Swing Reminders In More Retail Shops

This past week, we added Swing Reminders to the inventories of the following retailers in Florida. If you're in these areas, stop by and check them out.

PGA Tour Stop
395 South Legacy Trail
St. Augustine, FL 32092
(904) 940-0418

Winter Park Country Club
761 Old England Avenue
Winter Park, FL 32789
(407) 599-3339

Weekly Swing Reminder - Slow Take Away

Take the club away low and slow, this will you to control your tempo.
It will also help you to have good tempo all the way through the golf
shot. It also keeps the club traveling on a straight line back and
through. Why get in a hurry? Think slow.....and have a great round of golf.

Golf Tournament Planners

If you are planning a golf tournament in 2010, you probably have already started working on it. If not, you'd better get with it. Most people who have planned tournaments know that if you don't get to your sponsors early in the year, you may miss out on donations. Companies normally put together their donation budgets in January, so get with it.

Swing Reminders Golf Tip Tokens are a great tournament gift bag idea. So, I've decided to run a huge special for tournament planners. If you're a tournament planner, drop us an e-mail (info@swingreminders.com) to get the details. I promise it will be worth the short time it takes to e-mail. Good luck planning your tournaments and have a great golf day.

Weekly Swing Reminder - Finish The Swing

You’ve probably heard it before, finish
the swing. So, what does that mean? It
means get your weight to your left side
on your finish. When you finish the swing
is your weight on your left foot?
(or right if you’re a lefty) If you are
off balance and your weight is not on your
left side at the finish, you have not
finished the swing. Take a few minutes to
slowly swing a club and feel the weight
transfer from your right to left side.
Do you feel it? Now, take that to the
range….have a great round.

Weekly Swing Reminder - Slow Down

Have you ever seen someone swing so fast you
thought they were going to lose their balance?
A fast swing doesn’t equate to fast swing speed or
fast ball speed. It’s all about timing. Slow down
your back swing and keep a good tempo. I know
you’ve done this; take the club back too fast,
then decelerate coming through and hit a big chunky shot?
Try to visualize going back and through at the same
speed. I’ll bet you have more consistent shots.
Have a great round.

Swing Reminders Gear

You can now order Swing Reminders Gear from Cafe Press. Check it out....

Weekly Swing Reminder - Straight Back-Straight Through

Have you ever thought about taking the club back and
through on the same straight line. More than likely you
have heard this hundreds of times. It’s really hard to
visualize, but if you think about a set of railroad
tracks for your visual aid, you’d be right on track.
Visualize your feet/body on one track and your club
traveling on the other track. Now do you see it?
If your club travels inside or outside the line your
shots will be offline. Placing two golf clubs on the
ground parallel about a foot apart will give you the same
look and it’s a great drill to use on the range. Keep the
club traveling straight back and straight through and I bet
your offline shots get better. Have a great round.

Life Reminders

We all need more positive thoughts in our lives. Life Reminders give you positive, inspirational, motivational and just basic life thoughts. What a better place the world would be if we all had more positive thoughts. www.lifereminders.net

Weekly Swing Reminder - Follow Through

Finish the golf swing. You’ve probably never heard that
phrase, huh? Do you hit a lot of shots low and right?
If you do, then this could help you hit better golf shots.
How about trying to finish with your belt buckle aiming at
your target. A good drill is to start with your finish and
go backwards in slow motion. See if you can feel your way
backwards and notice what the golf club and your body are
doing during this drill. Do you feel the weight shift
from your right side back to your left side? Do you feel
the finish? Try this drill for ten slow motion swings
ten times a day for a week. I bet you will get the
weight shift and learn to finish your golf swing.

Weekly Swing Reminder - Confidence

Be confident in all you do. Know that you can make the shot,
whatever the shot is. Positive self talk is an awesome
thing. I caddied some LPGA events in the early 90s and it
always amazed me that the ladies would talk themselves into
hitting a good golf shot. From the time they pulled the club
out of the bag, they talked to themselves and not once did
I ever hear one say anything negative. They told themselves
“this is the perfect club, the perfect yardage, and I have
the ability to hit a great shot”. Now how could you ever hit
a bad shot with confidence like that?

Weekly Swing Reminder - One shot at a time

Do you ever get ahead of yourself by thinking about the
shot after the one you’re about to play? Never get ahead
of yourself, only think about the shot you’re about to play.
You have to stay in the moment, if you start thinking ahead,
you will almost always hit a bad shot. It’s hard enough to
stay focused on the shot at hand. Play one shot at a time.

Weekly Swing Reminder - Play to your strengths

If you hate 30 yard pitch shots, don’t leave
yourself that shot. It goes hand in hand with
“play within yourself”. For instance you have
250 yards left to a par 5, do you hit a 3 wood
(that has no chance of reaching the green)
or lay up with a 7 iron and leave yourself
a 100 yard full shot. Until you have practiced
that 3 wood shot, don’t think you can just
walk up and hit it. Chances are maybe 1 in 10
that you can get it anywhere near the green.
Know your limitations.

Slow Down

We've all heard it hundreds of time, "slow down" life's too short. But, do we really pay much attention to it? It seems lately, that nobody does.

