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06:13:19 05/09/12
CM Punk Sings Take Me Out To The Ball Game 5-8-2012 at Wrigley Field, Chicago Cubs Game
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 06:13:19 05/09/12
WWE Champion CM Punk finally gets to sing The 7th Inning Stretch at The Chicago Cubs Game May 8th, 2012. The Cubs lost the game, but CM Punk got ... youtube.com
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03:08:08 02/13/12
The Four ACEZ Audition for the Kansas City Royals
[LESS INFO] 1 VIEWS | ADDED 03:08:08 02/13/12
On Feb. 11, 2012, the Kansas City Royals held auditions for fans to sing the national anthem and Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the 2012 ... youtube.com
1 Views
12:50:12 12/23/11
Humphries Booed; Texas A&M Senior Dies
[LESS INFO] 1 VIEWS | ADDED 12:50:12 12/23/11
I'm Lynn Lumpkin CRWENewswire Sports Commentator. This is the the Sports Corner. Kris Humphries, the former Mr. Kim Kardashian, played his first minutes as a 2011 New Jersey Net on Wednesday night. Humphries was booed mercilessly by the Knicks crowd each and every time he touched the ball at Madison Square Garden for the Nets' final preseason game. The Knicks crowd's bloodlust for Humphries was so acute, they were begging Nets coach Avery Johnson to reinsert him in the lineup in the fourth quarter, but Johnson didn't take the bait. When asked after the game, Humphries said he didn't even hear the taunts because he was "so focused." But can that focus last? and in other sports news, 22-year-old Joseph Villavisencio, Texas A%M senior offensive lineman, was killed in a car accident on Thursday. The senior lineman swerved to avoid a buzzard and veered head-on into the path of an 18-wheeler 40 miles from College Station. He spent part of Thursday with the team delivering gifts to families at a local shelter. At the time of the crash, he was heading to his home in Jacksonville, Texas. Former coach Mike Sherman says everyone will remember him as a person "who would do anything for anybody." Villavisencio was a three-year letterman whom athletic director Bill Byrne says "epitomized selfless service" to helping the Aggies improve as a team. our thoughts and prayers go out to Joseph's family and friends during this holiday season. Thank you for joining me and stay with us for all your sports updates. I'm Lynn Lumpkin CRWENewswire Sports Commentator. ********************************* The Views and Opinions expressed by the author are his or her opinions only and do not necessarily reflect those of this Web-Site or its agents, affiliates, officers, directors, staff, or contractors. The author at the time of this article did not own any shares or receive any consideration financial or otherwise from any company or person mentioned or referred to in the article.
21 Views
23:15:53 10/03/11
New Releases for October 4, 2011 - Press Pause Daily
[LESS INFO] 21 VIEWS | ADDED 23:15:53 10/03/11
Today’s new releases features an apocalyptic wasteland, a lost soul, some basketball, and a wall crawler. Here’s a hint...it’s Spiderman.
SHOW NOTES:
GAME #1:
First up is the brand new first person shooter from from id Software, which im buying day one. Rage takes place in a not too distant future where a asteroid impacted the Earth, leaving behind a world that has been devastated. Your character will travel this vast wasteland, facing hordes of gangs, mutants, and the oppressive governmental Authority. Featuring id’s all new idTech 5 engine that will feature stunning visuals (although at a larger file size, as we mentioned last Wednesday). The game looks stunning, and the expanded gameplay .. vehicle stuff and not just first person .. seems rad.
So suit up and head out into the wasteland with me - and lets get our Rage on. theres something dirty there .. like right almost there. rage on ..? never mind.
GAME #2:
Next up is Dark Souls. The spiritual sequel to 2009’s Demon Souls will again challenge players with a world where you have lost your soul, and go on a quest to get it back.
The 60 hour game features a seamless world, with unforgiving and punishing gameplay, flexible character development, and online player interaction. AND yes .. its harder.
So if you want to give up a chunk of your life to an addictive and torturous game...Dark Souls is a safe bet.
GAME #3:
2K Sports is know for their basketball series, and this year’s version is a celebration of the greatest NBA players of all time. It will feature tons of legendary players as well some very cool visual affects when playing in different eras. Graining and black and white footage for older time periods is a way cool addition. 2K12 will aslo feature a new control mechanic that gives more ball control, and you’ll be able to shoot, pass, steal, dribble and dunk more effectively. I tried this and shooting with the right stick actually felt damn good.
Listen .. 2K should be making the madden games and this game is the reason. The stadiums, audience, montages, player interactions and physics. This is how sports games should be made.
[looking at camera] EA, I'm looking at you.
GAME #4:
And lastly today we have a brand new Spiderman game from the same developers who created the well received Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions.
Like that game, Spiderman: Edge of Time takes place in two different times, featuring the modern day Amazing Spiderman, and the distant future Spiderman 2099.
The game will take place over both times, as one man goes back to the past, which will create a future dystopia, and lead to the death of Peter Parker. The game features a cause and effect gameplay system where the actions in one time will affect the other and vice versa.
If you are a fan of Spiderman, and enjoyed Shattered Dimensions, then this game sounds like it should scratch your superhero itch. and also .. have you pondering future dystopia.
I wonder if we could cause one? Y’know a future dystopia. You wanna try...after the show?
That will do it for your daily dose of press pause, be sure to check out our live discussion show at twitch.tv/presspause tomorrow at 12 pm pacific. You can also find fully edited episodes over at our Youtube channel: youtube.com/presspausemevio .
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18:57:24 10/03/11
san diego padres vs cubs
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 18:57:24 10/03/11
take me out to the ball game ( end of song ) 9/27/11 padres lost 6-2 youtube.com
19 Views
08:17:09 08/12/11
Bouncing In Boots For Your Booty
[LESS INFO] 19 VIEWS | ADDED 08:17:09 08/12/11
HI Your Fit Day Friends !
Hey! Do you still want to get that sexy summer bod?
Or, maybe you're on the rebound from a joint injury...
Or, maybe you're just looking for that cool piece of equipment that is super fun and will get you fit and lean in a short amount of time...
Or, you just like toys!
OK! So, remember I told you that I would find ways to work out to keep me in super duper shape before my pending hip surgery?
Well, I had this super idea that I could design running shoes with springs on the bottom that would take the impact off my joints and it would be less painful to walk and super fun to use, as well as keep my booty in shape. But then I said, "Hmm! Why invent the wheel when somebody else has done the work for me? Why not ask the Kangoo Jump people to help me?"
So that's what I did.
And I think these Boots were made for YOU!
Boots Not Just Made For Walking!
My first try with the Kangoo jumps was back in June. It had been raining the last couple weeks in May so I had to put trying the boots out on hold. But finally the clouds separated, and the sun shined through and I got off my ball ( I use a stability ball as my desk chair) and decided to hop down to the Lake. No, I hadn't put the boots on just yet. That was actually a pun. And since it takes too long to hobble on my hip, I got in my car and headed 4 blocks to Lake Merritt.
"Another Lake Merrit July Drama Sunset"
But something compelled me to take a detour and instead I drove over to the Piedmont High School track where there wouldn't be any stray ducks, dogs or pelicans underfoot; I could count on level ground; and there was no chance of bouncing into the lake...with the pelicans.
"Pelicans at Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA"
I'll tell you this: in retrospect, walking down the steps to the track in my Chaco sandals and getting onto the track was actually the hardest part. Because once I put on the Kangoo Jumps it was shear joy to 'walk' and 'run' and just be able to amble pain free.
Check These Out
All Kangoos are a cool, ninja, space age ski/roller blade-like boot design with cambered curved springs on the bottom. And they're reasonably light, and lighter than roller blades-well, at least my roller blades-with just enough weight to give you the right amount of stability and a good workout. I mean, you're still lifting boots with every hop!
"My feet in Kangoo Jumps"
Getting into them was pretty quick and easy. Adjusting the cleats no problem. Figuring out the pressure to secure them was hit or miss and I probably will need a few more romps before they feel comfortable around the shin.
The track wasn't crowed but just carrying the boots in my hand drew attention to me. I wasn't going to complain about that. I'm a fitness diva, remember!
In fact, I'm hoping that I can get more people involved in using these boots and coming to my bootcamps. (HA! HA! Boot Camps! Kangoo Style!)
Once I had them securely on my feet I was like the Jolly Green Giant. I was amazed at how stable they were. Everyone kept asking me if I felt like I would topple over or twist my ankle. Absolutely NOT. Have you ever felt like you would fall over in ski boots? (assuming the ski is not attached to the boot and you're not ripping down a mountain). There is absolutely no inclination to fall over. And that is a good thing! seeing that I'm only planning on having ONE surgery.
Giving It a Go On My Kangoo Jumps
Because this was my first adventure out in my Kangoos I didn't want to over do it. They say to hop around, up and down, break them in. So I tried that, but was pretty tentative, babying my hip. But I soon realized that the boots actually roll you forward and the impact isn't directly on your hip. So I became more bold, and set off down the track... at a slow run. And behold, I was bouncing with no burn in my joint.
The track is 1/4 mile around. After three times around-running, walking, hopping, and repeating that-I was already working up a sweat and I could feel my running muscles in my legs-the ones I hadn't worked in that running way since December '10- start to come alive. I felt alive! And free........
I spent 15 minutes Kangooing and by the time I stopped I felt like I had instead sprinted up a mountain. It was that good of a workout and my legs and glutes felt pumped. All without any pain in my hip joint. In fact, my hip feels better in these boots running and walking than I do ambling, or more like hobbling right now, on my own two feet, whether in my shoes or Vibram 5 Fingers.
Here's a video of me in San Francisco bouncing in my boots :
Putting The Spring Back Into Your Life
The Kangoo Jumps are designed to take up to 80% of the impact off your joints. So for those of you who have osteoarthritis in your hips or knees (I'm not sure about back pain but you can check out their website) and have had to give up your favorite sport or activity you may have a second chance. So I highly recommend these Kangoo Jumps for anyone who has had to give up their favorite impact activity, things like hiking, trekking, and even martial arts, due to joint pain in their knees and hips and possibly back. Because you can do all of these sports in Kangoo Boots. Obviously do your research and consult with your doctor first. I certainly did before I started using them.
In fact, I contacted one of the leading hip surgeons in the world, Dr. Koen De Smet, to get his opinion and approval. And after he reviewed the website he said that they were suitable for what I wanted to do, and as long as it I didn't hurt I was fine.
Boots for your Booty
I have to admit I was getting a bit soft in the inner thigh and butt since I wasn't able to run in the hills or do any of the sprint training that I love to do for the past several months. But in the past month I have seen a noticeable difference in the tone of my inner thighs, quads and butt and the Kangoo jumps have miraculously toned up my legs in just this short amount of time.
And here's a bonus for those of you who have some extra weight to lose: They say that you burn twice as many calories using the Kangoo Boots and that 30 minutes in your Kangoos is like an hour in your normal training shoes. That's not hard to believe. After bouncing around San Francisco and Lake Merritt for just 30 minutes a pop these past few weeks it felt like I had done a six mile trail run in the Berkeley hills.
So, not only are these a great workout, burn calories, tone up your booty, and are a hoot to use, they are a time saver as well. What's not to like about them!
What's Next ?
So, my game plan is to Kangoo Jump for the next two months which will take me up to the week that I leave for overseas for my hip surgery. There will be no more Kangoo jumping for at least 10 months after surgery. But I'll have other exercises that I will be doing to keep our butts in shape, literally!
So be sure to follow my blog, and watch the videos, for more cool stuff that will keep your legs toned, your booty nice and round, and your body fit and lean.
Stay tuned for more Kangoo Jump videos so you can get the 'JUMP on fitness!'
Your Trainer, and Nutrition and Wellness Coach,
Debby K !
Make it Your Fit Day ...
1 Views
14:41:38 05/03/11
Denise Can't Sing
[LESS INFO] 1 VIEWS | ADDED 14:41:38 05/03/11
Singing is "Complicated" for the tone-deaf reality star when she yells "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at Wrigley Field.
0 Views
16:33:11 12/16/10
Video: Take me out to the ball game - Mass Appeal
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 16:33:11 12/16/10
This story of local minor league baseball players would make a great gift this season.
31 Views
04:24:00 12/07/10
Wes Welker Postgame Press Conference - 12/6/2010
[LESS INFO] 31 VIEWS | ADDED 04:24:00 12/07/10
Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker addresses the media during his postgame press conference on Monday, December 6, 2010. Q: Did this make up a little bit for the first game you lost against the Jets? WW: Maybe a little bit. We definitely wanted to come out and play well. It was for the division lead so we know we wanted to come out here and take care of business. Q: I know it's a 60-minute game but at some point do you get the feeling that things are going well? WW: You do but you have to keep on pushing and keep on fighting on and make sure you [get] as many points as possible and making sure the defense gets all the stops they can and play complimentary football with the special teams. In the end that's what is going to help us and keep on pushing on. Q: Do you see any difference in Tom [Brady] from week two to now? Is he utilizing anyone or getting everyone involved? WW: I think he's just getting comfortable with everybody. Everyone is just running the routes and doing a great job. As the year goes on we have added a lot of young new guys to the offense and there is a certain way he wants routes run against certain coverages and that stuff takes time. Heading towards the end of the season a lot of these guys need to make sure they are on the same page [as Tom] and it looks like they have been. Q: The amount of talking that the Jets do and have done does that give you any extra motivation? WW: We always have motivation. We always want to come out and win and play hard and do what we can out there to win the ball game. We don't really need that motivation from anybody else and I think we have a group of guys who are good with bringing that. Q: How do you feel about them talking as much as they did? WW: It didn't bother me at all. Whatever they want to do or say or anything like that, we are just going to go out there and try to do our talking on the field. Q: Are you a little surprised on how lopsided it got? WW: We just want to go out there and play goo...
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22:29:29 08/29/10
Doubles reflex volley game
[LESS INFO] 14 VIEWS | ADDED 22:29:29 08/29/10
Download file (right-click and "save as...")
Rusty Komori, USPTA, Head Boys Varsity Coach, demonstrates the "Doubles Reflex Volley Game."
From MIDWEEK MAGAZINE
After 20 straight state titles, 17 under tennis coach Rusty Komori, Punahou is the most dominant prep team in U.S. history.
Forget the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Lakers and the footballers from Brazil. If you want to see real dominance, go visit the hard courts of Manoa, where the Punahou Buffanblu have held sway on the rest of the Hawaii tennis world for the past two decades.
That's right, in May they won their 20th straight state title. And counting.
The advent of the Internet and cell phones for everyone, and a pair of Bushes in the White House, and still every school year ends the same: another state tennis championship for the Punahou boys.
Trivia: What was the last other team to win the state title? Lahainaluna, in 1990. Before that, Punahou won the previous seven, meaning it's won 27 of the past 28 titles, and since 1969, 35 of 42. Michael Gearen started the current streak as coach in 1991-92, and then Bernard Gusman coached one year before Komori took over for the past 17 - and counting.
Komori is a 1987 Damien graduate who didn't take up tennis seriously until his sophomore year. But once he began his love affair with that fuzzy little yellow ball, he hasn't looked back.
"The reason I went to tennis, I really liked the team sports, but with tennis, if you want to be good, it all depends on you," says Komori, who started out playing baseball and soccer. "If you want to be bad, it only depends on you as well! That's a good thing. You just have to hit it in one more time than your opponent."
He graduated high school ranked fourth in the state and went on to accept one of the first tennis scholarships offered by Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., where he earned a degree in communications with the intention of continuing on to law school.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the courthouse. He began working as a pro at Waialae Country Club where, as you might imagine, a lot of members are lawyers. As he helped them with their ground strokes, he began to notice many of them were wearing thick glasses, so he asked them what they did all day as lawyers.
"They said, 'Read,'" says Komori. "I knew I didn't want to read things. I didn't want to read all day, so I stuck with tennis and so far, no glasses!"
As a leader of young men, Komori maintains his own style: He is neither bombastic nor authoritarian, but rather exudes a cool, quiet confidence that his players respect. He leads with his actions. Stressing the importance of fitness, he often runs laps with his boys before they ever take to the court.
