July 1, 2025 • 31 mins
The monthly hybrid of fictional and non-fictional stories returns after an extended spring break to explore golf psychology, equipment science, and the struggle against our inner demons.
• Celebrating milestones including over 10,000 listeners across 1,200 cities in 62 countries on five continents
• Boston Dave's golf journey shows progress in managing emotions, limiting outbursts to "one cunt and two fucks" during an entire round
• The science of putter fitting reveals the importance of matching toe hang to your natural putting arc
• Working at a custom golf shop provides insider insights into equipment fitting
• Premium golf shafts can dramatically impact performance but require proper fitting
• The phenomenon of club breaking reveals the temporary insanity that takes over frustrated golfers
• Understanding that golf shops financially benefit from emotional club breakers
Talk to you soon from beautiful Charleston, South Carolina.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to another episode from Just Tales, a
monthly hybrid of fictional andnon-fictional stories that
compel me to rant.
There'll always be a golf storyor two laced into my blog,
because, well, it's where Ispend a good amount of my
recreational time.
So, whether you're a golfer ornot, if you're a skeptic,
(00:32):
doubter or open-minded, it isthe place for you.
So kick back and listen.
Welcome back to Just Tales.
I'm returning from my extendedspring break, a break for really
no reason other than writer'sblock and maybe mic fatigue and
(00:55):
I'm not even certain that micfatigue is a thing, but I
thought it was a clever way ofbasically saying it's a good
time to put my blog on pause.
So here I am, back fromcelebrating another birthday
that ended in a number thatwasn't a zero or a five.
Happy birthday to you.
(01:25):
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you,motherfucker.
I celebrated my birthday withmy now one-year-old pup, sammy,
by lavishing her with attention,treats, dog park, beach walks
and a belly rub, and she had agood fucking day.
And, of course, what would abirthday celebration be without
(01:48):
dinner and a hangover full oftequila with my youngest, lil
Zippy, aka Dancing Dana, a nameshe fondly earned when, in
California and at the age offour, would rocket the zip line
that I built in the backyard,till one day she broke her arm
after letting go a little bittoo soon.
(02:09):
Little Zippy, a moniker shewould proudly wear on her jersey
when she captained the OU danceteam.
She still dances parties anddrives the same way she ziplined
.
Like everything else she does,she does it with Verve.
(02:38):
And before I start my stories, Ijust want to thank all of my
new and repeat listenersRecently over 10,000 unsolicited
, non-advertised listeners Inover 1,200 cities, 62 countries
over five continents.
Antarctica is the onlycontinent, and that's okay.
(02:59):
It's the overwhelming feedback,expanded listenership that
keeps me coming back.
So thanks.
One cunt and two fucks andthose are not my words, but
(03:33):
that's the title of this storyPow, are you saying pow?
What are you saying?
Pow?
It's the biggest helicopterleasing event in the Western
Hemisphere since 1997.
Pow, so I play golf with thisbuddy at Charleston National, a
guy I call Boston, dave, adiehard Patriots, celtics and
Bruins fan, which, after thisyear's Stanley Cup playoffs,
(03:58):
makes him even more emotionalthan before.
Dave could hit the ball andscore, only to be interrupted by
his inner demons.
For those of you who don't play,if you don't play golf or
you're new to the sport, we allhave that inner gremlin, airworm
, alter ego or just aself-doubter that, if left
(04:18):
unchecked, can just fuck up aperfectly thought out, imagined
ball flight and cause havoc toour swings.
Honestly, Dave's working on justnot giving a shit when he plays
golf, which is a psychologicalgame of cat and mouse with
positive manifestation versusaging skill level.
(04:42):
We both partnered up in thesenior member member this year
and neither of us visited thebar after either round, which is
basically saying, if you're notvisiting the bar after a round,
you got nothing good to say.
And the last thing you want todo is have guys come up to you
and say how'd you do?
How'd you score?
(05:02):
Now, that's basically their wayof getting you to turn around
and ask them how they did,because they're either going to
tell you about every great shotthey hit, or they just want to
know were you better than theywere today or, even worse, a
little bit of passive,aggressive, like guys saying you
(05:23):
, you know we were 10 under,despite the fact that Joe missed
two lip out eagle putts and twopin cock blocks.
All they're trying to say iseven though we beat you, guys,
if not for these unluckysituations we would have just
murdered you.
Just too many competitivegolfers could give two shits
(05:46):
about your game or your scoresunless you beat them.
And if you beat them, I'm nottoo sure they care about your
scores as much as were yousandbagging your handicaps.
So during the two days of thecompetition, boston Dave and I
talked about not gettingsideways over bad shots.
The first six holes of thetournament we were money par,
(06:11):
par, par birdie, while the otherguys, who most likely had lower
handicaps than us, took a whileto get going.
By the end of seven we werewell ahead of them.
By the time we got to nine theystarted quickly catching up and
when we got to the back nine wejust threw up all over
(06:32):
ourselves.
And then the second day wecontinued the vomit fest.
And during that whole time I'dsay that Boston Dave kept his
cool until neither of us couldham and egg it and we started
making mistakes and every oncein a while you'd get an F-bomb,
he'd get a, god damn it.