I like technology as much as the next guy. I mean I am writing this blog on my laptop using wifi, from a classified location. But, I really think that technology has caused people to speed their lives up to a point where it's just out of control. I've had to drive to Tucson three times this week (200 miles round trip each) and being on the road that much, I have seen some really, really bad drivers. I mean BAD. And yes, you guessed it, technology is a key part to their loss of driving skills

Let's start with how many people are talking on cell phones while driving 75 mph. Are you kidding me, they are so engrossed in their phone calls they disregard everyone and everything around them. A guy yacking & driving a huge Expedition was almost rear ended because he had slowed down to about 60 mph in the left lane. Then there was the lady in the 79' Bonneville who was driving down Hwy 90 @ 70 mph texting on her phone. She was all over the road...it was crazy. What about the guy who sets his cruise control at 77 mph in a 75 mph zone and then stays in the left lane. I sometimes wish I had an 85 F-350 4 x 4 that I could just use to run them off the road. Wow, was that my external voice? It's just maddening. Driving is already tough, why do people have to make it so much more difficult?

I guess I am just an old mountain man at heart (thanks for that thought Andy). I like the slow pace of the country. Like throwing the ball with Cody Bear, walking to the garden to pick a few tomatoes or my favorite thing, sitting on the porch and watching sunsets with my honey.

Life is too short, so take some time to slow down and spend time doing the things that make you happy. Have a great day.

Is your shaft too stiff ??

That's a heck of a question to start today's blog post. But, I think it's fitting considering we are smack dab in the middle of the golf season. How many shots do you hit to the right? That's another great question, and these two questions go together like a pb&j.

I took a survey last week at Turquoise Valley Golf Course and asked 15 golfers these same questions. I got alot of weird looks and couldn't figure out why. Of those 15 golfers, only one was a single digit handicapper. The rest were between 12 and 28, and 9 of them had a stiff shaft in their driver. Of the 9 with stiff shafts, only one (the 4 handicapper) hit the ball with a draw. All the others hit a weak to moderate fade. Now that I've dropped all those stats on ya, do you have a clue where this is going?

I would bet that 95% of those surveyed bought their driver right off the rack, without hitting it first. Did you know that there are 5 normal shaft flexes, X, S, R, A & L. That's Extra Stiff, Stiff, Regular, Senior, and Ladies. Shaft flex is the ability to bend the shaft during your golf swing. Have you ever hit a really flexible shaft and realized how much you had to slow your swing down to actually hit the ball decent? That might be a good clue for you. If you have to swing out of your shoes to hit a club, don't you think that might be a little too much? How about going to a lesser flex and not swing so hard? Wow, what a concept. An even better concept might be to see your golf pro or local club fitter and try out some different shafts to see which you hit more consistent. A good club fitting will normally cost about $50, but then if you purchase the club from the fitter, they will usually knock that $50 off the price of the club/clubs.

Is your golf game and your sanity worth $50? That's another good question, and one you will have to answer on your own. Have a great golf week.

Weekly Swing Reminder - Visualize

See the shot in your minds eye before
you pull the trigger. This should be a standard
part of your pre-shot routine. In everything we
do, we should be visualizing the outcome. You
don’t put the keys in your car ignition without
thinking about the car starting do you? See the
perfect golf shot in your mind before you swing
the club.

Blueprint Golf - Great Resource

Junior Golf is near and dear to my heart, but it seems I am not the only one. My buddy Scott Rynning has created a great resource for Junior Golfers and their parents. Blueprint Golf Magazine is quarterly online magazine that comes right to your e-mail. Pretty easy stuff, all you have to do is sign up.

I really like the slogan Scott came up with "building a solid parent/child foundation through golf". It basically says everything that's important about junior golf. As a child, I never played golf. My Dad tried to get me to play, but I thought it was for wimpy kids. Yeah, I know, I knew nothing. I didn't start to play golf until I was 23 years old. Had I listened to Dad and started playing earlier, maybe I could have been a great player. Okay, stop laughing. But, I certainly would have learned earlier the lessons we get from this awesome game.

Do yourself a favor and go checkout Scott's Blueprint Golf magazine. If you have kids, grand kids, or just want to learn about junior golf, you will be pleasantly surprised with this wonderful resource for golf.

Thanks Scott for putting together a great publication.

Weekly Swing Reminder - No 3 Putts

I really think I would rather hit a ball
out of bounds than three putt. There
just isn’t any reason to do it. Practice
your putting so that you can always leave
putts within gimme range or within 12 inches
of the hole. You are never gonna make every
putt, so practice your lag putts to make sure
you can leave them in range to make the second
one easy. Then use the three ball drill to
help you build confidence and a good stroke
for those one, two and three footers. Place
three balls on the putting green at one, two
and three feet from the hole in a line.
Putt each one, focusing on taking the putter
straight back and straight through.
This will groove your stroke and make it alot
easier next time you have a two footer to win a
$3.00 nassau. Have a great golf week.

The Lost Art of Etiquette

Have you ever played a round of golf with a new golfer and

felt like you spent your whole day teaching them etiquette?

I hear from so many players about the problems with etiquette, but I hear so little from them on how to fix the problems. What if each player spent five minutes before each round, on the range, on the putting green or in the restaurant talking to new golfers about where to walk on the green, how to fix a divot or how to fix a ball mark? What kind of new golfers would we be bringing into the fold?

When I was working in Belgium in the early 90’s I was a member of the British Golf Association and before you were allowed to play the course, you had to establish a handicap of 30 or less and play a practice round with a board member to ensure your handicap and your knowledge of rules and etiquette. That is not practical these days, but we can take something from it, and that is how important etiquette is in this grand old game.

How about posting monthly rules and etiquette columns in both locker rooms, the pro shop and send them out in newsletters. What more can we do?

