Hellooooo Ball…lol. I couldn’t resist.

Your so right about golf and dice. Nice one teammate.

Timmer, your are right on in that our dice game the GTC way is much like golf. I think that the chip shot in golf is a lot like the GTC dice throw. Soft and delicate yet enough energy to get to the hole. You need the right spin and touch just like our GTC throw. We also need to practice daily as the pros do. We also need to take lessons as they do. Most if not all golf pros have swing coaches, short game coaches and putting coaches. Many of these coaches are not necessarily the same person. They have dedicated practice with these guys all the time.

The golf pros have dedication like no other profession. We should as well.

You often hear the saying "once you learn to ride a bicycle you never forget how to ride." But if you don’t practice (think Lance Armstrong) you will lose some of your skill. The same is true with dice control and golf as well.

That’s why I practice most every day. Even if I am traveling on a non gambling trip I have pair of dice with me so that I can work on my grip–on the airplane, in the hotel room or watching TV.

You are correct that Augusta and the Masters is the Holy Grail (hope that is spelled somewhere correct) of golf. GTC is for dice what the Masters is to golf

Just a few idle thoughts.

Doc

PS—You may be incorrect in one respect in that my golf game is not all that great, but I do look good riding in the cart.

I just wish i was a lefty

gman

Timmer,

I agree with the similarities of golf and the GTC way. Yes, the Masters is the ultimate of all of the majors.

The grip is number one in both sports.

The arm swing is very similar to the pendulum swing of the putter.

The dice must release and the club head must also release.

The mental game must be executed and managed in both games.

The list of similarities goes on and on!

Most of all, like all athletic endeavors, in both disciplines we are constantly working on the small details. This is where I believe we really learn our craft. In golf there are many ways to execute a shot. We attempt different shots in practice to prepare for different situations in live play (for example a chip shot low and running with backspin versus pitch shot that carries farther, lands and slightly releases). In dice control we also attempt different shots such as a lower shot for a bouncy table versus a higher shot for a firm table.

Seeing that I had to wait to watch the afternoon coverage until 12:30 am, I doubt I will catch the full 4 hours of coverage I recorded from directv. I’ll catch up with it in the next few days. For those of you who have directv, they have channels 701-707 for different groupings and also Amen Corner.

Clearly craps and golf are my two favorite games!

Enjoy the tournament!

When we were in Atlantic City for the class, a group of us had a little birthday celebration for several members of the group. One of the gifts I received was from the other horsemen. I used their gift for the first time yesterday. I thought I would share the email I sent them because it loosely applies to the topic of this post.

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Hi Guys,

I played golf today with my new head cover, towel and divot tool for the very first time. I loved the gifts, especially the head cover for the driver!!!

It has magnets so that you can open the cover easily and it shuts really tight. It has a bit of weight on the cover so I used it to practice my swing before each drive. One time I swung too hard and the cover flew off the club 🙂 But it was simply amazing for practicing my swing. It acts much like the ring does for batters who take practice swings with a weight ring on their bat.

It helped me to loosen up and when I swung the club for real without the cover, it felt really light in my hands. I hit the ball just great today. I had 3 drives over 250 yards!!! The longest was 264. We used my friend’s golf GPS to measure the distance from the tee to the ball. A good drive for me is usually around 210 – 220 yards. I almost never hit one 250 and this is the first time in my life I ever had 3 in one round.

My friends (we were a foursome) attributed it all to my new head cover, towel and divot tool. I am pretty sure the head cover played a role.

I could not swing the club with the head cover on it too hard or the cover would fly off. But it had just enough weight to help me groove my swing into a smooth "pendulum" so that I made solid contact with the ball. I out drove one of my friends who has a single digit handicap and is the consistent long hitter in our foursome. The only time I have driven the ball further than him in the past is when he hits the ball poorly and I make a great hit. Even then I am sometimes short of his shot.

But today I was driving close to him most of the day and I out drove him on a number of holes, even when he hit the ball well. On one hole I hit the driver and used an 8 iron for my approach shot to the green and even that was too much club. I hit the green on a fly and the ball rolled thru the green onto the back apron. I could have used driver, 9 iron on a hole that I usually hit driver, three wood and even then I don’t reach the green in two because I am too short.

I was hitting my second shot from places I have never been before. I laughed that the reason I was not on the green in regulation more often is because I don’t know what club to use from so close to the green. I don’t get enough practice with my short irons, I joked.

I shot an 84 for the day, made a 30 foot birdie putt and was very pleased with my game. I don’t know if the birthday gifts helped but they sure did not hurt.

Thanks again, I love my gifts.

Skinny

P.S. Oh, yeah. One of my friends did not know I use the handle Skinny. He got a big kick out of the embroidering and started calling my Skinny all day.

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OK, maybe it does not have that much to do with this topic. But I was so excited with my round and using my new gifts I wanted to share it with everyone. I do believe using the head cover for the practice swings definitely made a difference. It really forced me to make a smooth rhythmic swing, much the same as you need to make a smooth swing in craps. In golf you want to keep your big muscles relaxed in the swing otherwise you tighten up the muscles in your hands causing you to choke the club. Don’t "choke the chicken" is one of the things they often tell us in golf.

The same thing applies in a controlled throw. If you don’t keep your arm relaxed and let the arm (pendulum) swing naturally you tend to tighten the muscles in your fingers. This will throw off the grip causing it to be too tight and the dice will not release naturally coming out together with the proper backspin.

I took a picture of the head cover and towel with the embroidered "Skinny" on them. Check it out below. The head cover is under the right hand and the towel is hanging on the bag right above the Nike symbol on the golf bag.

The comment my wife made to me today about the winner. He never took a lesson. so is that one os the differences instead of similarities I wonder.

Would he be better with lessons?

Noah

Yes, I have been talking with other GTC folks about the golf connectivity… I am hooking in both games, but got great coaching in each to work this out. Too funny, I also after a really long roll, I weep openly and hug all those around me like Bubba when he won… 😀
Dealers hate that part…