Dear slow player,

SPEED UP!!!! That 3 foot putt is not getting any shorter the longer you stand over it. That shot over the bunker from the hard pan lie is not getting easier by you walking up to the green twice to see where you are trying to land it.

The truth is that this game is so hard. It is probably the hardest game in the world and your delaying the obvious is not making it any easier. Standing there throwing handfuls of grass in the air over and over to judge the 1 mph wind is only making your decision tougher.

Let me give you a couple ideas that can save time, and strokes, off your round. First, develop a pre-shot routine. Try making this your cue to your body that a swing is coming. Make sure it is the same each time so that your mind and body are trained that action is following whatever it is that you do prior to the swing. I will stand a couple feet behind the ball choosing a target line. I will tug on the shoulders of my shirt and take my stance. I look at the target once and fire. This process takes roughly 20 seconds. Yours might be shorter or longer, but anything over 1 minute can not be healthy in terms of your mental state prior to swinging.

Second, if you have played longer than 5 years of golf, take no practice swings anywhere from 100 yards out. Practice swings are such a double edged sword. Using a practice swing as a pre-shot routine does two things that I do not like. It tells your body to concentrate on something that will have no result. And it adds one swing, at the end of the day, for every practice swing you make.

How many times have you made a practice swing that was great and uttered the worst words in the world “just do that again.” Only to shank one in the woods? The practice swing can be a built in excuse or can make you believe you “wasted one.” What about your score? If you actually impact the ball 100 times in a round, that is somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 full swings or so. If you take a practice swing for every one of those swings you are at 160 full swings. I can not believe that most of us are in shape enough to make that many swings.

Ready golf is another of the best ways to save time. If you are in a cart, drop your partner off at his ball while you go to your ball. Take a couple extra clubs and once he has hit, you can hit and pick him up on your way to the successful shots. Ready golf means that just because you are away, someone else might be hitting…that is okay. Unless you are embroiled in a Ryder Cup match, does it really matter that your buddy, who you chose to play with, hit from 6 yards in front of you, before you?

Truth is that with the given economic state of our country, we are probably going to see golf courses close and the supply of golf courses will be lower. If we ALL are going to keep playing, we are going to need to speed up. Look for ways that you can play a bit faster and always remember that if you play freer and faster, your scores will usually be lower. Less time thinking is more time succeeding in most cases.

There’s no doubt whatsoever that he would beat me at golf head-to-head 1,000 out of 1,000 times, but Tiger Woods as a casual sports fan has always kind of puzzled me a bit. He very well may be the greatest athlete of his generation, and yet, he seems so clueless and/or apathetic about the other major sports out there.

I mean, playing golf with Tony Romo in the heart of Redskins country? Couldn’t he have shown a little D.C sports tact and made plans with Tony for some other time? Perhaps teeing  it up with Jason Campbell would have been more of a crowd pleaser?

Transitioning quickly, this minor oversight pales in comparison to the flip-flopping Tiger was up to at this years NBA Finals. When prompted, here’s what he had to say about the Lakers/Magic match-up that was about to take place:

I grew up a die-hard Los Angeles Lakers fan but I have season tickets to Orlando Magic games. Hopefully, it will be a great series.

Exqueese me? Baking Powder? In what alternate reality does a statement such as that even begin to make one shred of sense? Somewhere, Lebron James must have taken a huge sign of relief. If you grew up a “die-hard” Lakers fan, then it only follows logically that, as an adult, you would root for… oh, I don’t know… The Los Angeles Lakers. Of course, living in Orlando is no crime (I hear there might be some kind of tax benefit to living in Florida), and owning season tickets to the local basketball team is still well within reason, but to be torn in your allegiances between that team and the local team you grew up loving as a child is unabashed sports blasphemy.

