Golf is Hard TV - Episode 9 - Sweet Spot Golf Clubs Interview

We're trying something new in this episode - an audio interview with the creators of "Sweet Spot Golf Clubs." We did this interview over skype (excuse the poor audio quality).

For some reason, I find the idea of "boutique" golf clubs super interesting and I reached out to them to do an interview for the show. Brian is an ex-Apple guy and I thought it was very apropos that he's now designing slick golf clubs. You'll notice on their site and in this epsiosde, that these clubs simply don't look like anything you've ever seen. Brian and Chuck are great guys and recently announced a new relationship with Women's National Golf School. Learn more at Sweet Spot Golf Clubs.

REMEMBER - there is still time to enter the swing thoughts contest - go here for more information and to enter the contest!

Thanks for watching (listening)!

PS - Golf is Hard TV is still working on our revenue model - but this particular interview and post is all about my personal interest in what Brian and Chuck are doing and creating. If you have an interesting product or want to chat, let me know. I can't promise you an interview, but want to hear from you!

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Well...Tiger is Out, However...

You still have GIHTV, I like the kid at this point, a very confident 19-year old. My guess is Cink (NICE job beating Mickelson) will play the kid and on the other side, Justin will win and meet OHair (he's been working really hard on his game). The finals: O'Hair & McIlroy. We will see.

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Golf is Hard TV - Episode 8 - Putting Drills

Let's celebrate Tiger's return with a brand spankin new Golf is Hard TV epiosde!

Episode 8 is a fun and helpful episode with a terrific putting drill you can do anywhere! This episode features our camera crew (our daughters) demonstrating this terrific putting drill.

Don't forget to send in your best "Swing Thought" to win a box of Swing Reminders (www.swingreminders.com)... the contest continues!

Enjoy our latest show!

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Welcome Back

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Hello Brazil!

Apparently, Golf is Hard TV is catching on like wildfire down in Brazil, where Carlos and crew are hard at work. We got this terrific photo and caption the other day and I had to share!

Great stuff guys. Exactly what was missing: golf talk and tips for average golfers - we believe that you will grow exponential if you target that.

This is part of your audience down here: Lauren, my wife Julia and Fernanda. Lauren and Fernanda are some of our golf beginners.

You can use the picture in your show, if you want, as Julia says: "Nice golf ladies always atract more players."

Eng. Carlos Tondo & Prof. Julia Mistrello

www.itaaragolf.com

www.flickr.com/photos/itaaragolf/

Thanks for the e-mail Carlos and Julia!

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Your Video Game Stats?

Play video game golf? Think you are good? Personally, I play Tiger Woods 08 on the Wii and when I travel I tee it up on my Nintendo DS.

I was curious about my Wii stats so I looked them up this morning before teeing off at Cog Hill for a quick round. It turns out, I am pretty good at Video Game golf!

Low rounds:
The National: 63
Doral: 65
TPC Boston (I own this course): 58, 61

More goodness:
Rounds played 24
Average score 61.8
Driving average 285
Long drive 383
Longest putt 62

What's your best?

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Golf is Hard TV - Episode 7 - Hit the Little Ball

Golf is Hard TV (GIHtv) is back to work with a short episode that will have you thinking about a great golf concept: hitting the little ball.

Golf is Hard TV is the golf show for the rest of us!

Don't forget to submit your best swing thought and win a box of Swing Reminders (www.swingreminders.com) - visit the contest page for details!

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Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Ok, that title makes no sense at all, but it makes me laugh. I think I heard either Shaq or the ESPN guy say it and I'm stealing it here to announce our first ever Golf is Hard TV contest!



Give us your best "swing thought" or submit a swing for us to analyze and you'll be in the running!

We'll select the best of the bunch and we will give the best 3 a box of Swing Reminders (www.swingreminders.com) each.

The contest will run through March 13th - that Friday is your last day to submit an entry. Winners will be notified after we sort through the submissions and decide on the winners!

Rules:

- No limits to the number of submissions

- Submissions can come in a variety of ways:

1. PREFERRED: Video entry via Youtube (or any video sharing service). Just upload and leave a comment or send us the link
2. Via Twitter: format like this: @golishardtv #swingcontest [your swing thought]
3. As a comment to the Swing Thoughts Contest blog post
4. Via e-mail to marc@golfishardtv.com

- We'll pay the shipping costs (international folks... your swing reminders will be on the slow boat...)

Have fun!

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Shankapotimus

Not a huge fan of the baby normally, but hey... shankapotimus? That's good stuff.

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Plumb Bobbing and Green Reading

This is definitely something we will address live on GIH and thanks Brian for your comments about Dave Pelz's thoughts. Pelz has done extensive research on the short game and many top players believe in him, I for one became a much better putter after practicing his concepts and Jim Flick talks about the same stuff in his golf schools.

