If you watch the Golf Channel or read any of the magazines and books on golf, it will be very hard for you to miss the basic theme that “There is a perfect swing and you will do the most for your game by trying to get it”. Even when you watch a tournament on TV, you see the commentators participate in this conspiracy by showing us frame-by-frame analysis of the pro and critiquing his/her every move. Now, maybe we can give the TV guys a break because they are just trying for some entertainment value and let’s face it, most of us are interested in the details of the swing because we’ve been brainwashed by years of this theme.

For many years, I too was a “swing zombie” in my quest to improve my golf game. I even participated with a group of golfers that all had our swings videotaped and then we critiqued each other in a classroom setting. The feedback I received from all of us watching my swing ran from “very smooth” to “way off-kilter”. Everybody had a differing opinion of many of the swings that we watched and at least for me, it only confused me more.

In my younger years, I had a typical amateur slice swing that obviously came out of my years of playing baseball and softball. In those days, I would just aim for the left edge of any fairway and I could count on the ball moving left to right, at worst ending up in the right rough but usually hitting the fairway. I enjoyed playing golf those days but I always felt that something was missing. So when I could finally afford it,I decided to take a set of lessons from a pro. Of course I told him that I wanted to get rid of my slice swing and he asked me back “are you sure?”. This answer kind of shocked me but he was a very good instructor and by the end of the lessons, I was able to hit the ball out of bounds both ways, left and right. I figured that it would just be a matter of time until I “dialed” in to hitting it straight. To make the story short, 5 years later and I was still “dialing” and getting wrong numbers (ob, jail, water,no score improvement, etc.).

Looking back, I honestly believe now that if I had stuck with my old left to right swing and just used the rest of what I learned from the pro, that I would have improved significantly. Why? Because I was a typical golfer and not a 12 handicapper trying to become a single-digiter (a good golfer trying to become a great one). Studies have shown that the overwhelming majority of amateur golfers shoot in the 90’s or above for men and it’s over 100 for women. If you are in that group, then you really should be working on parts of your game that will give you far more efficient score improvement for the time and effort spent. This would primarily be in the area of the short game and the mental game.

This is absolutely true for the average golfer but it may be true for all golfers as well. There is loads of evidence on the pro tours that the ones making the money are those best at chipping and putting. The golf research guru himself, Dave Pelz, actually followed tour players around for years taking detailed statistics and he proved it (see his book, My Short Game Bible). In addition to that, there are too many pros to list that admit that their swing is not “technically correct” or maybe not even very good…BUT THEY WIN TOURNAMENTS! Look at Jim Furyk, 2003 U.S. Open winner. He actually has a big loop in his backswing. Lee Trevino always told people that they should not copy his swing. Even Jack Nicklaus says in his books that he wasn’t a very good ball striker. Bruce Lietzke has won tournaments on the PGA and Senior tours playing his left-to-right shot his whole career - And he says he rarely practices! On top of that, the tours are littered with past champions that totally lost their game AFTER they tried to change it for the better. And now they are begging their sports psychologist to help them “find” their old swing.

I have talked to PGA golf instructors that say it’s their clients that want the swing advice (just like I did) even when they recommend working some other part of their game first. So maybe it’s our own fault in creating the current situation where average scores of amateurs have not dropped one stroke in the last 50 years despite the advances in equipment technology. Now don’t get me wrong, if you are a total beginner, maybe you should start out with learning the basics of the golf swing with a lesson. But if you’re hitting it solid most of the time, you are good to go for a real scoring quest as more swing advice is not the quickest way for you to drop your score. There is just so much more that you can do, on and off the course, that will pay you back in saved strokes for far less time spent than “fixing” your swing. Most of us have precious little free time that we can work to improve our games so why not work on that which will give us the greatest bang for our (time) buck?

And so, let me be the first to make a pledge to the golf spirit inside me (I always thought that golf is like religion):
“I for one, do solemnly swear that I will not pay attention to any swing advice of any sort until I can score in the 70’s consistently with the swing I have (and maybe not even then)”.

