In Park City, Utah, dinner & bar hopping along Historic Main Street makes a great end to a long “hard day” on the ski slopes.

Since ya can’t ski there, take a taxi or one of Park City’s free buses from your rental condo to the top of Park City Utah’s historic Main Street (that’s 200 South for the detail-oriented types). That way, you can walk downhill and end up close to the Park City’s Transit Center for the trip home (keep in mind, the last one leaves at 1:55 am).

If eating hot wings & watching sports is your thing, then start at Wasatch Brew Pub there at 250 Main Street. Otherwise, our first stop is Cisero’s (306 S. Main), Park City’s most popular Italian restaurant. After a delicious house-made Italian dinner, venture downstairs to relax and listen to DJ music or live bands playing jazz, blues, rock, & more. The dancing’s great here (but save the boogie shoes tread for down the road). While the night’s still young and Cisero’s is not too packed (yet), it’s perfect for kicking back enjoying an after-dinner drink together while sharing ski stories. Oh, by the way, to get around Utah’s “unique” liquor laws, buy a “temporary membership” at each club on the tour (think of it instead as a small admission fee).

Prefer smoke-free clubs like many Utah locals do? then stop off at The Spur at 350 Main, which offers great live music.

Ok, now it’s across & down the road to Harry O’s (at 427, 2nd floor). If it’s Saturday night, this well-known and very popular Park City Utah night-life Mecca is a must. Harry O’s has THE largest dance floor in Park City and features hip-hop to disco & top 40 — laser lighting, videos, & digital displays add to the energy. Take a break from dancing at their fleet of pool tables or at a table near the stage that pulls in familiar names like Sammy Hagar and Jimmy Cliff, or just hang in the lounge areas up on the balcony to catch your breath and nurse a cold drink (yup, that’s right, another temporary membership… try not to dwell on that part, ok?). With six full-service bars available, there’s no trouble finding a cold one.

Let’s save the No Name Saloon (447) for a decade or two. It caters to a fun but slightly older local crowd.

Strolling along to the next stop on our Park City night club tour, you’ll cross Heber Avenue. Look down the road to the right as you cross so you’ll remember later what it looks like. When the evening’s over, come back up the street and go that way to the Old Town Transit Center to catch a bus back to your rental condo.

Next comes Mother Urban’s Ratskeller, (or “Ma Urban’s” as the locals call it) on down at 625 Main. Named for the peg-legged Madam that ran the joint during Park City Utah’s glory days as a rough & tumble mining town, Ma Urban’s is a cozy, rustic, private night club that has gained quite a reputation for live jazz and blues performances several nights each week. And of course they have pool tables, darts, & video games. The bar makes available all sorts of drinks, including mixed beverages & more than 100 “liquid breads.” No matter which, you’ll find yourself welcomed by the locals and enjoying the ambience. And there are plenty of dark corners for getting cozy.

Finally, it’s back across the street and down a touch to JB Mulligans Club & Pub (804 Main). A more relaxed and friendly bar that offers a great place to wind down from the glitz & hectic pace of the earlier clubs. Mulligan’s charm comes in its subdued atmosphere and live music performances. Regional bands are incredibly popular, playing jazz, reggae, & bluegrass. When they don’t perform, the jukebox offers favorite tunes of all varieties. Maybe now you’re ready for the pool tables, video games, darts, & foosball ya passed up earlier. The large fireplace creates a cozy ambience and provides a real nice touch. Guinness is on tap.

Well, it’s getting late! The ski day starts early, so it’s back up to Heber Avenue and over to the Transit Center. Be sure to arrive BEFORE 1:55 am when the last bus leaves. This late, the buses leave the Transit Center every half hour at 25 and 55 after the hour.

Once back at the rental condo, dream peacefully about Park City’s endless snow-covered ski slopes and the awesome evening out.

Alemany seguir el da a da desde la distancia
PACO MUOZ Palma

Mateo Alemany tiene previsto cumplir el compromiso adquirido con Héctor Cper y Vicen Grande manteniendo su cargo de presidente de la comisin deportiva, adems de seguir como miembro del Consejo de administracin de la entidad bermellona.

El principal cambio durante la temporada que se inici el pasado domingo se ver reflejado en el da a da del que no participar Mateo Alemany, aunque estar a disposicin del club balear cuando lo requiera el técnico argentino con el que le une una buena relacin.

Protagonismo
Mateo Alemany ha llevado las negociaciones en los once fichajes que ha realizado la entidad balear en el presente ejercicio, si bien su grado de responsabilidad, no es ni mucho menos el que ha tenido durante los cinco aos de presidente o anteriormente como consejero delegado, donde se ha logrado los mayores éxitos del club bermelln con la participacin por primera vez en la historia en Liga de Campeones, en la Copa UEFA, subcampeonato de la Recopa o el ttulo de la Copa del Rey obtenido en Elche el pasado 28 de junio de 2003 cuando derrot 3-0 al Recreativo.

Este nuevo ciclo en su vida, le servir a Mateo Alemany para dedicarlo a aspectos ms personales a los que no ha podido atender durante los aos de mxima responsabilidad en el club mallorqun.

