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The Electric Pig's Gift for 2016 for those on double figures


Guest Electric Pig

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Guest Electric Pig

...And without being rude or offensive, the higher your handicap, the more you need to read this. With very few exceptions, this is not about mechanics. It's about attitude.

 

(About me: I'm 54, now off between scratch and two, and I'll play with anyone at my club, including 36 markers of both genders. These are observations I've made over 44 years of playing. I played a couple of professional tournaments as a kid to find out if this was the life for me. I qualified for an Australian Open and when I was registering J. Nicklaus sat next to me. I choked then, so... No.)

 

There are some controversial comments in here. Let's agree to disagree already.

 

 

So you hit a bad shot...

1. You are expected to hit some bad shots. It is called your handicap.

2. You hit a bad shot? Don't do a post mortum, don't swing three times complaining you didn't roll your wrists 113 degrees and you only had 73% weight on the right side at the top and the butterfly made too much noise. Just get over it, empty your mind, go find it, then hit it again. Refer 1. above.

3. Do not change your swing based on one bad shot or even two or three. You will get yourself tied up in knots, and make many more bad swings. You are better off sticking with what you were doing. Refer 2. and 1. above.

4. When you lifted your head- you didn't. It was pushed up. And see below.

5. When your buddies tell you what you did wrong, smile, thank them- and ignore it, unless your buddy is Butch Harmon.

6. When you hit a bad shot, do you know the difference between angry and unhappy?

 

7. WE ALL HAVE BAD DAYS. DON'T PANIC BECAUSE YOU HAD A BAD DAY.

 

Playing the game

1. Look at the average greens and fairways hit stats for the PGA and LPGA and Eurotour and LET. And you expect to hit every fairway and green? Get serious!

2. When you go to the range, don't take your driver with you. Actually, don't take anything but your wedges and your putter. You can practice and improve your long game making 3/4 and 1/2 swings and 1/4 swings and chips with your wedges and putter- but not the other way around. Commit to practicing nothing but part wedges for a month, even if it's once a week, and at the end see how good your long game is as well. Remember- a low marker who doesn't hit it very far is going to take your money every time- and probably from the centre of the fairway too.

3. The best thing my coach the late, great Billy McWilliam said to me (apart from ripping shreds off me when he saw a packet of cigarettes in my golf bag- and I was 25!) was- why do you want to keep your head down? Don't you want to see your good shot? A head that moves freely at and after impact is part of a swing that moves freely- and is a relaxed swing. You're not going to swing like that if you keep your head down and are stressed and tense and restrict the swing. So the more stressful the shot is that I have, the more I go back to one single thought- Follow the ball (with my eyes).

4. One swing thought max. Preferably, that is the target. Leave all the technical thoughts for the practice tee. You do use the practice tee, right?

5. When in doubt or under pressure or you're choking your lungs up- just hit the back of the ball.

6. HIT THE DAMN BALL! WAKE UP! WHILE WE'RE YOUNG! The longer you linger over the ball staring at it, the harder it is to get moving. The longer someone is over the ball, the more mechanical the swing. We already have one Kevin Na, and you're not at Bushwood. Be a Nick Price. Waggle, look, waggle, look, hit. No need to rush it- but just don't stop.

7. Keep it simple. It's a simple game for simple people, made complicated by getting so absorbed in technique that they forget to hit the ball into the hole and have fun while doing it. I'm sorry, America, with your drills and tips and overanalysis and 473,297 web sites- it's a game. How can you enjoy it like that? Hit it, find it, hit it again.

 

8. Have you ever practiced hitting out of rough? You must be good hitting, every fairway... Do you practice putting from the fringe? Don't miss greens either...

 

9. Take... Your... Medicine. Refer Mickelson P, 2006 US Open, and others...

 

Swing tips

1. Don't. Just don't. They misspelled "traps". Sure, enjoy PlayGolf and Golfhouse for the articles, but not those pictures.

2. There is one great use for swing tips- tell your opponent about them. That should screw up their game.


Trackman

1. Trackman is a tool- you don't hit shots on the course in front of Trackman, nor is there a game of Trackman Golf. Let's put you on a tee coming out of a chute with a left to right wind pushing the ball to water, with fairway bunkers and OB on the other side, and you're up by one. Bet you don't swing at 110 then- if you do, ask why why are you reading this tips for longer markers. It is a tool, nothing more, nothing less, and has shortcomings. Golf is not played on a football field, as appears on a trackman screen. I can tell you a lot by ball flight.


Putting

1. If I feel like I'm losing my touch, normally it is my right wrist is getting tight, and my thought becomes soft left wrist. The right wrist automatically follows...

2. Pace your putts out (without being slow). Soon you'll know how to hit a five-pacer and a ten-pacer, and when you go to another course you can dial it all in quickly because you have a reference. (Source- Alexandra Vilatte who I caddied for one season, and who, well... You can look her up. And know that the view from behind was even better.)

3. When you're approaching the green, look for the natural drainage routes. It never drains into another slope where it would puddle. Also, more often than not the green breaks away from bunkers. It will all make more sense.

 

 

A teacher:

 

1. A teacher who wants everyone to swing the same way should be in robotics, not golf. I once saw a 60yo+ guy go to a teacher, and the teacher wanted to tear down and rebuild his swing. Ummm.... No.

 

*************************

 

Enjoy (at your peril...) ;) and remember to enjoy the company, the weather, and the game.

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Very solid to me.

