I was in an op shop over the weekend and picked up a golf novel called Miracle on the 17th Green by James Patterson and Peter De Jonge. I don’t know why I came across this book but it seemed to jump out at me from the shelves…literally…almost like it was for a reason.
Anyway.
On page 35 and 36 there is a section that I think you will all like.
[i]“All right,” said Pop with a gravelly voice worn thin but still full of purpose, “you got two eighteen to the front edge. On the first one, I want you to slice the ball around the tree”.
I pulled out a 2 iron, took a deep breath and brisk waggle, and hit a hard low cut that caught the right edge of the green.
“That’ll play,” said Pop. “Now a hook”.
With the same club and the same basic siwng, I drew the ball around the tree. Since my grandfather first introduced me to the game forty-two years ago, he has been my only teacher. He gave me my swing and my game and a great many other things at least as valuable. “There’s no such thing as a straight ball” was one of his basic tenets. “If you’re not shaping the shot, you’re not playing golf.”[/i]
I really liked reading that book…they made a movie about it which was average (again because the actors weren’t realistic as golfers and they can’t cram as much detail into a short movie)
There was a book called Follow The Wind (Bo Links) which was pretty good too… both short as far as pages but had a good spiritual / mental story as well …using golf as a backdrop
Yeah Two, I got the book for it’s life lessons…but the fact that it uses golf as a backdrop is enjoyable.
Here are some more bits that ABSers might find interesting.
Page 52. His swing many have been a little fast and short, but I had never seen anyone stand up to the ball so solid and strong, He looked as if he were rooted into the ground - Ground Pressures?
Page 64. An 8 degree driver is a tough ass fairway wood, even with a flat lie
Page 65. As I stood up to the ball, I told myself to “squat down on that thing”
Page 78. Oh, and on my first day of practice, a rep from Callaway fitted me for a full custom set of Big Berthas, from a 60 degree wedge to an enormous graphite shafted titanium headed Great Big Bertha driver, with a sweet spot about the size of a frying pan - I didn’t make this one up. The book was first published in 1998 so you can just imagine how Tavis the main character would be describing today’s drivers.
Page 83. I made a pleasant discovery. You work hard at something eight hours a day, you get better. Not a lot better necessarily, but a little better, and that’s just fine, because improving at golf, or anything else probably, is just a matter of making an endless series of tiny improvements - Lag’s modules? However this quote rings true to me because of some non golf issues I’m having.
Got to love Follow the Wind by Bo Links - set initially at Lincoln Park in SF. The light started to fade on Lag, Macs and I at Lincoln Park and there was an other worldly presence as Lag dunked his final chip for a birdie through the gloom…
On the subject of books I managed to get “Hogan” by Curt Sampson and “The Grand Slam” by Mark Frost this weekend for bargain prices on amazon.
Also decided to try “Improve Your Golf with Yoga Techniques” on the basis that although I have good flexibility I tend to be stiff in the morning (I also have a sore back in the morning ).
I wanted to go to a pilates class but that has not happened yet so this will do in the interim.
Lagpressure, I agree with you on Yoga (postures), but want to add this.
[size=150]Yoga is not just stretching excercises[/size]
Having practiced Yoga postures (asanas) since decades and studied the knowledge behind it, I want to point out that Yoga us not just about stretching. It is based on advanced knowledge how to balance the physiology. Therefore it makes a great difference to have a really qualified teacher anchored in the vedic tradition - where Yoga comes from. Most teachers are just surfing the wave of Yoga popularity without having more than elementary knowledge of the bodily movements.
Especially avoid Power Yoga, it is a severe distortion of the whole idea - copying some postures and adding elements that are completely foreign to the principles of Yoga, preventing the intended balancing effects of Yoga asanas.
[size=150]Postures not movements
[/size]
A basic principle of Yoga is that it is not the question of movements, but postures. In a relaxed manner you switch from one posture to another and keep it for sufficient time for balancing the physiology. According to the vedic knowledge, the different postures make the subtle energies in the body (yet unknown to modern science) to flow in different ways, enlivening various organs and subtle structures in the body.
A simple rule of a great yoga teacher was to keep every posture during five slow breaths, or longer if somehow you feel like it in certain cases.
[size=150]Good preparation for a golf round[/size]
Doing yoga asanas right before a golf round is a really good preparation. It releases tensions and rebalances the physiology, thereby reducing muscular imbalances that may interfere with the delicate coordination of the swing (see my posting today “Suggestions to lagpressure” under “Swinging vs hitting” at http://lagpressure.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=19&p=11847#p11847 ).
).