Golf club

Golf History Unveiled

2011-10-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

Despite Accounts of Tiger’s Fines for a Few Four-Letter Words, His Words Are a Mere Whisper Compared to a Profane PGA Star of Yesteryear

As Tiger Woods racks up the wins and the “unofficial” record for cuss words that cull fines from the PGA, a deep breath and a look to the past might shed a little perspective. The Good Book – or at least a golfing version of it – might intone, “Let he or she who is without sin cast the first golf ball. When that proverbial thrown golf ball is a burst of temper invectively launched across the course, most stand guilty. All, though, including Tiger and the bulk of the Tour, are minor-league cursers compared to a major-league mouth that belonged to “Wiffy” Cox.
Wiffy? The nickname sounds so benign, even comical. The words that burst from this talented but hot-tempered player shocked staid PGA galleries in the 1930s. When he hooked or sliced a drive or left a putt short, his face would flush, and language more common on the docks of Cox’s native New York than on the fairways and greens of America’s toniest clubs erupted – loudly!
Grew Up Fighting in Brooklyn
Cox had grown up in a poor Irish and Italian Brooklyn neighborhood, learning to talk tough and to back it up with his fists. Like fellow immigrants’ sons and future on-course rivals Gene Sarazen (Saraceni) and Tony Manero, the young Cox caddied at Westchester County courses, sneaked in rounds at sunrise and sunset with clubs borrowed from the pro shop, and developed an outstanding game. Other caddies soon learned not to bet their tips against the Brooklyn kid with the fine swing and foul mouth.
By the 1930s, Cox, who had become a club pro, began making some noise at PGA tourneys. Luckily for the promising player, a reporter noted, was that Cox’s game spoke even louder than his mouth. Wiffy finished in the money in many tournaments, and his breakthrough moment came with his victory over a strong field in the 1931 North and South Open, an event ranking just below the U.S. Open in prestige in the era. In 1931 he also finished #1 on the PGA Tour for the most wins (4).
In 1934, Cox stomped, swore, and shot his way to a tense triumph over Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson in the Texas Open, the crowd teeming with rough-around-the-edges oilmen who cheered on the foul-mouthed golfer as a kindred soul.

He Shot 33 Skunks
Cox, one of the first PGA players to cast off wooden shafts for steel, took his clubs and his curses to Tijuana, Mexico, in 1935 for the Agua Caliente Open, which offered the game’s richest purse, $15,000 to the winner. Any spectators who had never seen Cox play might have sized up the diminutive golfer—with his tie, sweater, and crisply pleated slacks—as a pleasant-looking man with a receding hairline and a friendly grin—until he teed off. What followed were mutters and gesticulations accompanying virtually every shot, and curses that swelled in decibels and details alike. In between tantrums and tirades, he bested stars such as Sarazen to take home the title and winnings, which were presented to Cox in a wheelbarrow.
The man with the ugliest mouth in the PGA eventually landed a choice gig as the head pro at one of America’s most beautiful courses, Congressional, in Bethesda, Maryland. Even Cox soon learned to tone down the profanity when giving lessons to members: he wanted to keep the job.

On October 21, 1939, the real Wiffy Cox materialized shortly after he arrived at the course near dawn. What he saw ignited that unforgettable temper. Skunks had torn up chunks of the course overnight.
Cox waited till the sun went down, grabbed a rifle, prowled the course all night, and shot 33 skunks. He received the club’s thanks and piles of letters from outraged animal lovers.
One can only speculate how Cox’s game might have held up against the likes of Tiger and today’s other Tour stars. It’s more entertaining to muse over what Wiffy’s reaction would have been if any of his peers, including the PGA Tour itself, had the nerve to tell the street-smart golf champion to mind his manners and “watch his mouth.” GN

Peter F. Stevens, book author and New Times syndicated writer, is the News & Features Editor of the Boston Irish Reporter

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Common Mistakes when Pitching

2011-10-11T10:25:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder what the most common miss/hit golf swings are when pitching a golf ball? It’s when you top it, when you skull it, or when you hit it real, real thin and it runs over the green. I’m going to tell you why that happens.

A little review of the setup: ball in the middle of your stance, your weight left and handle forward. But here’s the first mistake most of you make.

When the club starts back, you start back. Now 70% of your weight isn’t on your left leg. And if you do that, it’s very difficult to get the club underneath the golf ball.

So, the most common golf swing is when you slide backwards and you hit the ground behind it, or you top it or skull it.

Now, here’s the next most common mistake that I’ve seen over the years. Everybody thinks that to hit a great pitch shot you have to have this beautiful, high follow through.

As a matter of fact, that is not true for pitching the ball up in the air.

It’s a very pretty golfswing, but so many of you have been sold on the idea that you have to follow through real high

To stop from skulling or topping the ball, weight in the middle, handle left, weight on your left side, swing the arms up and swing the arms down in the downswing.Up/down makes the golf ball go up.