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If you’ve played golf for any length of time, you have undoubtedly encountered a situation or two which made you nervous. This phenomena is called ‘tee box pressure’, or TBP for short.

Perhaps it’s happened when you were getting ready to hit your tee shot off #1 with a dozen people watching. Maybe it was when you were paired with the top golfer in your club championship. Whatever the situation, one thing is sure: every golfer will find themselves dealing with TBP sooner or later!

WHY THE NERVES?

What is it about golf that gets us feeling this way in the first place? After all, when you step onto the golf course, there usually aren’t any lives at stake. In addition, whether you perform well or not on any given day, there are a billion people in China who will not care!

This is a complicated question which will have different answers for different people. Often times, we have too much of our egos wrapped up in the game. The more we invest in something (and we all know that golf can be all-consuming), the more we expect in return. When the ‘game is on’, we fear failure. With this fear in our mind, our muscles tighten. This, in turn, makes it harder to have the free-flowing swing and effective touch game that is needed to score well.

Here are a few tips which will help you the next time you are getting ready to play a pressure round.

1. PREPARE MENTALLY

During the days leading up to the big game, prepare yourself mentally for the atmosphere you will be facing. You know you are going to be nervous. Being nervous, however, does not mean you cannot hit good golf shots. Think of all the times you have hit good shots under pressure before.

Picture yourself dealing with various situations that will occur during the upcoming round. Think of the feeling as you prepare to hit your first tee shot. Your heart is beating out of control. Then, you swing under control, in good tempo, and strike a solid one right down the middle of the fairway.

Next, imagine hitting one into trouble. You’re confronted with the options and weigh the risks of punching a miracle shot through the trees. Instead, you calm yourself and ‘take your medicine’ by chipping back out to the fairway. This type of clear thinking will help you to avoid those double and triple bogeys which ruin rounds.

2. CONSERVATIVE STRATEGY – CONFIDENT SWING

The term ‘choke’ is applied to people who don’t perform well under pressure. Who can forget poor Greg Norman losing that 6-shot lead to Nick Faldo at the Masters tournament? The main reason people choke is simply because their thought processes become illogical. They start thinking negatively as if they have never hit a solid golf shot. Or, they start to take unnecessary chances and over-swing in the process.

Before the round, make up your mind that you will not beat yourself. Let the other players beat you. Hit shots that you know you can hit. One top amateur player used this strategy in the Minnesota State Amateur qualifying round at the Lake City Golf Club. He wasn’t playing very well on the front nine and was tempted several times to ‘go for broke’. On the eighth hole, a par five, his second shot left him about 110 yards out in some gnarly rough. He had a good angle at the pin, but if the shot went long, it was obviously going down an embankment leading to a difficult chip with little green to work with. However, he felt like he needed a ‘make something happen’. So, he debated whether to try to finesse a full wedge, or to take a full swing with his gap wedge. He had more confidence in the gap wedge because he knew this club would never put him in the big trouble which was over the green. He selected the gap wedge (conservative strategy) and made a confident swing which left the ball 30 feet below the hole. He two-putted and took his par.

This strategy paid off as he made birdie on the next hole. All of a sudden, his marginal round was heading in the right direction! This may not have been possible if he had taken the aggressive route on the previous hole and gone over the green.

3. LET GO OF THE HANDLE BARS!

A player recently quipped, “You’ve got to let go of the handle bars!” How descriptive of the golfer who, when under pressure, holds onto the club as if it had “handle bars”. Unlike riding a bicycle, holding onto the handle bars is a bad thing in golf!

In other words, you’ve got to let the club swing to be effective. Holding on and trying to steer the ball down the fairway will produce less distance and less accuracy. A golfer has to feel like they are ‘giving up control’ of the swing. In other words, the golfer must trust that what he has trained will work when the pressure is on. This is called ‘muscle memory’.

Giving up control gets progressively harder as the round progresses. The tendency is to start counting your score as you try to figure out how you’re faring compared to everyone else. You must counteract that tendency by consciously trying to swing looser and freer as the round goes on. Stay focused on what you’re trying to do – forget about everyone else. You can’t control them anyway.

Keep the game simple. Pick your target, go through your pre-shot routine and let your swing go! Stay within yourself and you won’t be a victim of that TBP!

The son of a skateboarder, Spencer Semien was on a skateboard himself by the time he was three years old.

“All of a sudden, skateboarding became his passion,” says his mother, Marla Sneed.

As any parent knows, a child’s passion can be quite expensive and Spencer needed a part-time job to support his skateboarding activities. He already had an interest in computers and, in fact, had built a personal web site, so building one devoted to skateboarding was the logical next step. With the help of his mother and a Denver-area skateboard shop, the 11-year old got his site up and running. The official launch date was Oct. 21 of last year.

First and foremost, the site markets skateboarding equipment to intermediate-level skaters and higher. Skaters can purchase pre-built complete decks (that’s a fully assembled skateboard) as well as individual parts and accessories, everything from wheels, to grip tape, (intended to give the skater a surer foothold on the board), to skateboard repair tools, to the latest in safety equipment.

