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Ben Crane pops out another good video

31 Mar

Long time no blog, eh, Internet?

 

The team has me super busy. Poor excuse, indeed, but the only one I got. Recruiting is a pain, especially since I have two teams (men’s and women’s) to handle.

 

The fantastic boyfriend and I also started Crossfit recently. The owner of the gym said it added 30 yards to his dad’s drives. Right now, however, I’m too sore to even think about holding a club.

 

Thankfully, however, Ben Crane has popped out another insta-classic video that makes me love the game. He’s been in a series of videos as a helmet-wearing, wetsuit-donning goober. This one playfully makes fun of his slow play:

Practicing Smarter with a Deck of Cards

12 Feb

Goodness, it’s been a while. Spring season is finally going at full strength, and I’ve been organizing my first golf tournament that we are hosting Monday.

It’s frustrating trying to get the most practice out of the day when the NCAA regulates that I can only have the players out for 4 hours a day, 20 hours a week.

My biggest goal is to keep the kids from becoming “range zombies.” In other words, just becoming good at practicing on the range, but not exercising the problem-solving part of their brain which is necessary to make a good score in golf.

So obviously the answer would be to just forget the driving range and play all day — however, the club where our team practices tends to be picky about when we can get on the course. Therefore, sometimes the driving range is just our only option.

How do we make the most out of practice, then? With games on the range. The goal is to engage the players mentally and provide stimulation to their problem-solving areas.

My new favorite involves an unusual training aid: a deck of cards. Here’s how you play:

The numbers on the cards in the deck correspond with the clubs in your bag.

King = driver; queen = 3 wood; jack = 5 wood.

10 = pitching wedge; 4-9 corresponds with your nine-four iron. I removed all the aces, twos and threes, but you can leave them if you have clubs to correspond with them (like a rescue club for the aces).

Shuffle the deck, and spread the cards face down. Then, one at a time, the players each draw a card and hit the club that corresponds with that card.  Go through the deck as many times as you like.

I like this drill because it forces the player to focus on the single shot, rather than just hit ball after ball on the range. Because each player goes one at a time, you get to practice having people watch you — which is a realistic tournament scenario — as well as learn to deal with the shot, even if it sucked.

They’re Here!

18 Jan

My new clubs are in! All one of you who have read before that I was out of commission for a while waiting for new clubs to come in know my excitement about finally having a set of clubs bought specifically tailored to my game.

Well, they finally arrived: the Taylor Made Burner 2.0 irons.

Image: golfstore18.com.

I got them in on Friday, and promptly played a round on Sunday as well as this morning. Here’s what I learned from playing these new, beautiful irons: they hit well, but I still have to hit them right. This is why I was so against getting fitted for so long — you can’t rely on fancy, expensive equipment to fix your game, only solid fundamentals and a lot of practice will do that. Thus, my clubs really did make the game more enjoyable, but it wasn’t a night-and-day difference. It’s obvious I still have work to do to be more consistent.

I also learned that getting new golf equipment is a lot like getting a tattoo (or what I’m told about getting a tattoo; I don’t have one but my sister and some friends have many). Once you buy one thing, you immediately want something else. I was dreaming of new drivers, woods, putters, the whole bag!

Ben Crane: Pro Golfer and Funny Guy

18 Jan

Ben Crane is my kind of PGA pro — sarcastic and with an awesome sense of humor. Check out this video of Ben describing how he prepares for a practice round

Love the helmet.

And Ben also has a video about another subject near and dear to me: golf fitness.

Ben Crane seems like one of the good guys on the tour, based on what I can get from his Web site, BenCraneGolf.com. There are tons of video clips on his site, both highlighting his skills as well as instruction given by Ben himself. I like his approachable style and ease of discussing the game. Check him out!

Snow, what is that?

10 Jan

It’s January, and we’re golfing today!

The college golf team I coach starts their spring training this morning, and I couldn’t sleep I’m so excited. It’s 6 am, we don’t start till 9, but I just can’t sleep.

