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Tuesday, January 1, 2008
If you love to watch movies, Pay Per View gives you choices of new releases of Hollywood movies. They are usually available after they hit the local video stores and rentals. You don't have to leave home whenever you want to see your most awaited show. It is just button clicks away and can never run out of stock for you to order. In the past, Pay Per View has to be ordered by phone but now there is a digital cable where you just have to push buttons on your remote control. There is a rapid increase of subscribers if there are big events such as boxing, because fans need not to fall in line and buy tickets but are always in the front row together with their families and friends. Not long ago, when my friends and I were a little crazy about boxing, we used to alternate as host to subscribe to Pay Per View. Not only the fee was reduced per person, but there was a lot of fun in cheering your favorite boxer. And of course there were a lot of friendly betting going on. Those were the days of the famous fights like Duran-Leonard, Leonard-Haggler, and Leonard-Hearns. I really missed those fun times. Suthin Liptawat is a movie enthusiast. He sees at least 100 movies a year on the silver screen. See his website about movies at www.entertainmentandmovie.com Perfecting Your Chip Shot Copyright (c) 2007 Jack Moorehouse I see it all the time with players who come to me for golf lessons. Players don't progress fast enough and they get discourage. They stop golf lessons and play only sporadically, which doesn't help their game. If you really want to improve and you want to do it quickly, perfecting your chip shot is among the easiest and fastest way to do it. It's also a great way to lower your golf handicap. But it takes work. The goal of a chip shot is to loft the ball over uneven ground and onto the green, where it can roll smoothly to the hole. Executed correctly, a good chip shot saves one to two strokes per hole. Executed incorrectly, however, it spells disaster. And while a chip shot isn't hard to execute, some players still have problems hitting it correctly. Most of the times, it's just a matter of applying the right technique and practicing the shot until you've mastered it. The Basic Technique The basic chip shot is just that-basic. To fine-tune your chipping with less fuss and more accuracy, do the following: * Set the right address * Grip down on the club * Hinge the right wrist * Let the hands lead * Keep wrists firm through impact You can chip with an 8-iron, a 9-iron, or a pitching wedge. Take a slightly open address position, with your weight forward. Position the ball closer to your back foot, hands in front of the ball, which "hoods" the clubface and gives you the loft of a 7 iron. And grip down on the club 4 or 5 inches for more control. Now, hinge your wrists slightly during the takeaway and strike down on the ball crisply. Your hands should lead through the hitting zone. For solid contact, return the hands and arms to where they were at address, which helps produce good ball-then-turf contact. Keep the wrists firm through impact, and don't turn the wrists over during follow-through. Stay relaxed and loose throughout the shot. Chipping from the Rough That's the basic shot. But what about chipping from the rough, you ask? The problem with chipping from the rough is the high grass. The longer the grass, the more it wraps itself around the club's hosel, delofting the club on impact. What's more, the grass trapped between the clubface and the ball reduces spin, causing the ball to roll more upon landing. To chip from the rough: 1. Set up as you normally would for a chip shot. 2. Move your hands down the club. 3. Grip the club firmer than usual. 4. Play the ball forward in your stance. 5. Hinge your wrists to steepen the angle of approach 6. Shift the hands and the body slightly left 7. Allow the clubhead to come through the ball If it's a long chip from the rough, remember to factor in more roll when it lands on the green. If the grass is really thick, you can play the shot like a greenside bunker shot. Open your stance and your clubface, creating loft. Then hit the ball. You'll come out soft and stop quicker than usual. Chipping From Off the Green Chipping from just off the green is also tricky. Here, you can chip as you putt. The 8-iron is ideal for this shot. Address the ball as if you were going to make a long putt, instead of a chip. Use a putting grip but play the ball just off the inside of your back heel. Keep your hands and weight forward, favoring your front side, but hold the club vertically, so that the club's heel is raised off the ground. Spread your elbows Instead of hitting down on the ball, hit it with a gentle rocking of the shoulders, like you were putting. This technique raises the club several inches off the ground in the backswing, and forces you to hit down on the ball slightly, chipping it into the air. Concentrate on maintaining the width of the gap between your elbows as you swing through, ensuring a pure arms-and-shoulders motion. Remember to take into consideration the slope of the green, just as you would if you were putting. Chipping Drills The random ball drill is the simplest of all chipping drills. It's also probably the best. Take several balls with you and your chipping club(s). Spread the balls around the green. Pick out as many different lies as you can. Create scenarios as much like actual play as possible. Practice chipping with the iron of choice, then move on to