Visit Craig Sigl’s website at: http://www.break80golf.com It is dedicated to score improvement for golfers with little time to practice. Download free ebook “How you can play better golf using self-hypnosis”. Sign up for ezine “The Very Busy Golfer.” Ecourse with golf instruction tips from a major pro, articles on golf equipment and free golf games.

Baseball is the most studied and dissected and written about of all our sports. There is even a thriving Society For American Baseball Research But for all the work of these eager sports sleuths the origins of the two most basic elements of baseball remain shrouded in mystery; the game itself and, of course, the hot dog.

Baseball’s exact origin in the United States is a matter of ongoing debate. While
tradition holds that baseball was invented by a first-year West Point cadet named
Abner Doubleday in the small upstate New York village of Cooperstown in 1839, the
game has been noted as far back as 1778 by a Revolutionary War soldier in his diary
at Valley Forge.

Similarly there is no historical consensus for the mythical marriage of baseball and
the hot dog. The noble sausage has been kicking around since the time of the
ancient Romans but it didn’t become a hot dog until someone put it on a bun. That
apparently happened on the streets of New York in the 1860s, at the pushcarts of
German immigrants.

But how did they find their way to the ballpark? Legendary concessionaire Harry M.
Stevens is often credited with introducing the hot dog to America at the New York
Polo Grounds in the early 1900s. On a wintry April afternoon he was having trouble
pushing his usual wares of flavored ices and ice cream and ordered his vendors out
for as many hot sausages as they could find. He sold them to his shivering patrons
in the stands as being “red hot!” and the rest is, as they say, history.

But further broiling the controversy is none other than acerbic Baltimore
newspaperman H.L. Mencken, whose father was vice-president of the Washington
ball club. “I devoured hot dogs in Baltimore way back in 1886,” Mencken said, “and
they were then very far from newfangled. They contained precisely the same
rubbery, indigestible pseudo-sausages that millions of Americans now eat, and they
leaked the same flabby, puerile mustard.

Some sources state unequivocally that German immigrant Christopher Von der Ahe,
a buffoon-like beer baron who would have been at home with some of today’s
blustery team owners, was selling hot dogs in his St. Louis park as early as the
1870s. Von der Ahe was known to sit down by the dugout and blow a loud whistle
whenever he wanted to get the attention of one of his players on the field or
whenever he wanted another hot dog.

So there you have it. The first baseball game and the first hot dog served up at a
ballgame - both lost to history. But just like you don’t want to go investigating too
deeply into how sausages are made, there is no need to dig too deep into their
historical origins. Just sit back and enjoy them them both this season.

copyright 2006

I am the author of over 20 books, including 8 on hiking with your dog, including the
widely praised The Canine Hiker’s Bible. As publisher of Cruden Bay Books, we
produce the innovative A Bark In The Park series of canine hiking books found at
http://www.hikewithyourdog.com. During the warm months I lead canine hikes as
tour leader for hikewithyourdog.com tours, leading packs of dogs and humans on
day and overnight trips. My lead dog is Katie, a German Shepherd-Border Collie mix,
who has hiked in all of the Lower 48 states and is on a quest to swim in all the great
waters of North America - http://web.mac.com/crudbay/iWeb/Katies%20Blog/Katies%20Quest.html I am currently building a hikewithyourdog.com tours trailer to
use on our expeditions and its progress can be viewed at http://web.mac.com/crudbay/iWeb/Teardrop%20Trailer/Building%20A%20Tour%20Trailer.html

Every four years a World Cup will come along and occupy a football fan’s thoughts and time for weeks. Game after game, the best footballers in the world will parade their skills in front of thousands at the stadium and millions watching on the TV back in their homes.

Players

Players generally make the World Cup what it is. If there were not great players we would certainly not be watching this tournament in the vast numbers that we do. In previous World Cup finals we have seen the emergence of some great talents, talents that we would not normally be able to see.

