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Stopping to smell the roses Posted: Wednesday March 06, 2002 12:43 PM
Sports Illustrated senior writer John Garrity was a 42-year-old 8-handicapper when he suddenly lost his swing. Since December 1989 he has been looking for it -- a modern-day Odysseus adrift on the troubled waters of swing theory. As Garrity travels the world reporting on golf, he visits as many driving ranges as he can, avoiding the dreaded "mats only" ranges that prevent him from teeing it up. Tuesday, March 5 KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The five inches of snow that fell a few days ago have almost melted, but the ground is still wet and the wind is whistling from the southwest. I could hit some balls at Robin Nigro's range or drive into Kansas for a practice session at Smiley's ... or just toil away the afternoon here in my home office, where the work is piled so high I can't see the top of my Sylvester and Tweety pencil. Ah, well, let's see what's in the mailbag. Hey, a fan letter! "I truly enjoy your writing, which I find full of good humor and always with a twinkle in the old eye," writes Mikael Schmidt of Odense, Denmark. "If you ever come to Denmark, it would be a privilege to enjoy a round or two with you. (Golf is also an option.)" Mr. Schmidt goes on to ask if other articles of mine are accessible on the Internet. Answer: only sporadically. The bulk of my output appears in Sports Illustrated, and every month I write a short, humorless column for Golf Magazine. Those of you who crave more will have to snap up The Ultimate Golf Book, a soon-to-be-published volume edited by Chip McGrath and David McCormick. I provided 25,000 words of breezy historical text for this terrific collection of original and personal essays by the best living golf writers. And if you get tired of reading, you can simply ooh and ahh over the great photographs. The publisher is Houghton Mifflin and the pub date is ... soon. So much for the Danish mail. Another reader tees up a plug for John Novosel, my tempo-teaching pal. "Have you kept up with the XLR8R golf training aid?" asks Ed Bath of Scranton, Pa. "How much has your golf game improved by using it?" The honest answer, Ed, is that I don't keep up with anything. I do use the XLR8R club and the impact target every couple of months, if only to impress my neighbors with the mighty whack it makes. I use the TourPro Tempo tape more often and swing to it with a real club, just to remind myself what perfect tempo feels like. As for the impact on my game, that's hard to judge. I do all sorts of silly and sound things as fodder for this column, and I consult with teaching pros Rob Stanger and Brian Mogg on an irregular basis. Who gets credit for my gradual improvement? Beats me. I will say that I've played more like the 8-handicapper I used to be since I got "Novoseled" last year. I have even discussed the possibility of ghosting a Tour Tempo instruction book with John, whose research-based approach resembles that of short-game guru Dave Pelz. I haven't written much about the XLR8R for that reason, but the Web address for everything Novosel is www.xlr8rgolf.com. So much for business. Several of you wrote e-mails of concern after reading that I had been attacked by sharks in Hawaii. Rest easy. It was a shank attack and I recovered overnight with a minimal loss of blood. "The description of your practice session at Ala Wai Driving Range was really creepy," writes Sie Hui Lau of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. "It was as if you were here watching my practice session last night and describing exactly what I did! The only thing you did not mention was that I shanked my 9-iron as well." Rich Morrical of South Riding, Va., writes, "I have been told that shanks are caused by trying to swing easy, but I don't know if I buy that. I do think they go away as fast as they come, if you can stop thinking about them -- which is like saying, 'Don't think about elephants for the next five minutes.'" Then there's the testimony of Ian Miller of Guildford, England, who played a great round at Penina Golf Club while on holiday in Portugal last October: "Felt great, headed for the range the following day -- and shanked everything! No idea why! Went out the following day and beat my handicap by 3. Who said there was any logic to this game?" Rob Fletcher of Cincinnati liked my idea of a rules change permitting practice shots during a round because he already does it. "A few years ago, I, too, was afflicted with a nasty case of the shanks. I started carrying one or two whiffle balls in my bag so I can work out mid-round shanks while waiting on the tee or in the fairway. It has saved me a couple of rounds, so it's worth the crap I've had to take from my playing partners." So much for letters of heartfelt shanks. As usual, I have neither the space nor the time to acknowledge all the interesting and provocative letters you've sent me. I'll end with this e-mailed slap in the face from Ernest Reed in Toronto: "John, the question to be asked is not how you lost your swing, but did you ever have a swing to begin with? Twelve-plus years [of searching] tells me that you never really had a clue. Three things make up a solid golfer: feel, imagination and ability. Having just one of the three will usually cover for the others and means you can play this game and play it well. If what I read is true, you likely have none of the three." Having startled me with this putdown, Mr. Reed lowers his voice. "If you spend the rest of your counted days trying to recapture what you think you once had -- well, what's the point? I would suggest that you simply enjoy the game for whatever it brings you -- frustration and all. Enjoy the sunshine. Enjoy the company. Enjoy your life." I wholeheartedly endorse Mr. Reed's advice about stopping to smell the roses. But I don't accept his implication that there is no such thing as a lost swing. Ian Baker-Finch won the 1991 British Open and three years later he was so wild he couldn't win a member-guest. Chip Beck played on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, came within an eyelash of winning the Masters, and shot a 59 in competition; he has since lost his PGA Tour card. If even the best players can see their games go suddenly bye-bye, is it remarkable when stiffs like me slip from mediocre to abysmal? But thanks, Ernest. I needed that. Watch this space for another installment of Mats Only. To send John Garrity advice, share your experiences, or suggest a driving range, click here.
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