While I fix Episode 14, Posture 2… what a mess! Coming soon!

You still have GIHTV, I like the kid at this point, a very confident 19-year old. My guess is Cink (NICE job beating Mickelson) will play the kid and on the other side, Justin will win and meet OHair (he’s been working really hard on his game). The finals: O’Hair & McIlroy. We will see.

Not a huge fan of the baby normally, but hey… shankapotimus? That’s good stuff.

This is definitely something we will address live on GIH and thanks Brian for your comments about Dave Pelz’s thoughts. Pelz has done extensive research on the short game and many top players believe in him, I for one became a much better putter after practicing his concepts and Jim Flick talks about the same stuff in his golf schools.

Regarding the plumb bob, the golf season is way too short in Saskatchewan for any opinion to be formed (kidding of course…I think). The first thing to know about PBing is how to do it correctly, and there is no study to prove that any given method of estimating a line (which is all that this is) is fool proof. This is a highly subjective topic and involves many factors, the most important of which may be a player’s skill to consistently stroke a put. Remember this when putting…it is much more important to be decisive than to be correct. Meaning, if you have doubt in your chosen line (no matter your method), you will make a tentative stroke and it can not be blamed on your method of choosing a line. So be decisive, you will get it closer more consistently.

I am a good putter, I plumb bob on longer putts only (20 ft +) that have significant break (12" plus). The only reason I do it is to get an estimate of the break, it is not exact. I then overestimate what a PB may show (Pelz advises players to actually double the break they see, which is very good advice). Together these thoughts usually form a good estimate of the best line.

How to PB: You need to know your dominant eye. To do this, place your index finger pointing upward approx 12" in front of your face, eye level, in the middle of your eyes and look past it to the wall behind (you should see 2 images). Alternate closing each eye and when your finger does not move, this is your dominant eye and the one with which you should PB if you choose.

We will explain the rest next week on GIH as well as basic green-reading concepts and methods….very simple and a great topic.

We are building YOUR game from the hole and out…stay tuned.

Coach Dave

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!

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.

Golf Galaxy sent me an email to their VIP Golf Galaxy Tour titled “Finally, A Real Golf Tour for the Average Golfer."

I’m not sure how they are defining average, but the overview says that the tour is “Open to golfers who normally score 95 or less on 18 holes. Men, women and juniors welcome.” Average eh? I think maybe they’d get a few more entrants (me maybe!) if they expanded this to golfers who “sometimes break 100."

The entry form asks “What do you normally score on 18 holes?” The choices..

• 79 or less
• 80-84
• 85 or higher

I’m wondering what you all think is an “average” player. I’ve been doing a little digging and set up a poll over on the right hand side (please vote!) to see what folks think an average player shoots.

I’m convinced that if you look at the average handicap (I believe it’s around 15-16 according to the USGA), you are leaving out way, way too many casual and non-handicapped golfers. One of the things about golf that I really dislike is how elite it can feel at times.

I’ve personally been intimidated when playing golf for lots of reasons (lack of a fancy bag, perfect swing, the latest clubs etc…) and frankly, am a bit sick of it. Golf is a great, great game and the more I think about the barriers that exist for casual and inexperienced players the more I want to try to do something about it.

So… let’s start with what you think is an average player, take the poll on the right and leave comments below and we’ll go from there.

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