Now, I understand that there are kagillions and bagillions of dollars at stake for Eldrick when it comes to the endorsement game. It’s no secret he’s gone to the Michael Jordan University of Public Relations and Empire Building, and he has to ride the fence on just about anything lest Nike, or AT&T, or Gatorade, or Gillete, or American Express, or whoever gets mad at him and stops signing the cheks. However, I fail to see where selling out your childhood basketball team affects any of this in any way at all. Is Tiger afraid of offending the good people of Orlando? Or is he too busy thinking about green speed and ball trajectory to bother himself with anything else? Maybe he’s just used to taking the middle road, but whatever the reason may be, I think Tiger Woods the sports fan would be a whole lot more insteresting if he would just pick one team to root for in a championship, and perhaps consider the city in which he is playing before picking four-ball teammates.

Appropriate narrative order notwithstanding, first things first.  Did you know that GolfDiscount.com has its very own Twitter account? It’s true, our page can be found right here. By choosing to follow us on Twitter, you’ll be updated in real-time on all the activity taking place on the site. New updates, recent blog posts–and most importantly–information on all our newest gear, closeouts, and latest promotions make up the bulk of our Tweets.  Here’s the part where you’d normally read a self-depcricating joke about shameless self-promotion, but I’m not gonna go there. I thought the aforementioned self-promotion was rather warranted, if not also tastefully done and quite professional.

Moving on, the golf industry as a whole seems to be diving head first into the character regulated world of Twitter. Both major companies and professional golfers (not to mention certain online equipment retailers–ok, now we’re starting to flirt with shamelessness, aren’t we? it won’t happen again) are utilizing the technology and instant connectivity to reach customers and fans like never before.

It seems that Golf, even more so than other professional sports, has a large disconnect between its major players and the fans. In the quiet on the tee, please don’t step in my line, polite handshaking world of professional golf, passive-aggressiveness and strained smiles are more the norm than big personalities. I’m not sure how many casual golf fans know about recent tour winner Sean O’Hair’s disturbingly fascinating relationship with his father, but I’m fairly confident most of us know what Terrell Owens looks like shirtless doing sit-ups in his driveway, or how he likes his popcorn, or who his quarterback was. (For the record, his quarterback in Dallas was this guy, oh, and this guy.) With that being said, professional golf is starting to make the transition into the accessible, personable, and entertaining. Having one of the greatest athletes of all time as the face of your sport certainly doesn’t hurt, but having Stewart Cink come out of his shell on Twitter can only help.

Other big golf names on Twitter include: John Daly being John Daly, awkward Celebrity Apprentice contestant Natalie Gulbis, Aussie Stuart Appleby, Morgan Pressel, and the PGA Tour itself. Equipment makers Callaway and Titleist are good for two each (offering Tour Twitters here and here), and the 2009 Players Championship has even entered the fray. The way this is going, you’ll soon be able to use Twitter to read about new golf products from the manufacturer that makes them, the players who use them, and the retailer who sells them; with everything blending into this huge Twitter mess of information that will help you better chose clubs, balls, apparel, and accessories that are best for you and your game.

If you need any more convincing that this Twitter and Golf partnership is for real, the LPGA recently encouraged its players take advantage of Twitter to better connect with fans.  And as we all know, the LPGA does not mess around.

It was Sunday and my daughter and I were watching the golf tournament’s final round.  She looked at me with her beautiful blue eyes and said “Daddy, what are they doing?”  I, of course said “they are playing golf, honey.” She promptly said, “I know that daddy, but what are they doing?”  With my extraordinary knowledge of the game I gave her a long, convoluted story trying to explain the pros hitting drives onto the fairway, then iron shots onto the green, and then putts into the hole. My daughter then, in that amazing way that children rationalize things asks me, “why don’t they just swing and hit the ball into the hole.”  This got me to thinking…

She was absolutely right!  Why don’t we just swing and hit the ball in the hole?  We worry about score, hitting drives into the fairway, irons onto the green and putts into the hole, when we should really be thinking about trying to get the best results possible with each individual shot.  The score we shoot that day will just happen and should be a result of all of the attempts we make in a round to get the best possible outcome from each shot.  The better we perform on each shot should in turn, if we have done what we set out to do, result in a lower score.