"I always tell my captains, 'You need to lead by example,'" says Komori, a confirmed bachelor who keeps in shape by running with a 2-year-old Maltese named, wait for it, Ace. "And if they need to, then I need to as well. You can do 99 things right, but if we do one thing wrong, everyone will remember that one thing. So we cannot allow ourselves to do any one thing wrong. That's why I stress self-discipline."
By keeping his rules simple, there is little confusion on what he expects from his players.
"I have two rules for varsity: listening and lateness," says Komori. "Parents like my rules because that's something they want instilled in their kids. I instill self-discipline, respect for the opponent, I try to have them be the best representative of themselves, the program and Punahou School.
"I want them to become really good people beyond high school. Tennis and the adversities they face in it prepares them for life outside of high school."
Komori has a keen awareness that most of his students will not follow his lead and make a career out of tennis. For some, it will lead to college scholarships, but for the majority it will become a recreational diversion and as the years pile on, a way to keep off unwanted pounds and keep the ticker strong.
He understands that he is not shaping their lives, but enriching them. This is a lesson he learned from his old mentor and current colleague Rick Aquino at Mililani Recreational Center.
"Rick once told me, 'You are going to need more than I can give,'" recalls Komori. "What he meant by that was he didn't want to just keep me for himself, but rather he was looking at me developing as a person, and he was adding to me.
"If there were other coaches or tennis clinics that would add to me, then that would be fine. So I look at my players not as my players, but rather how can I add to that player's development? How can other pros add to it? It's hard for one pro to be there all the time. If we all share this philosophy then all the players can flourish."
Once the physical work-out for the day is done, he likes to leave players with championship thoughts such as "Challenges make life interesting, overcoming them makes life meaningful." And this one from Arthur Ashe: "You never play an opponent, you are playing yourself and your own highest standards."
Ashe's words ring especially true with Komori as he has to remotivate himself every year to stay hungry and keep the streak alive.
"Every year it seems like someone is saying, 'You have to beat this record or that record,'" says Komori, who passed Cal Lee's record two years ago for the most consecutive state championships. "It's a lot of pressure, but only you can give yourself pressure and you can feed on it, channel it - and suddenly it becomes exciting."
28 Views
13:15:07 04/22/10
The Losers -starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoë Saldana, Chris Evans, Idris Elba, Columbus Short, Oscar Jaenada and Jason Patric
[LESS INFO] 28 VIEWS | ADDED 13:15:07 04/22/10
An explosive action tale of betrayal and revenge, “The Losers” centers around the members of an elite Special Forces unit sent to the Bolivian jungle on a search and destroy mission. But the team—Clay, Jensen, Roque, Pooch and Cougar—soon find that they have become the target of a deadly double cross, instigated from the inside by a powerful enemy known only as Max.
Making good use of the fact that they are now presumed dead, the group goes deep undercover in a dangerous plot to clear their names and even the score with Max. They are joined by the mysterious Aisha, a beautiful operative with her own agenda, who is more than capable of scoring a few points of her own. Working together, when they’re not arguing amongst themselves, they have to stay one step ahead of the globetrotting Max—a ruthless man bent on embroiling the world in a new high-tech global war for his own benefit. If they can take down Max and save the world at the same time, it’ll be a win-win for the team now known as The Losers.
“The Losers” stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan (“Watchmen”) as Clay; Zoë Saldana (“Avatar,” “Star Trek”) as Aisha; Chris Evans (the “Fantastic Four” films) as Jensen; Idris Elba (“Obsessed”) as Roque; Columbus Short (“Stomp the Yard”) as Pooch; Oscar Jaenada (“Che: Part Two”) as Cougar; and Jason Patric (“In the Valley of Elah”) as Max.
Sylvain White (“Stomp the Yard”) directed the film from a screenplay by Peter Berg and James Vanderbilt, based upon the comic book series written by Andy Diggle, illustrated by Jock and published by DC Comics/Vertigo. “The Losers” is produced by Joel Silver, Akiva Goldsman and Kerry Foster, with Steve Richards, Andrew Rona, Sarah Aubrey and Stuart Besser serving as executive producers and Richard Mirisch co- producing.
The behind-the-scenes creative team was led by director of photography Scott Kevan (“Stomp the Yard”), production designer Aaron Osborne (“Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang”), editor David Checel (“Stomp the Yard”), visual effects supervisor Richard Yuricich (“Orphan”), and costume designer Magali Guidasci (“Zombieland”). The music is by John Ottman (“Orphan,” “Valkyrie”).
Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Dark Castle Entertainment, a Weed Road Pictures production, “The Losers,” to be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. The film has been rated PG-13 by the MPAA for scenes of intense action and violence, a scene of sensuality, and language.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
Anyone else would be dead by now.
“The Losers have fun while they kick butt.” Director Sylvain White succinctly sums up the appeal of the ex-special forces unit that comes to the big screen from the pages of the popular DC/Vertigo comic book series, by the team of writer Andy Diggle and artist Jock.
As a fan of the original comics, White wanted to capture the same irreverent style in the film “The Losers.” He relates, “When I read the comics, the first thing that really struck me was the sense of humor Diggle and Jock were able to inject into a very action- driven story. It was such good source material, and I wanted to stay true to it by reflecting that tone in the movie.”
Producer Joel Silver agrees. “The great thing about ‘The Losers’ is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously, which originated with the comics, of course. But much of that attitude also came from the screenwriters, Peter Berg and James Vanderbilt, who brought so much to the table, and a lot came from Sylvain, who delivered a strong, visual cinematic style that I think feels fresh and hip and cool.”
Producer Akiva Goldsman was already familiar with Sylvain White’s work from the director’s feature film debut, “Stomp the Yard,” a drama centered around a step- dancing competition. “And yet,” Goldsman says, “there was a construct to the dancing in it that made it very much like martial arts, which spoke to the style he wanted to bring to this movie. Sylvain has a really good eye and a terrific sense of character and action. When he showed us what he wanted to do with ‘The Losers,’ we were all impressed.”
Employing his graphic arts background, White had created a full storyboard for the film that told the producers all they needed to know. “Sylvain came in and gave us a dazzling presentation,” recalls producer Kerry Foster. “He was so passionate and had such a clear vision for the movie that we knew he was the perfect choice to direct it.”
White says he not only drew inspiration from the original comic books but also from the screenplay. “It had a light tone paired with very gritty, visceral action. That can be a very difficult balance to maintain, but Peter and Jamie did it perfectly.”
James Vanderbilt, who collaborated with Peter Berg on the screenplay for “The Losers,” notes, “I was raised on Joel Silver movies like ‘Die Hard,’ ‘Lethal Weapon’ and ‘48 Hrs.,’ and that is my favorite type of action film—where there are real emotions, but not everything is so dire all of the time. The stakes are high, but the characters seem to be having a good time...and we have a good time with them.”
“The Losers are fun; you want to hang out with them,” White affirms. “They are not superheroes, they are real guys; in fact they’re underdogs who find themselves in what I would say is an extreme situation.”
“We’re not soldiers anymore. We’re fugitives.”
Despite what they are called, “The Losers” started out as anything but. Rather, they were an elite black ops unit, who were called upon for only the most perilous missions.
But in the jungles of Bolivia, while on a secret mission to eliminate a powerful drug and arms dealer, they are betrayed by a shadowy government operative named Max, who has his own reasons for wanting them eliminated...and almost succeeds.
“They’re left for dead and left taking the blame for the innocent lives that were lost on their mission,” White remarks. “Now they have to find their way back into the U.S. and redeem their names.”
Being presumed dead does have its advantages. But, although no one may be looking for them, five “dead men” can’t exactly walk back into the country without drawing unwanted attention. They need help and they find it in an unlikely source: Aisha, who is as beautiful as she is mysterious. Before they can reclaim their lives, however, they will have to deal with Max.
Each member of the team—Clay, Roque, Jensen, Pooch and Cougar—has a specialty that makes him individually strong. Together, they are unstoppable...or so they hope.
CLAY – OPERATIONAL CONTROL
Jeffrey Dean Morgan is Clay, The Losers’ man in command, whose entire identity had been wrapped up in being a soldier. After the team is betrayed, however, he is forced not only to fight for his country and his men but also his name.
Morgan offers, “His rank is colonel and that had defined him. Without that he has to question who he is, but he still has to lead this ragtag group. The leadership thing came naturally to me. It helped that I’m older than most of the guys in this movie, so I immediately wanted to kick their butts anyway,” he deadpans.
“Clay is a hardened man, but he has a definite sense of humor and I loved the dry wit of the script,” Morgan continues. “That can be difficult for a writer to capture on the page and a tricky thing for an actor to deliver. But I’m pretty sarcastic in real life,” he smiles. “In fact, I tend to be even a little dryer than Clay, so that worked well for me in playing the part.”
Sylvain White says he was sure Morgan was the right man for the role even before he actually met him. “He pulled up on his Harley and I knew instantly he was the guy. He’s got this very cool, mature energy about him, a kind of old soul quality that makes him a born leader. Jeffrey is very likeable, very approachable, but there is also a bit of a dark edge to him, which was something he was able to layer very well into the character of Clay as he spirals down into his obsession to take revenge on Max.”
“Jeffrey is that great combination of a tough guy with a heart of gold,” adds Goldsman about the actor, who played a very different kind of soldier in “Watchmen,” the film adaptation of the acclaimed DC Comics graphic novel. “He’s handsome and rugged and can appear dangerous, but at the same time be kind and sensitive. It’s a very mercurial quality that is hard to deliver, but he absolutely did.”
JENSEN – COMMUNICATIONS & TECH
Chris Evans plays Jensen, the team’s computer wizard, who can hack anything—or into anything—that comes his way. Even under cover on the other side of the world, he manages to keep up, via computer, with the standings of his niece’s 8-and- under soccer team, The Petunias.In terms of the family dynamic of the team, he is kind of the kid,” Evans admits. “He gets into mischief and cracks jokes at inappropriate times, but he cares about this group of people and loves what he does. He’s quick with a smile and has limitless energy. I enjoy playing guys like that because you can’t help but bring some of that attitude home with you.”
“Jensen is the geek with a gun,” White laughs. “Every character has moments of comic relief, but Jensen is probably the funniest guy in the movie. Chris had a ball with that because he is a genuinely funny person and was able to bring his own natural humor to the role. He is such a great guy to be around; he was always making us laugh, and that’s basically who Jensen is.”
“Chris was a wonderful addition to ‘The Losers’ cast,” Goldsman says of Evans, who is already a favorite of comic book genre fans for his role in the “Fantastic Four” movies and has just been announced as the new “Captain America.” “He is not only a talented and appealing actor, he also has the same sort of charm as Jensen, which is very engaging.”
ROQUE – DEMO & TACTICAL
Idris Elba plays Roque, an explosives expert, whose personal weapon of choice is a knife...the bigger the better. Roque has been Clay’s brother-in-arms for years, although Clay’s dogged determination to exact revenge on Max, at any and all costs, is now causing friction between the two old friends. “Roque is a no-nonsense type of character,” the actor observes. He’s a straight talker, very to the point. He’s an experienced soldier who’s not very emotional about the job; he just gets it done.”
White remembers, “When I first met with Idris, he told me about his ideas for how he could bring facets to the character of Roque because his story takes an unpredictable turn. He is an amazing actor; I knew he had the capacity to make his arc believable and yet surprising.”
“I liked the character of Roque, and that I had enough room to make it my own,” says Elba, who adds that there were other elements that appealed to him about the project. “The script was great—funny with a lot of larger-than-life action. And I’ve worked with Joel Silver before and am a fan of his movies, so that was another draw.”
“Idris is one of those go-to actors,” notes Silver who previously worked with the actor on “RocknRolla” and “The Reaping.” “I always know he’s going to give a great performance, no matter what the role. He can do drama, he can do comedy, he can do action, and there’s all of that in this movie. This is my third film with him, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.”
POOCH – TRANSPORTATION & HEAVY WEAPONS
Columbus Short takes on the role of Pooch, the group’s transportation expert, who “can rig, wire, fly, drive or commandeer any vehicle, and gets to shoot some pretty sweet weapons,” states Short.
Pooch also has the most personal motivation for wanting to return home. Short explains, “Pooch’s wife is about to have their first baby, and he desperately wants to get back in time to see his child be born. It makes Pooch kind of the heart of the group and adds to the guys’ individual reasons for wanting to clear their names.”
Short’s motivations for taking the role involved both the script and the director. “The storyline was great and the writing was very clever and witty; I laughed out loud reading some of the dialogue and I loved the action,” he comments.
The actor says he also appreciated the opportunity to reunite with Sylvain White, who had directed him in “Stomp the Yard,” which marked his first leading role. “Sylvain is a very collaborative director; he gave me the freedom to discover things about my character that weren’t necessarily in the dialogue. I couldn’t imagine a better experience than working with him again on this movie.”
White states, “I knew Columbus was perfect for Pooch from the get-go; I didn’t even have to think about it. When I read the script for ‘The Losers,’ I felt that the character was the emotional anchor of the team. He’s the family man and the kind of guy you want as a friend. And Columbus has a very warm soul and this sweet innocence about him that makes you care about him the second you meet him, so I pictured him as Pooch right off the bat.”
COUGAR – LONG-RANGE ELIMINATIONS
Spanish actor Oscar Jaenada is cast as Cougar, the unit’s crack sniper, who can hit any target with a steady hand, a cool eye and a quiet calm. “I loved playing a character who is more about sight than sound, more visual than verbal,” Jaenada offers. “Cougar may be the quiet type, but he’s always there watching out for his team. He’s the strong, silent guy in the movie.”
“Cougar is the mystery man of the crew,” says White. “I met Oscar and thought he was incredible; he has such an expressive face and an amazing presence. We needed someone who could act with his eyes, and that’s Oscar. He brought the character of Cougar to life in a way not many people could have.”
Kerry Foster emphasizes, “Oscar was such a boon to the cast. He enjoyed the idea of playing the guy who doesn’t need to speak to get his point across. He came in from Spain and wasn’t able to arrive until the day before we started shooting, and I think the other guys were sad to see him because he was clearly the coolest of the bunch,” Foster teases. “But he’s just the sweetest man and everybody loved working with him.”
“It’s pretty much a suicide mission.”
Despite their individual and combined skills, The Losers need help to sneak back into the U.S. undetected. That’s where Aisha comes in. Zoë Saldana plays the woman who proves to be either a formidable ally or a dangerous enemy...or both. It’s hard to know whose side she’s really on—other than her own—but Clay is about to learn she usually comes out on top.
“Aisha appears to them out of nowhere just when the guys think there is no hope for them to get back home,” says Saldana. “She makes them an offer that sounds too good to be true, but it’s also an offer they can’t refuse: she’ll get them back into the country, but then they have to deliver Max. They decide to take her up on it, but there is mistrust from the beginning because they don’t know what this woman is hiding up her sleeve,” the actress smiles.
White, who had been a fan of Saldana’s even before her recent roles in the sci-fi blockbusters “Avatar” and “Star Trek,” recalls, “When we started discussing the role of Aisha, I instantly thought of Zoë. She has remarkable acting chops, but she also has the physicality the role demanded. Aisha is not the lady in distress; quite the contrary, she’s the badass who actually rescues the men. She’s very capable, very strong and very determined, and Zoë brought her own genuine strength to her performance. She also happens to look very much like the character in the comic book, so we were thrilled when she said yes.” Joel Silver adds, “Zoë is beautiful and sexy and exciting—all the things Aisha needed to be. We wanted Aisha to be a match for the guys and then some. She’s tough, smart, opinionated and able to mix it up, and everything we expected of the character, Zoë delivered to the role.”
“You know that if we do this, we are waging a war against the Central Intelligence Agency.”
The man who targeted The Losers—and who is now their target—is Max, a shadowy and ruthless government operative, who is now operating by his own set of rules to keep America on top. And if a few billion dollars end up in his pocket along the way, even better.
Jason Patric, who plays the role of Max, affirms, “He has his own manifesto and a twisted sense of patriotism that I thought was funny and even a little topical today. Max has a bit of a swagger and an overconfidence, which I think he uses to hide the fact that he’s been beaten down in the past. But I just tried to have fun with it.”
“Max was probably the trickiest part to cast,” White asserts. “We wanted to cast against type, and Jason has never played a true bad guy in a movie before. He came in with some great ideas for the role, and I thought he would help me create a unique character who is different from other villains we’ve seen. He brought this quirkiness to his performance that I think really sets it apart.”
