Yesterday I met another kiwi golfer, David Burns at the Narrows. He was waiting for his partner who was suddenly called away at the third hole (because his wife has locked her keys inside her car again!) I stopped playing my practice round and we talked about the game of golf. Burns has played golf for 15 years and his handicap is 10. I told him about hitting 40,000 balls over 3 years at the driving range. He did not believe me and he wanted a demonstration.
I hit a deliberate draw shot with my 1 wood for him. He was satisfied. Then he also hit a draw shot to show that he was really handicap 10! Having many golf theories is good; but what really matters is to be able to place that little white ball where you intended. That half hour's discussion on golf techniques has helped me a lot, clarifying in my mind and sorting out my true understanding of the golf swing. My swing was horrible but I could still put many balls through the middle of the goal posts. Burn's grip was back to front (with his left hand lower than his right) and yet his handicap is 10! We agreed that what is important is to put the ball into the hole. It is not really important how you do it.
This discussion about the golf swing has helped to clarify my thoughts on my methods compared with the proper swing techniques. Ben Hogan coined two new words when he tried to explain the golf swing in his famous book, The fundamentals of golf. He talked about supination and pronation. All that he was trying to say was: opening and closing the club face at the correct moment relative to impact. At address he suggested that the club face should be slightly open (supination). On impact we allow the right wrist to roll over the left and closing the club face at the exact moment. This process he called pronation (closing of the club face). Other golf experts refer to this action as release. They usually suggest that the take away of the club head should always be very slow and that the down swing must have increasing acceleration through the ball.
It was usually cold and foggy in winter in Hamilton. To start my blood circulation in the morning I went to the driving range on Ulster Street to hit 100 balls ($6). Very soon the owner operator, Brian Boys noticed that I was a regular customer and he suggested that I bought a blue card (bus ticket). It cost $90 for 20 visits. Every time I visited the driving range, Brian punched a hole on it and gave me 100 balls ($4.50). Over 3 years I have hit over 40,000 balls at the range! I was basically using the range as my gym for a workout in winter to jump start my engine. I do not feel cold any more after a hot shower. I was not a golfer but merely a ball hitter. Things soon changed...
A young Chinese student, Orin, doing a post grad degree at the Waikato U noticed that the method I was using to hit the balls was all wrong based on his sifu’s description of a golf swing. David Jin, his coach whom he called uncle is a Taiwanese who worked as a sports instructor at Taipei University. He taught basketball and other sports. He has just completed a master degree in sports science in America. At the time he was coaching Orin he was in PR jail in New Zealand.
To obtain confirmation of PR status in NZ it was an immigration requirement for all applicants to live in NZ for a period of two years. (Previously it was a NZ government policy for all Chinese to pay a poll tax of 100 pounds to the government before he is allowed to bring his wife from China.) Things have not changed that much. Pakehas are still afraid of the yellow hoards from the north. Across the ditch, they called it the "White Australia" policy) Uncle was playing golf by day and badminton at night just to fill in his time while fulfilling immigration requirement. There are many Chinese, Koreans and Taiwasnese in PR jail in New Zealand just like him. Pansy Wong our MP and Jacinda don't want to help us...
Orin's curiosity finally got the better of him. One day at the driving range he said to me:
“ Uncle, how did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“I noticed that your set up time was extremely short; but you still managed to put 30% of your drives through those rugby goal posts at the 180 metre mark. You fired your shots like a machine gun!”
“Really?"
Orin did not know that if I changed to a 3 wood I could put 50% through those rugby goal posts and if I used a 5 wood I could place 75% on target! The secret of golfing success is regular practice, nothing else matters... Wealthy golfers mistakenly thought that it was their expensive clubs or unique one design putters. They are only half right. They need to hit only 39,000 balls...
“ I would like to introduce you to my sifu from Taiwan”
“Why”
" He heard about your unusual style from me and he wished to see how you do it"
That was the story of how I stopped being a ball hitter and became a golfer! I finally agreed to meet this sports coach at the Narrows. During the first round that we played at Narrows I scored 125 against his 86! Do you know why? If you know the correct answer, you are a golfer!
Since I became a full member of the golf club in September 2005, I have stopped going to Brian’s driving range. The reason was because I realized that I also needed to know how to use the irons and the putter before I could lower my score to become a true golfer with an official handicap. I knew how to use only the woods and that was certainly not enough. I needed to have a repertoire of iron shots from the fairways, rough, sand bunkers and on the putting greens.
A putt at 3 feet is counted as one stroke on the card, so is a drive of 300 metres! Imagine if I can chip a ball into the cup every time with my wedge, I will birdie almost every hole! Again imagine that if all my chip and pitch shots always missed the cup by only two feet, I could tap the ball in for par...So, why are you still spending so much time on your longest club, the driver and not spending your valuable time practicing your irons? The truth is this: If you could chip or pitch the ball into the hole every time, you do not need the two shortest clubs in your bag!!
I soon realized that for the same amount of money that I spent at the driving range I could play a round of golf at the Narrows Golf Course every day for a whole year! Shortly, I met another Taiwanese, Kenny Chen. His handicap was 15 and he could draw the ball at will with his driver! The two of us and uncle Jin played daily at the Narrows for 6 months until they went home to Taiwan early this year. My irons slowly caught up with my woods and my handicap came down to 20. Our group soon grew to three and more to include all the Taiwanese golfers in Hamilton.
We have played golf at Ngaruwahia, Cambridge, Morrinsville, Park International and St. Andrews. We also went on a three day golf tour to Thames and Matarangi at the Coromandel peninsular. These Taiwanese gentlemen helped to make me into a golf addict. After they left I could not always find a partner.