Regarding the plumb bob, the golf season is way too short in Saskatchewan for any opinion to be formed (kidding of course...I think). The first thing to know about PBing is how to do it correctly, and there is no study to prove that any given method of estimating a line (which is all that this is) is fool proof. This is a highly subjective topic and involves many factors, the most important of which may be a player's skill to consistently stroke a put. Remember this when putting...it is much more important to be decisive than to be correct. Meaning, if you have doubt in your chosen line (no matter your method), you will make a tentative stroke and it can not be blamed on your method of choosing a line. So be decisive, you will get it closer more consistently.

I am a good putter, I plumb bob on longer putts only (20 ft +) that have significant break (12" plus). The only reason I do it is to get an estimate of the break, it is not exact. I then overestimate what a PB may show (Pelz advises players to actually double the break they see, which is very good advice). Together these thoughts usually form a good estimate of the best line.

How to PB: You need to know your dominant eye. To do this, place your index finger pointing upward approx 12" in front of your face, eye level, in the middle of your eyes and look past it to the wall behind (you should see 2 images). Alternate closing each eye and when your finger does not move, this is your dominant eye and the one with which you should PB if you choose.

We will explain the rest next week on GIH as well as basic green-reading concepts and methods....very simple and a great topic.

We are building YOUR game from the hole and out...stay tuned.

Coach Dave

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Is Plumb-Bobbing a Myth?

I was thinking back to some of the putting discussions we've had on Golf is Hard TV and remembered that one of the things I was going to ask Coach Dave was about "plumb-bobbing."

This morning as I was drinking my coffee and catching up on the latest issue of Golf Magazine, I came across 2 different articles that mentioned that plumb-bobbing is a useless activity.

Apparently, there was a study done by some folks at the U of Saskatchewan (insert funny Bugs Bunny joke here) that showed "the plumb-bob method was found to be an invalid system for determining the break of a putt" (see page 79, March 2009 Golf Magazine).

Additionally, in a Steve Flesh article in the same issue, Flesch talked about his 10 year old son doing the plumb-bob in relation to it causing slow play.

I've been known to plumb-bob but never could remember myself what it meant for the break. To me it always seemed confusing; like turning in a car sliding on ice. Do I turn into the turn or out of it? No clue.

Anyway, I'm going to take the U of Saskatchewan's study as truth and am dropping the plumb-bob immediately.

Unless Coach Dave says different.

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Golf is Hard - Episode 6 - Grip

We're back with another great episode of Golf is Hard TV, this time talking about grip... it's a terrific little lesson, and something you can use immediately to improve your game.

Follow us on Twitter:

www.twitter.com/golfishard

www.twitter.com/coachdavev

Tell your friends... GIHtv is rolling!
http://www.golfishardtv.com

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Golf is Hard - Episode 5 - Putting

Golf is Hard TV is the Internet's most passionate golf show!

This episode features another basic putting lesson. We focus on rhythm and show you a quick drill.

Our new show format is shorter and more structured - we hope you love it!

We're also working on a new show tagline...

Golf is Hard TV - The golf show for the rest of us... we stumbled over this badly in this show - proving that we aren't there quite yet.

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter for regular updates:

http://www.twitter.com/golfishard

http://www.twitter.com/coachDaveV

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Happy Valentine's Day

Marc and I are not only excited about it being Valentines Day, but we are also pumped about the upcoming changes you are going to be seeing on our show. Not only do we have a really cool new banner, but the show format is going to change a bit....and our new website is looking really great...wait til you see it. As far as the show...shorter, more frequent and more focused segments...of course humor and lots of good information related to your golf game (and some not).

Keep an eye out, by tomorrow morning you will see the next episode.

Have a great V-Day!

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HOLD YOUR BREATH

But only during the putting stroke...really...you want to stay as still as possible. As for the full swing...it's OK to breathe (Marc). Just remember to keep your mind and your eyes out on the target...think about what you want the ball to do. We'll talk about the best way to increse the chances of this happening...some pre-shot thoughts...very important...stay tuned.
Coach Dave

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Golf is Hard TV - Episode 4 - Average Golfers

We seem to be getting better with each show and Episode 4 does not disappoint! We discuss what we think an average golfer is and then break down Marc's bag and talk about club cleaning. We wrap this episode up with the mental side of golf. It's a great show... please leave comments, email us questions and follow us on Twitter:

• Golf is Hard TV on Twitter
• Coach Dave V on Twitter
  

Special Thanks to

• Swing Reminders

Anyone notice how great the audio sounds?