As avid golfers, if we introduce new golfers to the right way of playing this great game, they will in turn introduce more new golfers. What better way to keep the traditions of golf alive and growing?

Weekly Swing Reminder - Bottom Of The Circle

What does "Bottom of the Circle" mean to you? I'm sure it has all sorts of meanings, but to a golfer, it should mean "where the club bottoms out".

So, if we think about it in that context, shouldn't that be where the club impacts the ball? Would that possibly be where you would want your ball position to be? Is it the same for every golfer? Let's answer these questions.

Yes, the bottom of the circle would be where your club first hits the ground or in the case of a long iron, hybrid or metal wood, where it becomes level with the ground.

Yes, this is where you want your ball to be, so that it gets the best impact and where the club face is square at impact.

No, it is totally different with every golfer. We are not all built the same, so it has to be different.

How do you find your bottom of the circle? Head down to the local driving range, get some stretches in and hit a some balls to get warmed up. Then get out your favorite iron and take a few swings to see where it actually hits the grass first. Now, put a ball down and see if this is your normal ball position. It may or may not be, but trust that you just did the drill to find the bottom of the circle. Hit a few shots with this ball position. You should hit the ball better, and yes, it might take a few more swings to get the feel of the new position. Now, switch to a longer club and do the same drill. You should start to make better contact with the ball, no matter what club you are swinging. Swing all of your clubs to find the bottom of the circle, you might be surprised that you had the ball in the wrong position. Believe me, the ball doesn't have to be out of position much to make a big difference.

I hope this helps you make better contact with the ball and hit more consistent shots. Have a great golf week.

Just A Thought

The next time you're sitting in another
long, boring meeting think about this:

The Romans did not create a great
empire by having meetings, they
did it by killing all those
people who opposed them.

Have a great day.....

Weekly Swing Reminder - Stop Thinking & Start Playing

Do you go to sleep over the ball? Do you over think
every shot? If you do, STOP THINKING and
START PLAYING.
Golf is so much a mental game, the more you think
the harder it is to execute the shot. If you know what
shot you want to play, why do you have to think about
it until your mind almost explodes? Once you
decide on what shot you’re going to play, don’t
waste time. Step up and play the shot. Golf is a
game, over thinking is not going to make you play
better, or have any fun. Try it and I’ll bet you
play better golf.

Happy 4th of July

Just hoping everyone has a great 4th of July weekend. Get out and watch a parade, cook some dogs, play some golf, spend some time with your family. Say thanks for living in the best Country on Earth......Have a great weekend.

Weekly Swing Reminder - Pick Your Target

Have you ever stood over the ball and thought
“where am I aiming”? Take your time, have a
routine and pick something for a target.
It doesn’t matter whether it is a tree in the
distance or leaf on the ground. Just pick
something to aim for. Never just walk up and
hit a shot or a putt without picking a target.
If you pick a target, it will help you focus
on hitting the target and not so much on looking
up early to see where your ball has gone.
Remember, you’re just swinging the club, and the
ball is getting in the way.

June Trivia Contest

The Monthly Trivia Contest is back for June.

All you have to do is subscribe for the Swing Reminders Blog to be
sent to your e-mail and answer the trivia question correctly.

You have a chance to win a dozen Callaway Tour ix golf balls or a piece of Swing Reminders Golf gear. Either an Ashworth Weather Systems pullover wind/rain jacket, a Monterey Club golf shirt, or a wide brim hat.

The contest runs from June 21st - 30th, the winners will
be drawn on July 1st.

Which Golf Course Has Been the Site of the Second Most U.S. Opens?
(Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa., has hosted the most U.S. Opens eight times)

E-mail your answer to info@swingreminders.com and subscribe to the blog @ www.swingreminders.blogspot.com. It's that simple. Good luck and keep it on the short grass.

New Product - Life Reminders

JJJ Arizona, LLC has released their latest product, "Life Reminders". With a new website, www.lifereminders.net. Life Reminders are 1.5" round hardwood tokens, made in the USA. There are currently 35 different tokens with 70 different reminders.

Life Reminders (www.lifereminders.net) are the follow up series to Swing Reminders Golf Tip Tokens (www.swingreminders.com). Life Reminders are for everyday life. They are inspirational, motivational and spiritual, providing positive thoughts to get you through life's daily challenges. I think we all need a little reminder from time to time and that is where the idea of Life Reminders comes from.

Life Reminder Set's retail for $19.99 (in a velvet drawstring pouch)
Individual Tokens retail for $.99 each.
Wholesale pricing - please call or e-mail.

JJJ Arizona, LLC is a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business (SDVOB) located in Hereford, AZ.

Scott Jessee is the Owner/President/Inventor for Life Reminders, Swing Reminder Golf Tip Tokens & JJJ Arizona, LLC. Our contact information is: PO Box 279, Hereford, AZ 85615. Phone: 520-366-8449. E-Mail: info@lifereminders.net

Weekly Swing Reminder - Chip Like You Putt

How many times have you stood over a chip shot and thought
you were going to chunk it or skull it over the green?
I have a quick tip to help you have more confidence when
chipping. There are three keys to good chipping:
(1) Ball back/hands forward, (2) Club upright, like you
hold your putter, (3) Use your putting stroke.
(1) You have to have this set up to hit ball first.
(2) This keeps the club from being grabbed by the grass.
(3) Straight back/straight through, no hands. Just the
big muscles. It’s that simple, try it next time
you have a few minutes to practice.