And those that switch from skateboarding in the warm weather to snowboarding in the winter haven’t been neglected; the site also provides a snowboarding section with a selection of snowboards and protective gear.

In addition to serving as an equipment supply headquarters, the site provides a full range of skateboarding services.
Site visitors can access a technical support page, which provides information on which skateboard might best serve their needs, or study (and purchase) plans for building a skateboarding ramp of their own.

Site visitors can access a technical support page, which provides information on which skateboard might best serve their needs, or study (and purchase) plans for building a skateboarding ramp of their own.

For today’s skaters, the site makes use of video technology. Video clips allowing aspiring skaters to study tricks performed by people Spencer has chosen as “worthy of being sponsored” by his website are represented. After many days of viewing “sponsor me” videos, a select few were chosen to receive recognition and free merchandise from this site.

The site also caters to visitors who aren’t skaters, such as parents of skaters or those who want to become more knowledgeable about a friend’s favorite pastime. A history section details the evolution of skateboarding, from the early 1900s to the present day, with the focus being on the evolution of the actual skateboard and skateboarding competitions, but also taking care to address the issues that have plagued the sport through the years, specifically, issues dealing with safety.

As hard as it might be for today’s corps of skaters to believe, there was a time when no one thought about putting on a helmet and protective padding before getting on a skateboard. And in the late ’70s, many public skateboard parks were shut down because of liability issues. Rather than whitewash all these issues, the site points them out.

By perhaps clearing up some misconceptions about skateboarding, this site seems to be working to increase its bottom line, while embarking on enhancing the growth of the sport.

For this reason alone, the site is something Spencer Semien and his mother should be very proud of.

Visit http://www.allproskate.com for all of your skateboarding needs! With over 9000 products to choose from, Allproskate offers 100% secure online ordering as well as discounts and specials on brand name products such as Element, Girl, Flip, Habitat, Hookups, Independent, Mystery, Spit Fire, Zero, Zoo York and more. If you purchase $150.00 or more shipping is free! There are also many youth and adult skateboarding clothes available as well as discounted yearly subscriptions to the latest and most popular skateboard magazines like Thrasher and Slap.

Allproskate has its own Blog located at http://allproskate.blogspot.com/ offering information on the latest skateboard contests, news and events. Here you can post and view skateboard contests from around the world. While your there you can visit Allprokate’s Daily Skateboarding News page located at http://www.allproskate.com/site/955556/page/479225 keeping you up to date on current skateboarding news. Allproskate cares about its customers and offers exceptional customer service. Check out Allproskate today!

I grew up as an unathletic kid. My mother was unathletic, so she just assumed I was too. You see, our family has weak ankles and no coordination. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized that all this was a lie. I wasn’t unathletic – I just hated team sports. I discovered I actually had a flair for dance, which takes quite a bit of athleticism and coordination. Weak ankles? Of course they’re weak if you don’t do anything to build up their strength. A lot of the physical deficiencies that I thought I’d inherited were really born out of laziness and blind acceptance – those were the real deficiencies. Once I worked on overcoming those, my body got stronger and I started enjoying physical activities.

On the positive side, we don’t have weight problems in our family. As a matter of fact, my dad’s weight is within 10 pounds of what he weighed in high school. Is that due to genetics? Not really. We’re just very moderate in our eating habits. More than once I’ve visited friends whose relatives were on the plus side and found that their meals were also plus sized. What am I trying to say here? Maybe you won’t like this, but I’m trying to pull the security blanket called “blame” out of your grasp. It’s necessary if you ever want to make any changes in your life. You have to let go so your hands are open to receive new ideas, information and attitudes.

It’s a favorite family game to blame genetics for a lot of problems. Weight issues, weak knees, heart disease, fallen arches – if you’ve got it, chances are so does someone else in your family. People often assume that means it – whatever “it” happens to be – is hereditary. And yes, certain conditions are hereditary. Heart disease and obesity do run in families and doctors do find genetic links. But not always. And there are also times when a family’s lifestyle choices can make a genetic condition worse. So before assuming you are destined to suffer from any particular physical affliction just because your father or grandmother did, examine family habits. They’re just as telling as genetics.

One of the easiest habits to dissect is eating habits. Every family has its own approach to food, and it is often handed down from generation to generation. What types of meals run in your family? How big are the portions? Does your family serve up hefty amounts of meat and potatoes? Are comfort foods like macaroni and cheese frequent visitors to the dining table? Are there a lot of chips or homemade cookies available all the time for snacking, and do most meals end with a rich dessert? Then it’s no surprise if many of your family members might have a weight or cholesterol problem. While nothing can match the taste of your mother’s home cooking, you may have inherited some poor eating habits along with the heirloom recipes. Consider creating light versions of those rich recipes, cutting down on those huge portions of mashed potatoes and adding more vegetables to the dinner plate (and to lunch too, for that matter). There are many ways to lean down your menu without completely forsaking family fare.