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Brandi Chastain and Pink Diva Golf

One of my favorite golf bloggers to follow is Pink Diva Golf. I have 2 daughters, so anything the world of golf can do to encourage more girls to play is good in my book. I am looking forward to the day my girls outdrive and outplay me.

Pink Diva recently had what I can only imagine was the thrilling opportunity to talk with World Cup & Olympic Soccer Champion Brandi Chastain recently. It's a fun interview although there is something in particular that I do want to complain about...

Brandi politely says she doesn't have a favorite club. I doubt that very much. Golfers always have a go to club in the bag just in case (go on, admit it!). For me, that club has been my 5 hybrid. Not only do I hit it from any lie, I've chipped with it, putted with it and had a slice of pizza and beer with it. I just love that club. I'm sure Brandi has a favorite too, but perhaps she doesn't want to offend the rest of her bag. Either way, she should try to be more honest when doing interviews!

BTW, I didn't know this, but n the history of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am there has only been one woman celebrity to play in the Celebrity Challenge -Lisa Fernandez. Brandi is #2. That's surprising.

Check out the interview and Pink Diva's blog.

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Warm-Ups

Well, it's great to hear that Marc got out today, really unbelievable since it has been sub-freezing for weeks. It sounds like he hit some good shots, not bad after hitting 5-7 balls after 3 months off in 42-degree weather (which is why I didn't join him).

Reading about Marc's experience today brought up yet another topic: what is the best way to warm up either during a practice session or before a round? Marc was on track by starting with 1/2-swings...especially after a long layoff, in cold weather, with extra clothing, staring at 130 balls and pumped about his new golf show (heck...I would have taken driver out of the bag immediatley and started ripping away). So after a few swings he starts to lengthen his swing, makes sense. No surprise he was struggling a bit but did realize that he was probably going too fast.

If I had gone out with Marc today, I would have most likey brought just a wedge, a 7-iron, gloves and a hat (you have seen my head) and hit about 60 shots (your average large bucket). I hopefully would have left feeling pretty good about things...keeping it light. Sounds like Marc left feeling good about his swing...which is really the goal.

This brings up yet another topic we need to address on golfishard...practice strategy/goals. Very simple...but not often "practiced".

Nice win by Nick Watney today...if you watched episode #3, you will know what I am talking about!

Stay Warm! ttys!

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A Day @ the Range

We finally got a decent break in the weather here in CT this weekend and I took a few hours to hit the range for the first time in more than 3 months. Armed with my new Nike Driver and grip lessons from Coach Dave, I bought myself a supersize bucket of balls $13!!!) and started to work on some things.

I took Dave's advice and really loosened up my grip, trying to keep it at a 2 out of 10 on the pressure scale. I like to warm up with half swings using a 7 iron first and after 5 or 6 balls, I was connecting solidly and started taking some full swings.

It was ugly. Slices and hooks all over the place! I went back to taking half swings and once I started hitting the ball solidly again, I worked my way back to taking full swings. I was better this time and moved up from the to the 5, then 5 hybrid, 3 wood and finally my driver.

It felt great. I tried to stay loose and keep my grip nice and light. I hit the wood and driver really well which felt terrific.

With 16 balls left, I challenged my friend to a chipping contest - 8 balls each to a green about 40 yards away. Using my lob wedge, I was close on almost every shot, but only stuck one. I won in a tie-breaker, my 5th shot landed on a fake sand bunker connected to the green and my buddy gave it to me as a tie-breaker. Only sticking 1 of 8 wasn't great, but it was good enough today!

Now it's your turn! Do you have any video of your swing? Upload the video to Youtube (or any online service) and e-mail us the link. We'll take a look, give you a review and help you improve your game just like that! Golf is Hard, but that doesn't mean we can't help you get better!

The photo is me in mid-waggle... I put my phone on the ground and let it take some short video!

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Golf is Hard - Episode 3 - Get a Grip

Episode 3 of Golf is Hard TV features new lighting (although we still have work to do) and a new set. The upgraded audio will be ready in episode 4 if all goes well!

This episode features segments on putting and grip, super bowl pick re-caps and our Buick Invitational picks as well. We also discuss golfing with kids (especially your own).

As always, send us your thoughts and comments!

Special thanks for questions and Twitter goodness to:

• Robbie Camacho (in Brazil!)
• The Golf Girl
• Mr Business Golf
• The Frugal Golfer and Bob Schecter

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Golf is Hard "Behind the Scenes"

A quick "behind the scenes" and outtakes video!



Enjoy!

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It's Time to Think About YOUR Lawn

Green grass is what golf is all about right? How do you feel when you pay your greens (pun intended) fees and walk onto a course that is not so green? Now...take that feeling home...how do you feel about your own lawn? I am really into having nice, healthy, green grass (no green weeds and no green crabgrass).

