Hooked On Golf Blog

Being a hack golfer and a rock & roll drummer means my hands and forearms need to be in good shape.  The last couple PGA Tour rounds I’ve watched on TV I’ve made sure to keep my Prohands PRO handy, doing some exercises to build up my strength for the upcoming golf season.

Gripmaster’s Prohands is a hand exerciser, much better than squeezing a tennis ball or one of those two handled v-shaped devices.  The PRO model is the one I have, because… I’m a pro.  Ahem.  The unit has individual finger springs for working each finger as well as the muscles and ligaments in the hand and arm.

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Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Equipment & Accessories, Golf Accessories, Golf Reviews, Instruction Hank Haney, Prohands

Remember the Medicus from years ago?  The SKLZ Refiner series are clubs with a similar concept.   The Refiner Driver is a hinged training driver which shows breakdowns in your swing.

Two huge factors in the golf swing are tempo and swing plane.

Tempo

Many players’ tempos are way too fast or jerky at different points in the swing.  The Refiner driver breaks down when the following tempos are too quick:

• Take away tempo

• Top of the swing pause

• Start of the downswing

• Pronation or follow through

I thought I had a very smoothly timed wing, but the Refiner had a different story.  I found that my takeaway was too quick.  My “normal” swing had the hinge breaking down between the start of my takeaway and the first foot or two back.  I really thought I was slow and smooth here but I wasn’t.  Since adjusting that small part of my swing I’m hitting the ball higher and father.  The rest of my swing was fine, according to the Refiner.

Swing plane

If you swing the club with a bad swing plane the Refiner will also break down.  This helps players get on plane, especially slicers.  If you are coming outside in, the usual cause of a slice, the Refiner will let you know.

You can actually hit shots with the Refiner Driver, as seen in the video below

While out testing a myriad of golf gear on a cold cold day at the south range of my home course my pal and mini tour pro Luke Swilor stopped by.  I put Luke to work testing the Refiner.  Luke is a high level player and I was anxious to see what happened in his swing with this unit.

In the video below Luke and I test out the Refiner and give some off the cuff reactions and opinions.  Luke crushes the Refiner, almost hitting the the range shack on the north end of the range.  I might add there was a head wind as well.  That answers the question, “can you hit real shots with this thing?”

Conclusion

For hammering out swing plane and especially tempo issues, I’ll always keep the Refiner handy.  I’m sure if things go a bit bad with my swing, the Refiner can tell me where the breakdowns are occurring.

Related links

SKLZ Gyroswing Review

SKLZ Image Gallery

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Equipment & Accessories, Golf Accessories, Golf Clubs, Golf Instruction, Golf Reviews, Instruction Medicus, Refiner Driver, SKLZ

There are systems out there which are thousands of bucks, designed to analyze golf swings.  They can draw lines for posture, swing planes etc.  They also have super slow mo for capturing crucial points in time during the swing.

Enter the Casio EX-FS10

Now Casio has a pocket sized, point and shoot camera which could replace many of those high end pro analysis system’s features.  The EX-FS10 has all the features a normal camera would have, plus high speed movie capture of up to 1,000 fps (frames per second).  That is amazing.  For reference, standard video is 30 frames per second.  At that speed you’d better have a big memory card though.  There are also settings for 210fps, 420fps and variable 30-210fps.

The Casio web site doesn’t show the lines in the photo here, the digital golf pro.  I’m gathering that though the camera is available now in the USA, that feature isn’t available in models here, yet.

Perhaps I can get my hands on one of these babies soon and give it a test run.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Equipment & Accessories, Golf Accessories, Golf Instruction, Instruction Casio EX-FS10

The weather is changing here.  The grass on the courses has slowed or stopped growing.  When the courses aren’t covered in winter snow here in Utah and the grass is dormant, the lies in the fairways or anywhere there’s short grass, can be very tight.

Chipping with higher lofted wedges

I usually like to chip with my 56 degree wedge, put the ball back in my stance, close the face and hit a descending blow to get it running.  If I need the ball to run less or carry more, I’ll use my lob wedge (60).  But the tighter the lies and the rustier I get (from playing less due to the weather), the tougher these shots become to execute.

Chipping with mid-irons

Yesterday on the 6th hole (with my opponents pressing me I might add) I had one of these very tight lies. I had a tough tight lie and no green to work with.  I was about 10-15 feet short of the green on this par-3, and there was a front pin.  Having never even practiced this shot I grabbed my 8-iron and decided I’d just put a putting stroke on it.  I figured the amount of loft on the club would get the ball in the air just enough to carry the ball over enough of the short grass, yet roll the ball like a putt when it got to the green.  I assumed my putting stance and grip, choking down on the club to about where my normal putting grip would be on my putter.

My opponents watched in horror and amazement as the low shot bounced twice in the short grass, landed on the fringe and rolled just like a perfect putt straight to the hole.  My pal Arnie dropped his putter on the ground and threw his hands up in the air as my 8-iron chip dropped center cut in the hole for birdie.

I turned to them and said “I guess I’ll be using that shot more.”

Later in the round on #11 I had a similar scenario.  Once again I was just short of the green with a front pin.  I hit the same shot with my 8-iron.  I didn’t drain this one for birdie, but did leave myself an easy 1-footer to save par.