History

Which players did the world discover after displaying their skills in previous World Cups? There would be far too greats many to be able to list in detail and there has always has always been heated discussions about who is the greatest player of all time, with two players always at the forefront of the debate.

Lets look at these players’ credentials.

Diego Armando Maradona [Argentina]

[World Cup Honours : 1982, 1986 (winner), 1990 (2nd), 1994]

Maradona is a flawed genius, no-one has ever had his sublime talents and been able to hit the self destruct button with such great effect. Never before has a player been credited with winning the World Cup trophy single handed as he did in Mexico 1986. Even in the infamous 1986 quarter final and scoring what is widely regarded the best goal that has ever been scored in the Finals. After picking the ball up in his own half he managed to dribble hi way through a quality England side before slotting the ball past Peter Shilton, the England keeper on the day.

The Argentinean team that he played with in this tournament were all excellent players but possibly not quite good enough to lift the trophy. However, with Maradona at the height of his powers there could only be one team that could possibly win.

Maradona also helped his nation to the final of the World Cup in 1990 in Italy and only lost to a German penalty scored by Andy Brehme.

However, after failing a drug test in 1991 his career was on a downhill path and then came his final appearance on the greatest stage in the game of football.

In 1994, the World Cup in USA when he scored in Argentina’s first game against Greece anyone that watched his celebration knew that it was not only adreneline that powered the little magician. Eyes glaring into the camera, the hearts of all Argentineans knew that drugs were fuelling their talismanic captain. A drug test followed and the inevitable positive result ended Maradona’s tournament and effectively his career.

Edson Arantes do Nascimento - Pele

[World Cup honours : 1958 (winner), 1962 (winner), 1966, 1970 (winner)]

The only similarity between Pele and Maradona is that they hail from the same continent. Pele was the original World superstar, enjoying a career that can be regarded as a being a model professional.

Pele’s credentials are there for all to see, he set up goals, he was an instrumental leader on and off the field and he also scored goals. In fact the amount of goals that he scored is a substantial feat in itself.

His record is phenomenal, scoring five goals in a game six times, four goals 30 times and three goals 90 times. These are numbers the modern player can never dream of matching. In his illustrious playing career he scored a stunning total of 1283 goals. In his international career he scored an amazing 77 goals in 92 appearances. However, there was much more to Pele than ‘just’ goals.

He will also be remembered as being the only player in history for winning the world Cup on three occasions, a feat that is unlikely to ever be repeated. Only an injury in 1966 in England stopped him from possibly winning the World Cup on four consecutive occasions, allowing a fine England side to become World Champions for the first time.

He was captain of the greatest team of all time, the 1970 Brazil side that won the tournament so convincingly in Mexico. Anyone who has watched the final game of that tournament, which Brazil defeated Italy by four goals to one, will be amazed at the skill and vision of the original total footballing side.

Given that Pele hung his playing boots up over 20 years ago and is still revered by football fans that never saw him in his prime is testament to the great man’s passion and skill for the greatest game of all.

Other Great Players

Many others have graced the greatest tournament that is the World Cup, but both of the players named above are by far heralded as the greatest two. But who would make the top ten complete?

Gordon Banks, Eusebio, Puskas, Zinedine Zidane, Michel Platini, Franz Beckenbauer, Garrincha and the Johann Cruyff to name but a few. In fact many modern day critics may have Cruyff as the greatest modern player, a player who helped to mould the game into the style of play that you see today.

Then there are players that did not manage to show their talents in the World Cup, the most notable being the late, great George Best from Northern Ireland. The other most notable absentee is Alfredo Di Stefano. There are actually many Latin Americans that would hail the ‘Blonde Arrow’ Di Stefano as the greatest player that the world has ever seen.

