Golf Blog by The Orlando Golf Blogger

By now, you’ve probably heard about the single-car accident involving Tiger Woods, if not, here’s the link.

Tiger Woods involved in a single-car accident

Since the story broke, the media has been on Tiger’s tail like a pack of bloodthirsty jackals trying to dig up anything they can on the circumstances surrounding the accident.

What they’ve come up with is speculation about an alleged affair between Tiger and 34-year-old New Yorker and nightclub promoter, Rachel Uchitel. The news of Tiger’s alleged infidelity broke in one of our nations most credible news rags, “The National Enquirer.”

This highly esteemed magazine has also released such stories as “Brittany Spears was found in bed with a goat, whilst on tour in Mexico” and “Brad and Angelina are fighting again” and “Michael Jackson isn’t really dead, he boarded the mother ship and is returning to his home planet.”

Tiger Woods has denied an interview with the local police three times, which is well within his legal rights, and because of this, everyone is assuming that the article in that trash magazine is true and all you hear about now is how disappointed the nation is that golf’s leading man is a villainous cheat.

It’s ridiculous. Tiger’s silence is equating to his guilt and it’s one of those guilty until proven innocent situations..

Couldn’t it be that he’s choosing to remain silent because the whole situation is a bit embarrassing? I mean, to hit a fire hydrant and a tree whilst backing out of your driveway isn’t exactly Tigerisque performance and perhaps he just doesn’t want to talk about it.

Perhaps he DID cheat and his wife was chasing him brandishing a golf club smashing out windows in his car or he didn’t cheat, but because of vomit bag media like the Enquirer, Elin believes he did and acted on that belief. Either way, I’m sure Tiger Woods would like to keep it a private matter and who could blame him?

Here’s some news for all you demanding for the truth, “YOU DON’T HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW.”

I’m so sick and tired of everyone thinking the high profile celebrities and sports superstars have to divulge all of their dirty little secrets to appease the masses. If I was Tiger Woods, I’d put out a single sentence press release that says “Get a life, mind your own business and go f*** yourselves.”

…just sayin.

(Yes, I know it's not an Escalade.. )

I’ve been pretty disconnected from the computer today, figured I’d spend the day with the family and take a day off from the blog. So, after putting the boys down for the night, I figured I’d hop on real quick and check my email before watching a movie with the wife.

I received an email from BBC news (first time and probably last time) and they asked if I would do an interview on the “woods story.” I was thinking, “Woods story? What Woods story?”

Imagine my surprise when I googled “Tiger Woods News” and the first result was….

“Tiger Woods wife rescues golfer from smashed up car.”

What??

It’s been reported that around 2:30 am, Tiger Woods was driving his SUV and crashed into a fire hydrant after hitting the neighbors tree. His wife Elin Nordegren Woods, heard the crash and ran outside with a golf club, smashed the window of the Caddillac Escalade and pulled him out. Good thing Tiger’s not the only one who knows how to swing a golf club!

When the police arrived, Tiger had cuts on his lips, blood in his mouth, was unconscious but breathing. He was unconscious for about six minutes. Officers administered first aid until medical personnel arrived. He was transported to a Windermere hospital and released a few hours later.

There’s no word on whether Tiger was wearing his seat belt, but alcohol is not being considered as a factor in the accident.

The airbag in Wood’s Escalade did not deploy, which means the vehicle was traveling under 33 mph (or they weren’t functioning.. ), according to FHP.

The police arrived at the Woods residence Friday evening to interview Tiger Woods about the accident, but Elin informed them that he was resting and asked them to come back Saturday.

There’s no word on who phoned the police and the recordings aren’t available.

As of now, the latest word is that Tiger Woods was treated, released and is in good condition and they thank everyone for their concern and well wishes.

I’ll try and post up an update as soon as I get some additional info, but I hope everyone will keep the family in their thoughts and prayers.

As I sit here fighting the onset of a major turkey coma, I wanted to write a quick post and say thanks to everyone of you awesome friends and readers of Orlando’s greatest golf blog, Orlando Golf Blogger.

Through writing the blog, I’ve been able to meet many awesome people and I’ve made some new friends, new rivals, and learned more than I ever thought I would.