Weekly Swing Reminder - Forget The Last Shot

The last shot is over, good or bad, move on.
Did you ever make a great birdie only to follow
it up with a dumb bogey or worse? It happens all the time,
because we lose focus. Why do you think we do this?
Is it because we are pumped up, because we are
afraid to make another birdie, or is it just part
of golf? On the flip side, when we make a dumb bogey,
do you carry that to the next hole with you? Sure
you do, we all do it. It's just human nature to
keep the last shot in your mind. Just think how
good we could play if we could just move on.
Spend some time working on this and maybe you
will play better golf. Let's hope so....

Junior Golf of Cochise County, Arizona

Junior Golf of Cochise County was born from a love of the game of golf and the kids from this beautiful county. Cochise County, Arizona covers 6,219 square miles and has a population of about 128,000. There are eight golf courses in the county, seven public and one private, mostly concentrated around the counties largest city, Sierra Vista. Cochise County is a very rural county, with the entire southern portion sharing a border with Mexico. As you can imagine, there are many unique issues when you live this close to the border, which can create a great deal of temptation for kids; hence, why Junior Golf is so important. If we can get more kids involved in golf or any constructive activity for that matter, it could mean one less kid going astray and getting into trouble. Plus, these kids are the future of golf and if we don’t pass along this great game to them, where will we be in a few years?

In March 2006, I started working at Turquoise Valley Golf Course, Restaurant & RV. My first experience working with the kids in the area was helping some with the Bisbee High School Golf Team that spring. In May, I set up a junior golf program for the month of June. We had 35 kids in the program. By the time the next spring rolled around, I was helping full time with the High School Team and trying to figure out how to get more junior golfers into the summer program. We decided to expand and include kids from the Boys & Girls Club of Bisbee. In 2007, we had 38 in the regular program and 15 in the B & G Club program. We received donations of clubs, bags, shoes, balls and pull carts from all over, and thanks to these donations, by 2008, were able to expand the program to two months, and had a total of 55 junior golfers.

In January 2009, the Turquoise Valley Golf & Social Association decided to close their books after 37 years. They asked me if they could donate some money to junior golf. I said that would be great, and guessed that the donation would be enough to cover the upcoming summer’s Junior Clinic Tournament and meals. Much to my surprise, it was a lot more! However, there was one stipulation, I had to make sure the program grew and became something more than just a Turquoise Valley program. Eagerly accepting this challenge, I met with several local business people and we decided to start a true county wide junior golf program, which is how Junior Golf of Cochise County was formed and we are working to establish ourselves as a 501c3 Non Profit Organization.

The goals for our first year are to set up clinics at each course within the county, to distribute the 1,000+ golf clubs that have been donated and we have set the dates for the first Cochise County Junior Golf Championship, July 27 & 28, at Turquoise Valley.

Please visit the website we established, www.cochisecountyjrgolf.ning.com to get information out to all the kids, parents, schools and golf courses.

If you have any questions about our program, wish to volunteer your time, or contribute, please contact scott@swingreminders.com.

May Trivia Contest Winners

The answer to the May trivia contest was - In 1926, the first outdoor mini-golf courses were built on rooftops in NYC. We had 34 people answer correctly. The winner of the Callaway Tour ix golf balls is James T. of Eden Prarie, MN. The winner of the Swing Reminders wide brimmed hat has not e-mailed me back yet. If I don't hear from him/her by Friday, I will pick another winner.
Thanks to all that played this month's trivia. Look for next month's trivia around June 3rd. Have a great golf day.

Weekly Swing Reminder - Putt With Your Shoulders

You have probably heard this for years. But, do you really
understand what it means? Basically, it means to not use
your hands or wrists when putting. If you think of it as
just using your shoulders like the pendulum on a grandfather
clock. If you break your wrist going back or through,
you will not hit solid putts. You will hit the ball on
the downswing or upswing and in either case, your putts
will normally come up short. It’s almost the same effect
you will have if you look up. Good Putting….

Weekly Swing Reminder - Confidence

Be confident in all you do. Know that you can make the shot,
whatever the shot is. Positive self talk is an awesome thing.
I caddied some LPGA events in the early 80s and it always
amazed me that the ladies would talk themselves into hitting
a good golf shot. From the time they pulled the club out of the
bag, they talked to themselves and not once did I ever hear
one say anything negative. They told themselves “this is the
perfect club, the perfect yardage, and I have the ability to hit
a great shot”. Now how could you ever hit a bad shot with confidence like that?

Golf Trips & Tips Podcast

You can now download the latest Golf Trips & Tips Podcast at the Apple i store. Check it out...we are currently ranked #5 in golf podcasts.

May Trivia Contest

This month we will give away a couple of great prizes.

All you have to do is subscribe for the Swing Reminders Blog to be
sent to your e-mail and answer the trivia question correctly.

You have a chance to win a dozen Callaway Tour ix golf balls or a really nice Swing Reminders Golf wide brimmed hat.

The contest runs from May 9th - May 24th, and the winners will
be drawn on May 25th.

The trivia question is: In 1926, the first outdoor mini-golf courses were built on _________ in
New York City. Fill in the blank, where they were built.

E-mail your answer to info@swingreminders.com and subscribe to the blog @ www.swingreminders.blogspot.com. It's that simple. Good luck and keep it on the short grass.

Cancer Sucks

Yes, that's right.....Cancer Sucks.

It's been about 14 months since one of the greatest guys ever Mark "Shu" Schuler, was taken away from us by this *%#*@!! +&^$%#@ disease. It really makes me mad and very sad, because Shu is one of the best friends ever. I say "is" because I know he is up there watching us and laughing at the stupid stuff we all still do. Plus, we had his Michigan chair with us at Hooters and I can still see him sitting there. He will always be a part of our lives and our memories.