To keep things fun this week, since school hasn’t started yet, we’re doing sort of a “mini camp” format. Each day, we’re playing 9 or 18 holes. Then, we’re going to have an hour of putting and chipping, as well as nightly workouts.

Today to get us back into it, I’m having the kids do a “Texas Scramble.” In this scramble, basic scramble rules apply — all players tee off, then the best ball is used to determine the next shot for everyone and they all hit from there, and so on until the ball is holed. Except in a Texas Scramble, all players must have at least 4 of their drives used as the best ball — even if it’s not the longest or straightest.

I like this for my players because it will force everyone to try their best and work together to have the best score. So we’ll see how it goes.

Alright, gonna try to do some yoga or something to at least relax for the next three hours!

No snow here in Texas!

Reasons why I want to be like Paula Creamer and why Cristie Kerr is a badass

7 Jan

Morgan Pressel From left to right: Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis, Morgan Pressel and Cristie Kerr (all of the USA) pose for a photograph during the Gala Dinner prior to the start of the HSBC Women's Champions at Tanah Merah Country Club on March 4, 2009 in Singapore. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Paula Creamer;Natalie Gulbis;Morgan Pressel;Cristie Kerr

(Image: http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/zn0oFG_OEaW/HSBC+Women+Championship+Previews/IE_DS2gUtb8/Morgan+Pressel)

This photo has three of my favorite LPGA pros: Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel and Cristie Kerr (sorry, Natalie Gulbis).

It was taken at the Red Carpet welcome for the 2009 HSBC Championships in Singapore (I know, how the heck did I find this so late?).

Two reasons why I love this photo:

1) check out Paula’s sassyness! Total envy. Work it, girlfriend.

2) check out Cristie’s golf tan! You go, girl, wear those socklines with pride. Standing next to the leggy blondes probably doesn’t do your ensemble justice, I know from following you since I was a young golfer that you’re a stylish and classy gal. But those socklines should remind everyone that you’re the proven bad-ass who will kick it on the course.

Morgan’s also got a little bit of sock tan going on, but it also looks like she’s properly using sunscreen for the most part. That my friends, makes her my favorite of them all. Plus, I’m loving her partnership with Ralph Lauren, her sporty and classy tournament outfits are making me want to spend all my coach’s salary on polos with ponies.

Morgan Pressel - SBS OPEN at Turtle Bay - Round Three

See what I mean? So cute and classic.

(Image:http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Morgan+Pressel/SBS+OPEN+Turtle+Bay+Round+Three/eWKaz0QqZiS)

You know what sucks?

6 Jan

Not having a good women’s golf community where I live. And that the nearest women’s amateur event (150 miles away) requires that I live in the area.

I mean, I can still find women’s amateur golf events in the state of Texas to satisfy my New Year’s resolution, but I’m gonna have to go quite some distance to play.

Oh well.

 

Alright, bitching session over!

I signed up for amateurgolf.com today. It’s a site for amateur golfers to find events and connect with other golfers. Sadly, one has to pay for a membership, which I did for $45 for one year. But after searching for events, I was able to find a bunch of reasonable tournaments I could attempt this year as part of my NYR to return to competition-but-not-a-competition-where-I’ll-get-completely-creamed. Because let’s face it, I want a trophy, but I’m no Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel or Alexis Thompson. I need quality amateur tournaments that aren’t pro-ams so I can actually consider making the cut!

A Good Excuse to Walk and Carry Your Clubs

5 Jan

This week I read an interesting article on Time.com about why exercise is basically useless as one’s only defense against weight gain.

I love exercise. To the point where I feel more at ease with Nike rather than Victoria Secret next to my skin. It helps me with my mood, with my perceived body image, and with performance in sports (obviously). I have typically used exercise as my means of weight loss and control, forcing myself to pounding pavement, boot camp workouts and the like. Often, this allows me to “justify” something I shouldn’t eat or drink because of all the hard work I’ve done.

However, since moving in with my (amazing) boyfriend, I have noticed a sizable weight gain — one that will not seem to budge with huffing and puffing in the gym.