Thank you my darling daughter for explaining the game of golf to your old man.  You have brought clarity to a game that is filled with gadgets, gimmicks, and overthinking.  I hope that you who read this also learn from my daughter as kids do say the darndest things.  A lot of the time, those darndest things are also the most obvious things that we adults seem to forget in our lives that are filled with overthinking.  Remember the next time you are out on the course, “just swing and hit the ball into the hole”.

For my money, there are two types of golf books out there. Instructional books and books that are about golf.
My favorite instructional books are Hogan’s stuff. I think there are few books as well written, and as helpful, as Hogans Five Fundamentals. This is considered the “bible” of the golf swing up until Tiger arrived on the scene. One thing that you have to remember is that Mr. Hogan fought a hook so some of his swing moves are built to combat that ball flight, but his techniques are sound and his information easy to digest.

Very few have specialized themselves in the golf world like Dave Pelz. I am sure that Mr. Pelz could teach the full swing, but he has chosen to spend his efforts on the short game. From 100 and in there is nobody that has done the extensive research that he has. Be prepared to have your game change when you read his Short Game Bible. It is exceptional.

If you are looking for a good sold read without the instruction of the game, check out John Feinstein’s stuff. From “Good Walk Spoiled” to “The Majors” Feinstein captures life on the PGA tour that most of us never knew existed. His writing style is fantastic and these are books that you can get immersed in.
I also like the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. They have a golf themed edition chock full of inspirational stores and funny anecdotes. Be prepared to realize that the 3 footer that you missed last round really does not matter in the whole scheme of things. Great perspectives and great stories make this a must.

The last book I can suggest is the most important. EVERY golfer MUST have this in his bag or at home. It is the worst read in the world, but is the foundation of the game we love. It is the rules of golf. I keep one in my golf bag and I can not begin to count the number of times I have used it. During tournament play, it is almost like we are reading it as we are going along. I guess that tells you some of the places I hit it ha ha.

If you are a reader or are not that fond of reading as a pass time. There are some great golf literature out there. Check some of it out and use it as a cool down next time you have a tough round.

Now then, my father raised me in the game to present yourself a certain way. He always had me wear slacks or cuffed pants and cuffed shorts when the weather was warmer. I was in a polo shirt EVERY time we played. No T-shirts. In fact, I rarely wore T-shirts when I practiced. We adhered to the dress codes of the local courses even on courses that did not enforce them.

So imagine my shock when I drive up to the course we practice at, for our first full practice, and see a guy naked!!! I mean he was naked…no clothes…..playing golf. I was sure of it. Turns out that he was just wearing a flesh colored speedo and was not wearing a shirt. I was a long way away when I saw the naked guy so you can see why I thought what I did.

I soon found it obvious that it was not only accepted, it was encouraged to play this golf course with shirts off and even in bare feet sometimes. It was the “every working man’s golf course.” I still wore my slacks or shorts and polo shirts, but it was kind of a cool place to play. Everyone felt comfortable. Come one, come all, EVERY one was welcome.

But the story illustrates a very important part of this game. Comfort. I assume that you play at a course that makes you wear a shirt ha ha. If you do, you have to feel comfortable in that piece of clothing. Gone are the days where you walked into JC Penny and bought any old shirt to golf in. Clothing manufacturers have discovered that the clothing you wear can be conducive to golf just as it can be restrictive to golf if it is not created correctly.

Golf apparel has been designed to aid in range of motion for the golfer. The shoulders have been enlarged and the torso lines have been slimmed to allow for more turn and less restriction from the fabrics. Apparel is also being designed with fabrics that breathe better and wick away moisture to allow for more comfort.

Nike leads the way, in my opinion. I wear their stuff almost exclusively. The Dri-Fit stuff is great. It breathes well and offers that range of motion that is so important in this game. I would also check out Adidas and Under Armor. We do not carry the Under Armor brand, but their stuff is getting better and better.

Any apparel you choose, make sure that it fits you well. Comfort is the first key. Make sure that you are able to make your normal swing without hindrance and you have the right clothing for your game.

This year I got home though. It was fantastic. I got to see my family as well as my nieces and nephews. It was great! The only deterrent to it being the best Christmas ever was the almost 6 feet of snow that resided over the entire city of Spokane.