Reflecting on the year, I realize that, although the year isn’t over yet, we can already chalk it up as a huge success and I know that I couldn’t have achieved any of it without you, so from all of us here (me ), THANK YOU for helping me make this a success!

Here’s a link to a great blog post written by Jason Sobel’s called 99 golf things to be thankful for.

Tiger Woods -Phil Mickelson 99 things to be thankful for

Thanks Glenn for sending me the link!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

-Dave

Fellow Golf Blogger and all around good guy Doug from golfdashblog.com posted up an awesome interview with golf mental game master Dr. Joe Parent.

Dr. Parent is the author of some of the greatest mental game books out there; Zen Golf: Mastering the Mental Game, Zen Putting: Mastering the Mental Game on the Greens and Golf: Art of the Mental Game(100 Class Golf Tips).

I’ve read Zen Golf and Golf: Art of the Mental Game.

Zen Golf was a stellar read and I highly recommend it, most libraries have it on the shelves. Golf: Art of the Mental Game was decent, I think the emphasis for that book was on the drawings and not so much quality on the content.

But I digress…

Here’s the link -> Quick Nine with Zen Golf Master Dr. Joe Parent

Dr. Joe Parent was also involved in John Fitzgerald’s  The Back Nine: One Man’s Quest to Play Professional Golf.

How much emphasis do you put on your mental game? The more I read and study the more it seems like the mental game has a much larger impact on our game than we give it credit for.

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity (whilst doing laundry for nine hours… yeah, we’re a little behind ) to watch Dr. Gio Valiante’s Fearless Golf – Mastering the Mental Game.

Dr. Gio is a golf psychologist and currently serves as a professor at Rollins College here in Winter Park, FL. He’s also a mental game consultant for the Golf channel, Golf Digest and UF. In addition, he’s worked with many players on the PGA tour, including Camilo Villegas, Stuart Appleby, Justin Leonard, Chris Dimarco, Chad Campbell, Jack and Gary Nicklaus, Heath Slocum, Notah Begay III, Charles Howell III, Tommy Armour III, Bryce Molder, Matt Kuchar, Davis Love III and more.

All of his research, study and philosophies on the mental game were bundled together and put into a three DVD set called Fearless Golf.

The DVD gives you some good insight into why your body and mind reacts to stressful situations the way it does. Dr. Gio’s primary philosophy and the basis for the DVD is that whether conscious or subconscious, the reason we play the way we do sometimes is our reaction to something that we all experience, fear.

I don’t want to give anything away, but, he brought up some really interesting points to consider. One of my favorite was the way we associate memories to emotions and how whenever we’re in a similar situation, we recall those memories and thus recall those emotions which we then begin to fear the outcome (should the emotion and experience be negative).

Confusing? Well, lets say you’re chipping from about 30 yards out. When you make contact with the ball, you take a huge divot and the ball travels three yards and goes into a bunker. You get pretty angry(justifiable ) at yourself because of the shank. The memory of the shank, coupled with the strong negative emotion, forms a pretty strong imprint in your mind and the next time you’re in a similar situation, you recall that experience and you begin to fear the outcome of the shot which with the way your body responds to fear makes an unfavorable shot more likely. Although this seems pretty obvious, it’s something that I’ve never considered.

It’s kind of crazy,  but a lot of the fear we feel goes into the way we grip our clubs and thus affect the outcome of our shots. Dr. Gio gives some good tips on how to recognize this and drills to overcome it. There’s also a big emphasis put on the pre-shot routine and clearing the mind at various stages of the round.

Although at times, the DVD was a little dry and classroom educational video-ish there is a ton of good info to be found as well appearances by many of the PGA Tour players Dr. Gio has helped.

What I really liked about Fearless Golf is that although there’s a lot of info passed on in the DVD, Dr. Gio boils it down to only a handful of teachable points that are easy to remember and easy to improve on.

If you’ve watched the DVDs, I’d like to hear your thoughts on it.

Take the follow survey, if the majority of your answers are yes, than you sir/madam are a golf nut!