(06:53):
You'd see a lot ofself-disappointment on his end,
but he still kept his cool andhe kept telling me look, I'm
working on this.
I know I have to have positivemanifestation.
I got to have a positiveattitude.
I can't let things get to me,because when they get to me the
wheels fall off.
So he was trying his best, buttogether we just stunk up the
(07:16):
course.
Hey, look on the positive side.
No clubs were broken.
The only thing that was brokenand weakened was both of our
golf confidences.
If you ever watch a PGA prosquander a sizable lead, it
tends to come down as self-doubt, particularly when their
putters let them down.
I mean, what self-respectinggolfer doesn't own a stable of
(07:39):
putters that let them down whenit really mattered?
Hey, I own five.
I'll touch on that in the nextsegment.
Now back to the story.
So both Dave and I were moredisappointed than elated about
our games.
He was just a smidge more vocalabout it, which brings me to
the title of this episode.
So I passed Dave on the coursethe other day, and weeks had
(08:02):
gone by since we played and asI'm passing him, he just says,
hey, you'd be proud of me.
Only one cunt and two fucks.
And when he passed me and saidit out loud, there were other
people listening and I can'timagine what they were thinking,
not knowing the context behindthat.
Dave was basically telling mehe only got verbally annoyed
(08:23):
with his game three times duringthe entire round.
Now that is significantimprovement.
I mean, come on, man, onlythree expletives over the course
of four and a half hoursplaying the most frustrating
sport on the planet.
Baby, that's progress.
(08:44):
Toe hang, man, it's a thing.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Oh, this is going to be so nasty, so nasty, so nasty.
Many us Do.
You have this situation in yourlife, jase, because you do not
hit greens.
You're not professional, you'reamateur hour.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
In my extended spring break I took on this part-time
gig at a local custom golf shopin Mount Pleasant.
This is the most coveted golfimprovement center in the entire
Charleston market.
What's unique about this placeis if you pull up to it, you're
somewhat underwhelmed by theoutside.
It's part of a strip center,it's the end of a strip center,
(09:35):
but let me tell you, the magichappens inside.
Like many of you listening,I've been to a lot of golf
superstores and golf galaxieswhich are on the outside are
(09:58):
just large footprints, so itmakes a big impression when you
see it.
They're also stocked withmillions of dollars of golf
stuff with multiple hitting baysand simulation centers.
They serve a purpose and arecertainly eye candy to golfers.
But this custom golf shop I'mworking in now has something
(10:20):
else that satisfies enthusiasts.
Their personnel are socustomer-centric that when you
walk out of that store theirwhole goal is for you to have a
better chance of golf happinessthan when you walked in.
You know the happiness could becaused by new swing awareness,
(10:42):
custom fitted equipment, newshafts, new putters, drivers,
fairy woods, iron sets, wedges,balls, tees, clothes or
knickknacks.
The secret sauce of this shopis not only the amount of
experience that these golf broshave, but it's like their quest
(11:04):
to leave customers feelingsatisfied when they exit.
It's to make them feel likethey know more about their game
or, in some situations, theysold them that new shiny object
that's going to help improvetheir game.
All of this leads me to myfirst aha moment.
Working in the shop Of all theputter manufacturers, ping is
(11:28):
one of the best at testing andmanufacturing putters to fit
most every golfer.
There's both a science and artto picking the best putter for
yourself.
I mean, some of the things youmight consider are the weight of
the club, the visual alignmentindicators, the lie angle, face
grinds, inserts, head shapes,shafts and shaft lengths, grips.
(11:53):
All of this contributes to theexperience of making the best
stroke that your body could make.
They're all important, somebecause they contribute to a
more consistent stroke, somebecause some of us just have a
visual feel preference.
Some of us like a mallet, someof us like a blade and some of
us like something in between.
(12:15):
Yeah, and some putter shopperssay like I don't care.
I don't care what it looks like, I just want to make more putts
.
Of course you do.
I mean that could make a bigdifference in every round.
So the art of it is how does itlook and how does it feel.
That's important.
But then the science of itstudies the motion that most all
(12:37):
golfers demonstrate when theystroke a putt.
Some take the putter straightback and straight forward At
least they're closer than mostat doing that.
Others have a slight arc or astrong arc to their putter path.
Ping, like many othermanufacturers, have done a
considerable amount of work inthis area.
(12:58):
Ping's developed a tool thatactually measures your putting
stroke path.
They, along with most puttermanufacturers, have developed
putter heads and shaft alignmentthat considers your natural
path.
Like golfers take the putterstraight back and straight
forward, benefit from a faced,balanced putter with minimal toe
(13:20):
flow.
The way you can tell if aputter head is face balanced is
you take the putter, you balancethe shaft a few inches from the
putter head on your pointerfinger.
If the putter face, facingupward toward the sky or the
ceiling, is parallel to theground, that means that you've
(13:41):
got a balanced putter face.
Most all mallet head puttersare face balanced, developed for
those golfers that have verylittle arc in their putter path.
