Terrific to have you here, Mr. Barkow! Looking forward to your posts (and finding all your past stuff)…
Cheers, Cheese
Mr. Barkow,
Good news hearing your webzine is on track.
Looking forward with great interest to your stories and commentary.
Best to you.
Hey Al,
Did you get the pics from Lag?
They are on his system if you need them. We had an issue about transferring them as I have that big camera and never brought my USB cord to download pics and Lag’s sytem didn’t have a SD slot to insert the card.
Then after a lot of brainwork we took the card from my camera and put it into Lag’s Camera and downloaded it – another brain and we would have been lonely on that one.
Took a while to work it out!! Sometimes simple things are so hard.
Looking forward to the putting book- especially after seeing some of your long lag putting at Pasatiempo that day !!
I enjoyed meeting you and talking- wish we had more time but we shall catch up again soon. Thanks for signing my Barkow books !!
Hi Al,
I remember us talking in California last month and you mentioned something about the way Gene Sarazen used to grip the club.
I found this old rare book by Sarazen and it has a close up of his grip placement. I think you are totally correct about that left thumb position. The pics seem to show it way off the side of the grip
Is the webzine working?
When I used to work with Henry Picard, he showed me that grip and said it was the original interlock grip. I found I could really get my elbows close together with that grip.
Bradley, I saw the grip first hand when Gene and I played some golf during the Shell Show years. As I think I mentioned to you, often I asked him where he got it and he wouldn’t say. Finally I got it out of him when I asked if he got it from Alex Morrison, who he didn’t like much. Sarazen said he got it from Francis Ouimet, and when you look back at pictures of players from that era you do see a lot of baseball type grips. Morrison got it from them, no doubt, but modified it with an extremely strong left had.
I’m here with John finishing up my Webzine Quarterly and getting my book up for customers. Hope you’re working on your game and getting it ready to bring out where it belongs. Have good holidays.
Al
Styles: Sorry to be so long in responding. I’m still getting used to working on line. Yes, the Webzine is working. The first Quarterly will be on line tomorrow, December 18th. Look forward to your comments.
Al Barkow
Sorry to be so long getting back to you. Things got a little hectic for awhile, and I am still learning to connect with the internet in this way. You worked with Henry! Where? He was a very interesting man, lots of integrity, and knowledge of the game. I don’t know what he meant by “original” interlock. He learned the grip from Alex Morrison, as you probably know, and Morrison, according to Gene Sarazen, probably got it from Francis Ouimet; that’s who Sarazen learned the grip from. I mean specifically the left thumb off part. I remember Henry telling me that the left thumb off was the one thing he didn’t buy from Morrison, his mentor, but when he injured the thumb his doctor told him that it was either take the thumb off or have an operation and Henry went for the thumb off. He went on to win a Masters and PGA.
Good to hear from you.
Can’t wait for your book Mr. Barkow!
Now I don’t have to wait anymore… 
Thanks.
Excellent!
I’m sure it will have been worth the wait.
Just read the ‘barkow’.
Very good Al, I loved your stories.
I think we should start a thread regarding your views on putting.
Al
Just a simple - it is a true pleasure to have you here. Since, in my world, putting and nemesis is usually part of the same sentence, your book will be a must read.
Flop
I spent an entire day with Al and Lag in October when I was in CA. We played Pasatiempo and even got Al to dust off his persimmons and blades for the occasion!
What a great day. I highly doubt there would be many people alive who have had the up front experience of inter action with so many great golfers through the years than Al has had.
Every person I mentioned - Alex Morrison- Ed Furgol- were two far out people I chose on a whim for a subject we were talking about…Al knew and had spoken with. He had lessons from Morrison and caddied for Furgol. He spoke to me that day about Hogan’s lesson and how close he came to actually writing an autobiography on Hogan- straight from Hogan himself. I’ll let you talk about Snead and his dirty jokes 
You can’t get much better information than straight from the horse’s mouth. Or as Al likes to say- straight from the horse’s ass !!
What a great day…I wish it didn’t end.
I look forward to some more installments to the webzine Al and getting to read the putting book one day soon and catching up another day soon. Thanks for writing what you have so far.
Hi Al, I have started up 3 months ago and decided to do things right, so started off with Lag’s drills for the full swing, and have since been practicing mainly my chipping, which has improved vastly. I need to do more, but also want to start working on putting, so I downloaded your book. I was a little wary at first seeing as it’s so small, but after reading, I know I will have to re-read it 2-3 times just to make sure I’m not missing anything. It really is crammed with information. Nice work!!!
However, I have a pretty clear problem. I am right hand dominant, but swing the golf club left handed!!! Don’t ask why. My left hand isn’t really too bad for strength and co-ordination, but my right is still better. Should I stay as a left hand putter, and use my dominant top hand to drive the stroke, or should I consider switching my putting to right handed to take advantage of a dominant bottom hand? I’m not worried about losing my stroke, as I just don’t have one yet, but still wonder whether it’s worth the switch?
Great book Al,
Am going to start reading it again, lots of new stuff to think about there.
Do you have any advice for someone who only ever seems to miss putts to the right of the hole?? and don’t say aim left.
Neil.
Am pretty sure it is to do with aim, and not my stroke, should have said that.
NRG, it almost certainly is your aiming that is at fault if you are missing straight putts to the right.
Get yourself two pencils and some string. Tie the ends of the string to the pencils and insert one beyond the hole and the other at your ball. Six to eight feet is long enough. Using the string to help guide your aim, see where you miss (or not).
I don’t think I need to add that the string should be suspended above your ball not under it but just in case!
Let me know your results.
Another thing. What type of putter are you using? If you have a heel shafted putter, you may want to consider trying a centre shafted one and if you are using a blade putter try a mallet type.
Cheers Styles, will give that a go when this snow finally melts and report back.
I think it is to do with my head position?? If I practice for a couple of hours, just holing 4 footers, I finally get in position. But I have just never figured out where that position is to be able to repeat it without all the practice?? I don’t miss everything, but any misses are always to the right.
For years I used an old Bronty Gem, more recently a TM Spider, both heel shafted. What difference does centre shafting make?
NRG