In the bag:
Driver: :titelist-small: TSR2 Project X HZRDUS Black 5.5
Fairway: :callaway-small: Apex UW 19° & 21° Project X HZRDUS Smoke RDX Black 5.5

Irons: :mizuno-small: JPX 923 HMP 5-PW UST Mamiya Recoil 95 F4
Wedges: :mizuno-small: T-22 Denim Copper 48°, 52° & 56° UST Mamiya Recoil 95 F4
Putter :Sub70: Sycamore 005 Wide Blade
Bag: 
:Ogio: Alpha Convoy 514
Balls: :callaway-small: Chrome Soft X

Cart: :CaddyTek: CaddyLite ONE Ver. 8


God Bless America🇺🇸, God save the King🇬🇧, God defend New Zealand🇳🇿 and thank Christ for Australia🇦🇺!

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7. Keep it simple. It's a simple game for simple people, made complicated by getting so absorbed in technique that they forget to hit the ball into the hole and have fun while doing it. I'm sorry, America, with your drills and tips and over analysis and 473,297 web sites- it's a game. How can you enjoy it like that? Hit it, find it, hit it again.

 

I encourage everyone to think about the above paragraph written by Electric Pig - 

 

All was good and fine with your post until you decided to play the Blame America card. Article #7 of your instruction and admonition diatribe is offensive. The rest of the post is stuff we all hear and read almost daily. I'm almost 61 and rarely find much in this world offensive. If you don't like America or what you read here on MGS then move on and find a planet where golf is played and discussed the way you want it to be. And when you find it come back and tell us where it is. Hoss, there's not much that angers me but when you go to running down my country or family you're going to hear about it.

 

Happy New Year  - and please don't take offense.

My Sun Mountain bag currently includes:   TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png 771CSI 5i - PW and TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png PFC Micro Tour-c 52°, 56°, 60 wedges

                                                                               :755178188_TourEdge: EXS 10.5*, TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png 929-HS FW4 16.5* 

                                                                                :edel-golf-1: Willimette w/GolfPride Contour

 

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Nicely written post Pig -- stuff we can all take heart and - most importantly - have more fun.  

 

As for #7, I don't find it offensive at all - and I don't see how it offends our great land.  But that's just my own opinion... ;)

 

What's in the bag:
 
Driver:  :titelist-small:TSR3; :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR Carbon
FW Wood: :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR 3-wood; :titleist-small: TSR 2+
Hybrids:  PXG Gen4 18-degree
Utility Irons: :srixon-small: ZX MkII 20* 
Irons:;  :Sub70:699/699 Pro V2 Combo; :wilson_staff_small: D9 Forged;  :macgregor-small:MT86 (coming soon!); :macgregor-small: VIP 1025 V-Foil MB/CB; 

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: RTX6 Zipcore
Putter: :cleveland-small: HB Soft Milled 10.5;  :scotty-small: Newport Special Select;  :edel-golf-1:  Willamette,  :bettinardi-small: BB8; :wilson-small: 8802; MATI Monto

Ball: :bridgestone-small: Tour B RXS; :srixon-small: Z-STAR Diamond; :wilson_staff_small: Triad

Stat Tracker/GPS Watch: :ShotScope:


 
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Guest Electric Pig

 

7. Keep it simple. It's a simple game for simple people, made complicated by getting so absorbed in technique that they forget to hit the ball into the hole and have fun while doing it. I'm sorry, America, with your drills and tips and over analysis and 473,297 web sites- it's a game. How can you enjoy it like that? Hit it, find it, hit it again.

 

I encourage everyone to think about the above paragraph written by Electric Pig - 

 

All was good and fine with your post until you decided to play the Blame America card. Article #7 of your instruction and admonition diatribe is offensive. The rest of the post is stuff we all hear and read almost daily. I'm almost 61 and rarely find much in this world offensive. If you don't like America or what you read here on MGS then move on and find a planet where golf is played and discussed the way you want it to be. And when you find it come back and tell us where it is. Hoss, there's not much that angers me but when you go to running down my country or family you're going to hear about it.

 

Happy New Year  - and please don't take offense.

 

 

No, I won't take offense, because you are entitled to your opinions as much as I am entitled to mine.

 

I lived and worked in CA and IN for three years so I have some qualification to make comment.

 

However, since you take offense, may I suggest that you need to look at why you take offense.

 

Humour me. Go have a look at the web sites where the swing is broken down into a mechanical process, and tell me where they are. Same place where despite them introducing carts, play got slower. And cart girls. And expensive memberships (I pay AUD1000 for my membership at a club that hosts a professional tournament).

 

I'm sorry if you take offense, because you think that I am running down your country. I didn't realise it was perfect- it wasn't when I was there. But I make no apologies. I too have freedom of speech and expression and thought and opinion, and I have the right to it whether you like it or not.

 

As far as the rest of the stuff being available elsewhere- please, point me towards it and I will cite it properly.

 

I propose that this discussion between you and I now stop, because I don't think anyone else gives a rats. If you are still offended, tell the moderators. OK?

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  • 2 months later...

That was excellent and I love #7!

Driver: Callaway XR

Fairway: Callaway XR - 4 wood, 7 wood

Fairway: Callaway Big Bertha - Divine 9 wood

Irons: Ping G25 - 4 to U wedge

Wedges: Hopkins 54 & 58

Putter: A variety of Odyssey Putters

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  • 1 month later...

I agree! Go out and enjoy the game! Early morning on the course, a little dew on the grass, the quite, the blue skies, green grass. Me, my clubs and the course. Great! as for the love it or leave it American group, there is nothing wrong in wanting this country to be great, but sometimes this takes reflection on the things that are not great.I served this county and love this country but I still yearn to improve this country. I vote, I participate and I love this game. Thanks for the post EP

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