On the other end of the pathspectrum, golfers that have a
very strong arc when they do thebalance test.
(14:01):
The putter head, when balancedon their finger, the toe should
be facing almost directly downand if you have a slight arc,
the toe should be somewherebetween down and parallel,
somewhere in the middle.
Yeah, so, like I said earlier, Iown five putters.
I've owned them for quite aperiod of time and I tend to
(14:23):
acquire new putters when theones that I currently have are
not performing up to mystandards.
And, quite frankly, everyputter I've purchased was
without the knowledge of what myarc was.
In other words, I've been arcignorant, stroken in the dark,
careless clubbing, preoccupiedwith brand names and celebrity
(14:48):
endorsements.
Shame on me, but I'm not theonly one.
But I'm not the only one.
(15:09):
So I'm buying putters on deal.
I'm buying putters becausecertain pros are playing with
those putters and I figure it'sthe putter.
How can it be the pro?
And so I've gone out and gotdifferent putters and found out
recently, when I did my ownalignment test and then I did a
face balance test, that four outof my five putters don't match
(15:33):
what my arc is.
I've got two that are facebalanced and I have two with a
very strong arc and my putterpath is slight.
So I have been missing allthese putts all these years
because I've owned the wrongputters.
And it's got to be that,because it can't be me
(15:58):
Mind-blowing Probably not forthose of you that know this, but
for those of you that don't.
The question is well, how do youfind out which of those you are
?
And the answer is probablyreally hard to do on your own.
There's a device that we havein the golf shop that, when put
on a putter after three strokes,could measure what your arc is.
(16:20):
And I had a customer the otherday that took a blade putter.
We put the device on the putterand he had a very strong arc
and he's like, let's try adifferent putter, thinking the
putter was the reason for thearc.
And then he took another putterout, had exactly the same
strong arc, which basicallymeans this golfer would be best
(16:44):
fitted with a club that takesinto consideration his strong
arc.
Yeah, I think he was blown awayby the results of the putter
path test and the end result ishe turns around and buys a
putter with strong toe hang,yeah.
So I'm trying to think of awitty bromide here.
I guess it's measure twice andcut once.
(17:06):
Measure yourself and see whatyour tendencies are and then try
and fit a piece of equipmentthat is meant for your style of
swing or stroke.
Hey, dude, it's your shaft.
(17:40):
Okay, for all guys like me thatstill think like an
eight-year-old boy the shaft.
I'm talking about isn't yourshaft?
It's the shaft.
We all know golfers, or we mightbe the golfer that every year
when new equipment comes out, wewant to be first piggy to the
(18:02):
trough.
We want to try it.
We know that all of these golfmanufacturers are using more and
more technology to help us doless work and get more.
Kind of like what DustinJohnson said, the reason that
he's playing on the live tourGet paid more, play less.
When it comes to golf equipment, don't we all want that new
(18:24):
driver that we don't have toswing as hard, but it's going to
launch the ball farther than itused to.
The irons that hit shots thatlaunch like a rocket and drop
like a butterfly Wedges thatspin the ball back into the hole
.
And I think every year at leastone major manufacturer comes
(18:46):
out with a better mousetrap.
And first here's my disclaimerI'm not sponsored by any golf
equipment company.
I just happen to be working ina golf shop where rock stars
help my curious mind soak upknowledge about what pros are
asking about and whatmanufacturers are doing for them
and the general public.
(19:06):
I can't help it.
I'm curious, like when I go tohit a shot, I to triangulate
information distance, slope,wind, lie, angle, a laser, a
watch and the gin app.
Well, that's more than threethings.
I think triangulate is threethings.
So whatever the word is fortaking in too much information,
(19:29):
that's what I do.
But it helps me think I figurewith all this information if it
all boils down to a similarnumber.
It gives me the confidence tostand up and hit the ball with
the right club that I chose.
I think golf club fitting fallsinto that numbers funnel of
facts and so I'm like I'mthinking golf heads, irons,
(19:52):
hybrids, fairway woods anddriver heads that's only part of
the equation.
Shafts are the other half,which contribute significantly
to your ball flight distance,spin, all right.
So here's an example.
Fujikura, one of the mostprominent golf club shaft
(20:12):
manufacturers, teams up withTaylorMade to supply their
Ventus Red, blue and Blackshafts as stock shafts for the
new line of Stealth II drivers.
That's the hot thing fromTaylorMade.
They improved upon last year'sStealth by putting more carbon,
making it lighter.
Also they put in the Fujikurastock shafts.
(20:35):
Now Fujikura stock shafts,venta shafts, are noteworthy.
They're near the top of thefood chain in the golf world.
They're like BMW and Mercedesare to the car world.
So when you test the newStealth 2s with a Ventus shaft
you might like the experience.
But a good portion of that isthe stock Ventus shaft that the
(20:59):
club comes with.
But the fun doesn't stop there.
Fujikura makes an aftermarketshaft that beats their premium
shaft.
It's the Ventus TR withVelocort technology.
It would be like what theM-Series is to BMW AMG is to
Mercedes and the S-Series is toAudi.