Yeah...I know it's still frigidly cold here in the Northeast & Midwest, however if you are into your grass, there are things you must know and things you must do if you have northern-cool-season grass...and very soon.

Bottom line this is...step 1 needs to go down no later than mid march (if you live in upper NE), if you live in CT or south, you must put it down in mid-late Feb. This is earlier than you may have done in the past...but it will prevent crabgrass. Did you have crabgrass in May/June? then you put it down too late. Step 1 has no fertilizer, meaning you can't put down too much.

Go get step 1 now and better yet, buy all 4 of the "Scotts Best" program from your local garden shop (not Home Depot, Lowes, Costco, etc. because they do not sell the best Scotts stuff), have your garden shop person explain. You will get a rebate check from Scotts and your local folks should give you another 10% off for buying it all now.

By being a Golf is Hard fan, your golf game will get better and your grass will be greener. Wait til we talk about grilling and Italian cooking...

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Golf is Hard Episode 2 "Fantasy Foursome"

We have a lot of work to do on lighting and sound (we are listening and have lights on order!) and a new issue with Blip.tv... the video is skewed for some reason. Don't ask me why, I thought I was doing everything right. I'll fix it eventually.

For now, watch the "skinny" Marc and Dave talk about Golf Lingo and make their "Fantasy Foursome" picks.



We're creating new episode outlines all the time, if you have a suggestion, leave a comment or email me. We've already got some great suggestions from viewers on golf tips and product reviews.

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter!

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What are the Pros Up to?

At times here at Golf is Hard we will offer our opinion, make predictions and offer Monday-morning quarterbacking about the people who try to make a living playing this crazy game. In other words, you can expect pro-tour commentary and updates so we all stay in tune to what is
going on in their world.

Me? I am waiting for Tiger to come back...it has been kind of boring watching golf without Tiger, can't wait to see him kick butt again.

In case you are not familiar with the pros, here is a brief rundown on the tours they play:

The PGA Tour - the best male players in the world, most commonly seen on TV
each weekend. Great win last week by Kenny Perry, what happened to Anthony, Camilo and Phil? Thinking about Tiger's return I believe!

The LPGA Tour - the best female players in the world, Annika is gone, Lorena
rules. Paula Creamer is the best American (ranked 3rd). Watch for Natalie and Anna Rawson (and I hope they play well too). Michelle Wie will win in '09.

Champions Tour - 50+ year-old men, tons of great players from the past and
still highly competitive. Bernhardly has to hardly wait for a win any Langer.

European Tour - men's tour across the pond. The best European and other
worldly players make a very good living there. How about the "teenager", 19 y/o Rory Mcllroy, winning last week, 16th in the world already and hasn't played in the US. We'll see, hope he plays well here in 3 weeks.

Nationwide Tour - minor league tour for aspiring male pros, many have made a
nice career there. Not often on TV

Futures Tour - minor league tour for aspiring female pros, also not often on TV

Golf is Hard TV - The best place to get really good golf instruction that works. Send your questions to me...you will get better.

Here is a prediction. My partner, Marc, will break 90 this year and maybe even think about keeping a handicap. ttys

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Why I Hate Punxsutawney Phil

That darn groundhog is killing me. Here in CT, we're bracing for yet another storm, but all I can think about is playing some golf.

To make matters even more difficult, I was cleaning up my nightstand and found one more reason to hate that darn groundhog...

My older daughter got mad because I got in an extra round with my younger one last fall so I go this sweet Christmas gift! Can't wait.

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The Golf Fix

I just caught the premier episode of "The Golf Fix," Golf Channel's newest how to show designed to improve our games. This show is a little different, and I really liked it. The style is informal and friendly and I like that the host is doing it totally live. It's an extremely refreshing format, not unlike our very own Golf is Hard video podcast!

A big part of the first show was "Celebrity 9-1-1" which is supposed to help celebs fix their games. While I don't mind the occasional celebrity thing, the Jim McMahon segment was just odd. He was wearing sunglasses at night and was in bare feet. Very bizarre. I actually wanted to see less of him and more of Samuel L. Jackson's fix. In thinking about it, how about getting some high handicappers on the show instead of celebs - hell, they can afford expensive lessons themselves!

As for the host Michael Breed (check out his website), I think just like us, he'll figure out the right level of excitement and get better each show. I am actually looking forward to seeing how he progresses as a host.

I think it's a worthy show to check out - I had been digging Personal Lessons but this show is a very good alternative. My only real complaint is the show's tagline..."This ain't your Daddy's instructional show." Didn't Oldsmobile lean on that tagline too?

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