Now, many golfers hit it fat. This is caused by the club being to vertical. If you go too vertical, you’ll wind up chopping the floor.

After you get all set up, make sure you're not leaning too far over on the left side. A little weight on your left side, but the trick is to swing the golf club up on the inside. And that will give the golf club a little better angle into the back of the ball.

Try these golfswings the next time you're out. I promise you it’ll help you.

Thanks

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Pitching Shots vs. Full Swing

2011-10-11T03:13:00.000-07:00

There is a big difference between the golf swing basics of pitching the golf ball in and around the edges of the green, over bunkers, over little trees, over a pond, 30 yards, 20 yards, 40 yards, and the golf swing basics of hitting your full pitch shot swing.

Whenever I’m talking about chipping and pitching, I’m talking about golf shots that are in and around the green. If I’m not talking about that, then I’m talking about your full swing

The technique to hit to the green in front of you is ball in the middle, weight left, handle forward. And it’s an arm swing.

Now, if you want to hit a full wedge shot, it will go way over the green.

With the 90-yard swing, you can see a difference with your golf swing basics at address. Your body turns, your shoulders turn, which moves the weight a little bit over to the right side, and the arms swing up and down.

As you start to bring the golf club back, your shoulders start to turn and your weight moves backwards a little bit. That’s a full golf swing.

And the 40-yard pitch shot is a big difference in the two swings. One, the 100-yard wedge was just like the driver swing, but with a wedge in your hand. The pitch shot is a miniature little tiny golf swing that you don’t move any weight to your right side.

I hope that clears it up for you, and thanks

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Questions for ... Sean Foley

2011-10-11T02:43:00.000-07:00

You're about to kick off your first full year as Tiger's swing coach, after taking over for Hank Haney last summer. Criticism comes with the job. Are you ready for it?
I only worry about how I feel about myself. People have the right to their own opinion, and this is a country where freedom of speech is allowed. That being said, I believe people treat people the way they feel about themselves. I learned a long time ago that criticism is a compliment if it is being made by someone who doesn't know or care about you. So if it's not my wife, brother, or parents, I could care less what people say.

Brandel Chamblee told Golf Magazine that Haney and Tiger ruined the greatest swing in history. How do you know when you're not hurting a player?
It's a guessing game. Some of the younger teachers are trying to shift the paradigm in instruction by bringing in new ideas. Is it all completely right? I'm not sure. But if I can keep [student] Sean O'Hair from doing the wrong thing, he's probably going to play pretty good. Because he's right in so many ways.

What can Tiger expect from you? Who are your coaching role models?
Guys like John Wooden and Phil Jackson. They took extremely good basketball players and helped them reach their fullest potential. I've heard some of Wooden's players at UCLA say he helped them become better and more organized men. I wouldn't say that I'm a golf instructor. I'm a coach.

How do you help your players set goals?

I try to help them make their objectives realistic. What I want for all the players that I work with is for them to be content and at peace with the adversity that they go through on the course. I'm very much a co-pilot. I'm not going to say to any one of my players that it's my way or the highway. But there are certain scientific things that I won't sway on.

Tiger's challenges in 2011 go beyond adjusting to a new swing. He also faces a new generation of players who want his throne — like Martin Kaymer, who just leapfrogged Woods in the world rankings. What do you think of the new young guns?
They aren't scared. It has to do with the Tiger Woods effect. Kids who would have played other sports became interested in the game from watching Tiger. Look down to the junior golf level, and these kids are longer than PGA Tour players. So we're looking at a generation of young players who would have become quarterbacks or forwards in basketball — and they're bringing 6-4, 220 [pound] frames to golf with the ability to create more force and velocity from what we were used to. That was the difference with Tiger. When he came around in 1997, there weren't as many great players as there are now, especially from a power standpoint. Now there are 30 to 40 guys that are power players.

What don't you like about life on Tour?
There can be a little bit of entitlement. Some of the guys have forgotten how fortunate they are to do what they do for a living. Another thing that bugs me are the coaches who believe that they are more important than the players. They think that they are the actual talent. I'm paid a percentage of what the player earns, and that percentage in most cases is lower than the caddies. So I know my place in how I help my players. I've had times where a player has gone out and absolutely missed the cut by doing what I tell them. In most cases these guys were on the PGA Tour before we started coaching them. So as far as the development is concerned, they were 95 percent to their potential when we got to them.

You love hip-hop music and Bob Marley. What influence did Marley have on you?
Marley was talking about a world of materialism and superficiality in "Redemption Song," where he says, "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds." That was my first introduction to philosophy. There was no doubt that he was a philosopher.