Now I do not golf much over Christmas due to the areas I live. Seattle is not exactly the balmiest of weather come December, and Spokane may as well be the North Pole most Christmases. I did play once on Christmas day in Vegas in a wind storm so strong it almost blew me over. It was 37* that day which is darn near unbearable for Vegas. But I was there.

So this was one of those “cabin fever” Christmases as far as golf went. No playing, nothing of substance, golfwise, on TV (I do not consider the ADT Skills Challenge “substance” as it relates to golf on TV). So I just enjoyed family time.

When I got back to Seattle, I discovered snow here too………NOW it is getting crazy. Seattle is not known for the best golf weather this time of year, but it also not known for feet of snow at any one time. I was expecting to come back and get at least a round in before the New Year passed. Boy was I wrong.

So I did the next best thing. I bought myself a set of Nike Victory Red Forged wedges.

I did not receive any golf stuff for Christmas. I think most of my family has given up on that since I work in the business and I am very particular about the way my equipment looks. So I said a Merry Christmas to myself, with the help of a very generous gift from Mom and Dad…..Thanks guys, I love you!

So I went with a 52*,56*, and a 60* for the first time in my entire career.

I am stoked to go play now…..and I am staring at snow. I should have asked for plane tickets to anywhere warm…..but, then again……

My birthday is quickly approaching (hint, hint)

I used to go and practice in the wind. I prefer to practice into the wind so that it accentuates the spin that I have put on the ball. This makes it easier to see if I am putting slice or hook spin on the ball. Practicing downwind will make you feel like a stud because you will hit it a ton, but practicing down wind tends to mask any spin you are putting on the ball.

During these sessions, I learned that certain winds demand certain shots. I learned that if I was into the wind I had to add clubs and plan on the ball moving to my default power fade more so than when I am playing on a calm day. I learned that the punch shot is an invaluable option to have in the bag. I learned an awful lot, but what I didn’t learn is how clear a mind it takes to play in the wind.

What wind can teach you is that you have to be mentally prepared to play in the wind. It is a different mind set all together. You have to be prepared for wind. Not prepared to play a punch shot or try to fade a shot into a draw wind to hold the ball online. You have to be prepared for wind in a very specific way.

Your preparation for wind golf starts with knowing that you are going to hit some shots, you would normally see some success with, that are going to have horrible results. I know going in that it is going to take more strategy than talent to make it around the course in the wind. Of course if I hit the ball solid, I should have success, but the wind is going to turn some of my great shots into mediocre shots and some of my bad shots into horrible ones.

I try to steer clear of the big number in the wind. Minimizing the double bogey in a wind storm is almost more important than the number of birdies you make. Birdies, when it is windy, are hard to come by. But double bogeys and the dreaded “others” are lurking on the, formerly, easiest of holes. My strategy is to minimize the mistakes and rely on my short game to save me in some instances.

I don’t try to play over a hazard “hoping” that the wind brings it back or carries the ball enough to clear it. I play to the fat parts of greens and take my chances if I miss a green. I try to miss greens so that I am chipping into the wind and am not short sided. This will allow me to be more aggressive on shots that have less penalty for mistakes.

As for what I do to prepare my body for a windy day, I go with very simple changes. I would prefer to not wear something over my clothing if I can help it. The fact is that a wind shirt will help shed wind and will allow for easy range of motion in your golf swing.  I like going with an undershirt a bit better. Something that hugs the body and has long sleeves to keep my arms warm.

If you play in the wind, remember that your mental state is as important as the equipment you carry and you might be able to conquer that breeze better than you did the last time.

The first time it happened, I was scared. Wasn’t I supposed to be deep in concentration? This game takes maximum concentration and there I am in the middle of a tournament with Metallica’s version of “Whiskey in a Jar” pounding through my head. What is worse, I hadn’t even heard that song as I was driving to the course, or in the last few days or weeks, for that matter. In fact, I don’t even like that song ha ha. What was wrong with me?