“Jason was terrific,” Foster agrees. “He made Max menacing and eccentric and funny all at the same time. He’s a villain you love to hate.”
As do all self-respecting villains, Max also has a henchman named Wade, because, as Patric says, “Every bad guy should have a thug.”
Wade is played by Holt McCallany, who offers, “Wade is a former special ops soldier, a very competent guy who has now kind of gone over to the dark side. He took all the skills he learned in the Special Forces and become a soldier of fortune. He’s a guy who’s essentially a mercenary. What makes him dangerous to The Losers is that he knows these guys. He knows their history and what they’re capable of...and what a threat they are.”
Judging by appearances, you can also tell what Wade is capable of. “You know Wade could physically take Max out any time he wanted to,” White allows. “But Max is smart enough and manipulative enough to have Wade following his orders, no matter how outrageous they are. Holt played the character with just the right balance of fear, loathing and respect.”
“CIA, NSA, Special Forces... We’re not them.”
Before the main cast of “The Losers” could portray a Special Forces unit they had to learn to behave like one. Former Navy SEAL Harry Humphries, who has served as the military advisor on a wide range of films, recently including “Iron Man” and “Transformers,” was the film’s military advisor and “training officer.” Humphries relates, “I come from the Special Operations community and I feel a great responsibility to them, so it was very important to me that the actors, who obviously didn’t have any prior tactical experience, look correct onscreen.”
He and his team put the cast of “The Losers” through a rigorous training regimen. “I didn’t try to turn them into total ninjas overnight,” says Humphries, “but I looked at what they would be required to do in the script and concentrated on those skill sets, like proper weapons handling, dynamic room entry, fire and cover, etc. They were all excellent students. I was very impressed.”
The actors had equal praise for their trainer. “Harry was a great instructor,” Idris Elba states. “He taught us quite a few tactical maneuvers. He made sure we looked realistic, especially handling the gear and the weapons.”
Columbus Short concurs, “Before I got there, I would not have known the first thing about dismantling or brandishing any sort of weapon. Now I feel like a weapons specialist. We were trained in the protocols known by every Special Forces operative in the world. It was very cool.”
Since Oscar Jaenada was still in Spain at the time, Humphries sent a trainer based in Europe to teach the actor the rudiments of being an expert sniper. Humphries notes, “A former British SAS (Special Air Services) Operative named Tony Smith went down to see Oscar in Madrid and just immersed Oscar for a week in the mental and physical requirements of precision rifle shooting.”
“It was very important for me to learn how to act like a real sniper,” Jaenada says. “Tony taught me the right way to hold the rifle and I also had to learn about precision and patience—when to know the perfect moment to take the shot.” Armorers Michael Papac and Vincent Flaherty worked closely with Humphries to select and supply the right weapons to use in each scene, including Cougar’s mammoth- scoped rifle, the Knights Armament SR-15.
Chris Evans points out that the most important thing he learned about the Special Forces was “I am not cut out to be one, that’s for damn sure,” he laughs. “We were out in the jungle doing those scenes, and I’m like, ‘I need water...I need a chair...I’m sweating...I’m tired...There’s mud, and bugs are biting me...’ We’ve got a whole team of ex-Navy SEALS consultants who never even break a sweat, and I’m wondering when lunch is.
Oh yeah, that’s not for me.
“But seriously,” Evans adds, “it was one of the coolest experiences I’ve had making movies. Where else would a guy like me get Navy SEAL training? It was fantastic.”
One important aspect of the actors’ training was learning to work together as a unit, which they all agree came naturally. “There is a shorthand between those guys, a special camaraderie, and I think we captured that,” says Jeffrey Dean Morgan. “Within one or two days, we realized it had fallen into place as far as us all feeling like one team...with Sylvain White as the maestro.”
White remarks, “The first time the cast was all assembled as a group they immediately bonded, and it was pretty clear that they had great chemistry between them. That’s the kind of thing you can’t really predict or bank on, so when it happens, you feel really fortunate. And I think it makes a big difference on the screen, too.”
“Welcome back to the land of the living.”
The action of “The Losers” unfolds around the world—from the jungles of Bolivia to New Mexico, from Mumbai to Dubai, and from Miami to Houston to Los Angeles, with various points in-between. Despite the diversity of the settings, the filmmakers were able to accomplish almost all of the principal photography on the island of Puerto Rico.
“We looked at quite a few places,” White recounts, “but when we got to Puerto Rico, we saw that the islandhas a great infrastructure and different locales. It was very convenient because we could ‘cheat’ a variety of terrains within a relatively small distance.”
“It was staggering what we found when we came to Puerto Rico to scout,” Foster confirms. “There is a city, obviously gorgeous beaches, a close approximation of a desert, and a rainforest that was ideal to double for Bolivia. It’s a beautiful island and the people could not have been more wonderful.”
Filming on Puerto Rico, the filmmakers also took advantage of the dramatic backdrop of the Arecibo Observatory, the world’s largest radio telescope. Jason Patric shot his first scenes there and, in the process, discovered something about himself. “I didn’t realize I have a lack of fondness for heights, but I do now,” the actor reveals. “It was a pretty daunting way to begin.”
To craft the look of the film, production designer Aaron Osborne first went to the source: the original comic books. “What I noticed is that they used two or three colors to represent the tone of each setting, so I really tried to enhance that.”
“Every chapter of the comic books is a new environment distinguished by different color palettes,” White observes. I really wanted to do that in the movie as well—where every time we are in a new city or country, the aesthetic of the film changes completely, so there is no homogeneous look. It’s very eclectic.”
White collaborated with Osborne and cinematographer Scott Kevan to break down the images of the scenes. “We charted the whole movie with certain color schemes for each location and different shades as we moved from day to night,” Osborne explains. “We were quite meticulous about it.”
Color also came into play in the work of costume designer Magali Guidasci, who deviated from tradition by dressing the main protagonist, Clay, mostly in black, while the villain, Max, mainly wore white or light pastels. “Clay is a black-and-white type of guy,” she says, “so he wears a black suit and white shirt—another type of uniform in its own way, make no mistake. Max is always in a very light color, if not pure white. We first see him in a white suit and black tie, as if to appear the opposite of Clay.”
Form followed function with Cougar’s trademark cowboy hat, which was the perfect accoutrement for a sniper whose eyes needed to be shielded from the deflecting glare of the sun. His clothes are in muted colors to allow him to fade into the background and he wears gloves with the trigger finger cut out. Function was also important in costuming Zoë Saldana as Aisha, in clothes that Guidasci describes as “simple and athletic. She wears boots where she can conceal extra weapons, but no heels for that lady. She needs to be agile—able to jump and kick ass.”
In keeping with Jensen’s fun-loving nature, the character wore a collection of T- shirts that were as colorful as his personality. The idea of the T-shirts began with the one Petunias shirt he wears to support his niece’s soccer team. Guidasci offers, “Then Sylvain came up with the idea for Jensen to have a different funny T-shirt for almost every scene. Some we found and some were created by our graphic designer, Eduardo Gomez, and we also tried to make some of them subtly apropos to the moment.”
Osborne notes that the filmmakers adopted the term “Loser style,” which did not refer to the clothes of the characters but rather their surroundings. He elaborates, “Let me put it this way: anything we built in ‘Loser style’ either got burned, destroyed, shot up or blown apart.”
For certain sets, where the action was going to be explosive, Osborne and his crew consulted with special effects coordinator John P. Cazin, as well as stunt coordinator and second unit director Garrett Warren. Clay’s hotel room in Bolivia was the most obvious example of a set that was literally designed to be demolished.
“My first thought was, ‘Oh, we’re building a motel room...no big deal,’” admits Osborne. “But we had to design layer-by-layer, working everything out with John regarding the special effects, since we were going to burn down the entire room, and also with Garrett on the stunts, because people were going to be thrown around and putting their fists through the walls. So what seems to be a normal motel room was actually planned to the utmost detail. Every piece of furniture had to be replicated several times over because we were either going to burn it or smash it.”
The motel room is destroyed over the course of an all-out brawl between Clay and Aisha, who, surprisingly, is more than a match for her larger opponent. “The fight scene between Clay and Aisha was amazing to create,” says Warren, who had recently worked with Saldana on “Avatar.” “They were both consummate professionals: Jeffrey is up for anything and Zoë has a dancer’s physicality and loves doing stunts. We just pulled out all the stops.”
“The thing I loved about the way Garrett designed the fight is that he made it very playful,” Saldana comments. “When Clay and Aisha meet, you think they’re about to hook up for a steamy scene and they end up kicking the crap out of each other. There’s something sexy about a woman who can hold her own against a man, especially when they find each other irresistible.”
“It was pretty hot,” Morgan agrees, though not necessarily referring to the attraction between the characters. “The flames in that room were real, so filming that scene really stood out for me.”
Hot and steamy proved to the watchwords for the entire cast and crew while working in tropical Puerto Rico. “It’s a beautiful place, but the heat and humidity were unrelenting,” Morgan attests. “Add a black suit and about 60 pounds’ worth of guns and gear, and it made filming the action scenes a special challenge. You can’t drink enough water because no matter where or when you’re shooting, you’re drenched in sweat. But the good news is you’re bound to lose a lot of weight,” he grins.
In planning the stunt sequences, Warren says, “I got my team together and we brainstormed to come up with some interesting, fun ways to shoot. I talked Sylvain into letting us fly him above one action scene on wires and he actually held the camera to film one of our guys doing Parkour-style moves, running and jumping over these large containers. That was a lot of fun...at least for us.”
White also worked with Scott Kevan to film the action from a perspective that brings moviegoers right into the fray. The director emphasizes, “We want the audience to experience certain pivotal moments through the eyes of the characters. It’s about positioning the camera inside the action and staying as close as possible to the actors. Sometimes it’s limiting, and other times it opens brand new doors. It was a fine line, but I think we were able to find a good combination.”
He continues, “I’m very proud of the action in this film, but what I think shines through the most is the fun tone and the great characters. I think ultimately that’s what I want to leave the audience with—having had a good time with ‘The Losers’...and wanting to do it again.”
ABOUT THE CAST
JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN (Clay) starred last year in the action thriller “Watchmen,” Zack Snyder’s controversial big screen adaptation of DC’s seminal graphic novel. Morgan played Edward Blake, a.k.a. The Comedian, whose murder sets off a potentially explosive investigation and reunites his former costumed colleagues, the Minutemen. Also in 2009, Morgan starred in Ang Lee’s independent feature “Taking Woodstock.”
Morgan is currently at work on the crime thriller “The Fields,” in which he and Sam Worthington star as detectives investigating several unsolved murders in Texas. In November, he stars in the remake of the action hit “Red Dawn,” playing a U.S. Special Forces soldier who helps the teenage rebels, known as the Wolverines, fight back against enemy forces that have invaded the United States. Prior to “Red Dawn,” Morgan filmed the suspense thriller “The Resident,” opposite Hilary Swank, his former co-star from “P.S. I Love You,” in which he played her prospective love interest.
His other upcoming films include Mikael Hafstrom’s period drama “Shanghai,” with John Cusack, and the murder mystery drama “All Good Things,” in which he stars with Kirsten Dunst, Ryan Gosling and Frank Langella under the direction of Andrew Jarecki. Morgan’s additional film credits include the independent comedy “Kabluey,” with Lisa Kudrow; the romantic comedy “The Accidental Husband,” opposite Uma Thurman; and a cameo role in David Dobkin’s holiday comedy “Fred Claus.”
Morgan first gained the attention of television audiences with a recurring role in ABC’s smash hit series “Grey’s Anatomy.” His dramatic arc as heart patient Denny Duquette, who wins the heart of Katherine Heigl’s Izzie Stevens in a star-crossed romance, made him a universal fan favorite. He has also had recurring roles on the hit CW series “Supernatural” and on the award-winning Showtime series “Weeds.”
ZOË SALDANA (Aisha) enjoyed a banner year in 2009, starring in back-to-back blockbusters. She capped the year starring as Neytiri in James Cameron’s history- making sci-fi epic “Avatar,” for which Saldana won an Empire Award for Best Actress. The film, which also starred Sam Worthington and Sigourney Weaver, broke numerous box office records on its way to becoming the highest-grossing motion picture of all time. Among its many honors, “Avatar” won a Golden Globe for Best Picture – Drama and earned nine Oscar® nominations, also including Best Picture.
Earlier last year, Saldana played Nyoto Uhura in the sci-fi action adventure hit “Star Trek,” about the early years of the legendary crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Directed by J.J. Abrams, the film also starred Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Eric Bana.
Saldana will next be seen in the Neil LaBute-directed comedy “Death at a Funeral,” in which she joins an ensemble cast that also includes James Marsden, Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan, Martin Lawrence, Columbus
Short and Luke Wilson.
Born and raised in New York, Saldana first gained attention with her memorable feature film debut in the starring role of Eva in “Center Stage,” directed by Nicholas Hytner. She followed with “Get Over It,” “Crossroads,” “Drumline,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” and Steven Spielberg’s “Terminal,” for which she won a 2004 Young Hollywood One to Watch Award from Movieline magazine. Her additional film credits include “Haven,” “Guess Who” and “Vantage Point.”
In 2009, Saldana graced the cover of ELLE as one of the magazine’s “Top Women in Hollywood.”
CHRIS EVANS (Jensen) stars this August in Edgar Wright’s action comedy “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” with Michael Cera, Anna Kendrick, Jason Schwartzman, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. He also just wrapped production on Adam and Mark Kassen’s drama “Puncture,” in which he stars as a drug-addicted lawyer who takes on a major health supply corporation while battling his own personal demons.
Evans next starts filming opposite Anna Faris in Mark Mylod’s romantic comedy “What’s Your Number?,” about a woman revisiting all her ex-boyfriends in hopes of finding the man of her dreams. This summer, Evans is set to go into production on the action adventure “The First Avenger: Captain America,” in which he will star in the title role of the Marvel Comics superhero, under the direction of Joe Johnston.
Evans is also well known to moviegoers for his role in the hit “Fantastic Four” action adventures. His more recent film credits include Paul McGuigan’s sci-fi thriller “Push,” in which he starred opposite Dakota Fanning; the independent period drama “The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond,” written by Tennessee Williams and also starring Bryce Dallas Howard; and David Ayer’s crime drama “Street Kings,” with Keanu Reeves and Forest Whitaker.
Raised in Massachusetts, Evans began acting in regional theatre before moving to New York, where he studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute. He made a few guest appearances on television series before landing his first feature film starring role in the comedy spoof “Not Another Teen Movie.” His early film work also includes “The Perfect Score,” with Scarlett Johansson, and “Cellular,” with Jessica Biel and Kim Basinger.
In 2005, teamed with Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis and Ioan Gruffudd as a group of astronauts who gain individual super powers after being exposed to cosmic radiation in the blockbuster hit “Fantastic Four.” Two years later, he reprised the role of Johnny Storm, a.k.a. The Human Torch, in the summer action hit “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.”
Among Evans’ other film credits are Danny Boyle’s critically acclaimed sci-fi thriller “Sunshine,” with Cillian Murphy and Michelle Yeoh; “The Nanny Diaries,” opposite Scarlett Johansson; the independent drama “London,” opposite Jessica Biel; and Griffin Dunne’s “Fierce People,” with Diane Lane and Donald Sutherland.
IDRIS ELBA (Roque) recently starred in the hit 2009 thriller “Obsessed,” with Beyoncé Knowles and Ali Larter. Elba earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for his portrayal of a married man being stalked by a co-worker. He previously shared in a Screen Actors Guild Award® nomination as a member of the main cast of Ridley Scott’s 2007 true-life drama “American Gangster,” with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe.
Elba has several film projects upcoming, including the crime drama “Takers,” with Matt Dillon, Zoë Saldana and Hayden Christensen, and the action adventure “Thor,” in which he stars with Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman under the direction of Kenneth Branagh. He also executive produced and stars in the independent film “Legacy,” which was chosen to close the 2010 Glasgow Film Festival, and has also been selected to screen at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.
