Golf Improvement Blog

In response to a fan video, EA sports and Tiger issued a response. The result is below. Pure genious.

The Editor of Golf For Women Magazine announced her new job today at “O” or “Oprah Magazine.” Conde Nast also let it be known to employees of “Golf For Women” that the current issue on newsstands will be the last.

My mom has been a subscriber to Golf For Women for several years and I occasionally paged through them. I always found the content to be good, but this is just further evidence of online competitors producing good content with no subscription, or for free.

My feelings are that only magazines and newspapers with the best content will see their paper publication survive. I hope Golf For Women continues as an online service, but it doesn’t look good right now for women golfers.

Frankly, I feel the loss of Golf For Women will leave a void a smaller company could find a niche in. Here is your chance, Golf Girls.

For more, BusinessWeek has the story.

I hope you caught the final round of the Colonial. It was was very entertaining with Tim Clark, Rod Pampling, and Phil Mickelson all tied for the lead on the final hole. Pampling and Clark both par, but Phil hit an amazing iron shot over trees to 9 ft from the flag and sank the putt to win. The announcers didn’t even think it was an option and that he would either chip out or pay a big slice. Phil is going to miss sometimes and it is those few times that he failed spectacularly that are remembered. Still, it is moments like these that make us all realize Phil still has it and is willing to take risks (necessary or not) to win.

This has to give him good feelings going into the U.S. Open next month. If you missed the coverage, here are some highlights:

Golf is such a great sport. In a time of overpaid athletes being arrested and acting unruly in their lives off the playing field, we were given a picture of how much a Master’s Championship would mean to those who play for the title on Sunday afternoon.

I congratulate Trevor Immelman on his green jacket. He will be an excellent role model to kids and I have no doubt he will be a big star.

At the same time, I was truly taken back by Brandt Snedeker the whole week. What a great story he is. He loves the game, appreciates the fans, and plays his heart out. His show of emotion afterwards truly shows how much this tournament and other majors mean to the players. I have a feeling Brandt will have a few green jackets to hang in his closet before he hangs up his clubs.

I freakin’ love this game.

While we can all argue about how many Tiger will win by, I am going to choose the field over Tiger this week.

In my heart of hearts I think Tiger will definitely be in the top 5, but I really feel like someone is going to step up this week.

Honestly, I am rooting for Ernie Els. He wants a Green Jacket awfully bad and I think his time has come. He has had Butch Harmon take a look at his swing recently and this could be just the right recipe for Ernie going into the tournament. I don’t see Ernie running away with it, but possibly dueling with someone down the stretch. If I had to choose someone that Ernie would go head to head with, it would be Adam Scott. He is just playing too good right now and I think his game suits this course very well. If he can drop some putts, he’ll be in it on the back nine on Sunday.

I love the Masters because it reminds us that golf season is actually here.

I also looking forward to the expanded coverage we can all view on masters.org with live coverage of Amen corner as well as other parts of the tournament throughout the day tomorrow.

After watching a segment on Elk vs. Bubba on TGC I had a few thoughts of my own.

For background, Elk (Steve Elkington) apparently was walking while Bubba (Watson) was swinging during a round (I believe Friday) at New Orleans. Bubba then happened to throw a fit which TV cameras happened to capture. I am not sure how much of it Elk caught, but it was not very gentleman like for Bubba to respond in such a way. Elk is not without blame either and walking during a players swing where Bubba can see with his peripheral vision is not proper etiquette. After all, the gallery is asked to stand still, why not Elk?

At the end of the round, Elk simply walked off the 18th without sharing a handshake with either Bubba or Shigeki Maruyama. Cameras then caught Elk and Bubba arguing in the scoring shack. This is a bit more private, but they could have waited until they each got to the clubhouse where they could air their grievances man on man.

Frankly, if I were Finchem, I would fine them both 5k for not acting in accordance with tour values (not sure if that is the proper language, but I am sure there is a rule for players out there Finchem could use). I find both of their behavior in poor taste and they do a disservice to the Tour.

From what the commentators were saying on TGC (The Golf Channel), neither are well liked on tour and after a display like this it is easy to see why.

From time to time I like to comment on the internet and different services offered in the world of golf.

About a week ago I happened to notice an ad for a golf social network on PGATour.com. What was interesting was that it was the first golf social network advertising I had seen on the internet. This is smart because PGATour.com offers a targeted demographic to Stracka.com (people who enjoy golf and also use the internet). Note: I wasn’t the only one to notice this link.So, I clicked through to see what it was all about and it was a typical social network geared toward the golf niche. This isn’t too dissimilar to golflink.com and 19thhole.com.

After using some internet ninja techniques, I Google’d Stracka and found something interesting. They are paying bloggers to blog about their service.

Evidence:
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C
Exhibit D
Exhibit E

So, you might ask, “how do you know these were all purchased blog posts?” Consider the source: all but one blog could be even related to golf, a sports agent blog. There is even a “BMX” blog that makes a post, a very odd choice for placement. Also, consider the link structure: each post has a link for “A Social Network For Golfers” with the text linked to Stracka. It seems like the authors were directed to post certain links for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) purposes. Also, the obvious: most of the blogs have an advertisement somewhere on their blog stating how you can purchase blog posts.

Why are using services like PayPerPost and ReviewMe questionable? Marshall Kirpatrick writes in this TechCrunch article:

There does not appear to be any requirement that the payment for coverage be disclosed. There is a requirement that PayPerPost.com must approve your post before you are paid. Wow.

