Wednesday, June 04, 2008

3/4 power at the Links
I've been told it's a lot tougher for a tall person to be a good golfer than it is for a short (sorry, height-impaired) one. Add extra inches to armbones, and the swing becomes a lot longer.
The math isn't perfectly correct, but let's say one person's arms are 24" long, while a taller type stretches to 30". The formula for circumference (the distance around a circle) is diameter x pi. So let's say the diameter for person one is 48", and person two is 60".
Person one=48*3.14=150"
Person two=60*3.14=188

If you measure the swing from the top of the backswing to contact with the ball, let's say that's 75% of the circle, or 150*75=112, while 75% of the longer swing is 141. That means you've got roughly 29 inches more to make mistakes in with the longer-armed person.
So yesterday I decided to try and swing shorter. I guaged it by where my left shoulder pointed. When it was aimed at the ball, I would unleash.
It seems to have worked, to some extent. I was able to knock 10 strokes off of last week's score. Oh, I putted and chipped fairly consistently, as well, and that helps. On one par 3 I chipped my second shot, missing the flagpole about 1/4 inch, and coming to a stop 8 feet away off the fringe, then banged it back and in for a par.
It's just awfully difficult to hold back instead of grippin' and rippin' on these.

This just in: I advanced from Tail End Charlie last week to third in my flight (D) this week. Woohoo; I garnered another golf ball for my efforts.