Since then I have had this happen numerous times. Anything from Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam, and others have rambled through the ‘ol noggin at, what seems to be, the most inopportune time. Is something wrong with me? If you are experiencing the same thing, is something wrong with you?

Truth is that research is showing that this is very common. During periods of extreme concentration, the mind searches for ways to distract itself from the enormity of the task at hand. Since golf is a sport that demands the mind to focus over and over again, it tends to search for something to distract it. For me, it is music. I will rarely actually sing or hum, but I feel as if the band is playing right there in my head.

In fact, I will have songs tripping through my head while I am actually hitting shots. Frequently, it plays its way into my pre-shot routine. I will stand behind the ball choosing my spot to aim the ball. Tug on my shirt at my shoulders to loosen that area to swing, step into my stance and then BANG! “Gimmie Shelter” kicks in.

Like I said I was scared at first, but I have discovered that not only am I normal, but athletes are using music more and more to influence their performance. Step out on any driving range during a college or junior tournament and you will see it. Watch pre-game football warm-ups and you will see it. Check out any locker room prior to a baseball game and you will see it and, most likely, hear it. Headphones in, and athletes getting into “game mode.”

I typically drive at least 15 minutes to get to my local golf course. Most times, I am going with the intention of playing well. Rarely am I driving to the course to just bat balls and find them again. So I use that time to get focussed. I listen to tunes to get me pumped up, or calmed down if need be.

I use Oasis “Colombia” to get pumped up. In fact, I had that one play for about a year before every round of golf. The beat gets me excited and ready for action. It is not so loud that it overexcites me but is fast and driving enough to get me going. I use Ryan Adams “Everybody Knows” to calm me down if I am excited. Pearl Jam plays alot too. They have fast tunes and slow tunes and Eddie Vedder’s voice is calming.

Next time you have an important round ahead of you, try this. If you feel anxious play some calming music prior to arriving at the golf course. Try up tempo stuff if you feel lethargic or unexcited. Use some tricks to get your mind prepared if you do not already. Pre-round routines are almost as important as pre-shot routines.

There was one problem though. I was using equipment that was not my own. Okay, so the irons do have my name on them (Ping I5 irons) but they are not the irons I play on a regular basis. They are the “Spokane set” to appease the wife and relieve a little space in the closet. This set contains no driver, no fairway wood, and no wedges of consequence.

Here is the problem with this…my Dad plays vastly different clubs than I do. So what am I saddled with? A Cobra Offset driver with a regular shaft. Not exactly the specs I play. Adaptation time is zero and the tee time is in 30 minutes. What am I going to do?

Some of us are talented enough to not have this make a difference and can just adjust the swing to keep things going. I am not that guy ha ha. So I tried a couple of different things. The first thing I did was to take his offset driver with the loose shaft and swing a bit slower and aim a little right to compensate for the offset in the driver. I also teed the ball up a touch lower because the offset feature tends to send the ball higher than I am used to.

That worked for a while. As my round progressed, I found myself swinging better and freer and my swing speed increased. Now I was in trouble. So I did something I would have never thought of if not for some practice sessions back in college.

I switched tees. I played some white tees to shorten holes a bit so that I could hit Dad’s hybrid or even a iron off the tee. I was hitting the ball into the spots I typically do with my own driver and things were somewhat back to normal.

I remembered back to a time in college. We had just been to California for a tournament and our entire team’s performance around the greens was awful. In fact, from 100 in was pretty much abysmal. Our coach had us play the next few rounds from the ladies tees at our local course.

This gave us more wedges and more than our fair share of 40 yard shots to practice. We were told to play every tee shot as if we were playing the tips, which took the strategy of laying up to our “normal” approach shot distance out of play. Coach sent us off with an adage that I have held onto forever, “It doesn’t matter what tees you play, you still have to chip and putt to score.”

I hit my wedges well that day and putted fairly well and was able to score despite having equipment that didn’t match my swing. Remember this next time you are on vacation and are borrowing a set of clubs and they do not match your everyday clubs. If you have to, play a set of tees up so that you can lay up to distances you would normally have if you had your own equipment.

Most of all, have fun.