Elba’s additional film credits include David S. Goyer’s horror thriller “The Unborn”; Guy Ritchie’s “RocknRolla,” as part of an ensemble cast that also included Gerard Butler, Thandie Newton and Tom Wilkinson; and the hit horror thriller “28 Weeks Later,” to name only a few.
On the small screen, Elba had a recurring role last season on the hit NBC series “The Office.” In his native England, he next stars in the title role of the BBC crime drama series “Luther,” set to debut in the UK in May. He first gained attention with his starring role as the de facto leader of a Baltimore drug empire in HBO’s acclaimed original series “The Wire,” for which he received an Image Award nomination. Additionally, he starred in the Channel 4 telefilm “All in the Game,” and gained another Image Award nod for his performance in the HBO movie “Sometimes in April,” as a Hutu soldier who tries to save his Tutsi wife and family during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Elba has also worked on the stage, including leading roles in several plays produced in London. Additionally, in New York, he starred in Sir Peter Hall’s off- Broadway production of “Troilus and Cressida,” receiving rave reviews for his portrayal of Achilles.
COLUMBUS SHORT (Pooch) previously collaborated with director Sylvain White as the star of the 2007 hit “Stomp the Yard,” which topped the box office in its first two weeks in release and brought Short an NAACP Image Award nomination for Best Actor. He more recently won an Image Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the true-life drama “Cadillac Records,” about the birth of rock n’ roll in Chicago, in which Short starred with Beyoncé Knowles, Jeffrey Wright and Adrien Brody. He next stars in the ensemble comedy “Death at a Funeral,” alongside Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan, Martin Lawrence, James Marsden, Luke Wilson and Zoë Saldana.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Short relocated with his family to Los Angeles at a young age and, by his early teens, had landed work in television commercials. He was a senior at Orange County School of the Arts when he was offered a part in Broadway‘s hit show “STOMP!” He went on to choreograph Britney Spears’ “In the Zone” tour.
Short began his film acting career in 2006 with starring roles in “Save the Last Dance: 2” and the comedy “Accepted,” with Jonah Hill and Justin Long. His subsequent film credits include “This Christmas,” opposite Idris Elba, Regina King and Chris Brown; the horror remake “Quarantine”; the thriller “Whiteout,” with Kate Beckinsale; and “Armored,” with Matt Dillon and Laurence Fishburne. On television, he played the young writer Darius on Aaron Sorkin’s acclaimed drama series “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.”
Short is also working behind the camera through his production company, Great Picture Show Productions. He most recently executive produced “Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming.”
OSCAR JAENADA (Cougar) is an award-winning actor in his native Spain, who is quickly becoming well known in the U.S. In 2005, he starred in the title role of “Camarón: When Flamenco Became Legend,” the true story of Camarón de la Isla. Jaenada earned a number of acting honors, including Spain’s prestigious Goya Award, for his portrayal of the legendary flamenco cantaor. He more recently starred in “Todos Estamos Invitados,” for which he won the Málaga Spanish Film Festival’s Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Toulouse Cinespaña Award for Best Actor.
American film audiences have also seen Jaenada in Jim Jarmusch’s thriller “The Limits of Control,” in which he co-starred with Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton, and Steven Soderbergh’s biopic “Che: Part Two,” starring Benicio Del Toro.
Born and raised in Barcelona, Jaenada later moved to Madrid to pursue his acting career. He started out in the local theatre and also landed roles on television. His breakthrough came in the widely acclaimed 2003 feature “November,” for which he received a Goya Award nomination and won several other awards, including a Toulouse Cinespaña Award for Best Actor.
JASON PATRIC (Max) first gained attention with his starring role in Joel Schumacher’s 1987 comedy thriller hit “The Lost Boys.” He went on to earn critical acclaim for his performances in the drama “The Beast of War,” the erotic thriller “After Dark, My Sweet,” and the crime drama “Rush.”
Patric subsequently starred in Walter Hill’s “Geronimo: An American Legend”; the title role in “The Journey of August King”; Barry Levinson’s “Sleepers”; and Neil LaBute’s “Your Friends and Neighbors,” which was also the first feature Patric produced under the banner of his production company, Fleece.
Patric’s more recent film credits include “Narc,” “The Alamo,” “Expired,” “Downloading Nancy,” “In the Valley of Elah,” and “My Sister’s Keeper.”
On Broadway, Patric starred as Brick in the revival of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” opposite Ashley Judd. His other theatre work includes productions of Neil LaBute’s “Bash”; “Beirut”; “Out of Gas on Lover’s Leap”; “The Tempest”; “Henry V”; and “Love’s Labour’s Lost.”
21 Views
15:30:49 09/26/09
Dr Karl Morris – Episode #12 Part 2
[LESS INFO] 21 VIEWS | ADDED 15:30:49 09/26/09
In this episode I am joined by Dr Karl Morris one of Europe's top golf "mental game" coaches. Karl works with the following players: Darren Clarke, David Howell, Lee Westwood, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell, Richard Finch, Phil Archer, Alison Nicholas and Trish Johnson.
Here is the transcription of our 20 minute interview.
Andy: Hi and welcome to episode 12 of Home of Golf TV. Today I’m joined with Dr Karl Morris, one of Europe’s leading golf mind coaches. Welcome Karl to the show.
Karl: Hi there Andy, thanks.
Andy: Now Karl, you’ve worked with Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell, all the top players in Europe over a fantastic career you’ve had so far, helping them with their coaching. What tips can you give the viewers, takeaways from their games?
Karl: I think the big thing that I’ve found over the years is that the individual is sacred and what works for Darren Clarke certainly wouldn’t work for David Howell or Paul McGinley. So it’s very much about finding your own way of playing the game. And one of the big things I’ve worked in the last couple of years and it’s such a simple understanding about the game, but I think its so relevant for everybody that there’s really only two things in golf that you’re trying to control. You’re trying to control the golf ball and you’re trying to control yourself.
So that obviously, everybody, they need to keep working on the technical side of the game. They need to find a golf swing and a method that they can trust, but also there’s gonna be an element of what do you need to do to control yourself? What are the things that you let yourself down with on the golf course because from Ben Hogan, Tiger Woods, downwards, everybody hits bad shots occasionally, so you’re always willing to work on the second part as well as the golf swing.
Andy: And the dialogue you would have with Darren Clarke obviously would be different to Lee Westwood I suppose.
Karl: It would be completely different. I mean, Darren is probably one of the most gifted players I’ve ever seen, if not the most gifted. He’s very much a feel orientated player; plays his best golf in a very non technical approach to the game. Darren gets bogged down by theory occasionally, whereas Lee’s far more, more of a structured way of approach. He needs to know why he’s gonna do something. If there’s a good reason for doing it, Lee will go and do it, but very, very different in the plays.
Andy: I think you were saying earlier that Paul McGinley he’s now looking at practicing so he can recreate the anxiety you would have on the course.
Karl: Yeah, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell in particular this last two years, last year was a particularly good year for Graeme. He played in the Ryder Cup for the first time. But one of the things that we did in the whole of last year was really try and make sure that there was an element of his practice that was trying to simulate golf. And one of the big mistakes I see golfers making is aimlessly hitting golf balls on the range, hitting it well and it doesn’t represent anything that’s gonna happen on the golf course.
Andy: Karl, how long have you been in the industry for, teaching golf psychology?
Karl: My background originally was as a player, but I’ve probably been involved in the psychology side of things for about ten years now and it’s been a really interesting journey. One of the things I’ve tried to develop over the last few years, I’ve done a lot of work with the PGAs around the world. I’ve been fortunate to speak to the Australian PGA, the Swedish PGA, South African PGA as well as the Europeans.
And my real passion has always been to try and pass on some of these things that have worked tour players to the golf coach, because I really believe that the coach of the future will be able to teach not only the technical side of the game, but he’ll also have an understanding of how the mind works, as well, so that we can bring the two things together. I think the problem with golf has been that there’s almost been two camps. There’s been technical coach to work on the range and so well, you’re swinging it a lot better than this mind coach who says “Well just go out there and don’t think about it” and it never really comes together.
And I really passionately believe that good coaching in the future will develop both of those sides probably as well being able to define mechanics, as well. I think a great coach in the future will be much more rounded, perhaps, than we’ve all been in the past.
Andy: Oh yeah, I mean, I can see that happening ‘cause as a kid, that never happened.
Karl: Yeah I think we’ve all had the experience of having a golf lesson. The pro stands there, we’re maybe working on something in the swing. We start getting it perfectly on the range, start flushing it. The pro say’s, “Right go away take that to the golf course.” He thinks that you’re gonna go and play well. You think you’re gonna go and play well and then you have to make a phone call to him and say, “That was dreadful. I hit it all over the place.” And that, to me, is where this necessity to understand the mental game is so important, because if you can repeat an action on the range over and over again, and then on the golf course it’s terrible, that’s not just your golf swing. There is an element of the mind side going on there.
Andy: Like you, I probably get bogged down with so many swing thoughts and so, how many swing thoughts should I have as I sort of prepare myself?
Karl : The interesting thing again, with all this is what really frustrates me is when I hear the phrase "golf’s 90 per cent mental".
Andy: Yeah, you hear that all the time.
Karl: Well it isn’t. You hear that golf’s 80 percent, 90 percent. Well it isn’t because when it’s doing well, golf is not a mental game. Golf is a physical game. It’s a physical club, a physical ball, a physical body and actually, you play your best golf with a reduction in thinking rather than thinking too much. I think that if there is one sport in the whole of the world that we’re not short of things to think about it, it's golf. I read somewhere once that we’re drowning in information but thirsting for knowledge.
And in answer to your question, to me it’s paramount that a golfer should never have more than one swing thought and rather than looking at it as a swing thought, I look at as a place where you’re occupying your mind. You’re placing your attention. One of the things that the human mind does and in the East they call it the ‘monkey mind’, it jumps from one thing to another. And that’s the classic the golfer’s mistake, that he stood over the ball and he’s thinking about this, thinking about that and thinking about something else, “Don’t go left, don’t go right don’t go in the water.”
Actually a really effective focus brings your attention to one point and to one place and that should be the goal for everybody, to actually keep your attention in one place throughout the motion of the golf swing. That then gets the best out of your swing thought, but also occupies your mind.
Andy: And when you’re teaching the pros, do you teach them pro routine where they would have a swing thought and then they, like Darren Clarke, for instance, then he can play his natural game?
Karl: Yeah. One of the most effective things that we’ve used over the years is something we’ve called the thinking zone and the playing zone whereby, if you can imagine that you’re playing golf now and if your golf ball is here, just behind the golf ball is a line. Now anything behind the line is what I call the thinking zone. So that’s where you would do your process, you would maybe visualize a shot.
You would program in the movement that you feel is essential for your golf swing. You would in effect be using the left side of the brain, the analytical part of the brain, doing all the thinking. Once you’ve done all of that though, you see this line and you literally step over that line and I call that ‘Nike golf’, then because you step over the line and you literally just do it.
Andy: Just do it, yeah.
Karl: You get into the golf ball and actually, what this does is the reverse of what most people do in a sense, that they spend very little time here, especially if they’re playing on their golf course all the time, “Oh, it’s the six iron ‘cause it’s the 12th”. They step over the line and then they start to think.
Andy: I know it's weird why they do that.
Karl: And then they freeze. So what this does is actually prepare you here in the thinking zone, but you get over the line and then just relax a little bit more, so the game becomes, actually striking out, much less of a mental process and much more of a physical one.
Andy: We all go to the range. We see everyone hitting the ball, hitting the ball and really they’re not concentrating on their mental game, are they? Is there takeaways that we can use?
Karl: I honestly think on that, I would never ever have had a role in golf the way that I have, if golf was practiced correctly. It’s the number one reason why there’s a huge frustration in between what people see that they can do on the range and then what actually comes out on the golf course. We’ve all gotta understand golf is incredibly unique because there are a very few games where you’re trying to score as low as possible.
Most games, football, cricket, whatever it is, you’re trying to get as many as possible, whereas golf you’re trying to get as little as possible, and yet, with practice, we equate a good session, I even hear it on the TV, as I hit 1,000 balls. Well the only thing that you can guarantee if you hit 1,000 balls, is that you trained yourself to hit a 1,000 shots. And as far as I am aware 1,000 wouldn’t be that good a return on a golf course, you need to split your practice into two segments.
One part of your practice, yes, you should be working on your technical side that you’re working on with your method or your coach or whatever it is, but a part of your practice should simulate a game. And the only way you can simulate a game is to add in consequence. There needs to be a consequence to each shot. I get all the players, they’ll hit a certain number of balls where it’s a particular game that they’re playing and what they’ve got to do is hit the shot and then they’ll note down the scores for that particular game.
Andy: So that reduces the anxiety out on the course.
Karl: The very act of being in practice is actually having to take a notebook out and writing the score down that you do in practice, simulates that sort of competitive element in the real game. And I would say less than one percent of golfers do this. So I think that for the viewers, really ask yourself, “Am I hitting a lot of shots? Or am I getting better at golf?”
Andy: Because one thing that you can commit to is a routine. That’s what Harrington has said in the past.
Karl: Yes. It’s a great point, that, because all golfers hear the phrase, “Well you need a routine” and I sit down with players and it’s “Oh, yeah, I’ve got a routine.” And I film them on the golf course and they haven’t got a routine. They think they’ve got a routine. The routine is as fundamental to the mental game as the grip is to the physical game. To develop a routine, you’re actually giving yourself something that you can genuinely rely on under pressure.
The mind needs a series of steps to follow under pressure. That’s the reason why in an aircraft they give you the drill, the safety procedure before you take off. I’ll never forget Harrington saying that, I heard him once say, “There’s no way I can swing it well every day, but there’s no excuse for not having a good routine every day.” And I think these great players reflect that.
Tiger Woods has been working on the mind side of things from the age of 11 and everybody assumes he’s just this born entity, but he’s not. It’s something his father was in the Special Forces. His father made him practice in a certain way and Earl Woods said to him, “When you get in competition, the training will take over.” And I take that as being that his practice was very geared to simulating the game.
Andy: It’s a really big takeaway, isn’t it?
Karl: I think the first question for the viewers would be to really ask yourself, are you getting better with the practice that you do? And it wasn’t a golfer but I think Einstein said the definition of insanity was to keep doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different result.
Andy: That’s brilliant Karl. So the next time I’m the range, I’m going to be spending at least 25 percent on the mental game. Karl, is there any way that I can conquer my first tee nerves? I mean, we all get it to some degree. What’s your take on that?
Karl: The take that we’ve had the last few years that seems to have worked well with all of the plays is the concept of what is nervousness? Well, nervousness is actually a feeling in your body. It’s a sensation running through your system. Now, as kids we were all told, “When you get to the first tee and you’re feeling these things in your body, it’s ‘first tee nerves’. And immediately, the perception is that these feelings are bad.
Well, just imagine as a kid if you were told that when you get to the first tee, these feelings that you get are actually first tee energy? All of a sudden, you’d actually look forward to those feelings. It’s actually resisting the feeling that’s the problem. You know, Tiger Woods, when he’s walking to the first tee in the Masters, I guarantee you he’ll be getting certain feelings through his body. But what he’s learned to do, he’s learned to channel those feelings and not see it as a bad thing.
I remember years ago reading that Jack Nicklaus talked about it. He said that he didn’t win majors. He waited for other people to lose them. But he said, “Just give me that feeling on the back nine of a major. That’s what I hit all the balls for.” He didn’t say, “Give me that feeling of nervousness.”
Andy: Just give a feeling.
Karl: So in his mind he created a label that this feeling was a good thing. So that would be one of the things to reframe the actual term ‘nervousness’ as an energy, but also then learn how to control it a little bit more. And one of the most effective ways is breathing. And centuries old advice has been around far longer than any of us have, a lot of the Eastern traditions talk about this.
It’s pretty much impossible to maintain a state of nervousness and breathe correctly. And nervousness, you actually have to be in the future thinking about what might happen to be nervous. Now, when you bring your attention to your breathing, not only are you physically starting to calm down, but mentally, you’re right back here in the now, in the moment. So, just that simple process of focusing on breathing. And we’ve all heard it, but very few people do it and in practice it’s really profound.