Conclusion

If the ground is smooth enough and you can roll the ball a bit around the greens, it may be easier to put a more pendulum-like stroke on a mid-iron rather than trying to make perfect contact with a higher lofted club.  If you’re like me and sometimes have trouble chipping, try hitting some running shots with a lower lofted club and a putting stroke.  It is very hard, almost impossible, to blade or hit this shot fat.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Instruction, Hackers, Instruction

Yesterday I had a chance to chat with golf great Dave Stockton for a while.  Stockton racked up 10 PGA Tour wins, including TWO PGA Championships and two 2nd place finishes at the Masters.  I’d met Dave in 1997 when the then “Senior Tour” was in town.  I followed him around, watched him shoot a 63 on a tough Jack Nicklaus course and win the tournament.  Aside from Ben Crenshaw, Dave Stockton is known as one of the best putters of all time.  My putting stroke is a close model to Dave’s, and most of my opponents would prefer I do something else.

The discussion, paraphrased:

Me:  Hey Dave how are you?  We met up in Park City when the Senior Tour played up there years ago.

Stockton: Yes.  I wish we still played up there.  I really enjoyed it.  I used to love to play up there and then go fishing up in that area.

Me:  I wish you still played up there too.  We don’t get much high level professional golf here in Utah.  I hear you are injured.

Stockton: Yes.  I tore my rotator cuff.  I had rotator cuff surgery a couple of weeks ago.

Me: Ouch.  That must have hurt.  How long will you be out for?

Stockton: I’m surprised to say I’m not feeling any pain right now.  I should be back in about five weeks.

Me: I want to tell you how much I enjoy your putting style.  I’ve modeled a lot of my putting after you.

Stockton:  Thanks! More and more people are modeling their style after mine these days.

Me: So you’re here at this golf tournament (Champions Challenge at Thanksgiving Point, Utah) but you obviously aren’t playing.  Why are you here?

Stockton: I’m following my sons around.  They’re playing in the tournament.

Me:  Ah!  Well I wish your boys luck.

Stockton: Thanks.  Nice talking to you.

Dave Stockton – Putt To Win

Speaking of Dave Stockton’s putting, he has a book called “Putt To Win.”  Click here or on the image in this piece to pick up a copy.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Champions Tour, Golf, Instruction, Miscellaneous, Pro Golf, Site News Dave Stockton, Golf Instruction, Putting

Tiger’s comeback

Tiger’s comeback date isn’t set, but he says it will depend on the birth of his 2nd child and if he’s ready.

Tiger Woods’ newsletter was quite interesting today. Many pundits, like Lee Trevino, have been saying that when Tiger comes back he’ll have to modify his swing to put less pressure on the left knee. He’ll have to sacrifice distance, giving him more accuracy.

Tiger is practicing “full bore” now, which I interpret as full swing.

More length?

Rather than cutting back on the power of his swing and the stress of the leg, Tiger seems to imply that with the new knee he’ll have even more power.

Tiger’s newsletter below: Read more…

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Pro Tips, Tiger Woods

NURU has a model which will succeed in today’s economy with their extremely simple and affordable golf training aids. I had to split my interview into two chunks to fit them on YouTube.

Part one:

Part two:

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Accessories, Golf Instruction, Golf Videos

I’m packin’ my gear now (camera, laptop and a couple of golf shirts). I’ll be landing in Vegas in time for din-din tonight and then hitting the sack resting for the PGA Show Fall Expo. I’ll be live blog-casting from the show and taking lots of photos of all the cool new golf products I find.

I haven’t attended this show and I’m sure it won’t be close to as big as the main PGA Show in Orlando. That being said, this will be a good chance to do some research with companies and individuals who may not make it to Orlando.

Meeting Tuesday at 3:00

HOG readers and The Golf Space members who are attending the show will be getting together at 3:00 Tuesday! We’re meeting at the “Swingreminders” booth, #962.

See you there!

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Accessories, Golf Apparel, Golf Balls, Golf Clubs, Golf Courses, Golf Equipment, Golf Fitness, Golf Instruction, Golf Media, Golf Reviews, Site News, Travel

I just booked my flights and hotel for the 2008 PGA Fall Expo in Las Vegas.  I’ll do anything to eat lasagna at my favorite Italian restaurant, Batistas. The show has a demo day and tournament on Monday the 25th (which I won’t be attending) and then the expo all day the Tuesday the 26th and Wednesday the 27th. For more details about the show click here.

Contact me at the flashing email address below for an appointment if you’d like to meet with me at the show! I’ll be at the show for the full duration of the Tuesday & Wednesday sessions.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Accessories, Golf Apparel, Golf Balls, Golf Clubs, Golf Courses, Golf Equipment, Golf Fitness, Golf Instruction, Golf Media, Site News, Travel

Craig Johnson’s Interlink Golf Systems (IGS) is a six DVD set of golf instructional videos, drills and techniques. The system has over nine hours worth of golf instruction, which is one reason getting my review busted out took me a long time.

Great Production

Since my “other” expertise is in CD/DVD duplication and audio/visual production, the first thing I notice when I receive a package like this is the quality of the product, packaging, production, print etc. The IGS packaging, discs, production and print are top quality. The case is an awesome DVD case which holds six discs yet takes up the space a single disc case would occupy.

The video quality and content is very high quality and the audio clear as a bell. It’s not that easy to get good audio on productions like this, especially when you’re filming outside and there’s some wind.

Start To Finish

Starting with DVD #1, the viewer learns all the IGS basics of golf from the very beginning. Grip, stance, posture, alignment and every basic component of the swing are covered from ground zero to help build a foundation for learning the IGS system.

Through the rest of the six DVD’s the viewer learns everything he needs to play golf in a more simplified manner.

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Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Accessories, Golf Instruction, Golf Reviews, Golf Videos Golf Instruction