What other habits run in your family? Do any of your relatives smoke or drink excessively? Do most of them turn into couch potatoes once they get out of school? These are sure setups for health problems later in life. While it’s tough enough to quit a bad habit like smoking (it’s really better to never start at all), it may be even tougher to begin a good habit and stick to it. The effort is worthwhile, however – regular exercise lowers your risk of developing, among other things, heart disease, obesity, diabetes and osteoporosis. If any of these diseases run in your family, it should be a good incentive to get moving. Exercise will enhance your health, no matter what type of genetics you may have been born with.

Perhaps the most insidious family trait is mental attitude. If you come from a family that, as a whole, presents a youthful, positive attitude towards life, you are probably the same way. On the other hand, if the older members of your family seem to age prematurely, or if they let life drag them down, then it’s possible their attitudes are dragging you down, too. A negative mental attitude is one of the hardest habits to break away from – to do so requires a high level of awareness. If you observe your family and yourself for a while you’ll realize that you are all talking yourselves into certain behaviors. Someone who blames his aches and pains on “getting old” is actually giving himself permission to have those aches and pains since it is impossible to stop time. If the same person decides to take up Yoga to deal with, say, morning stiffness or minor back pain, he is taking control of the situation and being an active participant in his wellbeing. When it comes to your health – and many other aspects of life – it’s important to think actively. To think passively is to give up, to find excuses to be less active, less of a participant in life. We all have limitations, of course, but how do we know what our limits are if we don’t test them? And the only way to test them is to first drop your preconceived notions of what is and what isn’t.

All of us carry some sort of baggage left over from the atmosphere we grew up in. That doesn’t mean you should disinherit your family – you no doubt inherited quite a few good qualities and values from them too – but do disinherit the bad habits and negative mental attitudes that may have been handed down through the generations. No matter where you come from, ultimately you create your own destiny. Taking charge of your wellbeing and your life could even rub off on some of your relatives, creating a legacy you can be proud of.

The Golf Swing: Phases Of Your Tee-off, Putt, Or Any Other Swing

Picture yourself in this scene at the first tee of a golf course.

* Hold the golf club loosely * Have my left thumb here * Bend my knees there * Keep my eye on the ball * Get outta here you miserable fly! * Don’t talk on the tee * What was that important tip dad told me yesterday? * Good grief! Everyone is staring at me! * What did the golf teacher on the Golf Channel say last week? * Rats! I got my 6-iron instead of my 9-iron! * What did my neighbor’s cat say to do? * Aaaaarrrrrrrggghhhh! * There’s too much to remember!

Don’t despair! Below, you will learn an orderly solution to this confusing state of affairs as you attempt to tee-off, putt, chip, pitch, or play any other type of golf shot.

In time you will blend some of the following phases together as one phase. But, never develop thoughts which jump back and forth among these phases.

This is the 3rd article in my series which will lead you towards good putting, chipping, and swing skills.

In my 2nd article I introduced you to the idea that most of our poor golf skills come mostly from one wrong thought which is buried in our subconscious thinking. Much of what I have taught my golf students is designed to replace that wrong thinking with a better thought which can become part of our subconscious control of the golf swing.

This article will give you an overview of a very important part of your golfing — what to think about when you try to hit that white round “thingy” on the ground (or in the water or off the neighbor’s flower bed.)

By following a regular pattern in your effort to hit the golf ball you will be able to give more attention to overcoming that subconscious, natural desire to push your golf club through the ball to make the ball get to point B.

You will learn about a basic step-by-step process that you can follow for every golf shot. This is a bit lengthy but it covers some important ideas.

I want you to know these phases before you get into my putting and swing instructions. These lesson modules are given in a way which follow these phases. You will be able to apply them in your current golf outings. You will also be able to practice these phases in a limited way if you practice putting on your carpet at home.

This process separates a lot of things you try to remember into a consistent order of events which will become a habit for you to follow without giving much thought. In fact, at each phase you will eventually focus on 1 or 2 ideas which will act as a guide for doing that phase with very little thought.

Many of these phases are given in a way so that you can:

* do them * know that you are prepared for the remaining phases * and then change your focus to the next phase without going back to any thoughts of the phase you have just done

Your thoughts will be so organized that you will not feel like you are running through a checklist of 20 to 50 tips that have you fidgeting at the ball as you try to remember what to do.

Phase One – DISTANCE:

It begins as you arrive at the next tee-off or where your ball lies from the previous hit. It makes you think of the distance or the height of your next hit. When you know your distance or height choose the club which is usually hitting the ball the indicated distance Once the correct golf club is in your hands you eliminate distance from any further part of your golf swing steps This phase is the first of two phases which deal with you, the golf ball, and where the ball is to land.

