Put Backspin on a Golf Ball!

One of the things that fascinates golf viewers is the backspin that professionals can impart on the golf ball. Oohs and aahs are usually heard when a ball lands on the green, skips to a momentary stop, and then rolls back as if on a yo-yo string. Amateur golfers struggle to replicate this impressive feat largely because they don't know that there are several necessary conditions for it to happen.  Here are some of the things to maximize your chances of spinning the ball back on the green:

1. Use a premium golf ball:  The primary benefit of a premium ball over it's lower-cost brethren is that it is composed of multiple layers of different materials.  The outermost layer is made of a soft yet durable material that is designed for maximum grip.  This makes a premium ball spin much more with irons.  A Top Flite rock just wont cut it.  If you want to suck it back up on the green, you're going to have to suck it up and spend some green.
2. Use a high-lofted iron:  The combination of high trajectory and high spin makes the ball spin back on the green.  The higher, the more it will roll back.  When it comes to golf clubs, the higher the loft, the higher the trajectory and higher the spin.  It's simple physics.
3. Swing hard:  The higher the swing speed, the higher the spin.  Again, simple physics.
4. Make proper ball contact:  With irons, the clubhead should make contact with the ball on the descending part of the swing path.  This minimizes interference from grass and debris and maximizes spin.
5. Have a clean lie:  When there is grass between the ball and the clubface, it becomes vaporized upon contact.  This grass juice reduces the grip and consequently the backspin.  This is why it is nearly impossible to back it up on the green from the rough.  There's just too much grass getting between the ball and the clubface.
6. Have clean and deep grooves:  Much like the grooves in tires channel away water to allow clean contact with the road, grooves in irons allow clean contact with the golf ball to maximize backspin.  The greater the groove volume, the more grass juice it can whisk away.  That's why it's important to clean grooves before every shot and play with the deepest and widest grooves allowed.

Golf Enjoyment Depends on Your Expectations!

I have played golf long enough to know that the level of enjoyment that you derive from this godforsaken game is highly dependent on the expectations that you place upon yourself. If you set a high level of expectation for your golf game, you are more than likely to disappoint yourself. In fact, the Golf Gods will make this a certainty. There's no enjoyment in that.

In other sports, it's perfectly fine to set lofty expectations and actually have a reasonable chance to exceed them. These are rational sports where there is a low variability in one's performance. For instance, I'm an accomplished tennis player. Sure I can play poorly on a given day. But I would never play as badly as a beginner or even an intermediate level tennis player. Playing poorly in tennis is just a slight negative deviation from normal. Not so in golf. When I play badly in golf I can be mistaken for a rank beginner. It's simply amazing how easily one can lose one's golf swing. But I'm not alone. I've spoken to countless other golfers who experience the same phenomenon. I suspect that it is a major reason why so many golfers quit the game altogether.

So the key to long-term enjoyment of golf is to recognize and accept it's uniquely irrational quality. Lower your expectations and you'll raise your enjoyment!

I Finally Broke Par!

After golfing for almost 20 years, I finally achieved one of my life goals. I broke par this month and below is the scorecard. Yeah, I know it wasn't a full 18 holes, but it is only a 9-hole golf course. Baby steps, right? At just a hair under 2,500 yards, you might also think that it too short to count. But I play this course without woods, so I think that it evens things out. For example, the 6th hole is a 423-yard par-4 that I almost never reach with two whacks from my trusty 3-iron.

On this historic day, I was playing well, especially my short game. After 7 holes I stood at par and was excited at the prospect of shooting par for the first time in my life. But a great tee shot on the par-3 8th hole led to an unexpected tap-in birdie. My nerves started acting up on the 9th hole knowing that I had the opportunity to break par, let alone shoot it. I hit the fairway but my approach shot came up short in the rough. My chip left me a tricky 7-footer for par. Sinking it would mean breaking par so it was easily the biggest putt of my entire life. Knowing that my nerves could easily get the best of me if I let my mind think, I didn't take any more time than normal. I figured the worst that could happen is that I shoot par, a great accomplishment. But the Golf Gods smiled on me for once and I sank it! I've been on Cloud Nine ever since.

Keegan "BaBaBooey" Bradley

The days of the polite "golf" clap being the loudest sound heard at PGA events are long gone. Like foreign Asian carp crowding out native fish in the Great Lakes, shouts of ridiculous phrases are increasingly drowning out the pleasant applause. It started years ago, presumably when Tiger's immense popularity drew in casual fans who previously wouldn't be caught dead on a golf course. The man who first coined the term "You da man!" and yelled it after a Wood's swing sparked an irreversible chain-reaction. He broke a long-standing and unspoken rule to not speak. When people realized that shouting after swings doesn't automatically boot you off the course, it encouraged other non-traditional golf fans to participate. "You da man!" and "get in the hole" were popular for a time, but it eventually got old and was replaced by more nonsensical phrases such as "mashed potatoes" and "bababooey".

Needless to say, the expanding shouting phenomenon is troubling to many traditional golf fans. Even golf announcers are starting to express their dismay during broadcasts. Can you imagine what the PGA golfers must think? Anyone who plays the game knows that maintaining focus and concentration are keys for performance. One would think that these things are easily disrupted by an idiot yelling "Chewbacca" for attention. I would think most PGA pros side with Ian Poulter who has publicly expressed his disdain for the annoying interruptions. He wants the PGA Tour to take action:

I'm calling for @PGATOUR to step in & stop this shouting out right after shots. Message in to @PGATOUR with your thoughts. Tazer them?

— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) August 12, 2013

But evidently there is a small number of PGA pros that don't agree with Ian. Incredibly, Keegan Bradley actually encourages fans to engage in this obnoxious behavior. He even had "bababooey" stamped into his Cleveland wedge. If this isn't the golf apocalypse, I don't know what is...