Your Pro’s Corner

By Ron Parish, PGA Director of Golf, Lone Tree Golf Course

I passed on a quote I heard from the great instructor Jim Flick at a training seminar in last months article, “Golf demands you learn the game on it’s timeline”, well worth reflecting on if you seem to be practicing hard and not having much in return. Remember, trial and error are part of the game and part of learning.

Tributes to Mr. Flick continue this month and one thing he would strongly emphasize in his teaching was “Use the ground for leverage”. I find this focus is very worthwhile for many reasons but in particular, I think the average golfer benefits more from this emphasis then some of the mainstream current Tour Pro concepts.

For starters, realize that this is an idea that the great Jack Nicklaus embraced (Mr. Flick worked with Jack regularly) and used in his own game to be one of the most powerful hitters in his day and of all time. What does this mean, use the ground for leverage? Well for starters, where are the biggest muscles in your body? They are in your legs and “tuck-us”. So if we are going to get power effortlessly doesn’t it make sense to use these muscles and not just the hands, arms, and upper torso? Especially for your average Joe who can’t get to the gym everyday. To understand using the ground for leverage, here are some other sports’ motions where the legs are used that are worthwhile comparing to and can help shed understanding for how this power can be created:

• A field goal kicker using his “plant” leg

• A baseball pitcher shifting off the mound

• Snow skier shifting into the next turn.

• Hockey player shifting or stopping on the edge of their skate

• A hip throw in judo

All of the above utilize the body’s weight shifting with the strength and leverage that the legs and lower body can balance, store, and transfer. And when it transfers, it is amazing what power can be generated no matter what your size (fyi: Jack Nicklaus isn’t that tall or big). So above are some analogies, now some drills for you to try and go out and see if you can discover and dial into this concept:

1. 1/2 and 3/4 wedges with leg work. It’s like learning to dance. Got to start slow and small before you get going to fast. Hit half a bucket of balls and vary the distance on your wedges, only hitting anywhere from 40% to 80% your full wedge distance. Vary the distance on every shot. I recommend a sand wedge. As you do this. Just listen to your legs and how the weight shifts back and forth. If you do it right, you will find that the rest of your body (the torso turn, the arms and hands swinging) will synchronize with your legs. Hit it a little fat or thin? Out of synch I will bet you. As you continue with this, keep the grip pressure light and really try and power the shot with the shift of your weight. I bet you will learn something.

2. Step drill. Tee up a ball with a 7 iron. Set up to the ball with a normal stance but before swinging, bring the front foot all the way back to the back foot so that you are standing with feet together. Keep the knees flexed. Then start the swing back. Going forward, to hit the ball you are going to have to “step” off the back foot to get to the ball. You will really learn about the role of the back leg and foot here. Also a lot about timing. If the ball goes let of your intended line, you will have started the forward swing with your upper body. If your ball goes right of your intended line (not many do this) the lower body will have pushed to hard to start the forward swing or have started too soon. However, You are going to have to “step” forward before you completer your backswing. Play with this. Step earlier one time then the other. You will learn a lot. Allow your hands to have some hinge while you step forward. This is called loading or lagging and Guys like Sergio Garcia and Greg Norman used this to generate power. Great drill, but only do it for a portion of your bucket. I’ve found if it gets over practiced you can develop too much of a lateral motion.

3. “Heal lift” on the driver drill. Ok this one is fun. To use the ground for leverage, the weight has to coil and shift to the back leg during the swing. I think this drill really teaches that. Take the driver and set up to a teed up ball as normal. Before taking the club back, lift up the heal of the front/target foot. As soon as the heel is up (the weight will naturally shift back to your back foot) start the swing and go ahead and hit the ball. What you are going to notice is that you “really” get into your back leg this way. And if you get into it on the backswing, you are going to be able to shift off of it for the forward swing and understand what it is to use the ground for leverage.

Hey, you are going to have some swings on drill #2 and #3 that get out of synch, so don’t beat yourself up if you send one or two off line or thin/fat. That is all part of the learning. But if you pay attention, you are going to figure out what it means to use the ground for leverage and how to generate power from this concept. One last point, the key is to synchronize it. What’s that mean? Everything is in balance and working together. You will start to notice this more and more. One thing I think helps is to keep in mind that when Jack was asked what he wanted to do to hit one really big, he would always say, “I would take more time to swing”. Notice he didn’t say he would swing faster or harder, he just took more time to complete his swing and use his powerful legs

Thank you for all you do for Golf and for Lone Tree Golf Course and Event Center. Please help grow the game and invite someone new to join you in 2013! The game needs you ……and them.