Why? As the Time article explains, it’s all about food and general activity level. I could run my lungs out for an hour, but then it might make me so tired that all I want to do is sit on the couch with the boy and watch Netflix (a scenario that is quite familiar). And although I coach college golf, my days are mostly spent in front of a computer doing various tasks for the team and for the athletic department. Add to that my mammoth sweet tooth and our bad Quiznos habit and that makes for 10 extra pounds in only a few months.

So what is one to do? Just move more, not more intensely, and eat less crap, says the article. Our apartment is now rid of junk food, and I’ve gotten myself a pedometer and will be monitoring my steps. I will mandate a pre-lunch walk as well as several walking breaks throughout my day. And most importantly, I will get out of the office more to golf — walking with my clubs, that is! Exercise is still going to be my passion, but I am no longer going to depend on it for anything other than endorphines.

Here’s the article for you to check out:

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857-1,00.html

2011 Golf Resolutions

3 Jan

Happy New Year from The Forward Tees!

Once again, time to imagine ourselves as limitless beings and decide upon lofty goals for the next 12 months!

In the past, whenever I’ve met my resolutions it’s always because I’ve made clear, exact goals. Nothing like, “I will loose weight,” or “I will save more money.” Instead, my resolutions provide a realistic achievement I could legitimately reach within a few months of January 1. For instance: “I will run two 5k races for charity,” or “I will set up my bank account to automatically save 25% of my paycheck — and then not touch it.” Sometimes I still don’t meet these goals, but I definitely never do whenever my resolution is vague.

So what is my goal this year? To play in my first amateur tournament. I’m itching to return to competitive golf after being out of college for two years, and this year will be the year.

With every resolution, one must make a game plan. Mine is thus:

1) Get my handicap. Can you believe I’ve never officially figured out my handicap? For some reason, we never needed it for college tournaments — they always wanted hard scores, not handicaps, whenever we were placed in groups. And now that I’ve been playing only for fun, I’ve been very lax about my score. To get my handicap I’m going to resolve to play at least once a week and have the pro at the club help me calculate my handicap.

2) Decide if it’s good enough. I’m not trying to play in a pro-am or anything, but even so, the handicap will predict my potential in a tournament. Thus, it needs to be decent. Determining my handicap will also help me know whether I need to sign up for a mid-am instead of a standard amateur event. I am not going to force myself yet to reach a certain number. Instead I’m going to figure out what my current ability is and decide from there.

3) Sign up for a tournament! The area I live in doesn’t have a women’s golf association, so I’ll have to go out of town. But by late spring I will know when I will be playing in either summer or fall.

And there it is, for all the internet to see and keep me accountable! Here we go…

An App to Get in Golf Shape: Nike Training Club

23 Dec

Long ago, I downloaded the old Nike Training Club app for my iPhone. It was completely cheesy, with cartoon avatars and disjointed workouts.

Today, however, Nike released a newer, sleeker, and might I say fantastic version of the app. And thank God. I hardly ever used it before, but tonight I gave it a spin and it is perfect for getting into golf shape.

The concept is circuit training — get your heart rate up and go from one exercise to the next without stopping in between. Then you take a breather, and then repeat the circuit. This is the training I make my college players do, because it’s an efficient way to get in shape fast. The Nike Training Club workouts cue you through it so that things are perfectly timed and you can really push it. Because honestly, when I do a circuit at home, I tend to rest a lot and not really work.

There are also tons of different mixes of the exercises, each titled with a different name. These workouts are further divided into “Get Lean,” “Get Toned,” “Get Strong,” and “Get Focused.” All but the last are pretty self-explanatory, and “Get Focused” is just their alliterative way of saying “target training.”

What I love is that you can either set it to music from your collection on your phone, or you can do the workout without any music (which is what I did tonight in front of the news).

Because I have a tiny cramped apartment, I did the strength training routines so I wouldn’t have to jump around. You can do abs, butt, legs, shoulders, back and quick cardio. Each is 15 minutes long, and you go through the five minute circuit three times. The exercises seemed easy at first, but man did I feel a burn!

This is going to be a great tool for me as I try to get in good golf shape to meet my golfing goals this year. Oh yeah — and it’s FREE. Well done, Nike.

 

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