Help from our video friends

Oldgolfdawg told you about the putting aid contraptions he has purchased over the years that are collecting dust in his basement in a post Lure of the quick fix in December. What he didn't write about then was the number of instructional DVDs he has on a bookshelf that for the most part also collect dust.

But unlike the putting aid contraptions, Oldgolfdawg won't dismiss all of the instructional DVDs he has as simply bad investments. He does go back to them from time to time to review things he thought had merit but for whatever reason had faded from the consciousness of his game.

One of them, Phil Mickelson Secrets of the Short Game, was brought back to his attention by an e-mail he received yesterday from friend and former co-worker Adam Conn. On a scale of 1 to 5 dog biscuits, Oldgolfdawg would throw Mickelson's DVD on the short game 4 1/2 biscuits.

Other DVDs or DVD series in Oldgolfdawg's collection include Andy North's Top Ten Suggestions for Better Putting (2 biscuits), Beat The Bogey Man (1 1/2 biscuits), AJ Reveals The Truth About Golf (3 biscuits) and Swing The Handle by Eddie "The Little Pro" Merrins (4 biscuits). And he would be remiss to not include his Ben Crenshaw The Art of Putting VHS (3 biscuits) in the mix.

These instructional aides work as a backstop when Oldgolfdawg's game slides off the tracks. Like insurance policies, they offer assistance in times of need. So have they made Oldgolfdawg a better golfer? The short answer is probably yes. Even if the lessons gleaned from them don't always last, they have given him things to think about when adjustments have to be made. On more than one occasion they've helped him escape from a slump faster than he would have otherwise.

In writing this blog, Oldgolfdawg has found YouTube to be a gold mine of free instructional golf videos. In the future he'll blog about the ones he thinks might help other faithful followers of the white pea. Just don't laugh too hard about the ones suggesting a smooth putting stroke. Anyone who has played a round of golf with Oldgolfdawg knows that notion doesn't seem to fit in his bag.