I could feel the yip

[The Salt Vampire]

Not sure if I've told this story before, but it is worth telling again. I have a good friend that is a high profile hockey guy and a golf pro too. Plays in that Lake Tahoe thing and a few other celebrity events. He was a club pro while his kids were growing up, after he retired from the NHL, and then got re-involved in hockey in his late 40s. He has a deal with Titleist and told me the story of how Scotty Cameron and Paul Azinger invented the belly putter.

Apparently Azinger was hitting some putts at the Cameron studio and complaining about flinching on the short ones. Cameron had Zinger hit some putts with his left hand only, with his right hand in the pocket of his pants. At impact, Zinger's right hand, the one in his pocket, would jump! Not sure how, but somehow they settled on the belly putter as the cure from there.

Anyway, I have been putting very poorly from six feet and in this year and picked up one of those Super Stroke grips for $20. Installed it on an old putter and went out and played yesterday. Voila! I was making everything inside ten feet, or at least just missing. The scary thing was, I could feel the yip in my right hand near impact, but the fat grip seemed to negate its fury. Bizarre.

 

[VtDivot]

high profile hockey guy? Was he a player? This should be fun to guess...

 

[The Salt Vampire]

high profile hockey guy? Was he a player? This should be fun to guess...

Go for it. How big a fan are you? He was the first ever Vancouver Canuck.

 

[FATC1TY]

Orland Kurtenbach..

 

[VtDivot]

My research has defenceman Gary Doak as the 1st player taken by Vancouver in the 1970 expansion draft not Kurtenbach (he was their 2nd pick). These guys would be too old now tho to have been friends with Vampire so I am going with their first amateur pick - Dale Tallon

edit - I just reread your post "high profile hockey guy" LOL quite an understatement

 

[Sandpiper3]

If its Stan Smyl, can you get his autograph for me?

 

[FATC1TY]

Tallon was my other pick, but alas, my google-fu shows me that Kurtenbach also owned/ran a driving range as well after he retired from hockey.

I also tossed out the "first canuck" as the first captain as well, as I knew that one.

 

[VtDivot]

Tallon was my other pick, but alas, my google-fu shows me that Kurtenbach also owned/ran a driving range as well after he retired from hockey.

I also tossed out the "first canuck" as the first captain as well, as I knew that one.

Does your Google-Fu show that Tallon played on the Canadian Tour

I think my Brazilian Google-Fu is better than yours

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

Trevor Linden???

Going with the Capitals affiliation, however small.

 

[The Salt Vampire]

And the winner is...

Dale Tallon. Best ball-striker, worst putter combo that I have ever played with. Not that he is an awful putter, but he rarely makes anything outside four feet. 18 tap-ins per round. Three for birdie though.

Ron Wilson, Leafs coach, is the best overall player, +3 or +4 handicap. Hits it scary good and putts well too.

 

[otakueric]

nice thread! i have a friend who has that right hand jump as well. forwarding him this info.

 

[indacup]

Hinge putt is easier, cheaper and almost fool proof.

 

[The Salt Vampire]

It was a short-lived experiment for a few reasons. Not the least of which is that I'm a Scotty snob, I guess. The feel of the ball coming off an SC putter is outstanding for me. Didn't want to cut the rattler grip off my gamer either.

I don't really like the putter that I put the Super Stroke on, the Daito Stealth. It looks like a potato masher. When using a mallet-type of putter, for me everything feels like a yank.

The main reason though was a new gadget. Bought the Eyeline putting mirror after trying it at Golfsmith. I realized that my eyes were about four inches inside the ball and my shoulders were wide open. After about 10 minutes of practice it felt like I found an old friend and I started rolling it great. The yip was gone. This game is mental for mental people.

 

[FJobe]

I have always had shaky hands and it has hindered my putting for years. As I would go back the face of the putter would shake open and closed and who knew how the ball would come off the face. I also put a super stroke grip on my sabertooth putter and it fixed all my problems. Although my hands still shake the grip helps so much not as much shake with the bigger grip.

 

[VtDivot]

Your pal is no longer GM of the Hawks... he did spend some serious cash while he was there tho