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Archive for September, 2008

OK, long title, I know - sorry
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Here’s to a great 2008 golf season!

It’s been a great year for golf in 2008.

Between Tiger’s heroics at the US Open, to the USA’s victory in the Ryder Cup, to Vijay and Anthony Kim coming into thier own…overall it’s been a season to remember.

What was your most memorable event in 2008?

Let everyone know what you liked best about this golf year…

Ben

Hey, does this golf swing make me look fat?…   :-) 

For the inexperienced golfer, this wonderful game will seem to provide never-ending moments of frustration due to making poor contact with the ball. It is impossible not to experience shots that can leave you a bit embarrassed, especially for the beginner.

You may think you have a great swing, and you can ceate a fluid-like graceful backswing, and as your body is perfectly aligned with the target, you hit the ball with such inaccuracy that it  hardly even leaves the grown, or worse yet, a lump of dirt and grass travels further than the ball itself.

This ugly scenario is a fat shot.

I HATE Fat Shots…

The Fat Shot Problem

Most likely your biggest problem with contact issues will be making the fat shot. This simply means that the clubhead is hitting the ground first, before making contact with the ball. Not only is the fat shot an embarrassing experience,  but wrist injuries are also somewhat common because of the club hitting the ground, which sends a jolt through your hands and wrists.

Fat shots typically result in the ball traveling far less than half the distance desired on the shot, as well as creating a huge divot in the course. Men and women who repeat the fat shot often enough can develop swelling in the wrists due to hitting the ground over and over again.

Most Common Causes Of The Fat Shot

For the majority of golfers facing this issue, their fat shots are typically the result of the bottom of the swing arc being too far behind the ball. The cause of this can vary. One reason is due to having too much bend at the waist and knees during your downswing.

Another reason could be improper weight shift where the bulk of the weight should be shifted to the left, but remains on the right foot during the downswing (right-handed golfers). A third reason is if your swing plane is too steep.  And lastly, fat shots can be caused by playing the ball a bit too forward within your stance.

How To Prevent The Fat Shot

In order to eliminate the chances of creating the fat shot, you need to make a few
adjustments, as described below:

1. Watch your bend. Make sure you are not bending into the ball during your downswing.
Maintain the same amount of bend within your waist, hips, and knees, throughout the entire downswing. Keeping your spine straight can help.

2. At address, be conscious of your weight and keep it balanced between the heels and the balls of your feet. Always keep your weight off the toes.

3. On the downswing, transfer your weight from the right foot to the left. Doing so will prevent the club from bottoming out too early.

4. Lastly, try adjusting the ball by moving it back approximately 1 inch in your stance. This can help the bottom of your swing to match up with the position of the ball.

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Hit ‘em straight

Ben

Here’s what’s going on in the clubshop at Triangle Custom Clubs…

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Yes, Golf IS a team sport!

A least it seemed to be this weekend during the Ryder Cup.

I’ve never seen so much fist pumping and jumping around since the USA women’s beach volleyball team won in the Olympics…

But it was very good to see the cup coming back to the USA. (my condolences to my European subscribers…)

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Daddy’s got a brand new “groove”

Ok, so I have to admit - I’ve not really been following all the talk about the new groove rule in golf. But it seems that there’s nothing but controversy surrounding it.

But, really - do you care? I mean, the rule doesn’t seem to impact us weekend golfers until around 2024 - and I plan to be retired by then.

Oh wait - the last time I looked at my stocks, I probably won’t retire until I’m 99…

Anyway, I plan to do some research on this new groove and report back to you soon - for what it’s worth…
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Wie goes back to school

Q-school that is…

Maybe this will get her head out of the “I’m gonna play with men” clouds and put her back on track to show everyone she is capable of living up to the potential everyone saw in her years ago…

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My father the meth dealer…

Poor 17 year old Tadd Fujikawa. He’s trying to get his start as a professional golfer and the next thing you know his dad, Derrick is charged with running a meth lab in Hawaii.

He could face up to 40 years if convicted, and his trial starts next month.

