The Shot-Shank Redemption

"How often do you look at a man's shoes?" - the line famously delivered by Ellis "Red" Boyd during Andy Dufresne's last moments as a guest at Shawshank Prison.  I'm sure that most of you retifists lose it over a new pair of Jordans, or need to have a nice pair of going out shoes but that's beside the point.  How much do you really think about your shoes in golf? We may look at the style, name, or comfort of them - even the spike pattern since that's what matters most, right?  What if I told you the reason you shot 85 on tuesday and 99 on wednesday is laced up and matches that Ricky Fowler flat brim perfectly?

So I decided to do a little bit of scientific method throughout my season. After a few WTF rounds of golf and having my wonderful low single digit handicap turn mid, I needed to find out what the hell was going on. Not paying attention for the most part, just marking down everything about my round in the notes. What pair of sunglasses I wore, pants or shorts, how early I got there for the tee time and even the shoes I had worn after each round.  At the beginning, I thought I was honestly wasting my time. I was grasping for straws and I remember thinking to myself there's no way that any of this would be costing me strokes. I can tell you, they most certainly did. Turns out - my shoes were killing my score. No knock on the brand, because I do really like the spikes, but I use 3 pairs of footjoys. 2 pairs of FJ Energize - 1 white/ 1 black and 1 pair of FJ Contour - Brown.  I bought them like anyone would - to match my golf attire when needed. A shoe is a shoe, right? Honestly, I bought the contours because generally I wanted something that I didn't have to change at the course and could just go right out after - Thinking golf shoes were golf shoes. I looked at my notes and noticed something peculiar....

On days that I practiced with a shoe, then golfed the next time with that same shoe I tended to shoot relatively well. One of my best rounds came on the third day of wearing a particular type of shoe in a row. In each instance, I noticed that when I changed from Energize to Contour and vice versa, my score ballooned significantly. Sometimes up to 10 strokes and my ball striking went to hell. Granted, this was not at the forefront of my mind when playing the rounds. I was just playing my game and trying to score.

Slowly a pattern began to emerge.... When I switched shoes, my swing just felt out of sorts for a while. I couldn't figure it out. Nothing was different and I JUST played. I wasn't rusty, but there was no fixing it until the 10th hole or later.  There were even outliers in the rounds where I had changed shoes but my game didn't change. Was it all in my head? Am I just a crazy, neurotic golfer who blames things like shaft label placement and ball marking technique rather than his own swing? I needed a drink.

I glanced over things again and eventually I caught on. Turns out, the Energize are almost 1/2" higher than the Contours. This put my weight a little more neutral at address, since I tend to lean backwards naturally with my weight shift (Thanks, Dr. Scholl's contraption at walmart!). This means that the Energize were actually a better fit for me in terms of posture and weight transfer. It wasn't something I could necessarily feel, but it's something I could compensate for EVENTUALLY when it wasn't there - which was the case. When I changed back to the flatter, more casual Contour style, I needed to consciously change my weight displacement or at least allow for it. This is why it took a good bit of time during the round, or a practice session, to get my bearings.  But what about the days when I changed and I was ok??? I took another sip and thought harder and realized. INSOLES. 


Remember that Dr. Scholl's thing I was talking about? Well it's there to help you choose what insoles are right for you. I have back troubles and can't really walk on hard surfaces for a long time without stopping, stretching, and at the very least saying "ow".   This was because of that rearward CG of mine, and I was putting all the shock and weight on my heels, sending the feedback right up to my spine. Insoles cured that, and I had put them into the Contours when I walked the course making them about 1/2" higher (probably more like 3/8). Closer to the Energize - which felt good enough NOT to put the insoles in. I didn't put them in when I took a cart, or if it was particularly soft out. EUREKA!!! How could I be so dumb?!


Is this a complete study of the subject... no, not by a long shot - BUT you may want to do a little experiment of your own. See which shoes you play best in and what kind of specs they have. Every person will be different, just like using a particular golf club, but you might find that you can actually shave a few strokes wearing a certain type of shoe. There's a lot of talk about stability in the golf swing and the golf shoe, but how much do we really think about the height and balance of our golf shoes?