But Fujicore is not the onlyplayer with the ultra-premium
(21:25):
shafts.
You've got Hazardous MitsubishiTenzai, the Graphite Design and
others.
Look, if you're a once-a a monthgolfer or several times a year,
stock shafts with regular,stiff, extra stiff, senior or
women's should satisfy your gameIf you don't know where you fit
(21:46):
.
The general swing speedtranslator for drivers is 75 to
85 miles an hour should be asenior shaft, 85 to 95 regular,
95 to 105 stiff and 105 up extrastiff.
These are general rules.
Some people fall in between.
And on the topic of styles ofshafts and rigidity, when you
(22:11):
ask somebody if they're playingwith a stiff shaft and they turn
around and go extra stiff, itis like they just flex their
golf muscle.
It's like asking a guy what hebenches and he looks at you and
says 400 pounds 10 times.
It is an ego sign of manhood.
(22:31):
It's like it suggests that yourmanhood could only be satisfied
with the rigidity and stiffnessof extra stiff.
I mean, what man doesn't want?
Extra stiff?
And there it goes again.
The eight-year-old boy in meDoes regression ever stop?
So look, if you don't know yourspeed, I think the best money
(22:57):
you could spend in golf is ingetting fitted.
That way you understandeverything about what your
capabilities are and whatequipment is right for you.
So then you could enter the toystore and get all those shiny
things that you need for yourgame and you're just a hell of
(23:43):
avoiding the broken club.
If you're a repeat listener,you've heard my philosophy on
controlling temperament on agolf course.
(24:05):
Earlier I shared a story aboutBoston, dave.
Dave's one of thousands ofgolfers that emote their
personal disappointment after abad swing.
When you're as good as Dave is,you don't want to manifest bad.
You don't want to allow bad tofind its way into your game.
But bad is agnostic.
(24:25):
It doesn't care how much you'vepracticed, how many lessons
you've taken and paid for thenew equipment you just mortgaged
your future on, or how muchmoney is on the line.
Bad is like a lion waiting topounce on its prey.
Now, how you choose to dealwith bad affects your future
(24:45):
play and your effect on others.
You play with Nobody at leastnobody I know wants to play with
a continuous whiner who bleedstheir dismay into your game but
separate of how you make othersfeel.
Beating yourself up without atrigger that calms you down
(25:07):
leads to further beatings andlikely higher scores and folks.
Higher scores typically lead towallet openings at the end of
the round and usually it's yearswhich leads me to club breakers
.
In the past month I've workedat the shop and every day I'm
(25:27):
there.
A day doesn't go by without agolfer or a golfer's friend
quote unquote walking in withtwo pieces of the same club in
two different hands.
They're coming in to replaceshafts because the club was
somehow broken in half out onthe golf course, and I am blown
(25:47):
away by the stories of golferspractice probably in front of a
mirror before walking into theshop with their tail between
their legs.
When they walk in with thesetwo pieces a shaft and some club
head that really should be onepiece and start the stories.
One guy I hit a tree on myfollowthrough.
(26:10):
Another guy I hit this hiddenroot or I lent the club to a
pygmy.
That guy actually said thatlast week.
The inconvenient truth thank you, al Gore.
Is that?
Golf is hard, frustrating.
And after a few shitty shots,who else are you going to punish
(26:30):
besides yourself?
Your golf partners, maybe, oranybody else in airshot distance
when you go on your cursingtirade?
It was the club's fault, so whynot break it over your knee so
that it no longer embarrassesyou?
It's temporary insanity.
(26:51):
In a court of law, your defenseattorney would argue that you
are unable to appreciate thenature of wrongfulness of your
acts when your temper boiledover and you snapped the club
over your knee.
Temporary insanity we all gothrough it, but human nature is
predictable.
You need to punish the one thatwrongs you.
(27:12):
So take that wedge, that chunktwo balls into the water and
bladed a sand shot into the nextzip code.
Teach it a lesson so it nevermisbehaves again and you can be
assured it won't misbehave theday you break it.
And then, once you break it,where do you put it?
You can't put it back in yourbag.
(27:32):
Now you've got 13 clubsremaining.
How many more can you applycorporal punishment to to assure
all the bad is beaten out ofthem?
You'll end up, like Tin Cup,with a 7-iron to play the
remaining holes Some of thenewer, more expensive shafts run
from $150 to $350, plus thecost of labor.
(27:57):
Like none of that cost analysispreceded your club shortening.
I get it.
Golf is hard and I wondersometimes if club breakers are
also dog kickers and spouseabusers.
I'll leave that up to MalcolmGladwell to research.
What I do know is that themishit was not the club's fault.
(28:17):
It was the guy or gal who washolding it.
Look, I choose not to play forbig money anymore because I
don't like the feeling ofripping off Benjamins and
handing them to the guy who hada better day than I did.
And if your anger and rage isall about your embarrassment in
front of your boss, prospectiveemployer or prospective in-laws,
(28:41):
here's a news flash Nobodygives a royal hoot about your
game.
Now, your partner might bedismayed when you missed another
three-footer to lose the match,but that's what the 19th hole
is all about.
