Golf For Beginners Podcast 01-08-06

In Golf for beginners 01-08-06 episode nine we blog about the best way to practice at the driving range, talk a little about Lucas Glovers' hole-in-one at the 2006 Mercedes Championships and ask a couple of poll questions from our listeners.

For example, please respond to the following for our next GFB podcast:

Have you ever gotten a hole-in-one? If so, please either post it here and tell us the details or send it to our golfforbeginners@aol.com email address. We will put your name and club on the internet for all of our listeners to hear!

Our second poll question is:

What is the lowest temperature you will go out and play golf?
Contact us at golfforbeginners@aol.com.

Since we also played a round of golf before the end of 2005, we give our synopses of our rounds.

Happy New Year and play lots of golf! Yeah!

Review: Titleist 904F Fairway Woods

"My new Titleist 904F Fairway Woods are tee-rific!"

Their official name is the Pro Trajectory Titleist 904F Fairway Woods. I got mine with the YS-6 graphite shafts which are stock shafts. You can also select the Dynamic Gold S300 and the Titleist Speeder Fairway which are also stock or the several other custom shafts but the Y-6 is nice because of it's balance of stiffness with just the right amount of "give". I seem to always hit them directly on their sweet spot. It's almost like getting an unfair advantage when using these golf clubs on the course.

I visited Titleist's website to view the specifications on the Titleist 904F Fairway Woods. What really intrigued me was that professional golfers have used Titleist for years so how could an average golfer, a golf beginner like myself, do these clubs justice? Would they be too advanced for my swing? Would I be able to feel comfortable playing with an advanced set of woods that I thought were meant for lower handicappers? Note: Ernie Els used the Titleist 904F Pro Trajectory 3-Wood to win at the 2005 Dunhill Championship and Mark O'Meara's game also benefits from the 904F 15 and 17 degree clubs.

Right down to the packaging, I could see that these new woods were special. Even the headcovers, a new design (but typically Titleist), were intriguing. I knew I was in for a treat!

The first thing I noticed was a difference in the balance of these fairway woods compared with the old extremely bendable women's woods I was used to carrying in my bag. The YS-6 shaft didn't feel whippy and the head was small yet substantial, pear-shaped…and definitely Titleist.

Built from 355 Carpenter steel, these can also be called "fairway metals". A hot forgiving face with just the right sound when you hit it sweet makes the club exciting to use.

The C.G. was moved to the center of the club and you can feel the balance even when you just grasp the golf club in your fingers. It has true proper weight distribution. You get a high launch with a flatter trajectory. The golf ball just SOARS! I noticed that all my shots were centered on the face and the ball travelled AT LEAST as far as my old woods without effort!
Okay, perhaps I should stop gushing now.

I also noticed that the clubs I had selected, the 904F 15 degree and 19 degree (3 wood and 5 wood respectively) were VERY forgiving when I DID hit them a bit off-center. That encouraged me to keep using them on the range and, as I hit them a few more times, they felt better and better until I rarely hit one off-line or off-center. My 3-wood was travelling about 190 yards when I decided to put my two new 904F's away and try out my new driver (the Titleist 905T, of course…). I'll get to the driver in another article.

In conclusion, I give the Titleist Pro Trajectory 904F Fairway woods two thumbs up! They are beautiful to look at, delightful to hold, very forgiving and make you feel like a professional golfer when you use them. The newly designed headcovers (with the silver theme along the sides) add to the beauty of the set in my golf bag. They will be with me for a long time to come.

Thanks again to Titleist!

Photo Credit: © Titleist.com.

Tis the Season to be Jolly...

I'm trying a different format to see if anyone out there will respond to my blog. I notice that as I roll through the blogs on blogspot.com that there are very few responses.

Nothing about golf today. I'm just enjoying a blissful day off from work. Work for me involves operating a gas station (yes, I pump gas all day, every day). It's funny how many different things we all do in our lifetime to pass the days. I know many people who work more than one job and many who work nights and weekends...and never complain!

Do any of you out there hold down more than one job or have only one day (maybe even NO days) off during the week? If so I'd like to read about what you do. Just post a comment.

Hey, would anybody like to see my golf swing on video? I have been getting out to the range more often so if I get a few positive comments that people would like to see my swing, the next time I go I'll bring my video camera.