A couple years back - in a campaign that I believe continues to this day - Shoe companies like Adidas were saying you needed to be as close to the ground as possible. They touted thin soles and "more interaction with the turf".  Sounds good on paper, but we all know that there's only one thing that can keep you stable in the golf swing - balance. Proper weight displacement is 100% the key to a good setup and starting point for the swing. Perhaps it's time for the Carrie Bradshaws of the golf world to take a look in their closets and ask "Does my collection of golf shoes love me as much as I love them?"

Getting the shaft - part 2-ish or "Giving the Indian a crooked arrow"

I posted a couple weeks ago about OEMs and their shaft offerings when getting fit for a club. With all the shafts out there and most of them for no upgrade charge "I'll just get the most expensive because it's the best, right?"  Seems to be a common occurrence.  Well, yes - and no.  Recently, a client of mine - we'll call him Smashy -  was having troubles with his driver. He bought it, and hits it good sometimes but remains very inconsistent so he gave me a ring to see if there was something in the equipment. "Chris, it's not the arrow, it's the Indian"  ----- Native American, please Dude. Still, i don't care if you're Robin Hood:  If your arrow isn't right, you're not hitting a damn thing.

Well, Smashy is kind of a big dude. The kind I wouldn't like to meet in any sort of alley, let alone a dark one. Big hands, oversize grips, taller than me (not hard to do, but still), and when he takes a cut at the ball he can exceed 121 mph.  Smashy is currently gaming a Stiff flex in his driver.  But Chris, you said flex isn't standard over all manufacturers, that could be ok right?  Yes, thanks for paying attention!! Still, when something is very very wrong, it's good to check it out to pinpoint the issue.

Well, we put Smashy on the Flightscope and found out some things about his swing. Overall, it's very repeatable and VERY hard. Gosh it makes my back hurt thinking about it.  So we warmed him up, and put some good swings on his current driver to get the numbers. Spin was high at 3100+, launch was OK, but AOA at -3 and AOD at 56 degrees was a real issue.  I checked out the flex profile and saw that he was FAR out-swinging the current shaft and the tip was way too active.



Note the squiggly lines on the left side. Layman's terms, this is how the shaft is loading and accelerating the head before impact (0). Orange is the current shot at screen grab, but all the shots are represented in gray. Take note at how some of the lines start high and then decelerate, then accelerate again. This is common in every shaft. It doesn't just bow and unload at one point. The bad news here is that while it kicks HARD, it can't handle the energy store for his particular swing and while it was kicking hard relative to the flex, it wasn't hard enough - note 107mph swing. In addition, the lines are not relatively close to each other or at the same shape - indicating that it's loading faster or slower by quite a bit, and sometimes it even decelerates before impact because of how aggressively loaded the shaft is.  Not a terrible shaft - but not at all a good fit. We want everything going in the same direction and consistently.  Smashy - being a fade/slice player - needed something that would accelerate quickly and help close the face, but be able to handle his aggressive transition and even give him a little bit better of an attack angle.  So, we put him in the budget-friendly Vista Pro 75  X flex.

A little about the Vista Pro - it's the basic end of Fujikura's offerings. It was originally released about 3 decades ago (?) and dominated then - so they re-engineered the materials and tech to re-release this year, replacing their EXS line of shafts.  FYI it has the same bend profile as the Tour AD DI shaft - for $280 less....



10 shots with the Vpro shaft, and notice how much more evenly the lines mirror each other. A few outliers on awkward swings, but the shaft helps out and loads/ unloads much more consistently for Smashy than his original shaft. This X flex and lower torque rating is much more able to handle his aggressive nature and perform consistently so that he can hit drives in a repeatable fashion.  Only one swing failed to produce good acceleration in this instance.  Taking this information - there was nothing else at this pricepoint that could take the kind of swing he had, so for fun I pulled out the HZRDUS black 6.0 (6.5) which active flex rates between stiff and X... Just for fun, to see if we could squeeze a little more consistency... Remember, this shaft is rated LESS flex than this X.....



As you can see - experiment failed.  While he could load the shaft well sometimes and it performed fairly consistently for him - it was just not a good fit for the swing. HZRDUS is TOO aggressive and TOO STIFF for the way Smashy swings, so could not effectively load and unload for him consistently..... We even hit the LZ, with the same results.... just not as good as the Vpro for Smashy Smashworth. Two high-end shafts knocked out due to fit. Now he has a great fit and saved a boatload to spend on lessons if he needs!!