Optional Phase — PRACTICE SWINGS away from the ball or tee-off:

Light, half-swings Practice your posture for the club in your hands Practice your turn movements in posture. So important! Training your back and “tummy” muscles to execute the main part of swinging your golf club is the priority. Give thought to these phases of playing your golf shot

Phase Two — POSITION at the ball and DIRECTION:

Here you place your feet with 3 objectives in mind: Line your toes of both feet along a parallel line from the ball to it destination. Move closer or farther from the ball to allow you to be in good posture Move sideways to the ball so it is positioned where you want it between your feet. My lesson modules will teach you some ways to do this phase. When you are satisfied that your feet are positioned do not move them again until the momentum of your club, arms, and body pull you into an upright posture as your swing is finishing. Once you have completed this phase you can hold the club wherever you want to prepare for the next phase. DIRECTION and DISTANCE are now complete. You do not want to think of these 2 elements of your golf swing process again. The remaining phases focus on you, the golf club, the golf ball, and your swing movements and non-movements.

Phase Three — TAKE HOLD of your golf CLUB

In this phase you “grip” your golf club in your desired manner. As you do this your feet are not to move. This phase also places the bottom of the club head in the correct alignment to your body. My articles and lesson modules will help you develop a desired grip on your club. Once you have taken hold of the club you should not move your hands or fingers on the club for any reason – no fidgeting!

Phase Four — POSTURE of your legs, body, head, and arms

Here you establish your foundation for controlled movements You establish desired angles of all joints to allow the best freedom of movement when you swing the club. You position yourself in these angles while confirming that you feel almost the same comfort you do while standing in a natural position. You do not want to feel any stress. If you do then you will most likely be out of posture in some part of your legs, body, arms, or head. My articles and lesson modules will teach you how to practice a good golf posture at home until you can feel what your posture should be without going through the practice steps. You will also learn to feel 3 body check points and one visual check point so you can be in posture in 1 or 2 seconds once you have gripped your golf club.

Phase Five — SNUG: not “loose” – not “relaxed” – not “rigid”

What is THIS?!!! I have seen golfers “keeping their heads still” so rigidly their heads quiver. I have seen golfers so relaxed or loose that every move they try to make causes other movements they don’t want to make. The idea of relaxed means that you are comfortable and confident in your head that you have done some orderly steps to prepare you for the best golf swing you can do. It is a “head” thing — not a body thing. You need to snug your joints just enough so that you do not have unwanted movements when you carry out your intended movements. Do you want to learn to do a “one piece takeaway”? Learn a comfortable level of snugness in your body and you will be ready to do this skill. (I have an article on how to do the “one piece takeaway”. Check out my website for its availability.) I also have an article about firming a part of your body which is seldom referred to in talk about golf swing technique. Watch for this article.

Phase Six — WHERE IS YOUR SPINE?

“Whaaaat? Why it is behind my tummy and heart!” Right. But, it is also at a specific angle that you set in Phase Four. To make comfortable, controlled turns in the next 2 phases you need to be aware of your spine angle.

A pause in the steps

Everything you have done in the phases listed above has been to prepare you for the next 2 phases. You do not have to rush through the above steps. But, you do not want to take too long at each stage. Now, you are about to carry out the motion phases which can last less than 3 seconds.

If you carefully prepare yourself in the above phases you will be ready for the stresses you will experience in the takeaway and return swing movements.

Phase Seven – TAKEAWAY or Backswing

Your golf swing can be ruined within the first inch of whatever movement you do in this phase. Here, you need to know how to comfortably do 2 critical movements. To maintain top control of these 2 movements you must know how to do a whole lot of “don’t move this or that”. But, the “whole lot” is taken care of in Phase Five. This phase is a positional move which you will learn to do in a rhythmic tempo with the next phase. You do not use power or speed in this phase. You simply want to get your body, arms, and golf club a suitable distance away from your start position from where you can then apply a desired blow to the golf ball. If you feel a bit weak during this phase and at the end of this phase then that is OK — if you feel comfortable and ready for the “violence” of the next phase.

Phase Eight — THE RETURN SWING

If you have executed the phases above to where you feel comfortable and ready then you have to do a lot of awkward work to ruin a good return swing to the ball. An important part of this phase which you mentally train yourself at home is to realize that some of the muscles throughout your body, legs, and upper arms have either bunched up or stretched out of their position of Phase Six. Part of the return swing involves “unbunching” or relaxing muscles which tightened to carry out the takeaway phase. Part of the return swing involves tightening the muscles which relaxed and stretched to allow the takeaway movements. The above two activity groups have to be carried out while holding as close as you can to the posture position set up in Phase Four. All through this aggressive activity there are stresses on your body which are often caused by desired movements in other parts of your body. Most importantly, you must not give in to the “one wrong thought” I have described in the previous article of the series of free articles available on my website. My lesson modules teach you a method of carrying out 3 essential movements which are basic to the return swing of most of your golf shots.

Phase Nine — THE FOLLOW-THROUGH

The momentum you create in Phase Eight will determine how you finish your swing movements after the ball has been hit. If you lose your balance and lean or fall in the direction the ball is flying then any swing error is minor. If you lose your balance in any other direction then you have done something very incorrect in Phase Eight. Many of the swing errors of the previous 2 phases familiar to golfers will cause you to have an incorrect finish position in this phase. The only time I teach you anything about a correct finish to your swing is when I show you my two basic turning exercises which come with all of my lesson modules.