Tadd has missed 6 cuts in PGA events this year, not to mention ones he missed on the European side.

Hopefully Tadd will work out the troubles in his game and realize that he had no control over the other troubles in his family.
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Four in one is a new record.

This is a new record for PGA sponsored events…

During the first round of the Nationwide Tour Utah Championship four golfers each made a hole-in-one. Four aces in one day is a record.

Unfortunately for the golfers involved, none of them aced the right hole…

…if they had aced the par 3 11th hole the prize was a new Rolex watch.
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The 2008 Golf Club Blowout

Just a shameless reminder to check out my 2008 Golf Club Blowout.

I’ve dropped the prices on some of my most popluar custom made clubs
to “make room” for the 2009 models.

Check it out here…

Hit ‘em straight

Ben

More Golf Tips:
http://www.trianglecustomclubs.com/golf-tips

http://www.trianglecustomclubs.com/putting-tips

http://www.trianglecustomclubs.com/greatgolftips

Have you been watching the meltdown on Wall Street?

Worried about your retirement account?

(I certainly am…) :-0

Well, in an attempt to get your mind off all that, I’ve decided to have a 2008 Golf Club Blowout sale.

It’s going on right now, and you can get all the details here:

I’ve reduced the prices on many of our most popular golf clubs, so that we can make room for the new 2009 clubs.

…and you can even see some of the new designs if you’re interested.

Hey, the golf season is almost over (officially anyway), and the news on TV is all bad - so why don’t you head over to the website and see how cheap it is to upgrade your
golf clubs?

You’d be helping your golf game and the economy too …at least my economy

(OK, that was uncalled for, but I own AIG stock, so have mercy on me, please! )

The 2008 Golf Club Blowout
Hit ‘em straight

Ben

P.S. Of course, there is always a catch, right?

Well, that’s true here as well. The catch is that I cannot predict when the inventory of the components used to custom make these clubs will run out, so I may have to end this sale at any time. So now’s your chance to get some great clubs at some great prices.

The 2008 Golf Club Blowout

Hurricane Ike has claimed two golfers amoung it’s many victims. High winds from the storm toppled a tree on a Nashville TN golf course, killing two men in a golf cart on Sunday.

Police identified the victims as 32-year-old Jason Proffitt and 43-year-old Joseph Carter, both of Pleasant View, Tenn., who died at the scene near the 16th hole.

Wind speeds near the area were clocked above 50 mph around 9am when the accident occured.  Apparently, this strong wind caused a tree to fall onto their golf cart Sunday afternoon at the Hermitage Golf Course.

Witnesses on the course tried to help, but they could not lift the tree from the cart. Firefighters, ambulances and police rushed to the golf course, closing it down 

News reports mentioned that the Firefighters said when winds were as strong as they were Sunday morning, everyone should try to stay clear from possible falling debris.

“If you’re in a wooded area, or if you’re outside, I would be extremely cautious where I am, especially with the wind this high,” said Rick Taylor, Fire Chief with the Metro Fire Department.

A tragic loss of life from the remants of a major hurricane. I would advise everyone to heed the warning above. If winds are that strong, stay off the course.

Ben

You may not know this, but the infamous “push” shot is one mistake that many players have to consciously fix when learning the game.

I thought I’d take a few moments to concentrate on the Push (which is similar to the pull shot, but moves in the opposite direction). So let’s talk about what causes the push, as well as how to solve this problem.

The Push Shot

The push describes a shot where the golf ball starts out moving towards the right and continues in that direction (right-handed golfers).

This occurs when the club head approaches your ball from an inside path, and with the clubface open in relation to the target line.

If you have the problem of pushing the ball then more than likely, it’s caused by the lack of enough body rotation on the downswing portion.

This lack of rotation will result in your arms lagging behind everything else, thus causing a late hit.

When a late hit occurs, the clubhead misses the all important hitting zone.

What’s more even if you were to approach the ball from the inside, you may still push the ball if you are not properly releasing the clubhead.

Another possible cause may be that you have the ball located too far back within your stance. This causes the clubhead to hit the ball far too early, which means that the face
makes impact with the ball before it has the opportunity to point in a straight direction down the target line.