But wait --- H Black is more expensive than the Vpro!!! It should be better!  Truth is that yes, it is "better" in it's numbers - lowering spin and launch - but it is not better for this player because it doesn't fit his swing. When he hit it, he bombed it but the consistency is not there and we all know in golf it's less about how good your good shots are and more about how bad your bad shots are. I've had fittings already where this scenario was 100% reversed! Fitting needs to happen properly!

The moral of this story - don't buy something because it's expensive or "included". Pros use stuff because they have a team of people that sit and stare at every ball hit, analyze it and build them a new golf club in between each bucket. The shaft they have fits them, and know what --- manufacturers will paint whatever they want on it for them. There is nothing "stock" about a club if you see a pro playing what you see on the rack, trust me.

This is what a competent fitter brings to the table. Find your local guy - NOT someone on a sim at a box store but someone who does building and fitting. Someone who has no one else besides you at your appointment and isn't going to leave you or hurry you so he can go sell some girl a new golf skirt in the next department over. There are plenty of small shops and guys squinting at fulcrum scales, agonizing over the last few grains of lead to put into a club head to make it exactly what they need for their client. Sit down, have a beer, and discuss - you'll make a friend and have a great guy just like the pros do, and lift your game up another level.

Magazine advice, social media and bad tips...

I spend a lot of time on social media. I enjoy helping people, it's what I do. When i'm asked about a shaft or a swing or a thought, generally speaking i don't offer advice. I offer information.  Information as to what should be happening to get the best out of the equipment or make the ball do what you want, NOT what they're doing or not doing in their swing.  I offer ball flight laws and the effect shafts have on different swings. Why? Because 99.99999% of the time there is little to no information about what is going on with that golfer and I have little to no time to have an at length conversation with the subject to gain the information needed. 

Watch this video:

What's wrong with this swing? It's very flat, the club is in a decent position, but not perfect at address, head dips a little low on the swing, and the hips clear pretty fast.  Far from picture perfect. Probably most of what i wrote above would be exactly what you would see written or would write yourself if this was posted and said "any help, i would be grateful".   Heres the thing.. what you don't know is that this person has no L5/S1 disk in their spine. Their shoulder locks on a spur if it goes higher or any different position farther forward than what you see here, and the grass is wet, and they aren't wearing spikes. They also average 10/14 fairways per round and hit the ball over 250 yards consistently.  All those things considered - i think it's a pretty darn good swing.  Mostly because it's mine - at an impromptu demo day for Ping where i wanted to try the new offerings they had.  Still, that didn't stop the advice on ball position and where to get my hands and how to angle the club and how i was wrong wrong wrong wrong.  Some of them were even Local Pros in different states!  Here's my advice to you - the only real advice i give.... Be very very very VERY wary of what you read and post online. Especially coming from "Pros" or "Teachers". They're very often the real deal, but no coach worth the dirt in your divot will give you any advice based on your description or a single video. They would want at least 2 different angles, head on and Down the line of the same swing, and to have a lengthy conversation about what you do and don't do.  

Still, every day I read comments from Pros and hacks alike - stuff they read in a golfing magazine once. Something that works for Adam Scott - former #1 player in the world - is a crapshoot for a middle aged bogey shooter who has trouble walking 18 holes. It's just the way it is.  Looking for advice online from forums and social media is only going to hurt your game and maybe even your body - trying to do something that it's physically unable to do. While you may be able to glean some moves off it, remember to sort out the information from the advice. There will be different and opposing opinions and as we know on the internet - everyone has to be right.  

In my area, you can get a great swing evaluation from a real teaching professional for less than the cost of a round of golf. That is absolutely invaluable. When  you decide to change equipment or swing characteristics without factual information about what you're already doing, you're throwing money away or chancing that you're going to make your game even worse - and with no way of going back. Practice makes PERMANENT, only perfect practice makes perfect. If you practice something that is incorrect, it's going to stick with you and will be harder to get rid of. Good advice CAN be found in a magazine, but figuring out if it applies to you is not your job. Go to your local PGA or LPGA pro and start a conversation. One lesson can go a long long way. 

Take things with a grain of salt - especially things written on social media. It's a forum where any keyboard warrior feels invincible and will waste no time in ruining others just because they can. 

While they're young.....

I am not yet a father. One of these days, Marie and I will have another little golf nut in the family (hopefully) and that suits me just fine. I'd love for them to take to the game like I did and to really enjoy it so I've already thought about and read up on the best ways to go about teaching them.  The thing is, even I never thought about equipment.