FOCUS Training As You Practice These Phases

Above, I use the word, “focus”. In each phase you are to focus on the purpose of that phase and on any steps you follow for that particular phase. When you have completed the step(s) of a phase you then change your focus to the steps and purpose of the next phase. You keep doing this until all the phases have been completed.

Phases 1 to 6 can be methodically thought out for every golf swing you do for the rest of your life. Phases 7 to 9 happen quickly in which you respond to a feeling or to 1 or 2 key thoughts which you have practiced. You practice the steps of each of these last 3 phases at home and at practice facilities.

You can use my swing instructions or my exercises to teach your mind the steps in slow motion. The more your mind can automatically remember the steps then the better it can direct and guide your muscle movements during the quickness of the actual golf swing.

Why Should You Practice These Phases?

In my lesson modules I will make frequent references to this process as it applies to putting, chipping, pitching, and the full swing.

These phases are a good starting point for you to learn as you venture forth to learn to golf or to become a better golfer. You will eventually develop your own process for playing a golf shot.

Practice these phases at home until each of them becomes automatic. You will begin to pick a one-word thought or phrase which helps you to remember each step.

As you become adept at completing the whole routine you will begin to see a panorama picture of your body, the ball, the target destination, and the surrounding golf course or driving range scenery.

Your goal is to be able to walk up to a tee or the ball in the grass, set up to the ball, and make minor adjustments until you feel comfortable and until you see the desired “picture”. As soon as you see the “picture” and feel comfortable you will execute your golf swing before you have time to fidget or to get apprehensive.

Apprehension causes nervousness which causes tension which inhibits your golf swing. Someone says relax or be loose and the next time you flop around like a rag doll and wonder why you hit a poor golf shot.

Practice these phases and you will build confidence that you will make your best swing most of the time.

Copyrite June 18, 2004

6-Max Texas limit Holdem is a variation from the normal full ring limit games. This variation is played more aggressively and with greater potential profit for the better players. Because more hands are dealt per hour, more decisions are made per hour. This can be a great advantage to the player that known their way around the six chaired table.

In 6-Max, while you should still play a tight and aggressive style, a few more hands can be played as openers. Hand values change quite a bit from a full ring game to a 6-max game.Pocket pairs are more valuable in a 6-max game. In early position, the first two positions after the blinds, you’ll want to muck the baby pairs, 22-66. In the cutoff and button typically play all pairs if there has been a caller ahead of you. And you can open raise with the higher pocket pairs all the way down to 88 or 99 depending upon the character of the table. Raise with ten-ten and up.

Hands with two cards of ten or higher go up in value in a 6-max game. While you might fear the risk of being dominated with hands such as King-Ten offsuit and Queen-Ten offsuit in a full ring game, because of the limited amount of opponents these hands are more likely to hold up in 6-max. You can strongly consider open raising with any hand with two cards ten or higher.

Suited Aces are much less valuable in a typical 6-max game. Usually there will be limited participation in the hands and the pot odds just won’t be there for any kind of speculative hand. Also, because raising is much more prominent, it’s harder to see the flop for just one bet. Suited connectors face the same problems only more so. Be very careful playing speculative hands in 6-max. Know the character of your individual game and only play them late if conditions are just right.

Really turn on the afterburners when you get one of the monster starting hands. Pocket pairs AA through JJ are extremely strong in a game with few opponents. They are much more likely to hold up unimproved in 6-max. Also, because your opponents typically play looser and see more raises you’ll get a lot of action at times.

Strong hands such as Ak, AQ, AJ, and KQ ( suited and unsuited ) need to be played strongly! Firstly, there’s always the chance of winning the hand unopposed. Secondly, if you hit on the flop you likely be in the lead. And if you have position after the flop, your pre-flop raise opens up many deceptive options depending on the table’s actions.

In this introductory segment we’ve taken a look at the differences of starting hand values versus a regular full ring game. In future articles we’ll explore other areas such as post flop play, blind play, and bluffing.

If the King has anything to say about it. No not Don King, Elvis King, Elvis Preston King.

Maybe Mike would like to retire but he simply can’t. He just owes too much money. Mike will most likely be wanting to hang out with your king the world’s number 1 playboy who picks up and seduces more young 18 year old dream girls than any man alive. Ok this won’t cost Mike and arm and a leg but it is a necessary part of enjoying one’s retirement…When Mike Tyson and Elvis King REALLY retire! Don’t kid yourself Mike will be fighting again and soon!

” Just don’t have it in me anymore. . . . My career’s over,” Tyson said. “It’s been over since 1990.”

Getting your ass kicked by that 6′6′ Irish guerilla will make you say things like that.

“Smart too late and old too soon,” Tyson said of himself. “This is just my ending.”

Most people think that the seduction game is for young men too. Many a young pick up artists want to have Elvis Preston King banned from the game…The seduction game, but the truth is your old 55 year old king still has a few moves left and I still can pick up one to three dream girls per day. But yes father time is wearing on Iron Mike Tyson and Elvis Preston King ….Being broke is no fun….Mike will fight again and soon.

The judges ranking and their score for the OD are in
parentheses.

