Whether this is a male or a female doesn’t matter much. Either way it points some light at a problem I’ve had recently with female sports. This person could be technically female and simply have the physical characteristics of a male. Deep voice, heavy musculature, etc. So she then shatters all the records for women because she’s…basically a man.

So what?

Why are we even watching a women’s sport where your greatest chances of winning come from being less female? What is it about being physically more gifted as a runner (i.e. being a man, or man-like) makes you worthy of praise? Nothing. You can go find any male tennis player, or runner, who got dropped out of the finals in an elite competition (someone who consistently misses the cut) and have them compete against the women’s #1 and he’ll destroy her. Like, embarrass her.

So when a female competitor starts destroying other female competitors, and she looks like a man, it shouldn’t surprise anyone. The more manly you are–as a woman in these types of sports–the more likely you are to win. Tennis with the Williams sisters anyone? Oh, how about the best female tennis player in the world? Um, yeah, that’s Martina Navratilova below.

Oh, and Martina shares something else with men–she sexually attracted to women. Stunning; never would have guessed. Why is she a lesbian? I don’t know for sure, obviously, but the latest research offers some compelling hints.

In my mind this diminishes the validity of most female sports. Or, at least those in which men consistently and significantly outperform women. It’s pretty pointless once you figure out that the girly one is going to lose, and the manly one is going to win (assuming nearly equal skill, of course). Watching this type of competition is much like a husband going to work and bragging because he beat his wife in a fist fight the night before.

Yeah, you kicked ass. Great. You’re a guy, and you beat up a girl. So what? First, you’re an asshole, and second you’re not worthy of praise because you’re a man and she isn’t.

Repulsive, right? Yeah, well, it’s no different when a manly woman slaughters a feminine woman in sports.

And yes, it’s true that much of this also applies to male sports, i.e. the bigger, stronger guys often win there too. But at least you’re within the top echelon when you’re competing–and there’s no ambiguity regarding whether or not you should even be competing against the other person.

That’s the difference. If you’re a man, you can compete against other men, but when when you’re in a female sport, men aren’t allowed to compete at all because it’s universally understood to be unfair. So if a woman is seriously masculine (like the two women pictured above) it really is nothing less than cheating–in the most obvious and unavoidable way possible.

So what’s the answer? Say only “feminine” women can compete? Awesome, and who’s going to make that determination? It’s a futile and pointless endeavor.

This doesn’t mean the competitors have done anything wrong, and I have nothing against them. I actually rather enjoy watching good female tennis. It’s just that as soon as you realize what the major variable is for female sports victory, it’s hard to find anything compelling about the story. Really, though, this applies to any sport where the physical capabilities of the competitors are too imbalanced. This is just once instance of it. ::

Learning the mechanics of a good golf swing is a minor fascination for me, and while the following should not be taken as authoritative since I don’t play much golf and am not an expert, I am putting up this tutorial to both remind myself of these concepts and to share them with anyone interested.

My methodology acronym, PGOTT, stands for:

1. Position
2. Grip
3. Open and Close
4. Trebuchet
5. Timing

…with the idea being that when I am struggling I need to remind myself to do these five things.

1. Position

This is the basic stuff that everyone knows: knees slightly bent, back straight, butt out, feet roughly shoulder-length apart (inside of your feet for driver, outside for low irons), etc. Nothing major here.

2. Grip

The thing I remind myself here is, “Fingers, not hand.” I initially contact the club in the top two segments of my fingers, and when I hold the club it doesn’t make any contact with my actual palm. This, combined with holding the club loosely, gives the most motion for the club. I also use the pinky-index interlock and a neutral position.

3. Open and Close

Ok, so now we get into the less-standard stuff (or at least for a top-four list). When at address your club face should be perpendicular to your body and shoulders, i.e facing toward your target. During your backswing, you must open your club face, which involves rotating the wrists so that the club head faces the sky as the club reaches parallel with the ground, and so that you’ll see more of the back of your left hand.

During the follow-through, the club will be doing the opposite, which is to close. This means the wrists will be turning to the right so that you’d be able to see more of the back of the right hand. The key is that at the ball, in the center, you’re back to neutral.

Back–open, through–close. Back–open, through–close. This concept is so important to me, as it reminds me of the physical (as in physics) nature of the swing, with the entire focus being getting back to that neutral position at the ball.

4. Trebuchet

This is a visual model that helps me immensely that I haven’t heard anywhere else. The way I think of, and describe, the swing dynamic and power creation process for a golf swing is by imagining a trebuchet where the second arm (the rope with the projectile) is the golf club, and the first arm (the rigid, wooden part) is your non-bending left arm.

For me the focus once again is getting back to neutral, and the idea that if your frame doesn’t change during your swing (your position), your wooden part doesn’t change in length or focal position (your left arm), and your rope length doesn’t change (your club length), then when you complete your downswing you should be back to where you started, i.e. at the ball.

This is a beautiful concept to me, as it illustrates not just consistency in being able to return to the ball, but also power in the sense that the secondary segment (the club/rope) must move much more than the primary segment (your arm). So when the club is bent way above and possibly behind you, your left arm angle isn’t nearly as extreme. This means that for every bit of left arm motion, you have that much more club motion–just like a trebuchet.

5. Timing

This one is just a reminder to slow down and not rush the backswing or downswing. Nothing fancy here. There are a number of methods for doing this I’ve heard, e.g. counting through the motion and such, but I just remind myself to slow down and avoid being jerky, which seems to work for me.

Conclusion

So that’s my self-tutorial on how to consolidate a ton of golf-swing knowledge into five steps: PGOTT. And now I’ll leave you with a truly inspiring video; see if you notice what I call the trebuchet action now that I’ve put the idea in your head. And happy golfing to you. ::

The Perfect Golf Swing – The most popular videos are a click away

Dear Mountain,

We shall meet again, and it won’t be with a POS rented Mitsubishi Eclipse that thinks it’s a sports car. When I have my 335i things will be different…oh, yes they will. Hope to see you again soon.

Hélio Gracie did more for Martial Arts than anyone anyone but Bruce Lee in my opinion. The reason B.J. Penn and GSP are fighting tomorrow on the UFC, in front of millions of people, is directly due to his influence.

Thank you, Helio Gracie, for your contribution to Martial Arts. ::

Image from CNN

Two words: Fuck China.

Their “anything to get ahead” attitude is sickening. They’re exploiting the hell out of little kids by taking them from their families, putting the fear and pressure of a billion people on them, and putting makeup on them to try and pull off “16″.

It’s not working, guys. They’re fucking kids. 14 on a good day. The world is watching as you try and cheat your way to victory. We see what you are.

Image from ABC News

This same cheating mentality is driving the insane amount of pollution in the country.

Image from Treehugger

But who cares? Who gives a hell if the country is poisoned and ruined, right? What’s a few thousand people with cancer? As long as they’re an economic superpower, right? Anything for the glory of country, right? Displace tens of thousands to build the stadium, hide the squalor that their people live in day after day, lock up people who dissent.

All to make money. All to become powerful.

I hope the IOC finds that the Chinese lied about the ages of the young gymnasts. I hope they get stripped of all their medals. I wish them extreme embarrassment.

It will, in some small part, repay their soulless exploitation of humans for the sake of nationalism.:

Sick.

Call me cynical, but when I hear about someone winning 11 gold medals the first thing that comes to mind is, “Great, so I wonder how long it’ll take for them to charge him with steroid use and strip them from him.”

Meh.