Last year about two months after Shu left us, we planned a small golf outing in Naco, AZ for some of his golf buddies. We had 8 players and I got this really big trophy (from Shu's garage) for the winners. We made it a two person team, blind draw, no golfing skills required...cause Lord knows Shu had very little golfing skill. It's mainly about getting everybody together, playing some golf, drinking some beer and remembering Shu.

This year we moved the Mark Schuler Annual Memorial Golf Outing to The Blanchard Course at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ. Which meant we would have alot more of Shu's friends coming out. Plus, we added another aspect. I got some donated rounds of golf, thanks to Turquoise Valley and Golf Now.com and we did a raffle. All the money we raised went to Cancer Research. We made $240 and donated it to Shu's Mosaic of Hope.

Thanks to everyone that came out for golf, met at Hooters or couldn't make it and just thought about Shu, and how much we miss him.

This will be an annual event, held each year around May 5th (Shu's birthday), so mark your calendar's now. I'd like to make it a huge fund raiser for Cancer Research. But then again, I'd like it to be more personal and just have all of Shu's buddies hanging out playing a little golf and holding our beers up high, saying "Drink One For Mark". We miss you buddy.......but we know you're watching.

Weekly Swing Reminder

Swing down the line - Take your hands
down the target line as you swing the golf club.
Think about a set of railroad tracks. Your feet,
knees, hips, shoulders are on one track and the
club should travel down the other track. If you
put a club on the ground and use the shaft as
your guide, you can see this. Using a club on the
ground is an excellent tool.

One Stop Shopping

Have you ever been online looking for a tee time at Golf Now.Com or EZ Links? Ever wanted to compare rates at a bunch of discount sites? Well, it's now possible...no seriously. Thanks to my new buddies at www.golfsigma.com, up in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Their new site is one that has been needed for years in my opinion. In the old days (like last year), you had to join 14 different discount tee time providers sites and then search each one individually to find a good deal on a tee time. Those days are over. All you have to do is cruise over to www.golfsigma.com and start entering your search parameters and whamo, you can get all the tee time info you want. And it's from all the top discount providers.

I think one of the coolest things is that they are Nationwide. I mean if you were headed to Panama City, Florida for a business meeting (like that happens), you could check out all the discount golf available. Plus, you don't have to join anything, just click on www.golfsigma.com and start searching their unlimited database of golf courses and tee times. Hey, they even have their Twitter posts and some pretty cool blog posts. They are truly "One Stop Shopping".

Congrats to Peter, Rich & Shaun on a great website....

Weekly Swing Thought

3/4 Swing - Most golfers over swing, which
means that they take the club past parallel on
their backswing. If you only take the club back
to 3/4 or about 1:00 o’clock, you will have much
better timing, which will equate to more solid
impact and better shots. Try it on the range and
compare, I bet you will hit it longer and straighter
with a ¾ shot than with your full swing. Look
at most Professionals, they seldom swing full.

Contest Winners

The recent Swing Reminders Blog Contest has been won by Vicki Nardone of California and David Gosling of Gloucestershire, England. They each won a Swing Reminders Golf shirt for entering the contest. Congrats to these golfers.

Look for more Swing Reminders contests in the future. Have a great golf weekend.

Eyes Over The Ball

Your weekly Swing Reminder is Eyes Over The Ball -

When you’re putting get your eyes over the ball so you can see the line of the putt. You can check this by taking your putting stance (with your eyes looking down at the green), take a golf ball and hold it right between your eyes. Now, drop the ball on the green and wherever it lands is where your putter should line up. This should give you a pretty good idea where your eyes should be when you putt. It should give you a view of your putting line.

Weekly Swing Reminder

Tempo - Tempo - Tempo

This is probably the single most important
aspect of the golf swing. If you have
a smooth even tempo, you will hit
good solid golf shots.

Golf Grader .Com

My buddy Izzy over at Golf Grader.Com just posted a great review for Swing Reminders. Check it out @ www.golfgrader.com.

They have a pretty cool site, doing course reviews, equipment reviews and the latest golf videos and info. Take the time to cruise over there and see what's happening.

Today's Swing Reminder

The last shot is over, good or bad, move on.

How do you react after a good shot? How do you react after a bad shot?

Don't you think you would be better off if you reacted the same to either? But how hard is that to do?

Golf is the hardest game in the world, especially when you are trying to control your emotions. The more of an even keel you can keep your emotions on, the better. There is nothing wrong with celebrating a good shot, but when we hit a bad shot, do we go nuts? I've seen people break clubs, throw clubs, throw balls, kick their bags and almost every other destructive act you can imagine. All it does is carry over to your next golf shot. Try to keep it all in perspective. I'm not saying you shouldn't be upset with a bad shot, but don't let your emotions get the best of you. Just learn to control it. If I hit a bad shot, I try to count to ten and give myself some time to think about it before I react.

Whether it's a good shot or a bad shot try to use today's Swing Reminder "the last shot is over, good or bad, move on", every time you play. Heck, take it from the golf course to the rest of your life.

Have a great golf weekend.

Win Swing Reminders Golf Gear

All you have to do is sign up for Swing Reminders via E-Mail at http://swingreminders.blogspot.com/.