Robert Scoble, a prolific blogger and well known internet luminary writes:

Well, if I find out someone is getting compensated for what they are writing and doesn’t disclose that it will earn an immediate unsubscribe from me and will probably get a post questioning everything that blogger wrote.

Why is disclosure so important? Because I, as a reader, need to know about potential conflicts of interest.

None of the articles in the above mentioned exhibits of evidence disclosed that their post was sponsored. This is the biggest problem I have because those bloggers lose any sort of credibility. They shatter their own image. On Stracka’s part, they assume they can pay for branding and SEO. They want to be branded as a social network for golfers and SEO’d the same. Why will this come back to bite them? By participating in these schemes, Stracka loses credibility. Also, Google is cracking down on these link building schemes and their algorithms will adjust to remove any pagerank gained from these links.

So, it is smart for Stracka to use Adwords and PGATour.com for their advertising outlets, but using PayPerPost and ReviewMe is a mistake and my opinion of their organization has gone down.

Recommendation:
Why not get in touch with bloggers in your space and have a conversation with them about your service? Many would probably write about the site for free and you wouldn’t have to worry about future Google spider adjustments. Plus, your credibility increases and your brand grows.

Some people may not be as sensitive to these issues as I am, but I have marketed new web products in the past successfully without spending a dime and retaining all my credibility. Some basic web etiquette needs to be preserved for the consumer and for all the companies out there doing the right thing.

Andres Romero held on yesterday to win the Zurich Classic. I enjoyed watching his swing and thought other amateurs should take notice. His inside-out back and forward swing is a picture many amateurs, especially ones that come over the top, need to embed in their minds.

The inside out swing allows for a more consistent hit due to the heavier reliance on bigger muscle groups in your core. It also produces a low draw which is far more consistent than most fade shots. Few people can control a fade with consistency, Nicklaus for one.

Cheers.

I am trying to get my game ready for golf season and while it is still cold I have decided to start a consistent training routine. Instead of crafting my own based on some random golf articles available on the web, I have decided to mimic Tiger Woods’ workout.

One problem; it is a mystery. Even in a Men’s Fitness article claiming to reveal Tiger’s workout on the cover only served to add to the mystery by only releasing generalizations. Still there are key part of these generalizations that can be crafted into a Tiger-like workout.

With these hints I have crafted my own program, which is most likely very close to what Tiger does, but then again we may never know. Be advised, this regiment takes into account areas where I feel I am weak and adds a few more reps here and there. I am also in decent physical shape, but haven’t worked out since I came out of the Marine Corps (Oct 2007).

Phase 1: Stretching
I deem stretching very important to my game because I feel I lost much of my flexibility after I stopped playing golf competitively almost eight years ago. I want to get this back and so there are three different periods of stretching during my workout.

Here are some great golf stretches I can do at home and at the golf course provided by the Mayo Clinic. I also add some sitting leg stretches and also some bendover back stretches.

Phase 2: Warm Up
Stretching works great as a warm up for your warm up. For the warm up, I am going to mimic what Tiger is rumored to do. Thirty minutes on either the bike, treadmill, or stair stepper. Note: 30 minutes might be long for the beginner. It might be wiser to start with 15 minutes and work your way up to 30, always keeping a moderate pace.

Phase 3: Core Exercises
Tiger’s key in this phase is posture and balance. There is also emphasis on mimicing the golf swing.
1) Anchor two rubber band and do some simulated golf swing movements with moderate tension.
2) Medicine ball exercises- mimic the bottom half of a golf swing with a mid weight medicine ball.
3) Dumbell curls while sitting on a medicine ball with posture always in mind. The dumbells will always be will light weight so that I can achieve 20-30 reps.
4) Here is another example of a core exercise for golfers.

Phase 4: Endurance runs
Tiger is rumored to run both seven mile endurance runs and also three mile speed runs. Tiger is also rumored to workout up to six days per week and 2-3 hours at a time. An endurance run of seven mile should last between 45 to 60 minutes depending on your level of conditioning. This may not fit your work schedule due to the time consumed, but may be more suitable for a weekend workout.

I will run one endurance seven mile run per week to begin with (on a Wednesday) and two three mile speed runs on Monday and Friday. In my opinion, these speed runs should average at least one minute per mile better than your average minutes per mile on your endurance runs, hence the word “speed.”

Phase 5: Weight training
Tiger incorporates both free weights and machines into his workout.
High intensity day: Tiger is rumored to lift up to 80% of his body weight on high intensity days. For everyone else, I would recommend starting at weights you can consistently life for 20-30 reps.
3 sets of 20-30 reps Benchpress
” ” Overhead shoulder press
” ” Lat pull down Machine
” ” Squats
For more ideas on what exercises you can do visit here.

Phase 6: Cool Down
Simply repeat stretches from phase 1 and if need be, walk a moderately paced mile on the treadmill.

Disclosure: I am not a personal trainer and the above mentioned exercises work for me, but nobody knows you better than you. Also, I always recommend getting a check up by a doctor before beginning a program of any sort. Cheers!

After watching JB Holmes play really well at the Tavistock Cup, I wanted to check out his swing a bit more. I really think the reason why JB generates so much power is the torque he is able to generate so quickly. This is why he hits it just as far as Daly and doesn’t need to go past parallel. In mind mind, this makes JB more consistent because Daly’s swing is tremendously dependent on timing. Timing is important in all golf swings, but moreso with John’s due to his slight unorthodox backswing.

***On a sidenote. I am really rooting for you John. Your true fans believe in you. For the good of the game, your fans, and, more importantly, yourself please quit drinking. It has only caused you pain.