Two drinks and the paindissipates.
Look, golf shops stay afloat onthe shoulders of club breakers,
(29:06):
so break them if you got them,and I'll see you at the shop.
You at the shop.
You're listening to anotherepisode of Just Tales.
Thanks for staying till the end.
I'm your host, rich Easton,telling tales from beautiful
Charleston, south Carolina.
(29:26):
Talk to you soon.
(30:49):
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Welcome to another episode from Just Tales, a
monthly hybrid of fictional andnon-fictional stories that
compel me to rant.
There'll always be a golf storyor two laced into my blog,
because, well, it's where Ispend a good amount of my
recreational time.
So, whether you're a golfer ornot, if you're a skeptic,
(00:32):
doubter or open-minded, it isthe place for you.
So kick back and listen.
Welcome back to Just Tales.
I'm returning from my extendedspring break, a break for really
no reason other than writer'sblock and maybe mic fatigue and
(00:55):
I'm not even certain that micfatigue is a thing, but I
thought it was a clever way ofbasically saying it's a good
time to put my blog on pause.
So here I am, back fromcelebrating another birthday
that ended in a number thatwasn't a zero or a five.
Happy birthday to you.
(01:25):
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you,motherfucker.
I celebrated my birthday withmy now one-year-old pup, sammy,
by lavishing her with attention,treats, dog park, beach walks
and a belly rub, and she had agood fucking day.
And, of course, what would abirthday celebration be without
(01:48):
dinner and a hangover full oftequila with my youngest, lil
Zippy, aka Dancing Dana, a nameshe fondly earned when, in
California and at the age offour, would rocket the zip line
that I built in the backyard,till one day she broke her arm
after letting go a little bittoo soon.
(02:09):
Little Zippy, a moniker shewould proudly wear on her jersey
when she captained the OU danceteam.
She still dances parties anddrives the same way she ziplined
.
Like everything else she does,she does it with Verve.
(02:38):
And before I start my stories, Ijust want to thank all of my
new and repeat listenersRecently over 10,000 unsolicited
, non-advertised listeners Inover 1,200 cities, 62 countries
over five continents.
Antarctica is the onlycontinent, and that's okay.
(02:59):
It's the overwhelming feedback,expanded listenership that
keeps me coming back.
So thanks.
One cunt and two fucks andthose are not my words, but
(03:33):
that's the title of this storyPow, are you saying pow?
What are you saying?
Pow?
It's the biggest helicopterleasing event in the Western
Hemisphere since 1997.
Pow, so I play golf with thisbuddy at Charleston National, a
guy I call Boston, dave, adiehard Patriots, celtics and
Bruins fan, which, after thisyear's Stanley Cup playoffs,
(03:58):
makes him even more emotionalthan before.
Dave could hit the ball andscore, only to be interrupted by
his inner demons.
For those of you who don't play,if you don't play golf or
you're new to the sport, we allhave that inner gremlin, airworm
, alter ego or just aself-doubter that, if left
(04:18):
unchecked, can just fuck up aperfectly thought out, imagined
ball flight and cause havoc toour swings.
Honestly, Dave's working on justnot giving a shit when he plays
golf, which is a psychologicalgame of cat and mouse with
positive manifestation versusaging skill level.
(04:42):
We both partnered up in thesenior member member this year
and neither of us visited thebar after either round, which is
basically saying, if you're notvisiting the bar after a round,
you got nothing good to say.
And the last thing you want todo is have guys come up to you
and say how'd you do?
How'd you score?
(05:02):
Now, that's basically their wayof getting you to turn around
and ask them how they did,because they're either going to
tell you about every great shotthey hit, or they just want to
know were you better than theywere today or, even worse, a
little bit of passive,aggressive, like guys saying you
(05:23):
, you know we were 10 under,despite the fact that Joe missed
two lip out eagle putts and twopin cock blocks.
All they're trying to say iseven though we beat you, guys,
if not for these unluckysituations we would have just
murdered you.
Just too many competitivegolfers could give two shits
(05:46):
about your game or your scoresunless you beat them.
And if you beat them, I'm nottoo sure they care about your
scores as much as were yousandbagging your handicaps.
So during the two days of thecompetition, boston Dave and I
talked about not gettingsideways over bad shots.
The first six holes of thetournament we were money par,
(06:11):
par, par birdie, while the otherguys, who most likely had lower
handicaps than us, took a whileto get going.
By the end of seven we werewell ahead of them.
By the time we got to nine theystarted quickly catching up and
when we got to the back nine wejust threw up all over
(06:32):
ourselves.
And then the second day wecontinued the vomit fest.
And during that whole time I'dsay that Boston Dave kept his
cool until neither of us couldham and egg it and we started
making mistakes and every oncein a while you'd get an F-bomb,
he'd get a, god damn it.
(06:53):
You'd see a lot ofself-disappointment on his end,
but he still kept his cool andhe kept telling me look, I'm
working on this.
I know I have to have positivemanifestation.
I got to have a positiveattitude.
I can't let things get to me,because when they get to me the
wheels fall off.
So he was trying his best, buttogether we just stunk up the
(07:16):
course.