Your Pro,

Ron Parish, PGA

If you are interested in reviewing other articles from Coach Ron go to www.lonetreegolfcourse.com under “The Course” tab.

By Barbara Zivica

On December 27th the newly sworn in City Council adopted an Urgency Ordinance amending the September 1, 2012 contract agreement with police officers and misc. employees in which the retirement benefit formulas for new hires was changed from 3% at age 50 for police to 3% at age 55 and the retirement benefit formula for misc. employees was changed from 2.7% at age 55 to 2% at age 62. Basically, what they did was restore the more generous pension benefits for new hires.

The reason it was called an “urgency ordinance“ was it had to become effective before January 1, 2013 when a voter approved state law would tie their hands. The new law mandates specific pension formulas for public employees (2.7% at age 55 for police officers and 2% at age 62 for other employee categories). They did, however, put a cap on lateral police hires. The chief can only hire five lateral officers at the 3% at age 50 retirement formula after which he’ll have to request more from Council. After 18 months, lateral hires will have to come in at the new 2.7% at 55 formula but could keep any prior accrued under old pension rules. Rookie hires would come in at the new state rate.

Council again took action on February 19th, upon hearing that City Manger Jim Jakel was planning to retire. They offered him a generous amendment to his contract if he stayed on until the end of December. (Jakel’s employment contract with the city is dated October 14, 2003). If he did so, during the last six months of the year his compensation would also include a monthly retention payment of $2,750 and a monthly deferred compensation payment of $3,533 which would be excluded from the calculation of final compensation for purposes of his PERS retirement formula. Currently his base salary is $16,719 a month.

Not surprisingly the Council has now asked staff to explore ways to increase revenues via a sales tax, a parcel tax or a business license tax, all of which, if mandated for a specific use, require 2/3 vote approval.
In 2010 Antioch voters rejected a half cent non specific sales tax measure which only needed a simple majority to pass but failed when 55% of voters rejected it. The ballot measure stated that the revenues were to be used to avoid further police layoffs (20 less cops on duty than two years before), fix potholes, maintain local streets and sidewalks, restore code enforcement and clean up abandoned property. Opponents were concerned because tax revenues would be deposited in the City’s general fund and could, therefore, be used for all legal governmental purposes.

As for current police staffing, according to police Chief Cantando as of February 21st, here’s the situation: The department is currently authorized for 102 positions and is projected to be at 90 filled positions as of March 11, 2013 with 12 vacancies. An academy student is already hired as a trainee and would fill an authorized position. Ten officers are off duty due to injury, eight of those are OJI (on the job injury) and two are off duty for medical conditions. Two additional officers are on light duty due to OJI injuries, two CSO’s have been hired, another starting on March 11th. Four trainees start the CCCSO academy on April lst. Numerous trainee, lateral and academy graduate candidates are in various stages of the hiring process.

Local youth sports organization, The Delta Baseball & Softball League, announced today its donation of over $2,750 to Antioch schools.

In 2012 the board of director for the Delta embarked on a new initiative, “Delta Goes to Bat for Schools.” The purpose of the program is to two-fold: in partnering with local schools, the league strives to demonstrate to its players the overriding importance of education. In the words of board member Rick Hilton, “baseball and other team sports are important in the development of our children, but every player should be reminded that school must always come first.”

A secondary mission of the program is to promote the importance of physical education and both individual and team sports within schools. According to board member David Chuey, “sports in general and team sports specifically teach kids things like communication, teamwork, good sportsmanship, and responsibility – all qualities that aid in their overall physical and educational development.”

The program, now in its second year, encourages schools and their PTA/PTO to get kids involved in baseball/softball and other team and individual sports. A percentage of the fees families pay to play in the Delta Baseball & Softball League are donated back to the school that the player attends. This year Delta is giving back over $2,750 to public, charter and private schools in Antioch, Pittsburg, Oakley, Brentwood, and Discovery Bay. Representatives from the three schools with the greatest number of players in the Delta Baseball & Softball League – Diablo Vista Elementary School, Holy Rosary Catholic School and Cornerstone Christian School – have been invited to the League’s Opening Day at Freedom High School on March 23, 2013 as honored guests. The league will present checks to each of the represented schools as a part of their opening day ceremony.

The Delta Baseball and Softball League, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, was founded in 1984 as the Delta Peanut League by a group of like-minded parents seeking an alternative to the high pressure, high intensity youth sports leagues available at the time. Though originally serving only 6-8 year old “peanuts”, the league has grown over the past 30 years to include children from age 4 to 13, and today has both non-competitive divisions carrying on the legacy and vision of the league founders, and competitive divisions playing under banner of Cal Ripken Baseball and Babe Ruth Softball.