How much would it cost a guy off the street to have a lesson with you?
The highest I've ever charged for an hour lesson was $250. I'm giving a golf lesson. A lawyer can charge a $1,000 an hour because they are saving a corporation millions. I know there are people who are working as hard as me or harder for $14 an hour.

You do things your own way. You even run barefoot, right?
Two days a week I run barefoot, and two days I run in Nike Frees. I've always loved to run but it always hurt my feet, my ankles and my knees. I've helped a lot of people hit golf balls without back pain, so I started researching the biomechanics of running and all the books I read said that running barefoot was the best thing for my body.

What do you want your legacy to be when it's all done for you in this business?
If you were sitting in on your own funeral and you were able to stand next to your wife and son, what would you want to be said about you? I think about that all the time. It's not morbid. It's just a reality. Forty years from now if somebody walks up to my son and says to him what a great swing coach his dad was, I've missed the point big time

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Dr. Joe Parent discusses Tiger's mental game

2011-10-11T02:38:00.000-07:00

For all his monster power and clutch putting, Tiger has called his mind "my main asset." We asked mental-game guru and frequent Golf Magazine contributor Dr. Joe Parent to weigh in on what Tiger has to do between the ears to again dominate between the ropes.

Tiger went winless for the first time in his professional career in 2010. From a mental-game perspective, how do off-course distractions such as divorce hurt a Tour player's on-course performance?

On the practical level, off-course distractions — especially divorces involving children — create extra demands on time and energy, as well as being emotionally draining. That means a major disruption in the routine a player relies on to properly prepare for a tournament, especially less time to practice. Tiger was clear that he had chosen to spend more time with his kids, even if that meant less time for practice. And it showed in the lack of sharpness in his game.

But Tiger was always so good at compartmentalizing his life and blocking out distractions. Why couldn't he do that last year?
On the inner level, when your mind is in turmoil in your home life situation, it carries over in all you do. So it's harder to stay in the present and settle your mind on the golf course. At his best, Tiger was intensely focused and fully present for almost every shot. Last year, it seemed, not so much.

What moments stand out in your mind as Tiger's low points from 2010?
Most people would pick the awful scores at the WGC Tournament at Firestone, a course he has absolutely owned over the years. But keep in mind that he had a new coach and was making a swing change at the time, and we all know how hard it is to play when you're "between swings." He probably accepted those rounds as part of the process. No, the lowest points were during the first three months of the year, leading up to his return at the Masters — the embarrassing revelations, the dramatic drop in popularity, and a pervasive loss of respect. Most everyone found communications from him and his team frustratingly staged and defensive. A very low point was the missed opportunity after the Masters to not talk about himself and his play, but instead to be gracious and statesmanlike in his post-round interview by congratulating Phil Mickelson and simply expressing heartfelt appreciation for golf and how good it was to be back in the game.

Last year, Tiger was just another good Tour player. What does he have to do to reclaim his place as the world's dominant golfer?
The turmoil Tiger went through — an intensely private person having his most intimate details displayed as a 24/7 worldwide media circus — is beyond imagination. That he could play at all, let alone at the level he did, was amazing. Jack Nicklaus said that the most important aspect of his preparation for a major championship is peace of mind. Tiger has said, "My mind is my main asset," so he needs to devote as much time as he can to meditation and contemplation, and therapy if necessary, to reclaim his peace of mind. Early in the year, when asked how well I thought Tiger would do upon his return to the game, I said that putting and touch around the greens would be affected most by his mental turmoil. You can recover from a wayward drive, and you can recover from a poor approach. But you can't recover from a missed four-foot putt.

Is it possible that the magic is just gone? That he's all out of fairy dust? I'm thinking of his 3-wood approach shot on Saturday at the U.S. Open, setting up eagle putt. But he missed that putt and faded on Sunday.
At his best, everyone expected Tiger to pull off the miracle shot, to hit the magical chip that showed his logo for a while before dropping, or to sink the crucial putt to win. That didn't happen last year. He needs to rededicate himself to being the best in the world at recovery shots and putts inside 10 feet. If he can do that, he'll dominate again.

OK, we're putting you on the spot. If you had to bet your house, your car and your dog, does Tiger break Jack's record of 18 professional major wins?
I've dusted off my crystal ball, and here's what I see. Tiger will win more majors. But at a slower pace — he's getting older, injuries may be a factor, and there are a lot of talented young stars gunning for him. So he'll win one major every two years or so for the next eight seasons, including one more U.S. Open. That will give him 18 professional majors, tying Jack. Then comes the Open at Pebble Beach in 2019. Tiger will be in the scorer's tent with the lead, being congratulated on breaking Jack's record of major victories as well as winning a record fifth Open. But wait! Someone named Watson — Bubba, is that you? — holes out on 17 for birdie to take the tournament away from Tiger. And there, Tiger's total will remain, tied with Jack as the greatest professional golfer in history

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Timing – Golf Instruction Lesson

2011-10-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

I want to review something with you that I consider to be one of the, I don’t know, I think it’s one of the most misunderstood verbiage’s or terminology’s in all of golf.

