2008 January | Online Golfer

Archive | January, 2008

The most accurate golf shot of all time?

by Swinger on 31. Jan, 2008 in Basically Golf

A month ago I made some predictions on the players to watch this year. So far Ross Fisher has come a solid runner up in China, Adam Scott has won in Qatar, Tiger Woods started like a tornado last week at the Buick Invitational winning by a massive 8 shots and today Miguel Angel Jiminez did this on the seventh hole at the Dubai Classic:

An amazing hole in one not even touching the sides on its way into the hole and can you believe there wasn’t a hole in one prize available!

A short message for Justin Rose though who is the only one of the five names to watch of 2008. Come on Justin sort it out your letting the side down!

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Golf Tricks are one thing but can you play with one hand tied behind your back?

by Swinger on 31. Jan, 2008 in Uncategorized

No I haven’t lost the plot, the fact of the matter is I saw this done years ago by a guy that had just had an operation on his right wrist meaning he couldn’t play. However he was a golf coach and was still teaching even though he wasn’t allowed to use that arm for anything while it was healing. This did not stop him teaching with the good arm and a few years back I realized why this was a good thing to practice.

Notice I said practice! This isn’t one for the course but here it the reason playing shots with just your leading arm on the range can benefit you on the course.

The normal golf shot is played with two hands on the club and the leading arm is kept straight through the back swing all the way to around 85% of completion of the follow through. So imagine you can hold the club with a solid grip in your leading hand (this is the one facing the target)

Keep everything as you would normally in your setup but place your back hand behind your back (see told you I wasn’t losing the plot) and using only your front arm and your body movement (which is what you should be doing through your swing) keeping that front arm straight take a swing.

OK few things I need to point out:

Make sure you take a number of practice swings

When choosing a bay on the range make sure it is a closed bay as balls have a habit of going astray with this method

Don’t try and knock the ball a long way, your natural swing will do this

Grip the club slightly more than normal with the hand you have on it, your resistance on the club is half what it normally is with two hands

Practice makes perfect.

This is one of the drills I use on the golf range when I am working on my swing, it helps improve control of the club head and pretty much forces me to use body rotation in my swing.

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Tiger Woods aiming at the Grand Slam this season

by Swinger on 30. Jan, 2008 in Basically Golf

I have just seen an interview with Tiger Woods saying that he is going give his all this year into winning the Grand Slam which is all of the Majors in one season! Can it be done?

Well every sport has a Holy Grail and it has to be said it is very rare that one single sportsman or team can win absolutely everything in one season. So is Tiger the man that can do it and is this the season for it?

Back in December I mentioned Tiger Woods as one to watch for this year because of his sheer determination and ability to almost win at will (which I know he can’t but it does seem that way sometimes) I thought that this year would be the year he would shine through more than previous seasons. Looking at the competition those who could challenge for the number one spot? Phil Mickelson has been suffering with illness at the start of the year. Jim Furyk didn’t look to be firing on all cylinders to me.

Steve Stricker, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia could all grab a major this season but with Tiger Woods in obvious killer form at the moment is there a chance that Tiger could actually win the grand slam?

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Golf Club Review | Nike SasQuatch Sumo Squared Driver

by Swinger on 30. Jan, 2008 in Clubs Reviewed, Drivers

Yes I have been holding off posting the review for this club, no I haven’t held back my feelings in the fact that I wasn’t keen on the club and for me the Nike SasQuatch Sumo Squared Driver was just well not right for my game. I will explain more on why I am posting the review now at the end of the article.

I have to admit it was the first squared driver I had used fully out on the course which was possibly one of the reasons I didn’t feel that is was ideal to my game. I had massive problems moving the ball right to left as the club hits the ball much to straight.

The long and straight promotion is 100% true but if you are used to moving the ball around from right to left or left to right then this is not the club for you. HOWEVER if you play the game where you want to hit long and straight then this is a good golf club. It makes that ugly sound that is a break from the normal ting when you hit it but the distance is very good.

Sales Bumph below (but remember there is a reason why I am posting this now):

NIKE SasQuatch Sumo Squared Driver with Graphite Shaft

Nike SasQuatch Sumo Squared Driver with Graphite Shaft : The Nike SasQuatch Sumo Squared Driver offers a whole new outlook on driver design and technology. With a unique square-shaped head, the Sumo Sqared sports the highest MOI in golf and all the performance and innovation that you ve come to expect from Nike Golf . Click Image Below for Detail Radical Square Geometry Delivers superior forgiveness and greater distance. Radical Square Geometry Delivers superior forgiveness and greater distance. class= thickbox rel= detail > Mulitmaterial Construction and Geometry Moves the CG further back and lower than the original SasQuatch Driver and offers the highest MOI in golf. Mulitmaterial Construction and Geometry Moves the CG further back and lower than the original SasQuatch Driver and offers the highest MOI in golf. class= thickbox rel= detail >

So thats good distance, hits straight and the current price on the above buy button is $299 which is $100 cheaper than it was a month ago! So why would I not buy this club? Well one very simple reason, I heard a rumor that proved to be true and is the reason I have been holding off on this post. The new Nike SQ SUMO 2 5900 Driver is being released to the world on the 1st of February 2008 and if what I have heard is true then it knocks socks off the old one.

I am not completely sure when I will be able to get my hands on the 5900 but I will be trying hard to try it within the first week of it being released.

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Golf Club Review | Nike SV Tour Wedge

by Swinger on 29. Jan, 2008 in Clubs Reviewed, Golf Clubs, Wedges

I have lost count of the number of times that a wedge club has come to my rescue during a round of golf. In many cases anything within 60 yards of the putting surface will see me produce the wedge unless there is a good reason for using another club. Today I took the Nike SV Tour Wedge for a test out on the range with 100 range balls and distances of 75 yards and under.

Now I admit when it comes to the Nike clubs I am not the biggest fan so when I saw the wedge in the rack all on its own surrounded by Cleveland, Hippo and Taylormade wedges I thought it would be good to give it a try. The club has a steel shaft and what they are calling a Tour inspired satin chrome finish apparently to reduce glare as mentioned in the sales bumph below:

The overall feel of the club is fairly good nice weight to the club which is great for using the club head to do all the work on those heavy wet days. The grooves on the club seem to be a good depth and this showed with good backspin on the higher distance shots. Direction and control was also very comfortable.

The Nike SV Tour Wedge because it is Nike is slightly more expensive than other wedges on the market but at $89.99 for a golfer who is looking to move from a graphite shaft wedge to a steel wedge this would be a good club to add to their bag.

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