I was thinking back to some of the putting discussions we’ve had on Golf is Hard TV and remembered that one of the things I was going to ask Coach Dave was about “plumb-bobbing.”

This morning as I was drinking my coffee and catching up on the latest issue of Golf Magazine, I came across 2 different articles that mentioned that plumb-bobbing is a useless activity.

Apparently, there was a study done by some folks at the U of Saskatchewan (insert funny Bugs Bunny joke here) that showed “the plumb-bob method was found to be an invalid system for determining the break of a putt” (see page 79, March 2009 Golf Magazine).

Additionally, in a Steve Flesh article in the same issue, Flesch talked about his 10 year old son doing the plumb-bob in relation to it causing slow play.

I’ve been known to plumb-bob but never could remember myself what it meant for the break. To me it always seemed confusing; like turning in a car sliding on ice. Do I turn into the turn or out of it? No clue.

Anyway, I’m going to take the U of Saskatchewan’s study as truth and am dropping the plumb-bob immediately.

Unless Coach Dave says different.

Marc and I are not only excited about it being Valentines Day, but we are also pumped about the upcoming changes you are going to be seeing on our show. Not only do we have a really cool new banner, but the show format is going to change a bit….and our new website is looking really great…wait til you see it. As far as the show…shorter, more frequent and more focused segments…of course humor and lots of good information related to your golf game (and some not).

Keep an eye out, by tomorrow morning you will see the next episode.

Have a great V-Day!

But only during the putting stroke…really…you want to stay as still as possible. As for the full swing…it’s OK to breathe (Marc). Just remember to keep your mind and your eyes out on the target…think about what you want the ball to do. We’ll talk about the best way to increse the chances of this happening…some pre-shot thoughts…very important…stay tuned.
Coach Dave

One of my favorite golf bloggers to follow is Pink Diva Golf. I have 2 daughters, so anything the world of golf can do to encourage more girls to play is good in my book. I am looking forward to the day my girls outdrive and outplay me.

Pink Diva recently had what I can only imagine was the thrilling opportunity to talk with World Cup & Olympic Soccer Champion Brandi Chastain recently. It’s a fun interview although there is something in particular that I do want to complain about…

Brandi politely says she doesn’t have a favorite club. I doubt that very much. Golfers always have a go to club in the bag just in case (go on, admit it!). For me, that club has been my 5 hybrid. Not only do I hit it from any lie, I’ve chipped with it, putted with it and had a slice of pizza and beer with it. I just love that club. I’m sure Brandi has a favorite too, but perhaps she doesn’t want to offend the rest of her bag. Either way, she should try to be more honest when doing interviews!

BTW, I didn’t know this, but n the history of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am there has only been one woman celebrity to play in the Celebrity Challenge -Lisa Fernandez. Brandi is #2. That’s surprising.

Check out the interview and Pink Diva’s blog.

Well, it’s great to hear that Marc got out today, really unbelievable since it has been sub-freezing for weeks. It sounds like he hit some good shots, not bad after hitting 5-7 balls after 3 months off in 42-degree weather (which is why I didn’t join him).

Reading about Marc’s experience today brought up yet another topic: what is the best way to warm up either during a practice session or before a round? Marc was on track by starting with 1/2-swings…especially after a long layoff, in cold weather, with extra clothing, staring at 130 balls and pumped about his new golf show (heck…I would have taken driver out of the bag immediatley and started ripping away). So after a few swings he starts to lengthen his swing, makes sense. No surprise he was struggling a bit but did realize that he was probably going too fast.

If I had gone out with Marc today, I would have most likey brought just a wedge, a 7-iron, gloves and a hat (you have seen my head) and hit about 60 shots (your average large bucket). I hopefully would have left feeling pretty good about things…keeping it light. Sounds like Marc left feeling good about his swing…which is really the goal.

This brings up yet another topic we need to address on golfishard…practice strategy/goals. Very simple…but not often “practiced”.

Nice win by Nick Watney today…if you watched episode #3, you will know what I am talking about!

Stay Warm! ttys!

We finally got a decent break in the weather here in CT this weekend and I took a few hours to hit the range for the first time in more than 3 months. Armed with my new Nike Driver and grip lessons from Coach Dave, I bought myself a supersize bucket of balls $13!!!) and started to work on some things.

I took Dave’s advice and really loosened up my grip, trying to keep it at a 2 out of 10 on the pressure scale. I like to warm up with half swings using a 7 iron first and after 5 or 6 balls, I was connecting solidly and started taking some full swings.

It was ugly. Slices and hooks all over the place! I went back to taking half swings and once I started hitting the ball solidly again, I worked my way back to taking full swings. I was better this time and moved up from the to the 5, then 5 hybrid, 3 wood and finally my driver.

It felt great. I tried to stay loose and keep my grip nice and light. I hit the wood and driver really well which felt terrific.

With 16 balls left, I challenged my friend to a chipping contest – 8 balls each to a green about 40 yards away. Using my lob wedge, I was close on almost every shot, but only stuck one. I won in a tie-breaker, my 5th shot landed on a fake sand bunker connected to the green and my buddy gave it to me as a tie-breaker. Only sticking 1 of 8 wasn’t great, but it was good enough today!

Now it’s your turn! Do you have any video of your swing? Upload the video to Youtube (or any online service) and e-mail us the link. We’ll take a look, give you a review and help you improve your game just like that! Golf is Hard, but that doesn’t mean we can’t help you get better!

The photo is me in mid-waggle… I put my phone on the ground and let it take some short video!