1. Your idea of a good time is staying home and watching the British Open
on a Saturday night.

2. You curse the game only to play it the next day.

3. You haven’t puked from seeing the same faces regularly for four and half
hours.

4. You see your drive ahead of everyone else and talk about it for a week.

5. You secretly wish evil on your flightmates.

6. A golf store has a magnetic effect on your walk.

7. You cringe when your better half asks you if you have anything to do on
Sunday.

8. Your golf attire becomes your everyday wear.

9. Your toilet seat gets covered with a stack of golf books and magazines.

10. You make small practice swings inside the church while hearing mass.

11. You get burned by the sun and you’re proud of it.

12. You can open a video store with the number of golf tapes you own.

13. Ten inches of rain has no effect on your decision to play.

14. When your caddy says he sees lightning, your reply is “what lightning?”

15. You go to the practice range and try to give golf tips to the person on
the next stall.

16. Your bumper sticker reads: MY OTHER CAR IS A GOLF CART.

17. People in your family get their supply of suntan lotion from you when
they go swimming.

18. A day at the beach means you hit too many sand traps.

19. Your spouse complains because you try to bring your clubs to bed, (to keep
them warm, dry, and safe, of course) demanding that you choose between them
and the clubs….And you hesitate before answering.

20. You took the time to read this.

During the next few months, I’m writing a series of blog posts on golf fitness. I’m going to try and touch on every area surrounding this topic and hopefully dig up some useful tidbits in my search. Every day we hear more and more about how staying fit and flexible will lead to better scores as well as longevity of the game.

To beat an awfully dead horse, take golf’s #1 man, Tiger Woods, I read an article on his workout routine that said he’ll spend three to four hours a day in the gym, five times a week. I can honestly say that I haven’t spent that much time in the gym in a year.. Granted, even if I spent 12 hours a day in the gym, I’d never be as good as Tiger, well, not even half as good.

Golf for many of us is an obsession or to put it a different way, an addiction. We spend hours reading up on different clubs, game improvement articles, spend days at the range trying to perfect and hone our golf swing but rarely do we stop and consider golf fitness. At least, I don’t, and judging by many of the players I see on the course, they don’t either.. The crazy thing is, the more I think about it, the more I think we’re barking up the wrong tree, well, initially.

Doesn’t it make sense that the best place to start when it comes to improving your game is the piece that drives it all, your body? Now, I’m horrible with analogies, but it’s like trying to chop veggies with a dull butter knife (see??). I know you’re probably saying, “dude, you’re crazy, look at many of the players playing professionally, they’re all sporting muffin tops!” While yes, that’s true, many of the players aren’t the peak of physical fitness, they’ve got something most of us lack, innate talent. Those of us who weren’t blessed with the gift, have to make up for it by extreme hard work.

The timing couldn’t be better as many of you unfortunate golfers have put the clubs away for the season due to cold weather. If you’re not careful any progress you’ve made this season could be wiped away due to lack of activity before next season begins.

Circling back to golf being an obsession, we’re going to continue to dedicate hours to the game, if we can incorporate golf fitness into it, we’ll be able to have something other than a lower handicap to “show” for the time we devote to our seductive mistress.

To amuse myself I came up with a motto for this golf fitness initiative, many of you might recognize it from a pretty popular movie about baseball.

“If you build it(your body), your game will come.”

I thought this was a pretty interesting tidbit of information regarding miles walked playing a round of golf. This photo is courtesy of Harry Longshanks over at THP. Golf Digest, in their October 2009 issue compared miles walked by a man to miles walked by a woman using three different scenarios; cart (to golf ball), cart (cart path only), walking (no cart).  It looks like no matter what the scenario was, the man ended up walking farther than the woman, the theory is that it’s due to the man’s faster swing speed results in an increased chance of spraying the ball and further walking…

Have you ever dreamed about playing professional golf? I have, pretty frequently, but always, the cold hard truth sets in and I realize that I neither have the time, money or skill level to ever try and pursue that dream.

Enter a man named John Fitgerald. After turning 40, this average golfer decides to follow his dream and take a crack at becoming a professional golfer. His DVD “The Back Nine,” chronicles the trek he takes to achieve his dream.

Along the way, John partners up with some big names in the golf industry who help him hone the physical and mental abilities needed to conquer the beast we call golf.

