==================================================== Newsletter - Issue 114 Date 09/27/09 ==================================================== ==================================================== Equipment - Books - DVD's - Instruction ==================================================== Quite a while ago I had an interesting discussion with a student about Phil Mickleson's pitching and chipping methods, and the topic came up again last week with a newsletter reader re: the "hinge and hold" method he espouses. When I had the first discussion, his DVD "Phil Mickelson - Secrets of The Short Game" was selling for $99, but I got one off Ebay the other day for $12.50 plus shipping - so I'll be commenting on the merits of this method as soon as I finish viewing it 3 or 4 times. I must admit that I'm pre-disposed to saying that his swing method, which obviously works well for him most of the time, isn't for the average player that doesn't have a lot of time to practice. The misses are usually fairly dreadful as opposed to other club and swing choices that offer better results when the ball strike is less than perfect. More to come on this. Enjoy, Tom ==================================================== TCT Quick Tips - Practice Thoughts ==================================================== If you practice the wrong thing OR the wrong way, you'll get worse and worse. It's better to do 15 minutes per day than to do one 3 hour session per week. Practice does not make perfect - perfect practice makes perfect. ==================================================== Golf Tip: Tiger's Daily Practice Schedule ==================================================== Last issue I mentioned the intensity of Tiger Woods' pre tournament training routine according to Hank Haney in his latest book "The Essentials of The Golf Swing". I had several readers ask me to put it in a newsletter, so here it is. Tiger obviously has an abundance of energy, not to mention iron willpower. I really wonder how much sleep he requires to maintain this schedule. I do know that Tiger once said that one of the best things about his choice to leave Stanford for the professional golf circuit was that he could now get enough sleep, but that statement seems to contradict what was reported by a noted sports columnist. In 2007 Tim Rosaforte said that Tiger typically gets around four hours of sleep per night. Kind of hard to fathom. I have known and heard of brilliant people that get by on that kind of sleep, one that comes to mind immediately is the noted anthropologist Margaret Mead - but I don't think she had that kind of physical workload during the day. Pardon the diversion - here's Tiger's pre tournament practice routine: 6:00 am - Cardio - run four or five miles - then 90 minute weight workout 8:30 am - Breakfast 9 - 10:30 am - Range 10:30 - 11:30 am - Putting green Play 9 holes Lunch 1 - 2:30 pm - Range 2:30 - 4 pm - Pitching and Chipping Play 9 holes 5 - 5:30 pm - Range 5:30 - 6 pm - Putting green In the evening, when watching TV, during commercials he swings a weighted club. This is truly the definition of dedication. Enjoy, Tom