Pug

Hi MattF - What is your goal? Personally I wanted to take care of my weight problem (yes ‘problem’ not ‘challenge’ - that only comes later after I came up with a plan to deal with the problem) by getting taller. Didn’t work.

True story- this just happened this morning. My wife and I are sitting here with our morning coffee, reading and listening to the radio. The announcer says, “Today is the international day of the horse .” Wife: I didn’t know today is the day of the horse . I promise not to nag you today. While I am laughing the announcer says “It’s also ‘Be nice to someone day.’” Wife: “There you go,” she says. “You get two for one.” ROTFLMAO

Revkev - First, good for you! As you know losing weight and keeping it off is not easy. One of the things about weight loss that has always surprised me is how little personal insight we bring to it. Take yo-yo dieting. What makes us think we can go on a diet for a couple of months, lose weight and then go back to eating what we did before to maintain our new weight? And when the weight comes back, often in even greater amounts, we jump on the next latest hot trend and do the same thing all over again ultimately with the same results - all the weight comes back plus more again. We often hear the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. On a related note, depression related to failing to keep weight off can be traced back to pattern recognition when we realize we just went through another yo-yo diet cycle. A rut is just an extended grave. The other comparison relates to the classical definition of hell - the endless reputation of a meaningless task. Sysiphus had angered the gods (we are never told how) and is condemned to push a heavy rock up a steep hill and will only be released when he gets the rock to the top. Over and over he pushes that obnoxious weight to the peak only to have it roll back down to the bottom and have to start over again. Remind anyone of yo-yo dieting? From all of these experiences I have developed some rules that I apply to myself. Rule 1. Nothing changes until I change. That means I can’t do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. Whatever change I make has to be permanent and therefore carefully considered. Rule 2. All diets work while you are on them. Therefore if the weight loss is to be permanent the change (see rule 1) has to be permanent. Rule 3. Plan. If you think you are going to lose weight and keep it off without a plan, think again. How are you going to lose weight and keep it off? What are you going to do to lose weight? Just diet, just exercise, a combination of both? Will you do cardio and strength training as well as change what you eat? What do you have to do to prepare to work out ? Do you need some clothes, a bag, gym shoes, lock for a locker, water bottle etc.? Do you actually know how to work out? It amazes me how arrogant we men can get about exercise, as in you can’t tell me anything- I know how to work out. A couple of crunches and I will that six pack in no time. Ha! I was badly deconditioned when I started and really benefited from taking workout classes. What about diet? What permanent changes am I going to make to what, when and how I eat. I agree with the other commentators who have said to make it stick it needs to a lifestyle change, not simply a temporary diet. And don’t forget portion control as has also been mentioned. If you happen to read the book I referred to earlier you will recognize what I mean when I say I am on the ENC diet. Never heard of it? It stands for Eat No Crap. I don’t have to tell anyone what crap is - we can all figure that out for ourselves. Start a small journal and write down virtually everything you eat for a week without changing anything. At the end of the week go through the journal and put a check mark beside everything that’s crap. Here’s the diet - stop eating everything with a check mark. And do yourself a favour - have non-crap real food available if you need a snack. Do that, work out and the weight will take care of itself but you still need portion control. Grazing is code for digging your grave with your mouth. OK, that was long winded. My point is as the old saying goes “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Obviously I have strong feelings on the subject. Thus endeth the rant for today.

Agree completely with the this idea that “good” is an ever moving target. I played my first round at the age of 60, shot 216 (Ed, who took me out on this first round would only record 12 shots per hole no matter how many I actually took) and lost (ahem) 28 balls. Last week (6 years after that first fateful round) I lost 1 ball and 2 weeks ago shot a no mulligans, no gimmes, no bull$hit 101. Is that good? No, but it is better. Still trying to shoot the elusive sub 100 round. A wiser man than I observed that golf ️ is a game you play against yourself that you can never win. Enjoy the journey.

I think I need to move where you are!

Looks like we are getting a break on Saturday. I ‘m in.

Now that’s weather!

Low 60’s? We’d kill for low 60’s. It was 35 here when I got up and only got to the low 40’s. Just heard we are in for a heat wave tomorrow before the deep freeze returns. Definitely living the polar vortex.

Can hardly wait for Junuary to arrive.

Cold too

30 days has September, April, June and November. All the rest have 31 except f@“$&?!/$g March which is at 85 and counting!