Andy: Right. Karl, a big problem I have is I tend to surround myself with people that in the clubhouse afterwards, talk about their bad shots. “I had a 70, I had an 80, but the triple bogey on #14, that sort of conversation. The conversations doesn’t sort of go on to, “Yes, but I did this part and you know, single putts on these five greens.” It’s a funny sort of conversation us golfers get into. I want to almost get away from it because I think that must be better for my golfing.
Karl: It’s a crazy thing, Andy, really because I think we’ve almost been conditioned that misery loves company. I do call it the ‘but syndrome’, I shot 68 but! And you know the number of times I’ve sat with very good players and they almost love to tell me how bad they’ve putted. You know, “I hit the ball so well, but I three putted four times” or whatever, almost as though that’s a badge of honor that they’re wearing.
And I think it’s something that we should all look at in the way that we talk about the game because there’s no question, one of the things I’ve become fascinated with over the last few years is how memory plays such a big role in our performance. You know, the certain shots that you stand over that you just know that you’re gonna hit a good shot, because a memory has been triggered of a previous result that you’ve had in that situation.
And I always think back to the lovely story about how Harvey Penick that Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite were sat with him many, many years before they went out on tour. I think it was Tom Kite said to Mr. Penick, he said, “If there was one single piece of advice that you would give us out on tour, what would it be?” And Harvey Penick just said, “Make sure that you go to dinner with good putters.” And in effect what he was saying, he was being a great psychologist in that moment. He was saying, “Make sure you hang out with and be with people who hole putts, who talk about holing putts rather than ones who just drag us down into the sort of misery of what should’ve been.”
One practical thing that the viewers might want to think about is something that’s been really successful with players over the last few years is something that I call the three shot diary. And literally, what the three shot diary is that when you finish playing golf, what you do, maybe after you’ve got back, you’ve gone home, you actually sit down and think about the three best shots that you’ve hit that day and actually then, write them out. Write them out in detail what you were thinking, what you were feeling.
There are a couple things are happening with this simple process. One is by writing the shot out, you’re solidifying the memory of that, strengthening the memory, but the other thing is, you’re going to start to find a pattern of what you do when you play good golf. You know, people go for a golf lesson, the first thing they say, “Tell me what I’m doing wrong.” Which we’ve gotta look at our faults, or actually, what do you do when you do it right?
Andy: Yeah, and what you consistently do right.
Karl: What do you consistently do when you do it right? You know, I once said, “Success leaves behind a trail”, but you’ve gotta look for that trail. And I think that good plays do this. Tiger Woods, he said he felt that the secret to the game was to instantly recall past success and to let go of failure. Most people do the opposite.
Andy: Exactly, yeah. That’s human nature, I guess.
Karl: Probably the best example I’ve ever seen about this and mental toughness was Bernhard Langer when he missed that putt at Kiawah Island. A four foot putt to win the Ryder Cup, he missed it. You imagine that impact that could’ve had on him, but Langer went away. He said, “I went through a routine. I did everything I could. I shot the putt the right way. It didn’t go in. It just didn’t go in.”
And then the very next week he went over to Germany and he won the Mercedes Masters the next week. I just think that’s incredible. It just shows you, he had the ability to let go of what happened, get the best out of it and move on.
Andy: Yeah, incredible story and that’s one takeaway for all of us. Langer, back in ’91. Can you imagine that?
Karl: The world’s watching.
Andy: The world’s watching. Everyone doubting that he can hole a putt and then two weeks later he goes and wins the Mercedes Masters. Incredible story there. Something we can all learn from. That’s fantastic Karl. So much advice there. I really appreciate your time. If there’s anyone out there that wants to find out more about what you’re doing with the players or just to help their own game, where can they go to find out the information?
Karl: There’s a couple of websites and one of the websites is GolfTrainingProducts.co.uk and if people go to that site they can get some free videos, some downloads and some things that we’ve talked about here today. The other website is Golf-Brain.com and anybody signs up there they get a free monthly newsletter that keeps them informed of what’s going on with the players and some of the courses that I run, etcetera. The product that’s worked really well this last 12 months, a new product is a CD called 5 Shots Lower Without Changing Your Swing .
Andy: Oh, we all want that, yeah.
Karl: Something that you can play in the car, a series of tools that you can use, similar to what we’ve talked about today. This stuff needs reinforcing. We all fall back into our old patterns and our old habits. And you know, we’re so keen on being warmed up physically, but we need to be warmed up and tuned in mentally.
Andy: This is a CD you can put in the car?
Karl: A CD you can put in the car and you can listen to it at home, you know, the players that I’ve worked with say that they keep listening to it over and over and just to keep their mind, the mental stages in all of it, like I say five shots lower without changing their swing.
Andy: So, hope you thoroughly enjoyed the show with Karl. I have. Thanks very much for coming Karl.
Karl: My pleasure, Andy.
Andy: Hopefully we’ll talk in the near future.
Karl: Look forward to it.
Andy: Okay. Well that’s the end of the show. I hope you thoroughly enjoyed it.
More about Dr Karl Morris
Free Golf Mind Factor Video Training Course
5 Shots Lower Without Changing Your Swing
The Mind Factor
Finally, the Question of the Day:
What’s the biggest mental challenge in your game? Leave your comments below and we’ll have fun reading them!
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15:30:49 09/26/09
Dr Karl Morris – Episode #12 Part 2
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 15:30:49 09/26/09
In this episode I am joined by Dr Karl Morris one of Europe's top golf "mental game" coaches. Karl works with the following players: Darren Clarke, David Howell, Lee Westwood, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell, Richard Finch, Phil Archer, Alison Nicholas and Trish Johnson.Here is the transcription of our 20 minute interview.Andy: Hi and welcome to episode 12 of Home of Golf TV. Today I’m joined with Dr Karl Morris, one of Europe’s leading golf mind coaches. Welcome Karl to the show. Karl: Hi there Andy, thanks. Andy: Now Karl, you’ve worked with Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell, all the top players in Europe over a fantastic career you’ve had so far, helping them with their coaching. What tips can you give the viewers, takeaways from their games?Karl: I think the big thing that I’ve found over the years is that the individual is sacred and what works for Darren Clarke certainly wouldn’t work for David Howell or Paul McGinley. So it’s very much about finding your own way of playing the game. And one of the big things I’ve worked in the last couple of years and it’s such a simple understanding about the game, but I think its so relevant for everybody that there’s really only two things in golf that you’re trying to control. You’re trying to control the golf ball and you’re trying to control yourself. So that obviously, everybody, they need to keep working on the technical side of the game. They need to find a golf swing and a method that they can trust, but also there’s gonna be an element of what do you need to do to control yourself? What are the things that you let yourself down with on the golf course because from Ben Hogan, Tiger Woods, downwards, everybody hits bad shots occasionally, so you’re always willing to work on the second part as well as the golf swing. Andy: And the dialogue you would have with Darren Clarke obviously would be different to Lee Westwood I suppose.Karl: It would be completely different. I mean, Darren is probably one of the most gifted players I’ve ever seen, if not the most gifted. He’s very much a feel orientated player; plays his best golf in a very non technical approach to the game. Darren gets bogged down by theory occasionally, whereas Lee’s far more, more of a structured way of approach. He needs to know why he’s gonna do something. If there’s a good reason for doing it, Lee will go and do it, but very, very different in the plays.Andy: I think you were saying earlier that Paul McGinley he’s now looking at practicing so he can recreate the anxiety you would have on the course. Karl: Yeah, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell in particular this last two years, last year was a particularly good year for Graeme. He played in the Ryder Cup for the first time. But one of the things that we did in the whole of last year was really try and make sure that there was an element of his practice that was trying to simulate golf. And one of the big mistakes I see golfers making is aimlessly hitting golf balls on the range, hitting it well and it doesn’t represent anything that’s gonna happen on the golf course. Andy: Karl, how long have you been in the industry for, teaching golf psychology?Karl: My background originally was as a player, but I’ve probably been involved in the psychology side of things for about ten years now and it’s been a really interesting journey. One of the things I’ve tried to develop over the last few years, I’ve done a lot of work with the PGAs around the world. I’ve been fortunate to speak to the Australian PGA, the Swedish PGA, South African PGA as well as the Europeans. And my real passion has always been to try and pass on some of these things that have worked tour players to the golf coach, because I really believe that the coach of the future will be able to teach not only the technical side of the game, but he’ll also have an understanding of how the mind works, as well, so that we can bring the two things together. I think the problem with golf has been that there’s almost been two camps. There’s been technical coach to work on the range and so well, you’re swinging it a lot better than this mind coach who says “Well just go out there and don’t think about it” and it never really comes together. And I really passionately believe that good coaching in the future will develop both of those sides probably as well being able to define mechanics, as well. I think a great coach in the future will be much more rounded, perhaps, than we’ve all been in the past.Andy: Oh yeah, I mean, I can see that happening ‘cause as a kid, that never happened. Karl: Yeah I think we’ve all had the experience of having a golf lesson. The pro stands there, we’re maybe working on something in the swing. We start getting it perfectly on the range, start flushing it. The pro say’s, “Right go away take that to the golf course.” He thinks that you’re gonna go and play well. You think you’re gonna go and play well and then you have to make a phone call to him and say, “That was dreadful. I hit it all over the place.” And that, to me, is where this necessity to understand the mental game is so important, because if you can repeat an action on the range over and over again, and then on the golf course it’s terrible, that’s not just your golf swing. There is an element of the mind side going on there.Andy: Like you, I probably get bogged down with so many swing thoughts and so, how many swing thoughts should I have as I sort of prepare myself?Karl: The interesting thing again, with all this is what really frustrates me is when I hear the phrase "golf’s 90 per cent mental". Andy: Yeah, you hear that all the time.Karl: Well it isn’t. You hear that golf’s 80 percent, 90 percent. Well it isn’t because when it’s doing well, golf is not a mental game. Golf is a physical game. It’s a physical club, a physical ball, a physical body and actually, you play your best golf with a reduction in thinking rather than thinking too much. I think that if there is one sport in the whole of the world that we’re not short of things to think about it, it's golf. I read somewhere once that we’re drowning in information but thirsting for knowledge. And in answer to your question, to me it’s paramount that a golfer should never have more than one swing thought and rather than looking at it as a swing thought, I look at as a place where you’re occupying your mind. You’re placing your attention. One of the things that the human mind does and in the East they call it the ‘monkey mind’, it jumps from one thing to another. And that’s the classic the golfer’s mistake, that he stood over the ball and he’s thinking about this, thinking about that and thinking about something else, “Don’t go left, don’t go right don’t go in the water.” Actually a really effective focus brings your attention to one point and to one place and that should be the goal for everybody, to actually keep your attention in one place throughout the motion of the golf swing. That then gets the best out of your swing thought, but also occupies your mind. Andy: And when you’re teaching the pros, do you teach them pro routine where they would have a swing thought and then they, like Darren Clarke, for instance, then he can play his natural game? Karl: Yeah. One of the most effective things that we’ve used over the years is something we’ve called the thinking zone and the playing zone whereby, if you can imagine that you’re playing golf now and if your golf ball is here, just behind the golf ball is a line. Now anything behind the line is what I call the thinking zone. So that’s where you would do your process, you would maybe visualize a shot. You would program in the movement that you feel is essential for your golf swing. You would in effect be using the left side of the brain, the analytical part of the brain, doing all the thinking. Once you’ve done all of that though, you see this line and you literally step over that line and I call that ‘Nike golf’, then because you step over the line and you literally just do it. Andy: Just do it, yeah.Karl: You get into the golf ball and actually, what this does is the reverse of what most people do in a sense, that they spend very little time here, especially if they’re playing on their golf course all the time, “Oh, it’s the six iron ‘cause it’s the 12th”. They step over the line and then they start to think. Andy: I know it's weird why they do that.Karl: And then they freeze. So what this does is actually prepare you here in the thinking zone, but you get over the line and then just relax a little bit more, so the game becomes, actually striking out, much less of a mental process and much more of a physical one. Andy: We all go to the range. We see everyone hitting the ball, hitting the ball and really they’re not concentrating on their mental game, are they? Is there takeaways that we can use?Karl: I honestly think on that, I would never ever have had a role in golf the way that I have, if golf was practiced correctly. It’s the number one reason why there’s a huge frustration in between what people see that they can do on the range and then what actually comes out on the golf course. We’ve all gotta understand golf is incredibly unique because there are a very few games where you’re trying to score as low as possible. Most games, football, cricket, whatever it is, you’re trying to get as many as possible, whereas golf you’re trying to get as little as possible, and yet, with practice, we equate a good session, I even hear it on the TV, as I hit 1,000 balls. Well the only thing that you can guarantee if you hit 1,000 balls, is that you trained yourself to hit a 1,000 shots. And as far as I am aware 1,000 wouldn’t be that good a return on a golf course, you need to split your practice into two segments. One part of your practice, yes, you should be working on your technical side that you’re working on with your method or your coach or whatever it is, but a part of your practice should simulate a game. And the only way you can simulate a game is to add in consequence. There needs to be a consequence to each shot. I get all the players, they’ll hit a certain number of balls where it’s a particular game that they’re playing and what they’ve got to do is hit the shot and then they’ll note down the scores for that particular game. Andy: So that reduces the anxiety out on the course.Karl: The very act of being in practice is actually having to take a notebook out and writing the score down that you do in practice, simulates that sort of competitive element in the real game. And I would say less than one percent of golfers do this. So I think that for the viewers, really ask yourself, “Am I hitting a lot of shots? Or am I getting better at golf?” Andy: Because one thing that you can commit to is a routine. That’s what Harrington has said in the past.Karl: Yes. It’s a great point, that, because all golfers hear the phrase, “Well you need a routine” and I sit down with players and it’s “Oh, yeah, I’ve got a routine.” And I film them on the golf course and they haven’t got a routine. They think they’ve got a routine. The routine is as fundamental to the mental game as the grip is to the physical game. To develop a routine, you’re actually giving yourself something that you can genuinely rely on under pressure. The mind needs a series of steps to follow under pressure. That’s the reason why in an aircraft they give you the drill, the safety procedure before you take off. I’ll never forget Harrington saying that, I heard him once say, “There’s no way I can swing it well every day, but there’s no excuse for not having a good routine every day.” And I think these great players reflect that. Tiger Woods has been working on the mind side of things from the age of 11 and everybody assumes he’s just this born entity, but he’s not. It’s something his father was in the Special Forces. His father made him practice in a certain way and Earl Woods said to him, “When you get in competition, the training will take over.” And I take that as being that his practice was very geared to simulating the game.Andy: It’s a really big takeaway, isn’t it?Karl: I think the first question for the viewers would be to really ask yourself, are you getting better with the practice that you do? And it wasn’t a golfer but I think Einstein said the definition of insanity was to keep doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different result.Andy: That’s brilliant Karl. So the next time I’m the range, I’m going to be spending at least 25 percent on the mental game. Karl, is there any way that I can conquer my first tee nerves? I mean, we all get it to some degree. What’s your take on that?Karl: The take that we’ve had the last few years that seems to have worked well with all of the plays is the concept of what is nervousness? Well, nervousness is actually a feeling in your body. It’s a sensation running through your system. Now, as kids we were all told, “When you get to the first tee and you’re feeling these things in your body, it’s ‘first tee nerves’. And immediately, the perception is that these feelings are bad. Well, just imagine as a kid if you were told that when you get to the first tee, these feelings that you get are actually first tee energy? All of a sudden, you’d actually look forward to those feelings. It’s actually resisting the feeling that’s the problem. You know, Tiger Woods, when he’s walking to the first tee in the Masters, I guarantee you he’ll be getting certain feelings through his body. But what he’s learned to do, he’s learned to channel those feelings and not see it as a bad thing. I remember years ago reading that Jack Nicklaus talked about it. He said that he didn’t win majors. He waited for other people to lose them. But he said, “Just give me that feeling on the back nine of a major. That’s what I hit all the balls for.” He didn’t say, “Give me that feeling of nervousness.”Andy: Just give a feeling.Karl: So in his mind he created a label that this feeling was a good thing. So that would be one of the things to reframe the actual term ‘nervousness’ as an energy, but also then learn how to control it a little bit more. And one of the most effective