1) Belbin/Agosto
(2, 67.54) It is quite ironic that after spending all season
complaining bout how much I dislike this program that I am
ranking it first at worlds. But I feel they were the clear
winners of the OD. They attacked this program and nailed
everything. I got a good laugh at the British Eurosport’s
commentators trying to find something about this performance to
criticize and coming up with ‘Their arms weren’t always in
perfect unison,’ because if that is the biggest problem with any
program, it was obviously skated fabulously. The Charleston and
quickstep were arguably the best of the night, and their foxtrot
was almost up to the level it was four seasons ago. The
choreography still is not very good, but their performance
overcame that and made you forget about the it.

2) Navka/Kostomarov a> (1, 68.67) This is by no means a bad program, but it is also
not a great program. Both the quickstep and foxtrot were done
well, but not amazingly so. Still, the transitions are 1000%
better than they were a season ago, making this actually looks
somewhat like a dance program, instead of a pairs program with
dance elements. And how can one not give them points for their
extremely original musical selection of “Sing Sing Sing”? But as
neither the difficulty level nor the interpretation was up to
the level of Belbin/Agosto’s, they deserved to place second.

3) Chait/Sakhnovski a> (5, 61.19) After placing 3rd at the GPF in the OD, I was
crossing my fingers that their placement would be the same here.
Unfortunately, the judges failed me. They, unlike the teams
directly below them, had great interpretation of the rhythms and
skated without any mistakes. And their energy level, as always,
was ridiculously high. Plus, their skating skills, while not
quite as good as the skating skills of the very best in the
world, have improved so much that they should challenge those
other teams.

4) Denkova/Staviski a> (4, 62.79) Awkward OD interpretation, but thy did skate all
out. Their skating skills – and the fact that they too did not
mess up, held them above the other teams here. Still, this OD is
very forgettable.

5) Delobel/Schoenfelder (6, 60.25) Had Isabelle not made a small
mistake on the sbs footwork sequence, they would have been
challenging the top teams. Unfortunately, she did. Isabelle has
nice interpretation, and even Olivier seems less lifeless than
usual. Plus, the choreography is superb. The only other problem
is that they are slightly off-beat for part of the foxtrot.

6) Grushina/Goncharov (3, 63.17) This program has many of they
same weaknesses as B/A’s does, which should not be a surprise,
considering it is basically the same program. (Morozov’s
creativity or lack there of has sunk to a new low for “his”
programs for G/G this season.) But unfortunately for them, they
do not have B/A’s technical strengths and charisma. Elena is
lovely as always; Ruslan is dull as always. And I’m still
waiting for them to finish their sbs footwork. Somebody needs to
go out and push them during any footwork sequence.

7) Domnina/Shabalin (7, 58.86) These two probably had the best
foxtrot interpretation of the season. It was graceful, musical,
and truly brought the classical foxtrot to the ice. They even
made their dance spin seem foxtrot-y. The sbs footwork didn’t
seem very powerful, and their twizzles, while miles better than
many of the other team’s, were a bit shaky. The quickstep was
okay.

Dubreuil/Lauzon (8,58.30) Argh. The foxtrot and quickstep
sections were extremely well-interpreted and the whole dance was
extremely cohesive for a combination OD. But the sbs footwork
was a complete and utter disaster. It got messed up about 1/3 of
the way through, and they never quite got it back on track.
There was a little to much of time spent not touching each
other. And their Charleston was a bit awkward in places. Plus,
why are they miming holding umbrellas? Isn’t the whole point of
“Singin’ in the Rain” that one is singing in the rain, and not
covered by umbrellas?

9) Faiella/Scali (9, 56.13) Their stroking has improved
dramatically. Their twizzles still aren’t very good. And they
didn’t really seem to truly get either rhythm, especially the
quickstep. But technically, it was a strong program, and they
had good energy as always,

10) Wing/Lowe (10, 52.52) They start off with a nice, although
slightly dull, foxtrot. And then they transition into a nice,
but slightly dull Charleston. I normally really like this team,
but this performance seemed to lack energy. They don’t have the
technical content of the teams above them.

11) Fraser/Lukanin (13, 48.82) Their speed and polished has
dramatically improved. Very nice foxtrot expression. They spend
a little too much time apart. They had nice musicality too.

12) Kerr/Kerr (11, 50.71) There’s still a fairly sizable gap
between her skills and his, although he has improved. They have
nice foxtrot expression. Theirs twizzles in the sbs footwork was
very messy towards the end. Their quickstep was fine, but not
quite as good as the foxtrot.

13) Gregory/Petukhov (12, 50.22) I got the advice to only watch
him, not her, and I enjoyed them much more than usual. Interpret
that as you want. Of course, then I missed the mistake she made
on the twizzles during the sbs footwork, which also lacked flow.
Decent Charleston expression. Too much stroking in foxtrot
section.

14) Kulikova/Novikov (14, 48.72) She did best with the
quickstep, while he shone in the foxtrot. Second quickstep had
very little traditional quickstep character. They had a slightly
messy quality overall.

I did not rank the rest of the teams.