How To Get Rid Of The Push

There are a few techniques that golfers use in order to rid themselves of the dreaded “Push”.  And these techniques really stick with the basics.

Having said that, the first thing you need to do is practice making your hips turn fully on the downswing portion so that your belt buckle will be pointing towards the target at the end of your swing.

Of course, if you belt buckle is as big as Anthony Kim’s it might be hard to tell exactly where it’s pointing

First, you must be sure that your weight is being completely shifted from your right foot to the left.  Try practicing this weight shift without a club first by bringing your arms backwards, and then through, the swing, all the while consciously transferring your weight from the back to the front.

You’ll need to make sure that your body is not moving backwards and forwards during the swing, just rotating back and through, back and through.

Once you get the movement down pat and you’re confident with the proper swing technique needed to eliminate the push, pick up your club and practice the same movement repeatedly.

Always check the position of your belt buckle at the end of each swing.

Last Minute Tip:  Be sure to take notice of your release.
Check to see that you are releasing the club head appropriately by turning the right forearm over your left forearm as you approach impact (right-handed golfers).

This rolling movement will help the club face to be closed and create a straight moving ball instead of it veering off to the right.

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Hit ‘em straight

Ben

Here’s what’s going on in the clubshop at Triangle Custom Clubs…
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LPGA = Language Prohibits Golfers from Asia

It’s been a rough few weeks for Ms Bivens and the LPGA.

First, she decides to that lady golfers must have better communication skills…

…which to the LPGA meant that golfers from Asia had to speak English.

…Then they implemented a “plan” which was probably the worst bit of management I’ve ever seen…

..,Speak English or don’t play. That’s not much of a vision statment to me :-0

Anyway, before I could get out another What Do You Think post on the blog, Bivens and the LPGA reversed their decision to implement the language plan.

But that’s OK, because I have another (and better) What Do You Think question anyway. You can check it out below…

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Spiderman finally wins, and V-Jay ignores the press?

All Vijay Singh needs to do is make the cut at the Tour Championship in two weeks and he gets a nice little $10 million paycheck. So why did he disc the press after the BMW?

Maybe he’s feeling the pressure of the next event and the big payoff?

Or was he upset at his 44th place finish?

Only time will tell, I guess.

In the meantime, Camilo Villegas was certainly smiling after winning his first PGA event and a respectable $1.25 million.

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It appears that Tiger’s bad knee hasn’t affected other parts of this anatomy…

He and Elin are expecting child number 2…
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Should Golf be in the Olympics? You make the call…

As you probably already know, get top leaders in the golf world are lobbing the Olympic Committee to put golf in the games of 2016.

What you may not know is that there seems to be a difference of opinion as to whether or not that would be a good thing for golf.

Golfers like Phil Mickelson are all for it, while others like Ernie Els oppose it.

So what do you think? Should golf be included in the games? And why?

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Is this the golf channel or animal planet?

First there was the bear, then the gopher. And now it’s “the bees”

Seems that Anthony Kim got in the path of a few bees while searching for his ball at the Barclays tournament.
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He got what he deserved…

If you’ve been a subscriber to our free golf tips for a while you may remember a story I told you about a few months ago;

A pro golfer named Tripp Isenhour, was charged with killing a protected hawk while filming a golf video back in December. He killed the hawk by hitting him with a golf shot.

Well, he finally got his day in court, and pleaed no contest to the charge.

He agreed to one year probation, 100 hours of community service, court costs, and he has to attend an anger management class.

Now I know who Tiger can use for target practice when he starts swinging a club again.

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Hit ‘em straight

Ben

So, who do you think should be player of the year?

Should be be Padraig Harrington, who won two majors? (and then missed the last two cuts in the FedEx cup…)

Or should it be Vijay Singh, who will (probably) win the FedEx Cup? (so long as he makes the cut at the Tour Championship…)

Or should it be Tiger? who won wounded at the US Open?

Or maybe even Greg Norman? (OK, that was a stretch… )

Put your comments in below and let us know What You Think.