Hey, look on the positive side.
No clubs were broken.
The only thing that was brokenand weakened was both of our
golf confidences.
If you ever watch a PGA prosquander a sizable lead, it
tends to come down as self-doubt, particularly when their
putters let them down.
I mean, what self-respectinggolfer doesn't own a stable of
(07:39):
putters that let them down whenit really mattered?
Hey, I own five.
I'll touch on that in the nextsegment.
Now back to the story.
So both Dave and I were moredisappointed than elated about
our games.
He was just a smidge more vocalabout it, which brings me to
the title of this episode.
So I passed Dave on the coursethe other day, and weeks had
(08:02):
gone by since we played and asI'm passing him, he just says,
hey, you'd be proud of me.
Only one cunt and two fucks.
And when he passed me and saidit out loud, there were other
people listening and I can'timagine what they were thinking,
not knowing the context behindthat.
Dave was basically telling mehe only got verbally annoyed
(08:23):
with his game three times duringthe entire round.
Now that is significantimprovement.
I mean, come on, man, onlythree expletives over the course
of four and a half hoursplaying the most frustrating
sport on the planet.
Baby, that's progress.
(08:44):
Toe hang, man, it's a thing.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Oh, this is going to be so nasty, so nasty, so nasty.
Many us Do.
You have this situation in yourlife, jase, because you do not
hit greens.
You're not professional, you'reamateur hour.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
In my extended spring break I took on this part-time
gig at a local custom golf shopin Mount Pleasant.
This is the most coveted golfimprovement center in the entire
Charleston market.
What's unique about this placeis if you pull up to it, you're
somewhat underwhelmed by theoutside.
It's part of a strip center,it's the end of a strip center,
(09:35):
but let me tell you, the magichappens inside.
Like many of you listening,I've been to a lot of golf
superstores and golf galaxieswhich are on the outside are
(09:58):
just large footprints, so itmakes a big impression when you
see it.
They're also stocked withmillions of dollars of golf
stuff with multiple hitting baysand simulation centers.
They serve a purpose and arecertainly eye candy to golfers.
But this custom golf shop I'mworking in now has something
(10:20):
else that satisfies enthusiasts.
Their personnel are socustomer-centric that when you
walk out of that store theirwhole goal is for you to have a
better chance of golf happinessthan when you walked in.
You know the happiness could becaused by new swing awareness,
(10:42):
custom fitted equipment, newshafts, new putters, drivers,
fairy woods, iron sets, wedges,balls, tees, clothes or
knickknacks.
The secret sauce of this shopis not only the amount of
experience that these golf broshave, but it's like their quest
(11:04):
to leave customers feelingsatisfied when they exit.
It's to make them feel likethey know more about their game
or, in some situations, theysold them that new shiny object
that's going to help improvetheir game.
All of this leads me to myfirst aha moment.
Working in the shop Of all theputter manufacturers, ping is
(11:28):
one of the best at testing andmanufacturing putters to fit
most every golfer.
There's both a science and artto picking the best putter for
yourself.
I mean, some of the things youmight consider are the weight of
the club, the visual alignmentindicators, the lie angle, face
grinds, inserts, head shapes,shafts and shaft lengths, grips.
(11:53):
All of this contributes to theexperience of making the best
stroke that your body could make.
They're all important, somebecause they contribute to a
more consistent stroke, somebecause some of us just have a
visual feel preference.
Some of us like a mallet, someof us like a blade and some of
us like something in between.
(12:15):
Yeah, and some putter shopperssay like I don't care.
I don't care what it looks like, I just want to make more putts
.
Of course you do.
I mean that could make a bigdifference in every round.
So the art of it is how does itlook and how does it feel.
That's important.
But then the science of itstudies the motion that most all
(12:37):
golfers demonstrate when theystroke a putt.
Some take the putter straightback and straight forward At
least they're closer than mostat doing that.
Others have a slight arc or astrong arc to their putter path.
Ping, like many othermanufacturers, have done a
considerable amount of work inthis area.
(12:58):
Ping's developed a tool thatactually measures your putting
stroke path.
They, along with most puttermanufacturers, have developed
putter heads and shaft alignmentthat considers your natural
path.
Like golfers take the putterstraight back and straight
forward, benefit from a faced,balanced putter with minimal toe
(13:20):
flow.
The way you can tell if aputter head is face balanced is
you take the putter, you balancethe shaft a few inches from the
putter head on your pointerfinger.
If the putter face, facingupward toward the sky or the
ceiling, is parallel to theground, that means that you've
(13:41):
got a balanced putter face.
Most all mallet head puttersare face balanced, developed for
those golfers that have verylittle arc in their putter path.
On the other end of the pathspectrum, golfers that have a
very strong arc when they do thebalance test.
(14:01):
The putter head, when balancedon their finger, the toe should
be facing almost directly downand if you have a slight arc,
the toe should be somewherebetween down and parallel,
somewhere in the middle.
Yeah, so, like I said earlier, Iown five putters.
I've owned them for quite aperiod of time and I tend to
(14:23):
acquire new putters when theones that I currently have are
not performing up to mystandards.