Register to win either a Swing Reminders Golf Shirt Men's or Ladies (by Monterey Club) or a Swing Reminders Wide Brim Hat (by Town Talk). Sign up to get Swing Reminders e-mails between March 30 - April 10, 2009. Two winners will be drawn on Saturday, April 11, 2009.

New Podcast

MyGolfingTrip.com has teamed up with SwingReminders.com to create a new podcast called Golf Trips and Tips.

The first show has just been published and is now available on www.swingreminders.com and iTunes.

MyGolfingTrip.com has teamed up with SwingReminders.com to create a new podcast called Golf Trips and Tips. The first show has just been published and is now available on www.swingreminders.com and iTunes. We will be podcasting the show bi-weekly and if you would like to subscribe to our feed for the show you can do so through iTunes. The show covers how to use MyGolfingTrip.com, current and future features for the website, golf trips we've been on and plan on attending, and golf tips from Swing Reminders.
We also plan on inviting special guests who are in the golf industry, so if you would like to promote a product, golf destination, etc., please let me know so we can schedule you for one of our next podcasts.

So, check out the new podcast!
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=309364407
www.mygolfingtrip.com/Media

Weekly Swing Reminder - Get up & down

Get the ball on the green and make the putt.
Practice shots that you know you will need
on the golf course. If you miss the green to
the right every time, then practice the shot
that will get you up and down. Don’t get cute
and try something that you have no confidence in.

Lightning On The Golf Course

How many times have you been playing a great round of golf and all of a sudden a storm rolls in and all around you there is lightning? Well, I have a story for you.

Last weekend our Men's club took a trip to Green Valley, AZ to play a really nice course. We rented a bus, so that nobody had to worry about drinking and driving. We arrived about 40 minutes before our first tee time. I was in the third group, I hit a great little 2 Hybrid down the middle and we were off. On the 2nd fairway, it started to sprinkle, and by the 3rd tee box, it was pounding down huge raindrops. By the 3rd green, the temperature had dropped by 10 degrees and the rain was sideways. On the 4th tee, it started to thunder and lightning. Definately my least favorite time to be on the golf course. I figured that we would hear the horn any minute. But, the horn never blew. By hole #7 we were done, completely soaked, and very cold. So, we headed to the clubhouse. As the Tournament Director for the Men's Club, I walked into the Pro Shop and asked the guy at the counter if we could get a rain check for the group. He pointed to a sign on the counter that said "We do not issue rain checks." I was dumbfounded. I asked him why they hadn't blown the horn for the lightning. He said "We don't close the course." Again, I was dumbfounded. I asked if we could talk to the Pro, he said he was off this weekend. (What Pro takes a weekend off?)

As a former Golf Professional, I cannot imagine not closing the course for lightning. Plus, with rain that hard for nearly two hours, the course was starting to get saturated. I asked him to call the ranger and have all of our groups to come in, because it was too dangerous on the course. He did and the rest of the guys that hadn't come in, did so. Some guys only played 3 holes, some played 8 or 9.

We went to the restaurant/bar and ordered lunch and drinks. After a little while, we decided that the weather was not going to cooperate and decided once everyone had lunch, we would load the bus and go home.

I went back to the Pro Shop and the guy offered to give us $15 per person as a refund. It wasn't what we wanted, but we took it.

As you can imagine, the two hour trip home was not much fun. Except for all the drinks we had. The entire group was ticked off about the outcome. To say the least, we will not be going back to that course anytime soon.

Here is the USGA's policy on lightning. I think I should send a copy of it to the Pro, what do you think?

Suspension of Play Due to a Dangerous Situation (Note to Rule 6-8b)

As there have been many deaths and injuries from lightning on golf courses, all clubs and sponsors of golf competitions are urged to take precautions for the protection of persons against lightning. Attention is called to Rules 6-8 and 33-2d. If the Committee desires to adopt the condition in the Note under Rule 6-8b, the following wording is recommended:

"When play is suspended by the Committee for a dangerous situation, if the players in a match or group are between the play of two holes, they must not resume play until the Committee has ordered a resumption of play. If they are in the process of playing a hole, they must discontinue play immediately and not resume play until the Committee has ordered a resumption of play. If a player fails to discontinue play immediately, he is disqualified, unless circumstances warrant waiving the penalty as provided in Rule 33-7. The signal for suspending play due to a dangerous situation will be a prolonged note of the siren." The following signals are generally used and it is recommended that all Committees do similarly: · Discontinue Play Immediately: One prolonged note of siren. · Discontinue Play: Three consecutive notes of siren, repeated. · Resume Play: Two short notes of siren, repeated.

Bag Tag - What's In Your Golf Bag?

My friends over at FindtheFairways.com have a pretty cool contest running.
It's something you should really check out, http://www.findthefairways.com/golfnews/bag-tag-whats-in-your-golf-bag-452.html

My bag was a mess and it's probably a great time of the year to do this. I mean it is spring and finding out what's in your golf bag is a great idea for getting ready for the season. Here is what I found in my bag this morning, when I dumped it out on the patio.
Oh yeah, don't mind those weeds in the background, I will be taking care of them just after I finish this blog post.

What golf bag?

Callaway XT Stand Bag (that needs a good cleaning)

What clubs?

This is a mixed bag for sure. Callaway Hyper X 10* Driver, Callaway X Hot 3 Wood, Adam's Idea Pro Hybrids 2 - 5, Ping I 5 Irons 6 - PW, Ping Tour 52* Gap Wedge, Cleveland 588 56* Sand Wedge (Old School), Odyssey # 9 XG White Hot Putter (33 1/2").