Do you have some protein at breakfast? Do you allow yourself a healthy snack mid morning and mid afternoon? Are you eating foods that fill you early in the day? Are your snacks carb heavy later in the day? Here are two things to consider: Often feelings of hunger are transitory and will pass in 15 to 20 minutes. In addition, our bodies may give you the impression of being hungry when in fact we are slightly dehydrated. Next time you want a snack later in the day, have a large glass of water and wait 15 minutes. Do you still think you’re hungry? If so go onto the second consideration which is this: Will an apple satisfy your hunger? If your answer is yes you are genuinely hungry, in which case eat the apple. If the answer is no, an apple will not satisfy me I want (pick your poison). In this case it is more likely that you are eating out of habit, and not because you are actually hungry. If that is the case and you think you can’t resist eat the apple first, wait 15 minutes and see how you feel then. Creating new habits takes on average 17 to 21 repetitions. Don’t quit if you stumble. Set backs are to expected. You might do yourself a favour by developing a plan on how to handle cravings e.g. eat more fruit than prepared snacks and then get rid of your junk food but make sure you have a healthy alternative. Sometimes will power is not enough. Good luck.

Weather here has been wet for weeks, but I managed to get in another round this weekend. My score with the B X went up badly on the back nine. A couple of factors contributed- very slow pace of play made establishing a rhythm to the game was impossible. Fatigue in my artificial hip effected balance when hitting from fairways. I put a mini driver in play on fairways when distance dictated. Made good contact a couple of times but overall that went badly. Finally, my putting fell apart particularly on the back. Having said that I hit 12/14 fairways. The most commonly heard comment from my buddies after my drives was: “Another dead straight drive.” These guys have watched me fight a slice for the first 4 years we’ve played together only to have it change to a vicious hook last year. From putting it into the trees on the right I started putting it into the trees on the left. “Good to see your game is evolving,” was the dig at the time. Trying to keep it in the short grass is why I decided to give it a shot and so far I am quite pleased with the results.

Knowledge is power, and is mentioned above there is plenty of information, both accurate and misleading out there. If you are looking for inspiration let me recommend the book “Younger Next Year.” There are editions for both men and women. This book demonstrates what has also been mentioned above: if you want to be healthier and loose weight you don’t need a diet, which we all interpret as a temporary change, but rather need to change your lifestyle. So here is some sharing of my own story. From high school graduation to the age of sixty I followed Mark Twain’s advice: whenever I feel like the need to exercise I lay down until the feeling passes. Then one day I mowed our small backyard and discovered I had to sit down. I was completely spent. It took me 20 minutes to find enough energy to just go indoors. That was my epiphany, and it was frightening. I felt like I was hammering on death’s door. I started with a trip to my doctor, and a simple blood test later I got a diagnosis of Type II diabetes. The seriousness of this disease is often underestimated. I won’t bore you with the details of it other than to say you either take care of the disease or the disease will take care of you. The upshot was at 5’ 6” and 225 lb I had dug myself a deep hole to climb out of, and I had done most of the digging with my mouth. BTW, I had done some yoyo dieting over the years and knew whatever “diet” change I was going to make would have to be permanent. I stumbled on the book referred to above and that gave me the courage to change both what and how much I ate and more importantly to actually darken a fitness centre’s door. First, after a great deal of reading, including some medical Lorna’s dealing with diabetes my doctor provided, and doing some experimenting, my diet is based upon the Mediterranean diet model. This diet reflects the lifestyle of people surrounding the Med who generally tend to be leaner, a whole lot healthier and live longer than those of us on a North American style diet based on highly processed, high salt, high refined sugar, high carb diet. Here’s a side note: in a recent study (sorry I can’t remember the exact medical journal that released the report) one control group of volunteers was fed highly processed foods and the other group was fed exactly the same amount of calories but from a whole foods, unprocessed meat, veg and fruit. Even though both groups got exactly the same calories the high processed food group put on weight while the other group lost weight. After two weeks the groups switched diets and the weight change followed the diet. The study found the highly processed food diet enhanced a hormone that causes the feeling of hunger and the whole foods diet enhanced a hormone that provides a feeling of being satiated. Second, at the tender age of 60 I had to become a gym rat. My wife signed us up for a work out class at a local public fitness centre. Enter the instructor, Mad Mady the exercise dominatrix. 97 pounds, no apparent fat, 5 foot nothing tall, 2 years older than me and in that first class she drove my fat butt straight into the ground. Humiliating? You have no idea. Reminiscing with her about that first class a couple of weeks later I claimed I did 3 push-ups. “No,” she said, “you did 1, badly.” It’s been a long journey. Now I weigh 145 pounds. I’m also 2 inches shorter. Growing old - life’s greatest adventure. There were ups and downs on the weight loss journey. I really had to limit carbs to curb appetite. At my last weight loss plateau around 153 pounds I had to reduce portions slightly. I upped my protein on snacks and that is working. A little more than year ago I got hit by a car while in a cross walk. It was low speed so no broken bones but a lot of soft tissue damage including a torn Achilles’ tendon. It still hasn’t healed. This has resulted in muscle atrophy on my right calf. Then I had a total right hip replacement this past December. So here I am, a 66 year old diabetic asthmatic with a torn Achilles and metal hip and I still can’t come up with an excuse not to go to the gym, work out and maintain my lifestyle change. I started playing golf 5 years ago. My first round I lost 28 golf balls and scored 216 only because I wasn’t allowed to count every stroke. Last week I had my best round ever and shot a 100. My point: take your life seriously, because you don’t get a mulligan. Persevere and things will get better.