One of those featured in the DVD is none other than golf yoga instructor Katherine Roberts, who’s released many a book and DVD on improving your mental and physical health through meditation and yoga. She’s also been featured on the Golf Channel and does seminars throughout the country.

Another is mental game expert, Dr. Joe Parent, author of a little book known as “Zen Golf.” If you haven’t heard of this guy you definitely need to do some research, I just finished the book and it was a great read and very enlightening.

Last  is PGA Instructor Tim Suzor with Kinetic Golf Academy. They used some really cool technology to monitor John’s swing, similar to what they used at the TaylorMade Performance Lab.

John takes his new and improved golf self to the Golf Channel Amateur tour and battles some tough competitors whilst trying to make his way to the top.

Along the way you follow John’s adventure as he runs into many of the roadblocks we all face in pursuit of our game and some really amazing experiences that many of us only dream about.

The Back Nine is an inspirational story and a good golf movie, it’s a good look at what pursuing the dream is like without the rose-colored lenses.

If you’ve watched the movie, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

-Dave

Below is a press release from TaylorMade regarding their new exchangeable face wedges.

Easily Exchange a Worn Face for a New One to Promote Peak Spin and Performance

Carlsbad, Calif. (November 16, 2009) – TaylorMade Golf has introduced the TP wedge with xFT (Exchangeable Face Technology), which allows players to easily remove a worn clubface and replace it with a new one to maintain peak performance in terms of spin and control.

“Though the face of a typical iron is sturdy, it isn’t impervious to wear,” said Bret Wahl, senior director of iron, wedge and putter development. “A wedge’s face wears from contact with the ball and from the dirt and sand that’s often sandwiched between the ball and the face at impact. Every time you explode from sand with your wedge it’s like rubbing a piece of sand paper on your clubface. Over time the face wears down and the edge-radius of the grooves becomes dull. In addition to the normal wear and tear a face suffers from normal play, it can be nicked and damaged in a variety of other ways such as when clubheads bang together when you put your bag down or when you walk or drive your cart, or when you hit out of waste areas, or when you unintentionally scrape the clubface against debris when hitting the ball from poor lies off the fairway.”

The negative effect is three-fold: 1) The groove’s edges lose the ability to grab the cover, reducing spin. 2) The groove loses volume into which moisture and debris once were channeled. Less groove volume means that more substances will come between the ball and the clubface, further reducing the amount of spin that can be imparted, especially from the rough. 3) The texture on the surface of the face (from milling or sandblasting) is reduced, which limits the face’s grip on the ball.

How quickly does the face of the average wedge show signs of wear? TaylorMade studies indicate that after about 1,000 shots the edge-radius of each individual groove changes and the roughness of the face surface is worn away. For players who play with reasonable frequency, 1,000 shots add up pretty quickly; they add up even faster for players who practice between rounds.

Tour Pros and “Fresh Grooves”
Tour pros are exceptionally mindful of the importance of wear on their wedges, and because of that they replace them frequently to get “fresh grooves” and a rough face surface for the maximum spin they deliver. Certain pros, including those in the top-tier, put new wedges in play every week, while some players change every three or four tournaments. Two members of the TaylorMade Tour Staff, Dustin Johnson and Jason Day, ask for a new 60° wedge every month. Other tour pros trade out at least three or four times per year.

One popular reason why many pros don’t retire their wedges more often is because they’ve become accustomed to the club’s look, weight, feel and sole grind, which influences the way the sole reacts with turf, rough and sand. And sometimes they have great confidence in a particular wedge that they’ve performed well with under pressure. Yes, such pros would like fresh grooves, but they don’t want to give up the wedge they’ve become attached to. Occasionally you see a pro with a wedge so well-used that the lower-middle part of the face is worn almost smooth; a clear case of sentimentality keeping the club in the bag.