I played a lot of golf this weekend and I saw a lot more than a handful of junior golfers. It was great. These 8-13 year olds heading out with dad and mom to tee it forward and chase the little white ball around.  I even saw a guy teaching his boy on the range during an event. One thing I couldn't help but notice though - they all looked like they were struggling to swing the club. The more I thought about it, the clearer it became. Upon closer inspection of bags, most of them were playing with cut down versions of adult clubs. Even the ones that had "junior clubs" felt like sledgehammers to me when I picked them up. The time honored tradition about moving more weight low to help get the ball up doesn't apply to children and juniors. While it's a good idea, what good is it to have a club so heavy that the player can't swing it properly or even that the club swings them?  It would do nothing but engrain bad habits and wear-and-tear on their young body. Sure, it might be a good way to save some money in the short term because they'll grow into them right?....if they continue to play golf and have fun.

Let's take a look at a couple of photos - I'll expound upon them when I do my video. The first, on the right, is my first ever putter, ca. 1985, next to my current putter. It was long for me back then. There wasn't much in the way of different materials, so basically I got a men's putter cut down. It was (and still is) really heavy, even at this size that it is. Plus it was 24 inches long! That was more than half my height! (I was and still am a little short). Could you imagine swinging a putter that came up to your sternum - remember this is before the days of belly putters. I have really never been a good putter but seriously, that wasn't going to help teach me anything. Something I CAN do is hit the ball a long way and on line. I'm convinced the reason is because I got started early with the proper technique. Take a look at the second picture -  that's me swinging a 5 iron. A cut down, gripped, ground to remove a ton of material and weight 5 iron. I also had a 5 wood with about 1/3 of the head cut off in the back. Why did my grandfather do this? So that I was able to learn the proper takeaway and swing the club rather than having it swing me. It's tough to judge by a photo but believe me when I tell you that I didn't get thrown around by that club and because of that, I spent hours and hours hitting balls up and down the back yard at my grandparents' house -- and less time in front of the TV!! I make no apologies for the outfit.

To be frank, I see a good many parents/ grandparents/ aunts & uncles trying to get their future tour pro to "swing right".  Good teachers always mention that you shouldn't do this and should let them swing how they want to swing - moving feet, digging into the turf and whatnot. The reason children do this is because they somehow have to get this huge mass of metal moving when they themselves weigh about as much as a Neato Burrito! OF COURSE they're going to step into it.

Truth be told, it's absolutely impossible for someone of that size to swing properly if they don't have a club that's proportionally weighted for them. This  is why I have lightweight junior club heads. It allows me to build a club that is lighter than most any junior set out there, but still retains proper swing weight to promote good tempo and stroke.  You see, swing weight is largely dictated by your strength. What "feels" heavy to you may not be heavy to someone else. It's all a relative and personal thing.  Kids are sponges. They WANT to learn things and they will retain it very well. Anyone who's ever slipped a dirty word around their youngins can tell you that one. Why not give your little golfer the best start at the game. There will be less frustration, less "I'm tired can we go in?", and more fun to be had.

Is it more important to be VALUED or APPRECIATED?

It's a question that really has no answer that is not specific to the person answering. So why ask it? Is it more important to be valued or to be appreciated? To answer that, I think we have to look at the definition of each word in depth:

Value -
noun

1. 1.

   the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.
2. 2.

   a person's principles or standards of behavior; one's judgment of what is important in life.

verb

1. 1.

   estimate the monetary worth of (something).
2. 2.

   consider (someone or something) to be important or beneficial; have a high opinion of.

Appreciate -

verb

1. 1.

   recognize the full worth of.
2. 2.

   understand (a situation) fully; recognize the full implications of.

Let's note that a great many people use these terms interchangeably but take a closer look. When something is "valued" it is generally because it is of benefit to the person doing the valuing. It's about saying "what am I willing to part with or do in order to possess this object. Property is valued. Stores say that something is a great value. Valuables in your jewelry box. Even people at the office are valued - which drives me up the wall when I hear it. Something is valuable because it benefits the person doing the valuing in some way - not because it's necessarily a good thing but because they're "getting something" from it. See the pattern starting to appear? Now, appreciation has nothing to do with worth or property. It's more of an emotion than a verb. When you appreciate something it's because it's there. It is not something to judge or pay for and isn't something that you can even place a partial worth on - by definition. You appreciate something for what it is and don't try to change it because it's so important it's unable to be messed with. You're thankful it's there because it is exactly what is needed.