ways is breathing. And centuries old advice has been around far longer than any of us have, a lot of the Eastern traditions talk about this. It’s pretty much impossible to maintain a state of nervousness and breathe correctly. And nervousness, you actually have to be in the future thinking about what might happen to be nervous. Now, when you bring your attention to your breathing, not only are you physically starting to calm down, but mentally, you’re right back here in the now, in the moment. So, just that simple process of focusing on breathing. And we’ve all heard it, but very few people do it and in practice it’s really profound. Andy: Right. Karl, a big problem I have is I tend to surround myself with people that in the clubhouse afterwards, talk about their bad shots. “I had a 70, I had an 80, but the triple bogey on #14, that sort of conversation. The conversations doesn’t sort of go on to, “Yes, but I did this part and you know, single putts on these five greens.” It’s a funny sort of conversation us golfers get into. I want to almost get away from it because I think that must be better for my golfing.Karl: It’s a crazy thing, Andy, really because I think we’ve almost been conditioned that misery loves company. I do call it the ‘but syndrome’, I shot 68 but! And you know the number of times I’ve sat with very good players and they almost love to tell me how bad they’ve putted. You know, “I hit the ball so well, but I three putted four times” or whatever, almost as though that’s a badge of honor that they’re wearing. And I think it’s something that we should all look at in the way that we talk about the game because there’s no question, one of the things I’ve become fascinated with over the last few years is how memory plays such a big role in our performance. You know, the certain shots that you stand over that you just know that you’re gonna hit a good shot, because a memory has been triggered of a previous result that you’ve had in that situation. And I always think back to the lovely story about how Harvey Penick that Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite were sat with him many, many years before they went out on tour. I think it was Tom Kite said to Mr. Penick, he said, “If there was one single piece of advice that you would give us out on tour, what would it be?” And Harvey Penick just said, “Make sure that you go to dinner with good putters.” And in effect what he was saying, he was being a great psychologist in that moment. He was saying, “Make sure you hang out with and be with people who hole putts, who talk about holing putts rather than ones who just drag us down into the sort of misery of what should’ve been.” One practical thing that the viewers might want to think about is something that’s been really successful with players over the last few years is something that I call the three shot diary. And literally, what the three shot diary is that when you finish playing golf, what you do, maybe after you’ve got back, you’ve gone home, you actually sit down and think about the three best shots that you’ve hit that day and actually then, write them out. Write them out in detail what you were thinking, what you were feeling. There are a couple things are happening with this simple process. One is by writing the shot out, you’re solidifying the memory of that, strengthening the memory, but the other thing is, you’re going to start to find a pattern of what you do when you play good golf. You know, people go for a golf lesson, the first thing they say, “Tell me what I’m doing wrong.” Which we’ve gotta look at our faults, or actually, what do you do when you do it right? Andy: Yeah, and what you consistently do right.Karl: What do you consistently do when you do it right? You know, I once said, “Success leaves behind a trail”, but you’ve gotta look for that trail. And I think that good plays do this. Tiger Woods, he said he felt that the secret to the game was to instantly recall past success and to let go of failure. Most people do the opposite. Andy: Exactly, yeah. That’s human nature, I guess.Karl: Probably the best example I’ve ever seen about this and mental toughness was Bernhard Langer when he missed that putt at Kiawah Island. A four foot putt to win the Ryder Cup, he missed it. You imagine that impact that could’ve had on him, but Langer went away. He said, “I went through a routine. I did everything I could. I shot the putt the right way. It didn’t go in. It just didn’t go in.” And then the very next week he went over to Germany and he won the Mercedes Masters the next week. I just think that’s incredible. It just shows you, he had the ability to let go of what happened, get the best out of it and move on. Andy: Yeah, incredible story and that’s one takeaway for all of us. Langer, back in ’91. Can you imagine that?Karl: The world’s watching.Andy: The world’s watching. Everyone doubting that he can hole a putt and then two weeks later he goes and wins the Mercedes Masters. Incredible story there. Something we can all learn from. That’s fantastic Karl. So much advice there. I really appreciate your time. If there’s anyone out there that wants to find out more about what you’re doing with the players or just to help their own game, where can they go to find out the information?Karl: There’s a couple of websites and one of the websites is GolfTrainingProducts.co.uk and if people go to that site they can get some free videos, some downloads and some things that we’ve talked about here today. The other website is Golf-Brain.com and anybody signs up there they get a free monthly newsletter that keeps them informed of what’s going on with the players and some of the courses that I run, etcetera. The product that’s worked really well this last 12 months, a new product is a CD called 5 Shots Lower Without Changing Your Swing. Andy: Oh, we all want that, yeah.Karl: Something that you can play in the car, a series of tools that you can use, similar to what we’ve talked about today. This stuff needs reinforcing. We all fall back into our old patterns and our old habits. And you know, we’re so keen on being warmed up physically, but we need to be warmed up and tuned in mentally.Andy: This is a CD you can put in the car?Karl: A CD you can put in the car and you can listen to it at home, you know, the players that I’ve worked with say that they keep listening to it over and over and just to keep their mind, the mental stages in all of it, like I say five shots lower without changing their swing. Andy: So, hope you thoroughly enjoyed the show with Karl. I have. Thanks very much for coming Karl.Karl: My pleasure, Andy.Andy: Hopefully we’ll talk in the near future.Karl: Look forward to it.Andy: Okay. Well that’s the end of the show. I hope you thoroughly enjoyed it.More about Dr Karl MorrisFree Golf Mind Factor Video Training Course5 Shots Lower Without Changing Your SwingThe Mind FactorFinally, the Question of the Day:What’s the biggest mental challenge in your game? Leave your comments below and we’ll have fun reading them!
3 Views
00:12:24 08/21/09
Dr Karl Morris – Episode #12 Part 1
[LESS INFO] 3 VIEWS | ADDED 00:12:24 08/21/09
In this episode I am joined by Dr Karl Morris one of Europe's top golf "mental game" coaches. Karl works with the following players: Darren Clarke, David Howell, Lee Westwood, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell, Richard Finch, Phil Archer, Alison Nicholas and Trish Johnson.
Here is the transcription of our 20 minute interview.
Andy: Hi and welcome to episode 12 of Home of Golf TV. Today I’m joined with Dr Karl Morris, one of Europe’s leading golf mind coaches. Welcome Karl to the show.
Karl: Hi there Andy, thanks.
Andy: Now Karl, you’ve worked with Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell, all the top players in Europe over a fantastic career you’ve had so far, helping them with their coaching. What tips can you give the viewers, takeaways from their games?
Karl: I think the big thing that I’ve found over the years is that the individual is sacred and what works for Darren Clarke certainly wouldn’t work for David Howell or Paul McGinley. So it’s very much about finding your own way of playing the game. And one of the big things I’ve worked in the last couple of years and it’s such a simple understanding about the game, but I think its so relevant for everybody that there’s really only two things in golf that you’re trying to control. You’re trying to control the golf ball and you’re trying to control yourself.
So that obviously, everybody, they need to keep working on the technical side of the game. They need to find a golf swing and a method that they can trust, but also there’s gonna be an element of what do you need to do to control yourself? What are the things that you let yourself down with on the golf course because from Ben Hogan, Tiger Woods, downwards, everybody hits bad shots occasionally, so you’re always willing to work on the second part as well as the golf swing.
Andy: And the dialogue you would have with Darren Clarke obviously would be different to Lee Westwood I suppose.
Karl: It would be completely different. I mean, Darren is probably one of the most gifted players I’ve ever seen, if not the most gifted. He’s very much a feel orientated player; plays his best golf in a very non technical approach to the game. Darren gets bogged down by theory occasionally, whereas Lee’s far more, more of a structured way of approach. He needs to know why he’s gonna do something. If there’s a good reason for doing it, Lee will go and do it, but very, very different in the plays.
Andy: I think you were saying earlier that Paul McGinley he’s now looking at practicing so he can recreate the anxiety you would have on the course.
Karl: Yeah, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell in particular this last two years, last year was a particularly good year for Graeme. He played in the Ryder Cup for the first time. But one of the things that we did in the whole of last year was really try and make sure that there was an element of his practice that was trying to simulate golf. And one of the big mistakes I see golfers making is aimlessly hitting golf balls on the range, hitting it well and it doesn’t represent anything that’s gonna happen on the golf course.
Andy: Karl, how long have you been in the industry for, teaching golf psychology?
Karl: My background originally was as a player, but I’ve probably been involved in the psychology side of things for about ten years now and it’s been a really interesting journey. One of the things I’ve tried to develop over the last few years, I’ve done a lot of work with the PGAs around the world. I’ve been fortunate to speak to the Australian PGA, the Swedish PGA, South African PGA as well as the Europeans.
And my real passion has always been to try and pass on some of these things that have worked tour players to the golf coach, because I really believe that the coach of the future will be able to teach not only the technical side of the game, but he’ll also have an understanding of how the mind works, as well, so that we can bring the two things together. I think the problem with golf has been that there’s almost been two camps. There’s been technical coach to work on the range and so well, you’re swinging it a lot better than this mind coach who says “Well just go out there and don’t think about it” and it never really comes together.
And I really passionately believe that good coaching in the future will develop both of those sides probably as well being able to define mechanics, as well. I think a great coach in the future will be much more rounded, perhaps, than we’ve all been in the past.
Andy: Oh yeah, I mean, I can see that happening ‘cause as a kid, that never happened.
Karl: Yeah I think we’ve all had the experience of having a golf lesson. The pro stands there, we’re maybe working on something in the swing. We start getting it perfectly on the range, start flushing it. The pro say’s, “Right go away take that to the golf course.” He thinks that you’re gonna go and play well. You think you’re gonna go and play well and then you have to make a phone call to him and say, “That was dreadful. I hit it all over the place.” And that, to me, is where this necessity to understand the mental game is so important, because if you can repeat an action on the range over and over again, and then on the golf course it’s terrible, that’s not just your golf swing. There is an element of the mind side going on there.
Andy: Like you, I probably get bogged down with so many swing thoughts and so, how many swing thoughts should I have as I sort of prepare myself?
Karl : The interesting thing again, with all this is what really frustrates me is when I hear the phrase "golf’s 90 per cent mental".
Andy: Yeah, you hear that all the time.
Karl: Well it isn’t. You hear that golf’s 80 percent, 90 percent. Well it isn’t because when it’s doing well, golf is not a mental game. Golf is a physical game. It’s a physical club, a physical ball, a physical body and actually, you play your best golf with a reduction in thinking rather than thinking too much. I think that if there is one sport in the whole of the world that we’re not short of things to think about it, it's golf. I read somewhere once that we’re drowning in information but thirsting for knowledge.
And in answer to your question, to me it’s paramount that a golfer should never have more than one swing thought and rather than looking at it as a swing thought, I look at as a place where you’re occupying your mind. You’re placing your attention. One of the things that the human mind does and in the East they call it the ‘monkey mind’, it jumps from one thing to another. And that’s the classic the golfer’s mistake, that he stood over the ball and he’s thinking about this, thinking about that and thinking about something else, “Don’t go left, don’t go right don’t go in the water.”
Actually a really effective focus brings your attention to one point and to one place and that should be the goal for everybody, to actually keep your attention in one place throughout the motion of the golf swing. That then gets the best out of your swing thought, but also occupies your mind.
Andy: And when you’re teaching the pros, do you teach them pro routine where they would have a swing thought and then they, like Darren Clarke, for instance, then he can play his natural game?
Karl: Yeah. One of the most effective things that we’ve used over the years is something we’ve called the thinking zone and the playing zone whereby, if you can imagine that you’re playing golf now and if your golf ball is here, just behind the golf ball is a line. Now anything behind the line is what I call the thinking zone. So that’s where you would do your process, you would maybe visualize a shot.
You would program in the movement that you feel is essential for your golf swing. You would in effect be using the left side of the brain, the analytical part of the brain, doing all the thinking. Once you’ve done all of that though, you see this line and you literally step over that line and I call that ‘Nike golf’, then because you step over the line and you literally just do it.
Andy: Just do it, yeah.
Karl: You get into the golf ball and actually, what this does is the reverse of what most people do in a sense, that they spend very little time here, especially if they’re playing on their golf course all the time, “Oh, it’s the six iron ‘cause it’s the 12th”. They step over the line and then they start to think.
Andy: I know it's weird why they do that.
Karl: And then they freeze. So what this does is actually prepare you here in the thinking zone, but you get over the line and then just relax a little bit more, so the game becomes, actually striking out, much less of a mental process and much more of a physical one.
Andy: We all go to the range. We see everyone hitting the ball, hitting the ball and really they’re not concentrating on their mental game, are they? Is there takeaways that we can use?
Karl: I honestly think on that, I would never ever have had a role in golf the way that I have, if golf was practiced correctly. It’s the number one reason why there’s a huge frustration in between what people see that they can do on the range and then what actually comes out on the golf course. We’ve all gotta understand golf is incredibly unique because there are a very few games where you’re trying to score as low as possible.
Most games, football, cricket, whatever it is, you’re trying to get as many as possible, whereas golf you’re trying to get as little as possible, and yet, with practice, we equate a good session, I even hear it on the TV, as I hit 1,000 balls. Well the only thing that you can guarantee if you hit 1,000 balls, is that you trained yourself to hit a 1,000 shots. And as far as I am aware 1,000 wouldn’t be that good a return on a golf course, you need to split your practice into two segments.
One part of your practice, yes, you should be working on your technical side that you’re working on with your method or your coach or whatever it is, but a part of your practice should simulate a game. And the only way you can simulate a game is to add in consequence. There needs to be a consequence to each shot. I get all the players, they’ll hit a certain number of balls where it’s a particular game that they’re playing and what they’ve got to do is hit the shot and then they’ll note down the scores for that particular game.
Andy: So that reduces the anxiety out on the course.
Karl: The very act of being in practice is actually having to take a notebook out and writing the score down that you do in practice, simulates that sort of competitive element in the real game. And I would say less than one percent of golfers do this. So I think that for the viewers, really ask yourself, “Am I hitting a lot of shots? Or am I getting better at golf?”
Andy: Because one thing that you can commit to is a routine. That’s what Harrington has said in the past.
Karl: Yes. It’s a great point, that, because all golfers hear the phrase, “Well you need a routine” and I sit down with players and it’s “Oh, yeah, I’ve got a routine.” And I film them on the golf course and they haven’t got a routine. They think they’ve got a routine. The routine is as fundamental to the mental game as the grip is to the physical game. To develop a routine, you’re actually giving yourself something that you can genuinely rely on under pressure.
The mind needs a series of steps to follow under pressure. That’s the reason why in an aircraft they give you the drill, the safety procedure before you take off. I’ll never forget Harrington saying that, I heard him once say, “There’s no way I can swing it well every day, but there’s no excuse for not having a good routine every day.” And I think these great players reflect that.
Tiger Woods has been working on the mind side of things from the age of 11 and everybody assumes he’s just this born entity, but he’s not. It’s something his father was in the Special Forces. His father made him practice in a certain way and Earl Woods said to him, “When you get in competition, the training will take over.” And I take that as being that his practice was very geared to simulating the game.
Andy: It’s a really big takeaway, isn’t it?
Karl: I think the first question for the viewers would be to really ask yourself, are you getting better with the practice that you do? And it wasn’t a golfer but I think Einstein said the definition of insanity was to keep doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different result.
Andy: That’s brilliant Karl. So the next time I’m the range, I’m going to be spending at least 25 percent on the mental game. Karl, is there any way that I can conquer my first tee nerves? I mean, we all get it to some degree. What’s your take on that?
Karl: The take that we’ve had the last few years that seems to have worked well with all of the plays is the concept of what is nervousness? Well, nervousness is actually a feeling in your body. It’s a sensation running through your system. Now, as kids we were all told, “When you get to the first tee and you’re feeling these things in your body, it’s ‘first tee nerves’. And immediately, the perception is that these feelings are bad.
Well, just imagine as a kid if you were told that when you get to the first tee, these feelings that you get are actually first tee energy? All of a sudden, you’d actually look forward to those feelings. It’s actually resisting the feeling that’s the problem. You know, Tiger Woods, when he’s walking to the first tee in the Masters, I guarantee you he’ll be getting certain feelings through his body. But what he’s learned to do, he’s learned to channel those feelings and not see it as a bad thing.