It was not a problem at all. I was practicing alone and using two balls or more! That is why golf is such a superior game. It is the only ball game in the world that does not require a playing partner to return the ball over the net to you for your next shot. There is no net on the golf course! You use your own ball and your partner uses his. You share nothing; not even the ball. If your partner is not there, you simply put another ball down on the fairway hit his ball for him until he returns from Taiwan, kati-kati, KK or where ever. *Smile!*
This discussion about the golf swing has helped to clarify my thoughts on my methods compared with the proper swing techniques. Ben Hogan coined two new words when he tried to explain the golf swing in his famous book, The fundamentals of golf. He talked about supination and pronation. All that he was trying to say was: opening and closing the club face at the correct moment relative to impact. At address he suggested that the club face should be slightly open (supination). On impact we allow the right wrist to roll over the left and closing the club face at the exact moment. This process he called pronation (closing of the club face). Other golf experts refer to this action as release. They usually suggest that the take away of the club head should always be very slow and that the down swing must have increasing acceleration through the ball.
It was usually cold and foggy in winter in Hamilton. To start my blood circulation in the morning I went to the driving range on Ulster Street to hit 100 balls ($6). Very soon the owner operator, Brian Boys noticed that I was a regular customer and he suggested that I bought a blue card (bus ticket). It cost $90 for 20 visits. Every time I visited the driving range, Brian punched a hole on it and gave me 100 balls ($4.50). Over 3 years I have hit over 40,000 balls at the range! I was basically using the range as my gym for a workout in winter to jump start my engine. I do not feel cold any more after a hot shower. I was not a golfer but merely a ball hitter. Things soon changed...
A young Chinese student, Orin, doing a post grad degree at the Waikato U noticed that the method I was using to hit the balls was all wrong based on his sifu’s description of a golf swing. David Jin, his coach whom he called uncle is a Taiwanese who worked as a sports instructor at Taipei University. He taught basketball and other sports. He has just completed a master degree in sports science in America. At the time he was coaching Orin he was in PR jail in New Zealand. To obtain confirmation of PR status in NZ it was an immigration requirement for all applicants to live in NZ for a period of two years. (Previously it was a NZ government policy for all Chinese to pay a poll tax of 100 pounds to the government before he is allowed to bring his wife from China.) Things have not changed that much. Pakehas are still afraid of the yellow hoards from the north. Across the ditch, they called it the "White Australia" policy) Uncle was playing golf by day and badminton at night just to fill in his time while fulfilling immigration requirement. There are many Chinese, Koreans and Taiwasnese in PR jail in New Zealand just like him. Pansy Wong our MP and Jacinda don't want to help us...
Orin's curiosity finally got the better of him. One day at the driving range he said to me:“ Uncle, how did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“I noticed that your set up time was extremely short; but you still managed to put 30% of your drives through those rugby goal posts at the 180 metre mark. You fired your shots like a machine gun!”
“Really?"
Orin did not know that if I changed to a 3 wood I could put 50% through those rugby goal posts and if I used a 5 wood I could place 75% on target! The secret of golfing success is regular practice, nothing else matters... Wealthy golfers mistakenly thought that it was their expensive clubs or unique one design putters. They are only half right. They need to hit only 39,000 balls...
“ I would like to introduce you to my sifu from Taiwan”
“Why”
" He heard about your unusual style from me and he wished to see how you do it"
That was the story of how I stopped being a ball hitter and became a golfer! I finally agreed to meet this sports coach at the Narrows. During the first round that we played at Narrows I scored 125 against his 86! Do you know why? If you know the correct answer, you are a golfer!
Since I became a full member of the golf club in September 2005, I have stopped going to Brian’s driving range. The reason was because I realized that I also needed to know how to use the irons and the putter before I could lower my score to become a true golfer with an official handicap. I knew how to use only the woods and that was certainly not enough. I needed to have a repertoire of iron shots from the fairways, rough, sand bunkers and on the putting greens.
A putt at 3 feet is counted as one stroke on the card, so is a drive of 300 metres! Imagine if I can chip a ball into the cup every time with my wedge, I will birdie almost every hole! Again imagine that if all my chip and pitch shots always missed the cup by only two feet, I could tap the ball in for par...So, why are you still spending so much time on your longest club, the driver and not spending your valuable time practicing your irons? The truth is this: If you could chip or pitch the ball into the hole every time, you do not need the two shortest clubs in your bag!!I soon realized that for the same amount of money that I spent at the driving range I could play a round of golf at the Narrows Golf Course every day for a whole year! Shortly, I met another Taiwanese, Kenny Chen. His handicap was 15 and he could draw the ball at will with his driver! The two of us and uncle Jin played daily at the Narrows for 6 months until they went home to Taiwan early this year. My irons slowly caught up with my woods and my handicap came down to 20. Our group soon grew to three and more to include all the Taiwanese golfers in Hamilton.
We have played golf at Ngaruwahia, Cambridge, Morrinsville, Park International and St. Andrews. We also went on a three day golf tour to Thames and Matarangi at the Coromandel peninsular. These Taiwanese gentlemen helped to make me into a golf addict. After they left I could not always find a partner. It was not a problem at all. I was practicing alone and using two balls or more! That is why golf is such a superior game. It is the only ball game in the world that does not require a playing partner to return the ball over the net to you for your next shot. There is no net on the golf course! You use your own ball and your partner uses his. You share nothing; not even the ball. If your partner is not there, you simply put another ball down on the fairway hit his ball for him until he returns from Taiwan, kati-kati, KK or where ever. *Smile!*
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