"So Chris", you may be saying to yourself, "what does this have to do with golf?". 

Well... look in your golf bag. Any names stand out to you? Maybe you just bought the newest driver released, or a new putter. Do you VALUE your clubs or APPRECIATE them? Did you buy them because of what they say or how much you will be able to trade them in for? Did you buy them because it was "recommended" by a sales person? Did you buy them because they're from your favorite tour player? Did you honestly answer these questions and were any of them "YES"? Bad news.

What did you go through in order to get them? If you can honestly say that you went through a fitting that was more than 20 minutes and gave real thought to the process to arrive at the best decision for your game - I'm proud of you.  For a lot of readers, this isn't the case. For those readers it was an ad in a golf publication or a commercial during last week's tournament on TV. It's advertising speak about CG and MOI and composites and "the longest ________ ever!".   This is a full example of Valuation of your clubs. You value them so much as they worked for other people now. You will de-value them as new equipment comes out because that equipment will be seen as better than what you have. The sad part is that the same equipment will have little to no value to those who you purchased it from as that new club is released. You've valued your club at a price that the manufacturer thinks you'll pay and with options that are the best value to them and their bottom line. If you wait to buy it until it's "on sale" what are you spending your money on then - outdated technology i guess? I guess at least you have the NAME right? That's the TRUE value of equipment. That's why logos are plastered all over hats, belts, and shirts. Get the name in your head.

As for me, I appreciate my clubs. I appreciate that they work just as hard as clubs that are higher priced and sitting dusty on a rack in the back corner of a golf discount store somewhere. I appreciate that time and care was taken to assemble these clubs just for me using parts that were painstakingly tested by me, outside, in the sun and on the grass for over an hour.  I appreciate that I was able to use any parts that I wanted, and not just what had the highest margin for the seller. Still, when old age comes and I can't swing this flex anymore nobody will value them or appreciate them like I do. I can maybe sell them on Ebay for some golf money, but I'm ok with that because you see: when I made the investment in these clubs, I was investing in a name too. My name. I was in it for the long haul. I invested in my game to make sure that every dollar I spent on equipment went directly into my game and not into the pockets of a professional golfer or a multimillion dollar marketing campaign. People value the big names - but why?  Why would you want to shell out that kind of money for something you KNOW you're going to resell because there's something better in 6 months?  That wonderful paint-filled brand mark that tells everyone that you can afford a big OEM from a big store.

The point is, people value places like Dick's and Golfsmith. There are real people behind them with real jobs and that's great. They value you as well because they stay in business by selling you big names. The small club makers like myself and the hand full of others around the country appreciate your business and when you come to us with a need, I'll bet you'll start to appreciate us too. The one thing we all care about is your game. Big companies saturate the market with new new new. Everything is NEW everything is BETTER than it was. They have to. I will craft you something that will help you play better and save money. Take that money and put it into lessons, or just play more golf! Enter a tournament or put it towards that golf bucket list. 

The next time you are in the market for a new club, ask yourself something. Do I want to be one of millions or do I want to be one in a million? 

A whole new game

So my wife had me on this "Paleo Living" diet.  Basically meat and vegetables.  The major rules were:

No dairy
No beans (green beans are OK, No peanuts)
No/Low Carbs (No white/red potatoes, No pasta, No bread etc)
No nitrates or nastiness (Basically, if the ingredients aren't spices and whatever you're buying, you can't have it.
NO ALCOHOL!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I could, however, keep my cigars - which I did.... but more on that in another post. 30 days. 'Nough said. I made it through and found that the crap I buy most of the time is really junk food in a healthy disguise.  So much crap did I NOT eat, that I lost 13 lbs and 3 inches on the waist.  I also GAINED about 3mph on my clubhead speed thanks to some increased flexibility.  I would recommend this to anyone. Seriously, it's just a lifestyle change, not a "diet" in any sense of the word. I was eating steak and eggs for breakfast whenever I wanted. Pork chops and sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts. I did not go hungry. Just as an aside, check out some of these photos of the food we made and ask me if there was ever a time I was hungry or had to "choke down" nasty flavorless diet food:

fish, kale chips and sweet potato fries

 

