rounds in 2016. Post in Member Swings forum. 12/28/15 - day 1 of retirement, I hit 50 chip shots with LW, SW, GW. The focus was on noting & controlling distance. I hit another 50 balls with various clubs, 3/4 shot to full swings, focusing on proper hip turn. Played 8 holes of practice round, focusing on short game around green. Back home, I did mirror work for about 10 minutes, and another 10 minutes of iron swing with focus on proper hip turn. I did a golf specific workout and 15 minutes of ThighMaster. What I did today will be my new daily routine. I call it RiCK's forever golf plan.
