When learning a new sport, you’re bound to come across terminology that just confuses the hell out of you. I think I’m pretty good at figuring out sports terms, but no matter how many times I read or see the term “up and down” in golf, I still can’t figure out what it means! I’m pretty sure it has something to do with chipping the ball onto the green. I asked my friend, Google, who pointed me to this know-it-all named Wikipedia and here’s what I found:
Up and down
Describes the situation where a player holes the ball in two strokes starting from off the green. The first stroke, usually a “pitch”, a “bunker shot” or a “chip”, gets the ball ‘up’ onto the green, and the subsequent putt gets the ball ‘down’ into the hole. A variation is called “up and in”.
Ah, I get it now! It’s just a term on how a player scores. It’s like golf’s version of an alley-oop in basketball or a one-timer in hockey. I feel better now.
Last week I went to the driving range to make use of my cool, new golf club distance chart. I couldn’t record my distances with any confidence though, because I was constantly hitting a slice. I suppose I could modify my form so I can record stuff like “9-iron: 80 yards forward, 20 yards to the right”, but I’d rather fix my slice.
So how do I fix it? Since I can’t afford an instructor, I’m going to attempt to use the resources I already have.
Each week, I’ll try a new resource and let you know how it works. Here are the resources I’m going to use:
Wii Fit Plus: It has a golf simulator and I seem to hit a fake ball on the Wii the same way I hit a real ball on the range.
Golf Magazine: I subscribe to Golf magazine. Every issue has tons of tips and tutorials to use.
Golf.com: This site has a great Instruction section with videos, tutorials and tips.
Google: There’s a lot of resources out there that aren’t neatly packaged. Let’s see what the internet has for us.
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As a new golfer, I spend just about all my time with my golf clubs at the driving range. Last year when I first started, I would basically go play “whack-a-ball”. I’d take my friend’s clubs out, pick out a club that seemed fun at the time and just whack-a-ball until I got bored and wanted to use a different club. I am a competitive person though, so I want to get the most out of my practice time.
My interest in golf started with golf computer games and video games, so I’m used to knowing the range of each club in my bag. Unfortunately, in real life I don’t get a little display that tells me how far the ball will fly if I use my 9-iron. So I decided to find a chart I could take with me to the driving range to record the distances for each club. I found a couple charts that told me what the average distance for each club, but I’m not average. I’m much worse than average. I wanted something I could fill out myself. I couldn’t find any, so I made my own:
I created the chart as a PDF to make it easier to print. To download the PDF version, click here. I hope it helps you as much as I hope it helps me!
(This is version 1 of my Golf Club Distance Chart, so if you have any ideas or suggestions let me know and I’ll make a new version.)
Last year I decided to take up two of the most frustrating sports in existence: Hockey and golf. What would possible cause me to take on such onerous hobbies? The two sports take so much concentration and practice, maybe I like sports that require my entire focus so I can stop thinking of the rest of the world for a while. A man-crush on Happy Gilmore? Or maybe I just have an unhealthy obsession with whacking things with sticks. Regardless, here I am sharing my experiences with you.
What can you expect from this blog? To be completely honest, I haven’t completely figured that out yet, but here’s what I’m hoping for:
Resources: There are tons of cool resources online to help you learn how to golf or play hockey. I’ll set up a list of links for each sport.
News: I’m a HUGE Avalanche fan, so most of the news will have to do with them. I also want to focus a lot on local hockey and golf happenings in Colorado and the Denver area.
Opinion: What’s a blog without an opinion? A failing newspaper! Hey-Oh! But seriously, want to know what I think about hockey and golf? Well too bad! I’m gonna tell you anyway.
My Experiences: If I try a new golf course, find a new way to improve my wrist shot or finally participate in some sort of organized golf or hockey event, I’ll write about it here in some sort of entertaining way.
So I’ll start this blog with the same thought that goes through my head before I swing my golf club: “Let’s see what happens.”