“You have to admire someone who is not afraid to show the world their shortcomings.” David Niven

The old saw is:”It’s a poor craftsman that blames his tools.” This puts the emphasis on the player. However, I would add that While I have never met a genuine craftsman that used poor tools, great quality tools won’t make you a craftsman. I should know. I always prefer to buy good quality gear and MGS has informed every choice I have made in the bag, but I still need to practice diligently, take lessons and play as much as I can to try to whittle away at my handicap. And I still really suck but can’t help but love this fascinating frustrating game.

I appreciate the input. The deciding factor for me was the dispersion data, especially on the drive. Way too many drives wound up in the deep rough, and no one would ever describe my drives as long. The drop in score had a lot to do with more second shots coming from the short grass.

Many years ago I played with a co-worker who had the same problem with his iron shots going the same distance. I didn’t appreciate how severe the problem was until he lined up three balls on a short par three, and hit them with his 6, 7 and 8 irons. All three were on the green, two were pin high on opposite sides of the hole and the third was about 8 feet short. All three were within about a 15 foot radius. It was such a unique experience it has stuck in my mind ever since. What was unique about Andy’s swing was that the arc of his swing was a narrow parabula that was nearly V shape. I was thinking the sharp change of angle at the bottom of the arc must have deaccellerated the club head sharply. This might have accounted for the constrained distance. The other characteristics of Andy’s swing were an upright body posture. With this upright posture he had to widen his stance to get the club head behind the ball to avoid topping it. The wide stance might have contributed to his swing having very little body rotation. His swing was all arms, and reminded me of someone trying to chop wood, not swing a golf club. Could you have something similar going on on the bad days? You might take a video of your swing and try doing a bit of analysis yourself. Self awareness of your swing coupled with a limited number of lessons from an instructor you can trust will help. Don’t be surprised if you have to rebuild your swing from the ground up. Of course my guess of what may be the issue could be completely wrong. Regardless, your only 3 years in on what could be something you pursue for the rest of your life. While your swing will change overtime, get a club fitting, including the putter if you are serious about improving and use the ball that is right for you. Good luck.

-16 Kang

Got 2 dozen Chrome Soft for Christmas then I read the test and watched the video. We know from both that I bought into the hype about “feel” so into the shag bag they go. Went to the Bridgestone website and did the online test. The recommended ball? The e 12 Soft. Bridgestone needs to catch up. Looks like I am going to be buying a couple of sleeves of Tour BX and Pro Vx and doing my own test. Once again my hat is off to MGS for this great test. I only wish I had the info before my wife asked me what I wanted for Christmas!

-13 Corey Connors

MBP has got it right. They are theTaylorMade RocketBalls identified elsewhere in this blog. They were not available in my Costco while the K-Sigs were around, and when the K-Sigs sold out they were not immediately replaced with anything else locally. Having not bought golf balls from Costco, I mistakenly believed there was novelty involved. On a related note, they might have been marginally longer than the Callaway Chrome Soft, but were really difficult to get to hold on what were slow greens this past weekend.

They look identical, right down to the green double digit numbering, but where the original Rocketball was a clicky sounding straight distance ball, this one is advertised as being soft. I don't have the info on the exact composition of the originals, but if it is identical in composition to these Costco balls that will tell the tale. How they perform around the green is what I plan to find out tomorrow.

MGS Gear Heads will be familiar with the controversy Costco generated with the release of the Kirkland Signature golf ball that tested longer than the longest ball in golf. MGS determined that Costco had acquired a factory overrun of balls intended to be sold under the brand name Quatro. The Quatro brand was only available in Europe. A bun fight ensued with an exchange of chain rattling letters between the protagonists. The upshot has been that Costco sued Titleist. Now Costco has fired the latest round in the Ball Wars across the bow of the industry. Today for $27.99 (that's Canuck bucks) I bought 2 dozen balls, and here is the kicker: they're TaylorMade ®. The description on the boxes reads: TaylorMade ® RocketBalls ONE DOZEN / NEW 3-PIECE CONSTRUCTION FASTER AND LONGER WITH GREENSIDE CONTROL Benefits Fast ball speed promotes long distance Thin and fast mantle for added greenside control New REACT® core provides softer feel. Faster lothane™ cover for faster ball speed. SpeedMantle® promotes fast ball speed and controlled spin on approach shots. Low Drag Aerodynamics The random punctuation and capitalization are all on the box. On the end of the box we learn that the balls conform to USGA rules, were designed in California and made in Taiwan. At this stage we don't know how they will perform, but at $14.00 a dozen I can afford to lose these with impunity. I will let you know how they feel after I put them into play tomorrow. MGS, is there another ball comparison test in your future?