Introduction
I am hoping that some of the information that has worked for me, may also work for you. “The Search for My Perfect Swing,” is a play on words based on the excellent book entitled, “The Search for the Perfect Swing,” by Alastair Cochran & John Stobbs. The book was written in 1968 that was an effort to determine the science of swinging a golf club and whether there was a perfect swing. Sir Aynsley Bridgland of the Golf Society of Great Britain gathered a variety of authorities in many disciplines, ballistics, anatomy, transport technology, medicine, biomechanics, physiology, etc. There were many conclusions that were developed by this group of professionals that applies today, i.e., coefficient of restitution, swing speed and mass, launch angle, spin rate, foot position, late release, etc.
The Beginning
In 2007 I joined American Legion Post 7 in Crownsville, Maryland, primarily because they were the only Post that had a horseshoe pitching league. The league coordinator at Post 7 was able to find an available partner and my horseshoe pitching was to begin. Prior to the first night, I stopped by my local darts/billiards/horseshoe store and purchased my first pair of horseshoes — Sidewinders. I was stunned by the number of horseshoes available. I don’t know why Sidewinders, they just felt good. I also ordered two videos — “Yes, Horseshoes!,” with Dan Kuchcinski and “How to Pitch More Ringers,” by the late Carl F. Steinfeldt. I read everything on the web I could find, unfortunately, there was not very much. I also tried to find some local pits where I could practice. Nothing found.
The first night arrived and I was both excited and nervous. I met my new partner, was introduced around and noticed 10 nicely groomed rows of sand pits. Problem number 1! My partner was a flipper and couldn’t use my Sidewinders because they didn’t have a place for his thumb. Bummer! I had to use his shoes — Snyder EZ Flips. This is not a cancellation league, it was also an 80% handicap league. All points counted. Ringers 3 points, a leaner and anything within a shoe width was 1 point. Each game was 36 shoes, 18 shoes in each direction, 3 games each night. I wasn’t expecting a lot, and that was good, I averaged 18 points per game without a single ringer in any game. I left that night with the determination that I would find some answers. So, this is a synopsis of my search and what I have learned along the way.
Continue to Part 2
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2 Comments
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Awesome .. kinda fantastic issue. I am goin to write about it too.
Your blog is awesome! What a wealth of information for those that wish to improve their game. Thank you!