Proving Yourself

Golf is a never satisfying game. You will never see a good golfer that says “I am satisfied with my game today”. There are many reasons behind this: many clubs to master, changing condition, physique variation, etc… however all good golfers will agree it is a never-satisfying but fun game.

Being fun is the key. It is fun to hit a long and straight shot, it is more fun when this long and straight shot landed where you want it to be, over the pond but before the bunker. It is unbelievable fun when you add a little draw into this shot and it flies long and curve along the fairway, over the pond and before the bunker, and split the fairway in half. Once you have tasted the fun from this, you want more and try to reproduce this whenever you want, so you work hard on it, controlling your shots. In the end, you immerge yourself into the zone, where nothing else matters.

There is, however, another approach many golfers take. They constantly try to prove themselves. Proving yourself is a great motivation, but never a key to the ultimacy. Proving yourself pushes you to achieve what you think you can, without knowing the reasons why you can’t. You work on the belief, instead of the technique; you build up the confidence, founded on top of pile of artificial intelligence. In the end, you have to get over proving yourself, then you still have to train yourself to control the shots, after that you need to learn how to consistently reproducing the same shots, all of these before you could discover the joy and fun in the process.... Following this pattern, it is a long way to go.... before the joy and fun could bring you to the next level of clarity and performance.

Let the fun lead you to the ultimacy. You will be a better skilled golfer; You can prove yourself all that you want then.

Science to maximum drive

…the author of The Physics of Golf, calculated that 32 pounds of muscle needs to be generated for a typical professional golfer’s swing to deliver two horsepower of energy…

…Using the example of a boxer striking an object, they find that striking through the object to a point further in allows them to achieve the highest momentum and energy to accomplish their action. One reason amateur golfers have vastly different collision dynamics is that they may not have developed the skill to strike through the ball…

…Most golfers are under the impression that the weight shift occurs from the left foot to the right foot during the backswing and returns from the right foot to the left foot in the downswing. This actually is a misnomer…

…Basketball players play with the ball bouncing and rotating in their fingers before shooting a free throw to sharpen the sensitivity in their fingertip nerve endings… Professional golfers roll their hands around the grip before settling on the final hold in order to activate their sensory…

Excellent read:

-- Copyright © 2004 - 2007 Taras V. Kochno, M.D.
http://www.drkochno.com/science_&_golf.htm

MOI Matched Follow-up

It seems quite repelling to many purist to accept the concept of progressive swing weighting or MOI matching. Ironically, the concept of MOI matching is to achieve the goal that all clubs require to swing with the same force, it is SW matching that requires progressive higher force to swing clubs.

from lower numbered Iron to higher numbered Iron:

• MOI Matching = progressive higher Swing Weight = same force
• SW Matching = progressive lower force = same Swing Weight

Brought the MOI matched iron set to the golf course last weekend. Sometime ago, I started to believe that the first hit on course will determine if the newly adjusted golf club is a good fit or just a legendary theory. After a good drive on the 1^st tee, left me with approximately 185 yards to the green, I chose a 5 iron. Currently at D0.5, 419g and 37.75 inch long, it is one of the MOI matched club at around 423. I swung, and caught the ball clean, the response was good and I was delighted for a second, not to realize later that I was 1 club short in distance and also pushed to the right by 20 feet in direction. This was alarmingly disapproving according to my superstition. Considering the air temperature at 40F and wearing 3 layers of clothing, I suspected I was blocking myself, sending the ball right. It was not until later, that I found out I was pushing the balls all day long.

Here is what is interesting: I pushed every iron from 3 to 8 irons, my distance was 1 club shorter. There was no fat or thin shot, there was no skull and shrank shot. Consistency wise, it was really rewarding, performance wise, it was not proportional to the consistency

I returned to the driving range two days later and determined that my swing path was what cause to the push. I regained the distance and direction again. So far, MOI matched set is still amazingly rewarding, only at the driving range where it is the birthplace of all swing flaws.

Personal Best

1. Best substitute to acetone for polishing ferrule: Nail Polish Remover
2. Best woods cleaner and polisher: Auto Paint Polish (Mcguire Scratch X)
3. Best irons cleaner and polisher: Alloy/Chrome wheel polish
4. Best solution to clean grips: few tablespoon of PineSol in a bucket of water, dry with tacky feel.
5. Best method to install ferrule: lubricate ferrule's inner wall with epoxy, push it down the shaft and ram it with club head.
6. Best way to reduce an oversize ferrule: use a large flat plier and clamp down the installed ferrule in rotating motion, creating a tight fit with the hosel, polish with nail polish remover
7. Best home cutter for steel or graphite shaft: Dremer tool
8. Best shaft puller: Golfsmith Shaft Extractor
9. Best way to clean club's hosel: Steel Wire Brush with hand dril
10. Best source for heat: Heat Gun, never use torch

MOI matched Nippon Shafts - drying ...