Heck, I'll bring my camera anyway! No prodding needed. I'm just a ham at heart anyway. :-)

My husband bought me a weighted 6 pound Nike medicine ball the size of a basketball for the holidays. I hope to improve my balance and core muscles with it. I just tried exercising with it and I'm really pooped! I think it's going to work great for me when I pull out the driver this spring.

Speaking of drivers, I just finished watching the REMAX Long Drive Challenge on ESPN. WOW! That's all I have to say!
There were women hitting the ball over 300 yards! The men were crushing their drives almost 400 yards! That's incredible!

There was even a brief segment about the kids and teenagers. I think that the REMAX Long Drive Challenge will eventually have to extend the field to over 400 yards. I wonder how long it will take for the average long drive hitter to send the ball over 500 yards. It's coming, I tell you!

So today is Christmas Day and although I'm Jewish I still celebrate! Hey, it's a day off! C'mon, How many of you would take a Jewish holiday off if the powers that be gave it to you? Oh, I bet you would go to work, sure!

Anyway, Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings, Merry Christmas and for those in the minority like me, Happy Chanukkah (or Hanukkah, whichever you prefer!)

Consistency in Golf

Barry G. Solomon's Golf Talk - The Importance of the PreShot Routine

The preshot routine is used by every  good golfer on the planet.

There are as many different routines as there are golfers.  Once you develop yours, you should use it every time you swing your club. 
Pre-shot routines are needed to help produce the same swing every time. 
Consistency is the name of the game.

So how do you develop yours?  Here are some helpful tips.
1- Stand behind your ball and picture the shot you want to hit. 
(Where you want your ball to land and where you want your ball to end up).

2- Check the wind (how will the wind affects the ball flight).

3- Choose the club you want to use to get the job done.

4- Address the ball.  (Set yourself up for success.  Check proper posture, grip and alignment).

5- Look again at your target,  close your eyes and picture the perfect shot.

6- Pull the trigger. (try to let your brain go on automatic.) 
TRUST YOUR SWING.

These are the steps needed in every pre-shot routine.  You can add swing reminders like checking club positions at different parts of the swing.  Maybe take a practice swing.

Just develop one and use it at the range as well at the course.  GOOD LUCK!!!
 
I will be giving you more simple golf tips from time to time so check back.

Golf for Beginners Podcasts 12-18-05

Golf for beginners 12-18-05 episode eight we talk about how the older set of golfers still get out and play, chat a bit about our game, give a few tips and mention what's new in the latest Golf for Women magazine. We also help another golfer with a dilemma in our weekly golf mailbag. It's our longest and funniest GFB ever!

Contact us at golfforbeginners@aol.com

Have a safe and happy holiday season!

Woods Has Problems; Sorenstam's Team Wins

In my last blog I really thought that Tiger Woods could take the trophy at the Target World Challenge. First off it's his tournament and second he's won it six times. You would think this tournament would be just another walk along the fairway. But as I've stated on many occasions, the best golfers have the hottest putters. Tiger's putter went cold on him and, in spite of his tremendous drives, he went without a victory.

European tour players took his place at the top of the leaderboard. I'm still busy watching so your guess is as good as mine as to who will finally emerge victorious. Hey, I'm just a blogger, not a news writer, so you'll have to find out for yourselves about this tourney.

On the LPGA Tour, Annika Sorenstam's International team took top honors at the inaugural Lexus Cup from Singapore. Was there ever any doubt that the number-one in the world paired with Paula Creamer would shake up the Asian team? It was pretty funny how Sorenstam got beaten by Grace Park, team captain for the Asians. Even with her injuries, Grace dominated in their singles match. In the end, Annika's team rallied helped by rookie Erica Blasberg (who would have believed that she had it in her?).

Speaking of Blasberg, she won non-exempt status at Q-School which means she's going to have to prequalify for 2006 events. Let's hope she does better next year than in her rookie season where she barely made it into the top-100 on the ADT Official Money List.

Natalie Gulbis didn't make any waves at the Lexus Cup. I was looking forward to hearing that she dominated the girls on Team Asia but instead Gulbis didn't make a charge. I sincerely wish that Natalie makes her move into the winner's circle next year on the LPGA Tour. And for those in the blogoshpere that don't like Natalie or her father or her television show, I think it's just a case of sour grapes. Gulbis has it all. She's got game, a new 2006 calendar and a great business profile that will take her beyond golf and give her a very comfortable future. Hats off to Natalie!

Well, I'm a little under the weather today so there is no driving range practice. Instead I'm going to finish watching the Target World Challenge and root for Padraig Harrington to kick some butt!