Spaghetti squash, homemade marinara, pork meatballs

home made baked chicken fingers, mashed
carrots and turnips, roasted brussels sprouts

I digress -  just a little bit of a tangent. Still, this recent rejuvenation of health and reduction in waistline has not just helped me to fit back into my Royal & Awesome golf shorts, but it's also given my game a complete overhaul even after my back issues. I'm able to swing faster, walk farther, and generally just play better (minus putting) thanks to this little change and I think i'm going to stick with it.  Drink on the weekends but be mindful of my eating habits and see where it gets me. I haven't been under 180lbs in quite some time. Feels good and at least I don't have to buy any more clothes!

Up Next:  Review of Callaway SR3 Golf ball.

Winter Blues
Staying normal in the off-season


In the northeast of the country, golf season runs from April 1 through October 31st according to the USGA Handicap Revision Schedule.  If we're lucky, it might get warm enough (and stop raining for more than 20 minutes) in March so we can get out to the range, bang off the rust, and shank a few at an unsuspecting ball-retrieving cart. It's about now that the stir-crazy starts to set in and people start doing things like swinging golf clubs indoors, and ending marriages over broken lamps or holes in the ceiling. Well, it's almost season but you're sitting there still rotting of boredom waiting for the nice weather....

Q: What's a Golf-nut to do?  A: Get fit quick!

OK so you can't swing a club, you've putted about as much as you care to do. It's time to do some exercising. I'm not talking about heavy lifting Tiger-esque kind of exercises, just the body moving and joint strengthening exercises. You know -- the ones you should have been doing all winter but were so busy with drinking rum and eggnog over the holidays that you just kind of skipped. The best things about these exercises is that you can do them anywhere, any time, and they'll get you in shape for golf this season.

1:  Plank -  A good staple. Some fitness experts would make you believe that isometric exercises can be dropped because they don't do enough for you when you reach a certain level of fitness. Personally, I work out nearly every day and I still get benefits out of the plank move so I'll recommend it until the day I die.

- Simply lay belly-down on the ground.
- Position your elbows right under your shoulders and your forearms out ahead like the Sphinx.
- Now squeeze your abs, butt and shoulders and raise your body up off the floor. Balance on your elbows and toes.
- Make a straight line from your shoulders to your toes and hold it as long as you can. Work up to 1 minute.

Still think it's too easy? Women's Health Magazine has a great article on the plank and how to make it harder.  Laugh if you want - the smallest women on tour are still banging their 3 woods farther than you're hitting driver. I'm not too proud to get my info from any source!


2: Pushups - Probably the most well-known stationary exercise in the world. Get your upper body in shape. If you don't know what it is, well... you REALLY need to read and do these exercises.  Do 50 per day.  Do them however you can. 10 sets of five.. Five sets of 10...25 sets of 2... Just do them.

- Start in Plank Position.
- Place your hands flat on the ground a little wider than shoulder width or as close to that as is comfortable.
- Tighten your abs and make a straight line from your shoulders to your toes.
- Lower your upper body to the floor by bending your arms. Push back up. Repeat. Maintain the straight line of your body.

You can make them easier by going to your knees instead of your toes. There are also variations that work different areas. The standard pushup is a good place to start.


3: Squats and Stairs - A lot of power in the golf swing comes from the lower body. If you have stairs in your house, use them...a lot. Do power sets of stairs going up and down 10 or more times. Skip stairs and take 2 at a time slowly if you can. It's great for the hamstrings and glutes. When you're done with that, do some squats. Simply stand with your feet shoulder width apart and squat down as close to parallel as you can. Stand up, Repeat. Do a lot. Hold something for weight to make it harder - I hold my golf bag.  If you have issues going up and down, then wall squats may be for you:

- Find a good, sturdy wall. Stand with your back against it.
- Bend your knees and slide yourself down the wall slowly until your upper legs are parallel to the floor (or as close as you can safely get them)
- Hold for 30 seconds (or as long as you can).  Stand up, then repeat.


These are very effective exercises to give you a base to play your best golf this year. Best thing is, they can pretty much all be done while watching TV! Do them every other day and you'll start to feel it in 2 weeks or even sooner! Don't quit, and enjoy the walk this Spring when you can finally get out! Don't forget the cigars!