another club. Master chipping with one club before moving on to other clubs. To practice this chip from the rough shot, place a ball just outside the first cut of rough on the fringe of the green. The grass should be about one to one and one-half inches in length. Instead of hitting the ball, practice just sweeping the tips of the grass. Use a low sweeping motion employing just your arms and shoulders. After ten sweeps, move immediately to the ball and chip it using the same motion. Then move the ball back to higher grass and repeat the sequence. The key to accurate chipping is keeping the ball low so it runs like a putt when it hits the ground. Here's a drill I use in my golf lessons designed to teach players to keep the ball low. Lay a club or bag horizontally across two baskets placed about three feet apart. Then, step back a few feet and try chipping under the obstacle toward the hole, using either a wedge, an 8-iron, or a 9-iron. To chip under the obstacle, you must deloft the club, which you can do by keeping your hands ahead of the clubhead when you swing. Having a visual obstacle to hit the ball under forces you to develop your ability to keep the ball low. Keep practicing this shot until it becomes second nature Mastering the chip shot-outside of putting- improves your game faster than anything else. It chops unnecessary strokes of your golf handicap as well. But you must work at it. Set up a practice routine and follow it faithfully. Work on the drills discussed above and add some others for variety. Play games with your friends. Do everything you can to keep it interesting. You'll quickly see improvement in your scores and your game. ------ Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book "How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros." He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction. Boat Accessory, Boat Bumpers Storage Solutions If you are wondering what to do with your boat accessories, specifically boat fenders, and how to store all that “stuff,” listen up to the following suggestion. Storage on boats is always a challenge. There are storage compartments under bench seats, under single seats, in a side hole, or if your boat is large enough, there may be a storage locker or closet. Of course, there is usually somewhere to put your boat accessories: boat fenders, towels, tools, spare engine parts, anchors and an extra propeller; but let’s face it, boat accessory storage is at a premium. The trick is to own the type of boat accessories which respect economy of space. Not everything can be broken down and folded up, but you can think ahead before purchasing your boat fenders and other accessories. Now, at the beginning of the boating season, is the best time to prepare, look at the overall picture, and get organized. You want space for your passengers and their gear to be a priority, not have your boating accessories take up all of your people space. Let’s look at Boat Fenders. You need them, of course, but do you need them all the time? No. Are you tired of them taking up so much space or rolling around on the floor? Yes, of course. The solution is to have boat bumpers you can deflate, compact and store in a small space like the new Inflatable/Deflatable Boat Fenders from Boat Bunkers. These boat bumpers are truly space saving and convenient. Boat Bunkers Inflatable Boat Fenders are made of a high-impact absorbing material. They inflate in seconds with just a few strokes of the hand or foot pump through a high-volume, one-way recessed valve for the occasions when you need them. Now here’s the beauty of it. When you’re done using your boat fender, simply unscrew the cap. It instantly deflates and you can roll it up. You can fit four boat fenders and the pump in the compact tote bag which comes with the set. They can match your boat with a variety of available colors which include black, dark blue, light blue, red and green. They come in four sizes of small, medium, large and extra large. The extra large boat bumper inflates with a handy foot pump. These boat bumpers are great quality, come with a heavy-duty abrasion-resistant cover, a built-in strap and buckle for convenient attachment to your boat, and have a manufacturer’s Lifetime Guaranty. The whole “kit,” which includes four boat fenders, the pump and tote bag, starts at only $79.96 for the small size, a very affordable package price. I use these boat fenders myself and really feel they are an asset no boat owner should be without. I am a big believer in anything useful which is more efficient, compact, and space-saving. These boat fenders really fit that bill and are just what you need this season to make your life a little easier. Including these boat fenders in your boat accessories list will improve your boating experience simply because you are saving space. Andrew Dvorak is the owner of Quality Marine Supply and has 24 years of boating experience. Quality Marine Supply offers many unique, high-quality and time-saving marine supplies. Keeping in mind the needs of boaters to save space, be more efficient with their time, and to protect their valuable asset (their boat), we sell products ranging frominflatable/deflatable boat fendersand collapsible box anchors to top-quality boat accessories and boat maintenance products. We also feature marine electronics, water sports products from wakeboarding and skiing to water towables, and water sport accessories. Quality Marine Supply is your ‘Source for a Better Boating Experience.’ |
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