Hoffman/Elek (17, 45.34) They start with a foxtrot, which was
absolutely lovely and really captured the rhythm. The quickstep
was very good too, but did not quite work as well as the
foxtrot. And somebody needs to teach Atilla to twizzle, because
I’m sick of him messing those up, as he did on the sbs footwork.
And then he had trouble lifting Nora on the final lift, although
a portion of that can probably be blamed on her 472346 pound
dress. But overall, this was a very nice OD.

Gudina/Beletski (18, 42.85) They start off with an enthusiastic
Charleston. But the foxtrot was dull, with little difficulty.
And unfortunately they could not pick up the energy level with
the final quickstep section, to Dancing Fool of all songs.

Watanabe/Kido (15, 46.57) A very good and in-character
quickstep. Diagonal footwork could flow better. Their foxtrot
was good, but not quite as in character as the quickstep. He has
some trouble with the last lift.

Grebenkina/Azronjan (16, 46.02) Great energy, and their
movements are very dance-y and fit the quickstep well. Their
foxtrot is to extremely odd music – just a rhythm and no melody.
But they end with another well-done quickstep section.

Beier/Beier (20, 41.66) Very cute and charming, with a good
ballroom interpretation of the rhythms.

Kauc/Zych (22, 40.92) Fabulous foxtrot expression. Twizzles
during sbs footwork were messy. Basic skating is very good. This
program lacked the falls that their programs usually have, but
it also lacked the energy and attack. Their quickstep expression
is also very nice.

Pechalat/Bourzat (23, 40.71) They start with a very charming and
well characterized Charleston. But she takes a bad fall during
the sbs footwork. Their musicality in the foxtrot was good, but
the choreography wasn’t very ballroom. They fixed that during a
great quickstep section.

Yang/Gao (19, 42.67) Decent foxtrot. She hits a lovely position
during the lift. She’s very charming. Charleston is nice too. He
looks to have trouble rotating the final lift.

Golovina/Voika (21, 41.57) They start with movements that seem
to exaggerated for the more subtle foxtrot rhythm. But they
still have good musicality and energy. Decent quickstep, but
again the movements don’t fit the rhythm very well.

Munana/Munana (25, 36.31) As sick as I am of Chicago ODs, this
one was great. Both rhythms, especially the Charleston, were
interpreted fabulously. Both skaters sparkled. They clearly do
not have the technical ability of the top teams, but if they can
ad technical content in the future, they most definitely will be
contenders.

Akimova/Shakalov (29, 31.35) Very polished, but little else
going for them. He tripped on the sbs footwork. Diagonal
footwork is . Their musicality is pretty good.

Aureli/Vaturi (24, 38.66) They start off with a lot of dancing
in place. They have somewhat poor ice coverage on the sbs steps.
But they have a good understanding of both the quickstep and
foxtrot. Unfortunately, they really lack in technical
content.

Haunstetter/Hoenlein (27. 33.00) Chicago. Again. But they have a
very good Charleston, and his foot position during the lift was
fabulous. Ugly and out-of-sync twizzles. The rest of the sbs
wasn’t much better. They looked like they were skating two
different programs during the sbs steps. He is terrific.

Buck/Nelson-Bond (28, 32.85) Good Charleston expression. Pretty
good speed through diagonal footwork. She hits great positions
in their lifts. Their weakness seems to be basic skating. They
also had unison trouble on the sbs footwork.

Keller/Keller (26, 33.23) Really weird Charleston music. Decent
musicality. Their program is very empty. They also lacked
energy. Their quickstep expression was the best of the three
rhythms.

Galcheniuk/Krupen (30, 28.14) Most of their skating is decent.
Their programs aren’t empty, and their musical interpretation is
okay. Plus, they have nice energy. Unfortunately, nothing about
their skating is anything better than decent, especially their
basic skating.

Care to
Ice Dance?

Competition
Reviews

Golf club swing weight. Have you heard that term before?

A rather effective method of improving the golf swing is by adding extra weight to the club and then going through the motions of swinging. This sort of exercise has many advantages apart from the fact that it is very golf specific and works on building the exact muscles you use during a golf swing or drive.

The other reason why extra weight on the club dramatically improves any golf swing is because the whole swing movement usually feels very unnatural to the body. You can easily tell this from the body violently resists it, making the golf swing one of the most difficult things to master in the golf game.

The extra weight on the golf club even as you practice the swing, quickly builds up and conditions the muscles involved so that the next time you do a golf swing, it feels much more natural. The result is that you will be able to execute a much better drive.

The best way of achieving extra weight on a club is by using a weighted club. A weighted club has several advantages. The one that probably comes to mind first is its portable nature.

It can be carried around everywhere. You have seen those movies where the executive is practicing their golf swing even while in a serious meeting discussing weighty issues with juniors.

Maybe this is a little too exaggerated but the point is that with such a mobile piece of useful golf equipment, there is no limit to where or when you can practice your swing with it. Either in the comfort of your home or office.

This can only help you see the dramatic results much faster as you go about exercising and conditioning your golf-swing-specific muscles by practicing a golf swing with some extra weight on the club.