Meanwhile myriad amateurs would like to put new grooves in play with greater frequency, but can’t justify the expense of buying new wedges once or more per year.

xFT: Keep the Clubhead, Exchange the Clubface
xFT is a simple, cost-effective way to give tour pros and amateurs fresh grooves while allowing them to keep the same clubhead. Our new Exchangeable Face Technology (xFT), which is incorporated into our newest TP wedge design, allows you to quickly and easily exchange an old, worn wedge face with a brand new one. The xFT face is held in place with two screws located on the back of the clubhead that can be loosened and tightened with a white R9 torque wrench. Simply loosen the xFT screws to remove the old face and tighten the screws to lock in the new, fresh face. Each xFT face is backed with a thin layer of Poron®, which is a soft, urethane, microcellular foam to facilitate a tight fit within the clubhead and to cushion the face from metal-on-metal contact, and which also promotes superior feel. The clubhead and particularly the wedge face and the pocket the face fits into are precision-milled to fit snugly and securely together. The tolerances in terms of length, width and depth have to be extremely tight to ensure a tight fit, so that the TP xFT wedge feels the same, sounds the same and performs the same as a traditional one-piece clubhead.

Each TP xFT wedge face is forged from soft 304 stainless steel, then completed with a four-step CNC precision-milling process. First, the surface of the face is milled flat. Second, the back and perimeter of the face are machined to ensure a precise fit into the pocket in the clubhead. Third, texture is milled onto the face surface. Fourth, the grooves are milled into the face with care taken to ensure that the depth, shape and edges are perfect.

TP xFT Wedge and the USGA Rules Change on Grooves
Two types of xFT wedge faces will be available for purchase, either with our new ZTP groove design that conforms to the USGA’s new rules change, or with our current Z groove that conforms to the pre-2010 rule on groove design. (Older groove designs will be disallowed in high-level professional competitions starting January 1, 2010 by ruling of the USGA. However, recreational golfers aren’t required to adhere to the groove-change rule until 2024). In 2011 and beyond, xFT wedge faces will incorporate only grooves that adhere to the new USGA rule, such as the ZTP groove.

“In a nutshell, the rules change stipulates that new groove designs must have less cross-sectional area and their edges must be less sharp,” says Wahl. “Most players won’t experience a dramatic reduction in spin from dry fairway lies, but will see a decrease in spin by up to 50% from the rough. All the more reason to keep the clubface of your wedge fresh and at peak performance. Our new ZTP groove is the most aggressive, spin-inducing design we have that conforms to the new USGA rule.”

Each TP xFT wedge head is fashioned in a classically beautiful teardrop shape made of stainless steel and milled for precision, including the pocket into which the clubface fits. The clubhead is plated in nickel-chrome for durability, then given a beautiful pearl finish to reduce glare. Availability in stores and online will begin December 1st with the 56° loft and 12° bounce only, with nine more combinations to follow in mid-February, 2010 — 50.09, 52.11, 54.12, 56.16, 58.09, 58.12, 60.06, 60.10, 64.06. The 58.12 and 60.10 both incorporate TaylorMade’s new C-grind sole, which was developed by our tour technicians and which is highly praised by tour pros for the multitude of greenside shots it permits you to play.

TP xFT wedges are equipped with KBS High-Rev shafts, which are slightly heavier and feature a slightly longer tip parallel region compared to other wedge shafts. KBS’ data indicates that the High-Rev shaft promotes increased spin because of its weighting, its kick and the way it presents the head to the ball. The High-Rev is new, making us the first brand to use it. We expect it to be played on tour, especially since the change in the groove rule will have players anxious to find ways to keep their spin-rates as high as possible. Because the shaft’s unique design promotes additional spin, we expect the TP xFT wedge to gain wide acceptance on the PGA Tour.

Each TP xFT wedge will sell at a street price of $129 per club and will come equipped with a Z groove face (conforming to the pre-2010 USGA rule). Individual xFT wedge faces with either the Z groove or ZTP groove (conforming to the new 2010 USGA rule) will be sold separately at a street price of $39.

I’m not sure how much benefit the average golfer will get from these, it says the recommended replacement of the wedge face is every 15-20 rounds? Doesn’t that seem a little low? If you take a high average and say you’ll hit your wedge two times per hole per 18 that means the face is only good for between 540-720 shots, does that seem right?

I’ve played about 40 rounds this year with the Eidolon Wedges and I’ve been to the range more times than I can remember, so I’d estimate I’ve hit each club about 1,700 times and I’m still getting a decent amount of spin..

I like how they’re keeping the price of the replacement faces pretty low, I was expecting them to charge around $70.

How often do you change your wedges out?