It used to be that if you wanted to work on your golf game, all you had to do was hit balls. Today, serious players realize that golf fitness is as important to one’s game as golf technique. In “Going for the Green: Prepare Your Body, Mind, and Swing for Winning Golf” (Sterling, $25), Gary Gilchrist, Susan Hill, and Jeff Troesch take golf instruction one step further by adding mental coaching to the overall game improvement plan. Gilchrist is a swing coach, Hill is a fitness trainer, and Troesch is a mental training expert. Together, they have compiled a comprehensive and integrated ... full post »

For several years, I served as editor of GolfInstruction.com. The nascent years of that publication coincided with tremendous growth in fitness in golf, and the development of fitness and flexibility regimens specifically designed for golfers. One of the authors and commentators with whom I worked was Katherine Roberts, whose then-monthly fitness column made golf fitness seem attainable for the average weekend player, not just the Tour pros who make daily visits to the fitness trailer. The thesis of Roberts’s newest book, “Swing Flaws and Fitness Fixes” (Gotham Books, $20), is that a great deal of poor play is the result poor fitness ... full post »

The rewards of blogging are myriad. People often ask me which of the cornucopia of blogging perks is most rewarding: Fame? Fortune? Unimaginably hot (and numerous) groupies? Upon reflection, I realize that I would trade all of these benefits in exchange for the opportunity to shape the youth of this great nation, nay, of the entire, magnificent planet. Just as the Walpiri of the Australian outback, the Inuit of the North Atlantic, and the Annang of Coastal Nigeria pass along elaborate narratives containing eons of history from generation to generation, so too do we bloggers seek to hand down our ... full post »

Tom Watson is 17 years older than I, but time’s winged chariot is carrying me unswervingly in that direction, and I – along with lots of other aging golfers – were cheering our enlarged prostates out for the old guy. After Watson’s loss to Stewart Cink (a true gentleman and class act in his own right), I went on a weeklong Glenfiddich and Metamucil sympathy bender, from which I am only now recovering. Upon my unsteady return to business, I have discovered my e-mail inbox littered with press releases from equipment companies boasting shamelessly of the role that their products played in ... full post »

Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson, Sergio Garcia, Michelle Wie, Alexis Thompson, Tadd Fujikawa. Who will the next child golf prodigy be? The key to creating the next wunderkind of the links is, I’m told, fostering a love for the game at an early age. Now New Jammies, a pajama company that makes 100% organic cotton jammies for infants and kids, offers a golf-themed pj design to help. At only $25 for an adorable golf-inspired onsie or set of pjs, it might not be a bad investment. You never know, a $20 million Nike sponsorship might be just around the corner. Even if the kid doesn’t ... full post »

Funny. When I was driving the ball well, it seemed everybody and their uncle were sending me practice aids and drivers promising to eliminate a slice (which I never had, actually). Now that my driver has abandoned me, and the only part of my game I can count on is my putting, those helpful souls (and their uncles) are sending me putters and putting aids of all shapes and sizes. Case in point, The Wishbone Grip. This innovation consists of a putter grip that looks as if it has contracted elephantiasis and a palm-to-palm putting style. Intriguing, if one happens to be ... full post »

Way back when, I worked as a process server, delivering subpoenas and summonses on behalf of the court. Not one of the recipients of these court orders was ever happy to see me. In fact, several of them unleashed their dogs on me, took swings at me, and tried to run me down with their cars. One Mother’s Day, though, I helped a friend of mine deliver flowers. It was such a joy to see people smile when they answered the doorbell. Funny how life repeats itself. These days, when I write reviews of golf equipment, courses, and resorts, I realize that being ... full post »

The U.S. Solheim Cup Team will be sporting some very patriotic shoes this August at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois. Better yet, the red, white, and blue stars-and-stripes saddle shoes will be on sale to the general public during the event and for a short time afterward for $180. Despite the colors and pattern on the shoes, it has been reported that Carolyn Bivens – the LPGA Commissioner who almost makes Sarah Palin look rational – will demand that all the shoes be inspected for English tongues prior to the matches. Ecco channels Betsy Ross in the design of their 2009 ... full post »

I was recently at a truly excellent golf course in Wisconsin called Northern Bay, and was extremely impressed by the service – from the bagboys to the cart guys to the starters, everything was top-notch. The golf carts were equipped with GPS, from which we were encouraged to order lunch before we got to the turn, so it would be waiting for us when we arrived. In theory, this system should speed service and play. We ordered our meal when we were prompted by the system on the 8th hole. We arrived at the clubhouse, though, unsure whether we should go ... full post »