What else is in your bag?

This is where it gets weird. A Ping man purse (full of junk), rain pants, cinnamon granola bar, a putting peg (putting trainer, I thought I had lost), package of long shot club face covers (never used), old crown royal bag full of coins from everywhere, my broken shaft (used to help my alignment on the range), empty band aid package, rules book, two worn out gloves, empty sunscreen bottle, kozie for keeping a beer cold, medical tape, two sharpies, a spike wrench (no spikes), 7 new Callaway IX balls, 14 old balls, and the best thing I found was a free beer token for the clubhouse bar. That in itself was worth cleaning out the whole mess.

What’s the most important piece of kit in the bag that’s not a club, ball, glove or towel?

A baggie full of Swing Reminders. I use them and give them out to people I play golf with. They help you focus on your game. Check them out at www.swingreminders.com.

Do you carry a lucky charm?

I have a bunch of coins from around the world. The Thai Bhat ones are gold and silver, I like them. My two headcovers, one is for my Black Lab, Cody Bear and the other is Smokey from the UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE.

What’s the oldest thing in your golf bag?

I think it's my towel. I got it as a going away gift from my Special Ops Squadron back in 1997. It has the AFSOC and Squadron patches sewn onto it.

Which is your favorite club?

It has to be my putter. It's the strength of my game. But then again, I really like my 8 iron. They say that there is one club that just fits your swing. I think that has to be my 8 iron.

Well, I got it done. Cleaned out the bag, threw away the junk and replenished for the spring. You should really check this contest out, they are even giving a way some great prizes. Have a great golf weekend.

You have been tagged - bag tagged that is:
www.pinkdivagolf.blogspot.com, www.golfishardtv.com, www.mygolfingtrip.com, www.dits4golf.com

Golf Is Hard TV Contest

My buddy Marc over at Golf Is Hard TV.COM is having a cool contest and giving away a set of Swing Reminders. Just cruise over there http://www.golfishardtv.com/2009/02/winner-winner-chicken-dinner.html and get entered.

Golf Trip Planning

I have started to do some golf trip planning for buddy trips. It just kinda happened, but I think this is going to be another service Swing Reminders can provide for local Southern Arizona golfers. We have picked out 3 different locations for golfers to choose from; Casa Grande, AZ; Las Cruces, NM; and Mesa, AZ. Each of thses locations has multiple golf courses you can choose from, depending on your budget. Plus, we are trying to keep folks from having to drive more than 4 or 5 hours.

Back in January, we took 7 guys to Las Cruces, NM. We played New Mexico State Golf Course & Sanoma Ranch. Two really good courses, and the hotel was great. It had a small restaurant and bar. We got free breakfast and drink coupons. It was just what we needed.

In April, we will be taking 12 -16 golfers to Casa Grande, AZ. We will be playing two rounds at Southern Dunes Golf Club and one round at Francisco Grande Golf Course (pictured).

Sometime this summer, we will take the Mesa, AZ trip, probably when it's about 110 degrees in Phoenix. Oh well, you can't have perfect weather all the time.

If you are interested in planning a golf outing to one of these locations, or another one, just drop us a line at info@swingreminders.com. Have a great golf weekend.

Weekly Swing Reminder

Play Within Yourself

Don’t try and do things you have not practiced.
Play your own game. I see golfers all the time
try to hit a flop shot like the Pro’s on TV.
First of all, it is a hard shot, and you’ve
never practiced it, so do you really think you
can pull it off? The percentages are against you,
play the shot you know you can hit. Play the
percentages, the shots you have practiced.
You will play better golf and shoot lower scores.

Alltop Golf

This blog has made it to the TOP. Well, at least to Alltop (http://alltop.com/). Alltop is a magazine rack of stories that gets updated every hour. It's a pretty cool site, that you could probably spend countless hours searching. Swing Reminders is now listed on the Alltop Golf site. Check it out and check out Alltop. http://golf.alltop.com/

Sandbaggers !!

I know this is going to be a sore subject for most of you, but it has to be put out there. What kills me is that day after day, we keep talking about it.

The Urban Dictionary defines a sandbagger as : a person who pads a handicap or acts as if he/she is at a lower skill level than he/she actually is so he/she can achieve better during competition that's handicapped or by skill level.

I just took over my Men's Club Tournament Director position. It only took one tournament for me to start hearing about the "Sandbaggers". You know, the guy who play 5 days a week, has a 21 handicap and shoots net 62 in tournaments. Or the guy that carries a 5 handicap and shoots rounds of 68 during the week, but never puts his scores in the computer. Or even the idiot that claims he is a 3 handicap, and couldn't break 80 if his life depended on it.

What to do? We can't take them out behind the cart barn and shoot em. We make a big deal about it when giving out the prizes at tournaments, but they just don't seem to be bothered.
I think it just comes down to an issue of integrity and honesty. They have none. They only care about winning, at all costs, even if everybody wants to ring their necks.

I don't understand it, but I never have. A long time ago I was the Handicap Chairman for a Men's Club. Way before we had GHIN or computers to load handicaps. We had a sign in sheet in the pro shop, if you were a member, you signed in before playing. The pro printed out a huge computer print out of everyone's handicaps on a dot matrix printer once a month. After you played, you wrote your score on the print out. Once a week, I would go to the pro shop and take the sign in sheets from the week, and compare them to what was listed on the print out. If you signed in to play golf, but failed to post your score on the print out, you got a 72 posted. At first, it was like being a wanted man. I had to be careful around the clubhouse, you never knew when a shanked 9 iron might be headed your way. But, after a couple of months of whining, they got it. They made sure to post their scores, no problem. Of course, they still sandbagged, but they knew someone was watching them.