And, quite frankly, everyputter I've purchased was
without the knowledge of what myarc was.
In other words, I've been arcignorant, stroken in the dark,
careless clubbing, preoccupiedwith brand names and celebrity
(14:48):
endorsements.
Shame on me, but I'm not theonly one.
But I'm not the only one.
(15:09):
So I'm buying putters on deal.
I'm buying putters becausecertain pros are playing with
those putters and I figure it'sthe putter.
How can it be the pro?
And so I've gone out and gotdifferent putters and found out
recently, when I did my ownalignment test and then I did a
face balance test, that four outof my five putters don't match
(15:33):
what my arc is.
I've got two that are facebalanced and I have two with a
very strong arc and my putterpath is slight.
So I have been missing allthese putts all these years
because I've owned the wrongputters.
And it's got to be that,because it can't be me
(15:58):
Mind-blowing Probably not forthose of you that know this, but
for those of you that don't.
The question is well, how do youfind out which of those you are
?
And the answer is probablyreally hard to do on your own.
There's a device that we havein the golf shop that, when put
on a putter after three strokes,could measure what your arc is.
(16:20):
And I had a customer the otherday that took a blade putter.
We put the device on the putterand he had a very strong arc
and he's like, let's try adifferent putter, thinking the
putter was the reason for thearc.
And then he took another putterout, had exactly the same
strong arc, which basicallymeans this golfer would be best
(16:44):
fitted with a club that takesinto consideration his strong
arc.
Yeah, I think he was blown awayby the results of the putter
path test and the end result ishe turns around and buys a
putter with strong toe hang,yeah.
So I'm trying to think of awitty bromide here.
I guess it's measure twice andcut once.
(17:06):
Measure yourself and see whatyour tendencies are and then try
and fit a piece of equipmentthat is meant for your style of
swing or stroke.
Hey, dude, it's your shaft.
(17:40):
Okay, for all guys like me thatstill think like an
eight-year-old boy the shaft.
I'm talking about isn't yourshaft?
It's the shaft.
We all know golfers, or we mightbe the golfer that every year
when new equipment comes out, wewant to be first piggy to the
(18:02):
trough.
We want to try it.
We know that all of these golfmanufacturers are using more and
more technology to help us doless work and get more.
Kind of like what DustinJohnson said, the reason that
he's playing on the live tourGet paid more, play less.
When it comes to golf equipment, don't we all want that new
(18:24):
driver that we don't have toswing as hard, but it's going to
launch the ball farther than itused to.
The irons that hit shots thatlaunch like a rocket and drop
like a butterfly Wedges thatspin the ball back into the hole
.
And I think every year at leastone major manufacturer comes
(18:46):
out with a better mousetrap.
And first here's my disclaimerI'm not sponsored by any golf
equipment company.
I just happen to be working ina golf shop where rock stars
help my curious mind soak upknowledge about what pros are
asking about and whatmanufacturers are doing for them
and the general public.
(19:06):
I can't help it.
I'm curious, like when I go tohit a shot, I to triangulate
information distance, slope,wind, lie, angle, a laser, a
watch and the gin app.
Well, that's more than threethings.
I think triangulate is threethings.
So whatever the word is fortaking in too much information,
(19:29):
that's what I do.
But it helps me think I figurewith all this information if it
all boils down to a similarnumber.
It gives me the confidence tostand up and hit the ball with
the right club that I chose.
I think golf club fitting fallsinto that numbers funnel of
facts and so I'm like I'mthinking golf heads, irons,
(19:52):
hybrids, fairway woods anddriver heads that's only part of
the equation.
Shafts are the other half,which contribute significantly
to your ball flight distance,spin, all right.
So here's an example.
Fujikura, one of the mostprominent golf club shaft
(20:12):
manufacturers, teams up withTaylorMade to supply their
Ventus Red, blue and Blackshafts as stock shafts for the
new line of Stealth II drivers.
That's the hot thing fromTaylorMade.
They improved upon last year'sStealth by putting more carbon,
making it lighter.
Also they put in the Fujikurastock shafts.
(20:35):
Now Fujikura stock shafts,venta shafts, are noteworthy.
They're near the top of thefood chain in the golf world.
They're like BMW and Mercedesare to the car world.
So when you test the newStealth 2s with a Ventus shaft
you might like the experience.
But a good portion of that isthe stock Ventus shaft that the
(20:59):
club comes with.
But the fun doesn't stop there.
Fujikura makes an aftermarketshaft that beats their premium
shaft.
It's the Ventus TR withVelocort technology.
It would be like what theM-Series is to BMW AMG is to
Mercedes and the S-Series is toAudi.
But Fujicore is not the onlyplayer with the ultra-premium
(21:25):
shafts.
You've got Hazardous MitsubishiTenzai, the Graphite Design and
others.
Look, if you're a once-a a monthgolfer or several times a year,
stock shafts with regular,stiff, extra stiff, senior or
women's should satisfy your gameIf you don't know where you fit
(21:46):
.