I remember years ago reading that Jack Nicklaus talked about it. He said that he didn’t win majors. He waited for other people to lose them. But he said, “Just give me that feeling on the back nine of a major. That’s what I hit all the balls for.” He didn’t say, “Give me that feeling of nervousness.”
Andy: Just give a feeling.
Karl: So in his mind he created a label that this feeling was a good thing. So that would be one of the things to reframe the actual term ‘nervousness’ as an energy, but also then learn how to control it a little bit more. And one of the most effective ways is breathing. And centuries old advice has been around far longer than any of us have, a lot of the Eastern traditions talk about this.
It’s pretty much impossible to maintain a state of nervousness and breathe correctly. And nervousness, you actually have to be in the future thinking about what might happen to be nervous. Now, when you bring your attention to your breathing, not only are you physically starting to calm down, but mentally, you’re right back here in the now, in the moment. So, just that simple process of focusing on breathing. And we’ve all heard it, but very few people do it and in practice it’s really profound.
Andy: Right. Karl, a big problem I have is I tend to surround myself with people that in the clubhouse afterwards, talk about their bad shots. “I had a 70, I had an 80, but the triple bogey on #14, that sort of conversation. The conversations doesn’t sort of go on to, “Yes, but I did this part and you know, single putts on these five greens.” It’s a funny sort of conversation us golfers get into. I want to almost get away from it because I think that must be better for my golfing.
Karl: It’s a crazy thing, Andy, really because I think we’ve almost been conditioned that misery loves company. I do call it the ‘but syndrome’, I shot 68 but! And you know the number of times I’ve sat with very good players and they almost love to tell me how bad they’ve putted. You know, “I hit the ball so well, but I three putted four times” or whatever, almost as though that’s a badge of honor that they’re wearing.
And I think it’s something that we should all look at in the way that we talk about the game because there’s no question, one of the things I’ve become fascinated with over the last few years is how memory plays such a big role in our performance. You know, the certain shots that you stand over that you just know that you’re gonna hit a good shot, because a memory has been triggered of a previous result that you’ve had in that situation.
And I always think back to the lovely story about how Harvey Penick that Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite were sat with him many, many years before they went out on tour. I think it was Tom Kite said to Mr. Penick, he said, “If there was one single piece of advice that you would give us out on tour, what would it be?” And Harvey Penick just said, “Make sure that you go to dinner with good putters.” And in effect what he was saying, he was being a great psychologist in that moment. He was saying, “Make sure you hang out with and be with people who hole putts, who talk about holing putts rather than ones who just drag us down into the sort of misery of what should’ve been.”
One practical thing that the viewers might want to think about is something that’s been really successful with players over the last few years is something that I call the three shot diary. And literally, what the three shot diary is that when you finish playing golf, what you do, maybe after you’ve got back, you’ve gone home, you actually sit down and think about the three best shots that you’ve hit that day and actually then, write them out. Write them out in detail what you were thinking, what you were feeling.
There are a couple things are happening with this simple process. One is by writing the shot out, you’re solidifying the memory of that, strengthening the memory, but the other thing is, you’re going to start to find a pattern of what you do when you play good golf. You know, people go for a golf lesson, the first thing they say, “Tell me what I’m doing wrong.” Which we’ve gotta look at our faults, or actually, what do you do when you do it right?
Andy: Yeah, and what you consistently do right.
Karl: What do you consistently do when you do it right? You know, I once said, “Success leaves behind a trail”, but you’ve gotta look for that trail. And I think that good plays do this. Tiger Woods, he said he felt that the secret to the game was to instantly recall past success and to let go of failure. Most people do the opposite.
Andy: Exactly, yeah. That’s human nature, I guess.
Karl: Probably the best example I’ve ever seen about this and mental toughness was Bernhard Langer when he missed that putt at Kiawah Island. A four foot putt to win the Ryder Cup, he missed it. You imagine that impact that could’ve had on him, but Langer went away. He said, “I went through a routine. I did everything I could. I shot the putt the right way. It didn’t go in. It just didn’t go in.”
And then the very next week he went over to Germany and he won the Mercedes Masters the next week. I just think that’s incredible. It just shows you, he had the ability to let go of what happened, get the best out of it and move on.
Andy: Yeah, incredible story and that’s one takeaway for all of us. Langer, back in ’91. Can you imagine that?
Karl: The world’s watching.
Andy: The world’s watching. Everyone doubting that he can hole a putt and then two weeks later he goes and wins the Mercedes Masters. Incredible story there. Something we can all learn from. That’s fantastic Karl. So much advice there. I really appreciate your time. If there’s anyone out there that wants to find out more about what you’re doing with the players or just to help their own game, where can they go to find out the information?
Karl: There’s a couple of websites and one of the websites is GolfTrainingProducts.co.uk and if people go to that site they can get some free videos, some downloads and some things that we’ve talked about here today. The other website is Golf-Brain.com and anybody signs up there they get a free monthly newsletter that keeps them informed of what’s going on with the players and some of the courses that I run, etcetera. The product that’s worked really well this last 12 months, a new product is a CD called 5 Shots Lower Without Changing Your Swing .
Andy: Oh, we all want that, yeah.
Karl: Something that you can play in the car, a series of tools that you can use, similar to what we’ve talked about today. This stuff needs reinforcing. We all fall back into our old patterns and our old habits. And you know, we’re so keen on being warmed up physically, but we need to be warmed up and tuned in mentally.
Andy: This is a CD you can put in the car?
Karl: A CD you can put in the car and you can listen to it at home, you know, the players that I’ve worked with say that they keep listening to it over and over and just to keep their mind, the mental stages in all of it, like I say five shots lower without changing their swing.
Andy: So, hope you thoroughly enjoyed the show with Karl. I have. Thanks very much for coming Karl.
Karl: My pleasure, Andy.
Andy: Hopefully we’ll talk in the near future.
Karl: Look forward to it.
Andy: Okay. Well that’s the end of the show. I hope you thoroughly enjoyed it.
More about Dr Karl Morris
Free Golf Mind Factor Video Training Course
5 Shots Lower Without Changing Your Swing
The Mind Factor
Finally, the Question of the Day:
What’s the biggest mental challenge in your game? Leave your comments below and we’ll have fun reading them!
0 Views
00:12:24 08/21/09
Dr Karl Morris – Episode #12 Part 1
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 00:12:24 08/21/09
In this episode I am joined by Dr Karl Morris one of Europe's top golf "mental game" coaches. Karl works with the following players: Darren Clarke, David Howell, Lee Westwood, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell, Richard Finch, Phil Archer, Alison Nicholas and Trish Johnson.Here is the transcription of our 20 minute interview.Andy: Hi and welcome to episode 12 of Home of Golf TV. Today I’m joined with Dr Karl Morris, one of Europe’s leading golf mind coaches. Welcome Karl to the show. Karl: Hi there Andy, thanks. Andy: Now Karl, you’ve worked with Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell, all the top players in Europe over a fantastic career you’ve had so far, helping them with their coaching. What tips can you give the viewers, takeaways from their games?Karl: I think the big thing that I’ve found over the years is that the individual is sacred and what works for Darren Clarke certainly wouldn’t work for David Howell or Paul McGinley. So it’s very much about finding your own way of playing the game. And one of the big things I’ve worked in the last couple of years and it’s such a simple understanding about the game, but I think its so relevant for everybody that there’s really only two things in golf that you’re trying to control. You’re trying to control the golf ball and you’re trying to control yourself. So that obviously, everybody, they need to keep working on the technical side of the game. They need to find a golf swing and a method that they can trust, but also there’s gonna be an element of what do you need to do to control yourself? What are the things that you let yourself down with on the golf course because from Ben Hogan, Tiger Woods, downwards, everybody hits bad shots occasionally, so you’re always willing to work on the second part as well as the golf swing. Andy: And the dialogue you would have with Darren Clarke obviously would be different to Lee Westwood I suppose.Karl: It would be completely different. I mean, Darren is probably one of the most gifted players I’ve ever seen, if not the most gifted. He’s very much a feel orientated player; plays his best golf in a very non technical approach to the game. Darren gets bogged down by theory occasionally, whereas Lee’s far more, more of a structured way of approach. He needs to know why he’s gonna do something. If there’s a good reason for doing it, Lee will go and do it, but very, very different in the plays.Andy: I think you were saying earlier that Paul McGinley he’s now looking at practicing so he can recreate the anxiety you would have on the course. Karl: Yeah, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell in particular this last two years, last year was a particularly good year for Graeme. He played in the Ryder Cup for the first time. But one of the things that we did in the whole of last year was really try and make sure that there was an element of his practice that was trying to simulate golf. And one of the big mistakes I see golfers making is aimlessly hitting golf balls on the range, hitting it well and it doesn’t represent anything that’s gonna happen on the golf course. Andy: Karl, how long have you been in the industry for, teaching golf psychology?Karl: My background originally was as a player, but I’ve probably been involved in the psychology side of things for about ten years now and it’s been a really interesting journey. One of the things I’ve tried to develop over the last few years, I’ve done a lot of work with the PGAs around the world. I’ve been fortunate to speak to the Australian PGA, the Swedish PGA, South African PGA as well as the Europeans. And my real passion has always been to try and pass on some of these things that have worked tour players to the golf coach, because I really believe that the coach of the future will be able to teach not only the technical side of the game, but he’ll also have an understanding of how the mind works, as well, so that we can bring the two things together. I think the problem with golf has been that there’s almost been two camps. There’s been technical coach to work on the range and so well, you’re swinging it a lot better than this mind coach who says “Well just go out there and don’t think about it” and it never really comes together. And I really passionately believe that good coaching in the future will develop both of those sides probably as well being able to define mechanics, as well. I think a great coach in the future will be much more rounded, perhaps, than we’ve all been in the past.Andy: Oh yeah, I mean, I can see that happening ‘cause as a kid, that never happened. Karl: Yeah I think we’ve all had the experience of having a golf lesson. The pro stands there, we’re maybe working on something in the swing. We start getting it perfectly on the range, start flushing it. The pro say’s, “Right go away take that to the golf course.” He thinks that you’re gonna go and play well. You think you’re gonna go and play well and then you have to make a phone call to him and say, “That was dreadful. I hit it all over the place.” And that, to me, is where this necessity to understand the mental game is so important, because if you can repeat an action on the range over and over again, and then on the golf course it’s terrible, that’s not just your golf swing. There is an element of the mind side going on there.Andy: Like you, I probably get bogged down with so many swing thoughts and so, how many swing thoughts should I have as I sort of prepare myself?Karl: The interesting thing again, with all this is what really frustrates me is when I hear the phrase "golf’s 90 per cent mental". Andy: Yeah, you hear that all the time.Karl: Well it isn’t. You hear that golf’s 80 percent, 90 percent. Well it isn’t because when it’s doing well, golf is not a mental game. Golf is a physical game. It’s a physical club, a physical ball, a physical body and actually, you play your best golf with a reduction in thinking rather than thinking too much. I think that if there is one sport in the whole of the world that we’re not short of things to think about it, it's golf. I read somewhere once that we’re drowning in information but thirsting for knowledge. And in answer to your question, to me it’s paramount that a golfer should never have more than one swing thought and rather than looking at it as a swing thought, I look at as a place where you’re occupying your mind. You’re placing your attention. One of the things that the human mind does and in the East they call it the ‘monkey mind’, it jumps from one thing to another. And that’s the classic the golfer’s mistake, that he stood over the ball and he’s thinking about this, thinking about that and thinking about something else, “Don’t go left, don’t go right don’t go in the water.” Actually a really effective focus brings your attention to one point and to one place and that should be the goal for everybody, to actually keep your attention in one place throughout the motion of the golf swing. That then gets the best out of your swing thought, but also occupies your mind. Andy: And when you’re teaching the pros, do you teach them pro routine where they would have a swing thought and then they, like Darren Clarke, for instance, then he can play his natural game? Karl: Yeah. One of the most effective things that we’ve used over the years is something we’ve called the thinking zone and the playing zone whereby, if you can imagine that you’re playing golf now and if your golf ball is here, just behind the golf ball is a line. Now anything behind the line is what I call the thinking zone. So that’s where you would do your process, you would maybe visualize a shot. You would program in the movement that you feel is essential for your golf swing. You would in effect be using the left side of the brain, the analytical part of the brain, doing all the thinking. Once you’ve done all of that though, you see this line and you literally step over that line and I call that ‘Nike golf’, then because you step over the line and you literally just do it. Andy: Just do it, yeah.Karl: You get into the golf ball and actually, what this does is the reverse of what most people do in a sense, that they spend very little time here, especially if they’re playing on their golf course all the time, “Oh, it’s the six iron ‘cause it’s the 12th”. They step over the line and then they start to think. Andy: I know it's weird why they do that.Karl: And then they freeze. So what this does is actually prepare you here in the thinking zone, but you get over the line and then just relax a little bit more, so the game becomes, actually striking out, much less of a mental process and much more of a physical one. Andy: We all go to the range. We see everyone hitting the ball, hitting the ball and really they’re not concentrating on their mental game, are they? Is there takeaways that we can use?Karl: I honestly think on that, I would never ever have had a role in golf the way that I have, if golf was practiced correctly. It’s the number one reason why there’s a huge frustration in between what people see that they can do on the range and then what actually comes out on the golf course. We’ve all gotta understand golf is incredibly unique because there are a very few games where you’re trying to score as low as possible. Most games, football, cricket, whatever it is, you’re trying to get as many as possible, whereas golf you’re trying to get as little as possible, and yet, with practice, we equate a good session, I even hear it on the TV, as I hit 1,000 balls. Well the only thing that you can guarantee if you hit 1,000 balls, is that you trained yourself to hit a 1,000 shots. And as far as I am aware 1,000 wouldn’t be that good a return on a golf course, you need to split your practice into two segments. One part of your practice, yes, you should be working on your technical side that you’re working on with your method or your coach or