Among those still playing, Czech Republic playmaker Pavel Nedved, of Juventus, Manchester United’s Dutch predator Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ukrainian goal-machine Andrey Shevchenko, of AC Milan, would top the list. But all three will appear at Germany 2006, barring late injuries, and will probably write some new headlines too.

We look forward to this year’s event with great enthusiasm and hopefully it will be remembered as being one of the greatest tournaments of all time. Let us all hope!

Joe Kenny writes for Football Talk, an online football news and discussion site. Discuss this year’s World Cup in Germany in our football forums. With the latest football news on the World Cup, transfers and more.

Visit Football Talk today: http://footballtalk.org

When you are hoping to improve your tennis qualities then an advanced performing racquet ought to be in all probability one of the items close to the top of your listing. Yet, prior to buying a tennis racket there are a very large amount of reasons that ought to be included. These comprise of: the tennis rackets weight, solidity, head dimensions and numerous other aspects. Through realizing what advantages the alternative kind of rackets can offer will support you to make a better assessment all through the procurement course. For your essential guide to the world of tennis visit, www.vtennis.co.uk today!

Power Level:

The strength excised by modern day tennis racquet fluctuates greatly & each and every level offers numerous benefits depending on your specific technique. The 3 variety of strength levels in a tennis racket are the following; ?Power Rackets?, ?Tweener Rackets’ and ?Control Rackets?,

Power rackets presents a big amount of power & is aimed for tennis people to take smaller and smoother tennis movements. Tweener rackets are for tennis people that are hoping for a compromise between strength and control & are then intended for persons that adopt a medium to long tennis racket swing speeds, and what’s more take a medium to long cuts at the ball. These are more suited for juniors who are going to full length tennis rackets.

Last, but without a doubt not least, control racquets are expected to be for tennis players that need extensive and rapid racket swings when they play. The central explanation for this is that control tennis rackets ask the tennis individual to manufacture the power. This category of tennis racquet must be stayed away from by teenagers unless they can be able to manage the supplementary weight.

This lesson is entitled, “How to Maximize your Distance by
Hitting Triples instead of Home Runs” and it’s a great overall
theory to build your entire swing around. Keep this in the back
of your head at all times while you are on the course, and
remind yourself of it before every shot. The result will be
increased distance and straighter shots because you’ll be
releasing your hands through the ball better.

Background Info :

Many recreational golfers struggle with slices, blocks, and
inconsistency because they don’t know how to release their hands
through the ball correctly. By “releasing your hands through the
ball”, I am describing the act of maximizing your club head
speed at the moment of impact, and eliminating the “outside-in”
movement that creates a slice.

How You Will Benefit:

- You’ll learn an easy way of “getting your hands through the
ball” - You’ll be increasing the speed of the club head through
the impact zone - You will ensure that the club head is square
at impact (which will drastically reduce any slice that you
have) What To Do:

Step 1: Create the “X”

This means that on the follow through, you need to focus on
making your forearms cross. This will ensure that your hands
have released through the ball correctly. Here’s an illustration
of what I am talking about.

Notice the “X” that is created after impact and where the shaft
of the club is pointed. Practice getting in this position.
Practice creating that “X” after impact.

It will be easy to understand the alterative by paying attention
to where the club is pointed, which I will explain in the next
step.

Step 2: Finish at Third Base

Focus on pointing the club down the third base line on your
follow through. In relation to where my feet are pointed in the
picture at left, the club is pointed down the third base line.
This is what we want.

Many golfers finish their swing with the club straight up in the
air, or even pointed down the first base line in relation to
their feet. Try that once, and you will feel the extreme
“outside-in” movement that produces a slice. This is nothing
more than a habit that can be easily broken. The Simple Golf
Swing goes over this step in much more detail.

Summary:

So when you are on the tee next time, focus on just 2 things.
Make the “X” and “finish at third”. That’s it. Swinging easy
should already be grooved into your swing from the last tip I
sent. Focus on these 2 tips, and you should be on your way to
consistently staying out of trouble with your driver, which is
the first step to scoring better.