The general swing speedtranslator for drivers is 75 to
85 miles an hour should be asenior shaft, 85 to 95 regular,
95 to 105 stiff and 105 up extrastiff.
These are general rules.
Some people fall in between.
And on the topic of styles ofshafts and rigidity, when you
(22:11):
ask somebody if they're playingwith a stiff shaft and they turn
around and go extra stiff, itis like they just flex their
golf muscle.
It's like asking a guy what hebenches and he looks at you and
says 400 pounds 10 times.
It is an ego sign of manhood.
(22:31):
It's like it suggests that yourmanhood could only be satisfied
with the rigidity and stiffnessof extra stiff.
I mean, what man doesn't want?
Extra stiff?
And there it goes again.
The eight-year-old boy in meDoes regression ever stop?
So look, if you don't know yourspeed, I think the best money
(22:57):
you could spend in golf is ingetting fitted.
That way you understandeverything about what your
capabilities are and whatequipment is right for you.
So then you could enter the toystore and get all those shiny
things that you need for yourgame and you're just a hell of
(23:43):
avoiding the broken club.
If you're a repeat listener,you've heard my philosophy on
controlling temperament on agolf course.
(24:05):
Earlier I shared a story aboutBoston, dave.
Dave's one of thousands ofgolfers that emote their
personal disappointment after abad swing.
When you're as good as Dave is,you don't want to manifest bad.
You don't want to allow bad tofind its way into your game.
But bad is agnostic.
(24:25):
It doesn't care how much you'vepracticed, how many lessons
you've taken and paid for thenew equipment you just mortgaged
your future on, or how muchmoney is on the line.
Bad is like a lion waiting topounce on its prey.
Now, how you choose to dealwith bad affects your future
(24:45):
play and your effect on others.
You play with Nobody at leastnobody I know wants to play with
a continuous whiner who bleedstheir dismay into your game but
separate of how you make othersfeel.
Beating yourself up without atrigger that calms you down
(25:07):
leads to further beatings andlikely higher scores and folks.
Higher scores typically lead towallet openings at the end of
the round and usually it's yearswhich leads me to club breakers
.
In the past month I've workedat the shop and every day I'm
(25:27):
there.
A day doesn't go by without agolfer or a golfer's friend
quote unquote walking in withtwo pieces of the same club in
two different hands.
They're coming in to replaceshafts because the club was
somehow broken in half out onthe golf course, and I am blown
(25:47):
away by the stories of golferspractice probably in front of a
mirror before walking into theshop with their tail between
their legs.
When they walk in with thesetwo pieces a shaft and some club
head that really should be onepiece and start the stories.
One guy I hit a tree on myfollowthrough.
(26:10):
Another guy I hit this hiddenroot or I lent the club to a
pygmy.
That guy actually said thatlast week.
The inconvenient truth thank you, al Gore.
Is that?
Golf is hard, frustrating.
And after a few shitty shots,who else are you going to punish
(26:30):
besides yourself?
Your golf partners, maybe, oranybody else in airshot distance
when you go on your cursingtirade?
It was the club's fault, so whynot break it over your knee so
that it no longer embarrassesyou?
It's temporary insanity.
(26:51):
In a court of law, your defenseattorney would argue that you
are unable to appreciate thenature of wrongfulness of your
acts when your temper boiledover and you snapped the club
over your knee.
Temporary insanity we all gothrough it, but human nature is
predictable.
You need to punish the one thatwrongs you.
(27:12):
So take that wedge, that chunktwo balls into the water and
bladed a sand shot into the nextzip code.
Teach it a lesson so it nevermisbehaves again and you can be
assured it won't misbehave theday you break it.
And then, once you break it,where do you put it?
You can't put it back in yourbag.
(27:32):
Now you've got 13 clubsremaining.
How many more can you applycorporal punishment to to assure
all the bad is beaten out ofthem?
You'll end up, like Tin Cup,with a 7-iron to play the
remaining holes Some of thenewer, more expensive shafts run
from $150 to $350, plus thecost of labor.
(27:57):
Like none of that cost analysispreceded your club shortening.
I get it.
Golf is hard and I wondersometimes if club breakers are
also dog kickers and spouseabusers.
I'll leave that up to MalcolmGladwell to research.
What I do know is that themishit was not the club's fault.
(28:17):
It was the guy or gal who washolding it.
Look, I choose not to play forbig money anymore because I
don't like the feeling ofripping off Benjamins and
handing them to the guy who hada better day than I did.
And if your anger and rage isall about your embarrassment in
front of your boss, prospectiveemployer or prospective in-laws,
(28:41):
here's a news flash Nobodygives a royal hoot about your
game.
Now, your partner might bedismayed when you missed another
three-footer to lose the match,but that's what the 19th hole
is all about.
Two drinks and the paindissipates.
Look, golf shops stay afloat onthe shoulders of club breakers,
(29:06):
so break them if you got them,and I'll see you at the shop.
You at the shop.
You're listening to anotherepisode of Just Tales.
Thanks for staying till the end.
I'm your host, rich Easton,telling tales from beautiful
Charleston, south Carolina.
(29:26):
Talk to you soon.
(30:49):
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
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