What happens at your course? What's the best way to take care of this annoying issue? Does anybody really care?

Competitive Golf Association Contest

My friends over at the Competitive Golf Association (www.competitivegolfassociation.com) are running a pretty cool contest and giving away some Swing Reminders. Head over there and check it out.


http://www.competitivegolfassociation.com/1820.h.Online_Golf_Contest

Do You Know Your Swing Speed?

Have you ever been in a golf shop, picked up a new driver and said "this is the one"? (you can just feel it) Your buddy says, that's gotta be the one that will fix your hook. So, you run the checklist in your head. How much does it cost? Can I trade in my 2003 King Cobra? Will my wife kill me? You look at the price tag, it's $499.99. And you think, hell, that's only half my house payment. So, without blinking, you walk to the counter and tell the Pro, I gotta have this. Plop down your Visa and WHAMO, you have a new driver.

The checklist you should have run: What's the flex? What's the loft? What's the bend point? What's the recommended Swing Speed? And of course, is my wife gonna kill me?

When you walked it to the counter, the Pro should have said, "This is a stiff shaft, what's your swing speed? But, in this economy, all he wants to do is sell the driver, cause his sales are down 30% and the GM is ready to fire the whole staff.

So, you walk out to your bag, take out the old Cobra and put in the new driver. Over the loud speaker, they call you to the first tee. You're pumped, new driver, beautiful day, what could possibly be wrong? You're group wants you to hit first with the new driver. So, you tee up your Pinnacle, and take 4 practice swings. Then, take a deep breath, and swing for the fences. The ball comes off the toe of the club and goes 50 yards right of the fairway into the driving range.
The guys are laughing their butts off. After everybody hits, you tee up another brand new Pinnacle and guess what? SAME RESULT. You spend the rest of the round trying to aim far enough left so that you can maybe hit a fairway. You're brand new driver cost you $499, you lost 7 new Pinnacles, and $5.10 in dime bets. You are ready to give up the game forever. Plus, when you get home, she's gonna chew you out for spending that kind of money on a stupid golf club. What a great day, huh?

It takes about an hour at a good fitting center to get properly fitted. They will check your swing speed, the flex you need, the loft that's best for you, the flex point, and almost anything else you can think of. In the end, they will recommend the best driver for YOU. Then you can make an educated selection for a new driver. Plus, if you go to an independent club fitter, he or she can probably do all this, and then build you a driver that fits you exactly. But, who wants a driver that isn't a big name? I mean if you only hit every fairway and play the best golf you have ever played, who wants that?

Get fitted, you will play better golf and isn't that the point?

New Profile Picture

I need a new profile picture for my blog. So, I have posted 4 pics above and you get to choose which one goes up. Just vote in the column on the right and I'll post the one that gets the most votes.

I Could Be Wrong

Going back to my Fantasy Golf post on Tuesday about Lefty not being ready for the tournament this week. I WAS WRONG. He shot 63 in the first round....dang, should I have picked him? We will see as the week goes along.

Win A New Swing Reminders Wide Brimmed Hat

Gene Sarazen was the first to win the four tournaments that comprise golf's grand slam in modern times. Sarazen won the U.S. Open (1922, 19__), the British Open (1932), and the PGA Championship (1922–23, 1933) and completed the grand slam with his Masters victory in 19__.

Fill in the two missing years above that Gene Sarazen won his 2nd U.S. Open and his only Masters.

E-mail the answer to scott@swingreminders.com. The first 3 people to submit the correct answers will win a new Swing Reminders Wide Brimmed Hat.

Good Luck.

Fantasy Golf 2009

Do you play fantasy golf?
I play in several fantasy leagues from NFL Football to NASCAR to golf, golf by far is the toughest one to pick on a weekly basis. I mean there are usually about 150 players in the field and you can only pick 8 players for the week and only start 4 for each round. That's like picking the right line on a down hill 25 footer with a $2 nassau and a press on the line.
I've played in the Hooked On Golf Fantasy League two seasons now and there are 100 players in the league. I have not finished as a weekly winner yet, and the way I've been picking them, it won't happen anytime soon. I set one goal for this season, to beat Tony and Scruffy. So far, they're kickin my butt. We are at week #7 and I'm way down in 66th place. Oh well, as they say "there is alot of golf to be played".
This week we have the LA Open, okay the Northern Trust Open, anyway I just looked at the expert picks and the so-called experts have picked Michelson, Harrington and Els. Are they nuts, have they seen Phil play this year? I'm gonna pick a few this week that are not your obvious choices, because in order to win, you have to take a chance or two, right?
Here are my picks this week: Kenny Perry, KJ Choi, Zach Johnson, Charlie Hoffman, Richard S. Johnson, Lucas Glover, Retief Goosen and Matt Kuchar. Now those are some pretty good golfers, but if they have one bad round and you started them, you're sunk like a topped 4 iron into the pond on #15.
We will just have to see if I can pick the right starters each round. I need a new strategy for this, maybe I'll put them in a circle and spin a golf tee.
Join or start a fantasy league with your buddies. Make it interesting and everybody throw in $20 for the season. I'm not saying golfers would ever wager on anything, but it will be alot of fun.

New Web Site

Swing Reminders will be unveiling a new website later this week. It has been weeks in the making and will be more interactive and easier to maneuver. Mark your day planners to check it out.