whatever it is, but a part of your practice should simulate a game. And the only way you can simulate a game is to add in consequence. There needs to be a consequence to each shot. I get all the players, they’ll hit a certain number of balls where it’s a particular game that they’re playing and what they’ve got to do is hit the shot and then they’ll note down the scores for that particular game. Andy: So that reduces the anxiety out on the course.Karl: The very act of being in practice is actually having to take a notebook out and writing the score down that you do in practice, simulates that sort of competitive element in the real game. And I would say less than one percent of golfers do this. So I think that for the viewers, really ask yourself, “Am I hitting a lot of shots? Or am I getting better at golf?” Andy: Because one thing that you can commit to is a routine. That’s what Harrington has said in the past.Karl: Yes. It’s a great point, that, because all golfers hear the phrase, “Well you need a routine” and I sit down with players and it’s “Oh, yeah, I’ve got a routine.” And I film them on the golf course and they haven’t got a routine. They think they’ve got a routine. The routine is as fundamental to the mental game as the grip is to the physical game. To develop a routine, you’re actually giving yourself something that you can genuinely rely on under pressure. The mind needs a series of steps to follow under pressure. That’s the reason why in an aircraft they give you the drill, the safety procedure before you take off. I’ll never forget Harrington saying that, I heard him once say, “There’s no way I can swing it well every day, but there’s no excuse for not having a good routine every day.” And I think these great players reflect that. Tiger Woods has been working on the mind side of things from the age of 11 and everybody assumes he’s just this born entity, but he’s not. It’s something his father was in the Special Forces. His father made him practice in a certain way and Earl Woods said to him, “When you get in competition, the training will take over.” And I take that as being that his practice was very geared to simulating the game.Andy: It’s a really big takeaway, isn’t it?Karl: I think the first question for the viewers would be to really ask yourself, are you getting better with the practice that you do? And it wasn’t a golfer but I think Einstein said the definition of insanity was to keep doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different result.Andy: That’s brilliant Karl. So the next time I’m the range, I’m going to be spending at least 25 percent on the mental game. Karl, is there any way that I can conquer my first tee nerves? I mean, we all get it to some degree. What’s your take on that?Karl: The take that we’ve had the last few years that seems to have worked well with all of the plays is the concept of what is nervousness? Well, nervousness is actually a feeling in your body. It’s a sensation running through your system. Now, as kids we were all told, “When you get to the first tee and you’re feeling these things in your body, it’s ‘first tee nerves’. And immediately, the perception is that these feelings are bad. Well, just imagine as a kid if you were told that when you get to the first tee, these feelings that you get are actually first tee energy? All of a sudden, you’d actually look forward to those feelings. It’s actually resisting the feeling that’s the problem. You know, Tiger Woods, when he’s walking to the first tee in the Masters, I guarantee you he’ll be getting certain feelings through his body. But what he’s learned to do, he’s learned to channel those feelings and not see it as a bad thing. I remember years ago reading that Jack Nicklaus talked about it. He said that he didn’t win majors. He waited for other people to lose them. But he said, “Just give me that feeling on the back nine of a major. That’s what I hit all the balls for.” He didn’t say, “Give me that feeling of nervousness.”Andy: Just give a feeling.Karl: So in his mind he created a label that this feeling was a good thing. So that would be one of the things to reframe the actual term ‘nervousness’ as an energy, but also then learn how to control it a little bit more. And one of the most effective ways is breathing. And centuries old advice has been around far longer than any of us have, a lot of the Eastern traditions talk about this. It’s pretty much impossible to maintain a state of nervousness and breathe correctly. And nervousness, you actually have to be in the future thinking about what might happen to be nervous. Now, when you bring your attention to your breathing, not only are you physically starting to calm down, but mentally, you’re right back here in the now, in the moment. So, just that simple process of focusing on breathing. And we’ve all heard it, but very few people do it and in practice it’s really profound. Andy: Right. Karl, a big problem I have is I tend to surround myself with people that in the clubhouse afterwards, talk about their bad shots. “I had a 70, I had an 80, but the triple bogey on #14, that sort of conversation. The conversations doesn’t sort of go on to, “Yes, but I did this part and you know, single putts on these five greens.” It’s a funny sort of conversation us golfers get into. I want to almost get away from it because I think that must be better for my golfing.Karl: It’s a crazy thing, Andy, really because I think we’ve almost been conditioned that misery loves company. I do call it the ‘but syndrome’, I shot 68 but! And you know the number of times I’ve sat with very good players and they almost love to tell me how bad they’ve putted. You know, “I hit the ball so well, but I three putted four times” or whatever, almost as though that’s a badge of honor that they’re wearing. And I think it’s something that we should all look at in the way that we talk about the game because there’s no question, one of the things I’ve become fascinated with over the last few years is how memory plays such a big role in our performance. You know, the certain shots that you stand over that you just know that you’re gonna hit a good shot, because a memory has been triggered of a previous result that you’ve had in that situation. And I always think back to the lovely story about how Harvey Penick that Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite were sat with him many, many years before they went out on tour. I think it was Tom Kite said to Mr. Penick, he said, “If there was one single piece of advice that you would give us out on tour, what would it be?” And Harvey Penick just said, “Make sure that you go to dinner with good putters.” And in effect what he was saying, he was being a great psychologist in that moment. He was saying, “Make sure you hang out with and be with people who hole putts, who talk about holing putts rather than ones who just drag us down into the sort of misery of what should’ve been.” One practical thing that the viewers might want to think about is something that’s been really successful with players over the last few years is something that I call the three shot diary. And literally, what the three shot diary is that when you finish playing golf, what you do, maybe after you’ve got back, you’ve gone home, you actually sit down and think about the three best shots that you’ve hit that day and actually then, write them out. Write them out in detail what you were thinking, what you were feeling. There are a couple things are happening with this simple process. One is by writing the shot out, you’re solidifying the memory of that, strengthening the memory, but the other thing is, you’re going to start to find a pattern of what you do when you play good golf. You know, people go for a golf lesson, the first thing they say, “Tell me what I’m doing wrong.” Which we’ve gotta look at our faults, or actually, what do you do when you do it right? Andy: Yeah, and what you consistently do right.Karl: What do you consistently do when you do it right? You know, I once said, “Success leaves behind a trail”, but you’ve gotta look for that trail. And I think that good plays do this. Tiger Woods, he said he felt that the secret to the game was to instantly recall past success and to let go of failure. Most people do the opposite. Andy: Exactly, yeah. That’s human nature, I guess.Karl: Probably the best example I’ve ever seen about this and mental toughness was Bernhard Langer when he missed that putt at Kiawah Island. A four foot putt to win the Ryder Cup, he missed it. You imagine that impact that could’ve had on him, but Langer went away. He said, “I went through a routine. I did everything I could. I shot the putt the right way. It didn’t go in. It just didn’t go in.” And then the very next week he went over to Germany and he won the Mercedes Masters the next week. I just think that’s incredible. It just shows you, he had the ability to let go of what happened, get the best out of it and move on. Andy: Yeah, incredible story and that’s one takeaway for all of us. Langer, back in ’91. Can you imagine that?Karl: The world’s watching.Andy: The world’s watching. Everyone doubting that he can hole a putt and then two weeks later he goes and wins the Mercedes Masters. Incredible story there. Something we can all learn from. That’s fantastic Karl. So much advice there. I really appreciate your time. If there’s anyone out there that wants to find out more about what you’re doing with the players or just to help their own game, where can they go to find out the information?Karl: There’s a couple of websites and one of the websites is GolfTrainingProducts.co.uk and if people go to that site they can get some free videos, some downloads and some things that we’ve talked about here today. The other website is Golf-Brain.com and anybody signs up there they get a free monthly newsletter that keeps them informed of what’s going on with the players and some of the courses that I run, etcetera. The product that’s worked really well this last 12 months, a new product is a CD called 5 Shots Lower Without Changing Your Swing. Andy: Oh, we all want that, yeah.Karl: Something that you can play in the car, a series of tools that you can use, similar to what we’ve talked about today. This stuff needs reinforcing. We all fall back into our old patterns and our old habits. And you know, we’re so keen on being warmed up physically, but we need to be warmed up and tuned in mentally.Andy: This is a CD you can put in the car?Karl: A CD you can put in the car and you can listen to it at home, you know, the players that I’ve worked with say that they keep listening to it over and over and just to keep their mind, the mental stages in all of it, like I say five shots lower without changing their swing. Andy: So, hope you thoroughly enjoyed the show with Karl. I have. Thanks very much for coming Karl.Karl: My pleasure, Andy.Andy: Hopefully we’ll talk in the near future.Karl: Look forward to it.Andy: Okay. Well that’s the end of the show. I hope you thoroughly enjoyed it.More about Dr Karl MorrisFree Golf Mind Factor Video Training Course5 Shots Lower Without Changing Your SwingThe Mind FactorFinally, the Question of the Day:What’s the biggest mental challenge in your game? Leave your comments below and we’ll have fun reading them!
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18:32:05 08/04/09
Titleist's Bob Vokey about making Wedges Golf Video
[LESS INFO] 3 VIEWS | ADDED 18:32:05 08/04/09
Inside Golf Magazine sits down with Bob Vokey to hear how passionate he is about making beloved and infamous Titleist Wedges.Check out this story and see how Bob Vokey has made his golf club a successful, fashionable and scoring club. Distributed by Tubemogul.>> FOR ME, TITLEIST IS A GREAT FAMILY; THEY’VE GOT GREAT PEOPLE AND THEY MAKE GREAT EQUIPMENT. WITH VOKEY, HE’S THE GREATEST GUY IN THE WORLD. IF I GO TO VOKE, I SAY, VOKE, THIS WEEK, I WANT A DIFFERENT WEDGE, I'M GOING TO NEED A LITTLE MORE BOUNCE BECAUSE THE GOUND’S A LITTLE SOFTER OR WHATEVER IT IS. VOKEY WILL GET RIGHT IN THERE, WE'LL HAVE THREE WEDGES, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK AT THEM, WE'LL GRIND ON THEM. HIS PASSIONS FOR THE GAME, HIS JOB, MY WORK, IT’S AMAZING. IT’S CONTAGIOUS, TOO. HE JUST LOVES BEING OUT HERE AND HE LOVES WORKING AND, IT’S FUN BEING AROUND THAT. THEY MAKE GREAT STUFF SO IT’S A REALLY NEAT FIT. >> NOW WE TAKE YOU TO CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA WHERE TITLEIST CLUB DESIGNER, BOB VOKEY, BUILDS SOME OF THE BEST WEDGES IN THE GAME. >> I LOVE WORKING WITH GOLF CLUBS, GOING BACK TO MY TEEN YEARS. I WOULD SHAPE THEM AND I USED TO WORK IN THE GARAGE. GO TO THE GOLF COURSE AND I JUST WORKED ON IT. TO COMPETE WAS LIKE A HOBBY. IT WAS JUST FUN DOING IT. I WAS VERY FORTUNATE THAT I TOOK THIS HOBBY AND I TURNED IT INTO A LIVELIHOOD. NEVER FIGURED OUT HOW IT REALLY GOT INTO IT. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE LATER 60’S WHEN I WAS WORKING. I REMEMBER THIS ONE FELLOW, HE SAID, SON, IF YOU DON’T LOVE WHAT YOU’RE DOING, QUIT, OR YOU’LL NEVER BE A SUCCESS. SO THAT’S WHEN I GOT INTO LEARNING ALL THE INS AND OUTS ABOUT A GOLF CLUB. PEOPLE SAY, VOKEY, YOU’RE A GURU; I'M NOT A GURU. YOU’RE AN ENGINEER AND I'M NOT. I THOUGHT AN ENGINEER WAS A FELLOW WHO DROVE A TRAIN AND WORE A FUNNY HAT. I SAID, I'M NOT, I'M JUST A GOLF GUY WHO HAD A LOVE, I HAD A KNACK WORKING WITH THE PLAYERS. I WAS WHAT I CALL A LISTENER AND A NOTE-TAKER. I STARVED FOR A LOT OF YEARS. I REMEMBER BACK IN MY LEE TRAVINO DAYS. I USED TO WORK WITH LEE QUITE A BIT AND DROVE MY LITTLE DATSON. HE WAS LIVING IN PALM SPRINGS AND I USED TO DRIVE OVER FROM VISTA, CALIFORNIA. TRAVINO LAUGHED AT ME, YOU DROVE THAT THING OVER THE MOUNTAIN? HOW DID YOU EVER GET OVER THE MOUNTAIN DRIVING THAT THING? I WAS FORTUNATE TO COME IN CONTACT AND WORK WITH LEE AND WITH DAVE STOCKTON. I RAN INTO DAVE, YESTERDAY. HE WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST SHORT GAME PLAYERS, EVER. I REMEMBER DAVE TELLING ME, YOU LEARN THE GAME FROM THE GREEN BACK 250 YARDS. HE WORKED ON THAT VERY HARD IN THAT PART OF THE GAME, WHICH I WOULD RECOMMEND TO A LOT OF YOUNG PLAYERS. THEN, AT TITLEIST, I TOOK A LOT OF THOSE IDEAS WITH THE HELP OF A LOT OF PEOPLE WITHIN TITLEIST. I LIKE TO LOOK AT IT AS A TEAM EFFORT; I HAD A LOT OF GOOD PEOPLE WORKING WITH ME. TITLEIST, HAS THE BEST R%D SYSTEM. I’VE GOT THE PGA TOUR PLAYERS. ALL THE YEARS OF RESPECT BEING OUT THERE WITH THEM. I LET THEM TRY IT, THEY TELL ME LITTLE INS AND OUTS, WHAT IT CAN AND CAN’T DO. EVERYBODY IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT. THEY HAVE A LITTLE DIFFERENT TECHNIQUE, A LITTLE DIFFERENT STYLE SO IT REQUIRES THEM TO HAVE A LITTLE DIFFERENT OPTION AT THE WEDGE AND I KNOW THAT’S WHAT WE'VE DONE. JUST GETTING OUT THERE, WATCHING A PLAYER HIT THE BALL, LISTEN BY SIGHT, WATCHING THEM PLAY THEIR BALL; JUST DIFFERENT SOUNDS. THESE PLAYERS WILL TELL YOU. THEY MAY NOT EXACTLY TELL YOU THAT THE BOUNCE IS NOT RIGHT AND, THEY DON’T GIVE YOU A NUMBER BUT, THEY CAN TELL YOU JUST BY HITTING, BOB, I DON’T LIKE THE FLIGHT, IT’S COMING OFF A LITTLE LOW. KNOWING ALL THOSE CERTAIN THINGS, I CAN HELP A PLAYER AND GIVE THEM A HINT. THIS IS WHAT THE WEDGE IS DESIGNED TO DO. THIS IS WHY I WANT YOU TO USE THE BOUNCE, I WANT YOU TO USE THE TRAILING EDGE. IT’S NOT JUST TOUR PLAYERS, WE’RE ABLE TO PASS THIS ONTO THE WEEKEND GOLFER, WHICH IS MY BIGGEST THRILL. IT’S NICE TO SEE A PLAYER COME UP TO ME HOLLERING, MR. VOKEY, I LOVE YOUR WEDGE, THEY’RE THE BEST WEDGES I EVER HIT. I SAID, THEY’RE TITLEIST WEDGES. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT BUT, IT’S NICE TO BE ABLE TO SAY THAT WE'VE DESIGNED A GOLF CLUB THAT THE AVERAGE WEEKEND GOLFER CAN GET THE ENJOYMENT OF HITTING SHOTS. I CALL IT THE HOLY GRALE, A PERFECT WEDGE. IT DOESN’T EXIST. ONE MAN’S POISON IS ANOTHER MAN’S CUP OF TEA. I CONTINUE TO WORK AND THAT’S WHAT MAKES MY JOB MORE EXCITING. WHEN I GREW UP WITH THE WEDGE, THEY WERE A, “GET OUT OF TROUBLE” TYPE OF CLUB. THE WORD WAS SAND WEDGE. WE CALL THEM LOBBERS NOW. I SAID, THE SAND WEDGE, IT’S GOT TO WORK, IT’S GOT TO PERFORM. THAT’S ONE OF MY FIRST THINGS I LIKE TO WORK WITH A PLAYER. IT’S YOUR, “GET OUT OF TROUBLE CLUB.” IT’S GOT TO WORK, IT’S GOT TO PERFORM. YOUR, “GET OUT OF JAIL” CLUB. THESE PLAYERS, BEING SO BIG, SO STRONG, HITTING THE BALL SO FAR, THEY’RE SO TALENTED, THEY WANT A WEDGE; THEY DON’T EXPECT TO JUST GET OUT OF TROUBLE, THEY EXPECT TO HIT A SHOT. THEY’RE EITHER UP OR DOWN FOR A BIRDIE OR AN EAGLE. AS A RESULT, IT’S EVOLVED TO MORE OF A SCORING CLUB. FIRST AND FOREMOST, IT HAS TO LOOK GOOD. THE WEDGE, TO ME, IS PROBABLY THE TOUGHEST CLUB TO DESIGN. EVERY PLAYER PUTS IT DOWN, WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE. THAT’S CALLED PROFILE. SO I TRY TO MAKE A PLEASING PROFILE. IN ESSENCE, IT’S A PROFILE THAT I CALL A TEARDROP. IT’S A LITTLE HIGHER IN THE TOE AREA, AND A LITTLE SHALLOWER IN THE PIE AREA. I SPEND A LOT OF MY TIME GIVING A LEADING EDGE TREATMENT AND SOMETIMES TOP LINE JUST TO MAKE IT LOOK GOOD, FIRST OFF. WHAT I’VE DONE WITH THE WHOLE WEDGE THAT WE'VE WORKED HARD AT IS TRY TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE A COMPLETE SET. YOU CAN PULL ANY NUMBER AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME. YOU CAN SAY, WOW, THAT’S A NEAT SERIES. EVERY MAJOR MANUFACTURER MAKES THE BEST CLUB. WE ALL MAKE A VERY GOOD GOLF CLUB BUT, I THINK AT TITLEIST WHAT WE HAVE IS THE PEOPLE WITH A PASSION BEHIND EACH PRODUCT. IT’S A TEAM EFFORT, WE ALL WORK TOGETHER, AND WE ALL CROSS-TRAIN EACH OTHER, WITH KNOWING ABOUT ALL OF OUR PRODUCT. WE ALL HAVE A PASSION, WE ALL LOVE WHAT WE DO. IF YOU DON’T LOVE WHAT YOU DO, YOU’LL NEVER BE A SUCCESS.