It’s called timing. And it’s used a lot on television and in all the magazines, but they don’t explain to you what timing is and what it means.

So, let me give you a little golf instruction lesson, and then, that way you’ll start to understand the value of the word timing. Okay, here it goes.

Whenever you watch a good player hit a golf ball and or when you hit a good shot, this is what timing means. It was your ability to swing the arms down as your left hip moved out of the way, and gets out of the way for you.

Now, there are a couple of mistakes you can make. First of all, some people swing the arms down, and this never moves and you stay still. If you do that, you would be one that would come down and the club face closes quickly at the bottom of the hit.

If your timing is off because you didn’t move the bottom out of the way, the arms will cross over real quick

On the other hand, most of the golfing public, when they swing down, their body moves out of the way and leaves the club behind them and open.

So, a little golf instruction lesson, if your timing is off and your body’s too quick, you’ll go to the right. If your timing’s off and your body’s a little too slow, you might hook it.

If your timing is on, all that’s saying is that you have the combination of the body, the bottom part of the body moving out of the way, as the arms swing down.

Again, the body moves, arms swing down. It’s just a combination of getting the arms and the hands to match up with the bottom part of the golf swing.

Thanks, and have a great day. I hope that golf instruction lesson helped

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The second lesson Getting out of the Sand

2011-10-09T03:36:00.000-07:00

I have a tip on getting out of the sand that you're just going to love not matter if you're a new golfer or if you're a +3 handicap.

When you have a buried bunker shot, you either make a great big smash at it and the ball doesn’t move but a foot or two, or, if you happen to hit it out, it takes off on a line drive and it doesn’t have any backspin on it, and you whack it over the green.

The reason that you either have trouble getting out of the sand or skulling it over the green, is because on a sand wedge the trailing edge has a bounce on it. It’s a curve and it makes the leading edge sit up off the ground

So, if you try to hit the golf ball out of a buried lie the conventional way, the back of this bounce will run into the sand and carom off the sand, and you’ll hit a skull.

What you should try to do; is the next time you’re getting out of the sand and you have a buried lie, put a little weight on your left leg, but tilt the handle over so the leading hits the sand first and digs into the ground.

It doesn’t matter how deep; you can bury it all you want. Ball in the middle of your stance, weight on your left leg, handle on your left leg, up and down, and it will pop right out of there. You won’t believe it. You’ll love this.

So, in closing remember this: getting out of the sand means you need to get the bounce off the back

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The first lesson in Golf Lesson – Greenside Bunker

2011-10-09T03:26:00.000-07:00

If you’ve just recently played a round of golf, if you really struggle with your sand game, I have a golf lesson that’s going to help you a lot here.

It’s a very difficult thing to do, but it’s so simple to get the right setup.

Now, here’s the golf lesson for setting up for a bunker shot. The ball goes across from your left foot always when the ball’s setting up. The weight goes on your left leg 70%. And from here the arms swing up and down as you turn through. Make sure you turn through.

What you're trying to do is you're trying to displace some sand. You're trying to put a little sand between the club face and the golf ball, and lift it and throw it out of the bunker

So, the setup: Weight left, ball off your left foot, full arm swing. But don’t transfer your weight over to your right side. Stay on top of that left leg. Go up and down, even if you have to put the toe up in the air to stop you from sliding backwards.

Here’s a golf lesson if the ball is buried. If it’s buried, this swing won’t work because the club won’t go steep enough. So, put the ball in the middle of your stance, weight over on your left leg. Don’t open the face, and catch a little sand behind the ball and throw it out on the green.

I hope this golf lesson works. Give it a shot.

Thanks

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The first lessonــ Short Game – Chipping Golf Instruction

2011-10-08T15:10:00.000-07:00

I believe that the setup is the key to hitting a great chip shot. Of course, you need the backswing and the downswing, but if you're not standing to it properly, hitting the golf ball with the correct impact is going to be a very difficult thing to do.

I’m going to give you some chipping golf instruction. The next time you're out playing, check your ball position. Critical, the very first thing, make sure that the golf ball is in the middle of your stance, not off your left foot, not off your front foot, and not off your back foot, but in the middle

The next part of the chipping golf instruction is to make sure you put your weight on your left leg, not in the middle, not on your right leg, but on your left leg. And when you do that, take the butt end of the club, and push it over to your belt buckle.

So, you see the angle you have? This enables the golf club to swing up and down so you’ll make solid contact with the golf ball.

And then, this will enable the golf club to go up so it comes back down and makes solid contact with the golf ball.

Try that the next time you go to the golf course

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