In 2007 the league added a division for differently-abled children, the CHAMP division (formerly FREEDOM division) where physically or mentally challenged children learn and play baseball free of charge alongside all of the other children in the league.

The league’s mission statement is to “strive to provide a positive and instructional baseball and softball league for children where the focus is on participation, fundamentals and enjoyment of the game; all in a safe environment where everyone is treated fairly.” League President Jarrod Wiener says these core fundamentals apply to all league divisions, baseball and softball, competitive, non-competitive and CHAMP.

To find out more about the Delta Baseball & Softball League please visit them at www.deltabaseballleague.com or find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DeltaBaseballandSoftballLeague.

 

Last fall, a week before the November election, in an online only editorial, I shared some concerns about many of the candidates running for Mayor and City Council.

One of my biggest concerns was time commitment – would the candidate have the time to meet the demands of the position? I had that concern about Wade Harper, since at that time he was a police Lieutenant in Tracy and worked swing shift, which means he wasn’t available in the afternoons and evenings.

However, in a surprise move, after being elected Mayor, Harper has taken an early retirement and is now devoting full time to his new elected position. This is the fourth time I was surprised by one of his moves. The first one was when he was the top vote-getter in the 2010 City Council election, the second was when he announced he was running for Mayor, last year and the third time when he won.

While in a General Law City like Antioch, which has a Council-Manager form of government, where the Mayor and Council Members are policy makers and the City Manager is the full-time professional that heads the staff, the Mayor isn’t a full-time job. It surely doesn’t pay a full-time salary.

Only one city in Contra Costa County has a full-time mayor with a matching salary and that’s Richmond. But they’re a Charter City, as are the four largest cities in the Bay Area with full-time, elected Mayors – San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Berkeley.

So, it wasn’t necessary for Harper to make the move he did and commit to working full-time for us. But, perhaps at this time in our city’s history, with the growing crime problem we face, as well as the lack of economic development and local, well-paying jobs, it will be a good thing.

It just shouldn’t become a precedent for future mayors, unless and until Antioch becomes a Charter City, which requires a vote of the people.

I wish good luck and Godspeed to Mayor Harper in his full-time efforts on our behalf.

 

The Arts & Cultural Foundation of Antioch is proud to present the 9th Annual Art4Schools Exhibits. The Arts4Schools Program is sponsored by the Arts & Cultural Foundation of Antioch, Union Pacific Foundation, the City of Antioch and Calpine / Contra Costa County Supervisor Federal Glover. The program began February 20^th and runs through May 25^th.

The Lynn House Gallery is located in the Rivertown District at 809 W. 1st Street, Antioch (across from the AMTRAK Train Station) and is open from 1 – 4 PM on Wednesdays and Saturdays during exhibits and admission is free.

For more information about each exhibit call Diane Gibson-Gray at (925) 325-9897 or email Diane@Art4Antioch.org.

By Sergeant Steve Bias, Antioch Police Field Services Division

On Monday, March 3, 2013 at approximately 9:30 pm, Antioch Police received multiple calls of shots fired in the 1700 block of Lipton Street. Upon officer’s arrival, they learned that someone had opened fire on an occupied vehicle in a garage of a residence. Any suspect or suspect vehicle descriptions were very limited and nothing is being released at this time.

One 19 year old male resident of San Francisco was injured during this shooting and is being treated at an undisclosed hospital. He is expected to survive.The motive for this shooting is unknown at this time as the investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information concerning this incident is encouraged to call the Antioch Police Department at (925) 778-2441.You may also text a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using key word ANTIOCH.

 

By James Ott

Crime rates in Antioch are still soaring and the city’s police chief and council agree the best way to curtail that trend is to hire more cops – a move that will cost taxpayers millions if it is approved.

In an end-of-the-year report given at the council meeting, on Tuesday February 15, Antioch Police Chief Alan Cantando reported that Antioch’s crime rates were up and arrest rates were down from January to December 2012, compared with those same rates in 2011.

Total cases of violent crime were up 30.6 percent, including a doubling of homicide cases while property crime was up nearly 23 percent and arrests were down 13.7 percent, according to Cantando.

The main cause of those startling figures are that the city’s police force just doesn’t have enough manpower to keep up with a large, high-crime city like Antioch, said Cantando.

“[It] comes from our staffing levels. Obviously the more officers you have on the streets, the more arrests you’re going to be able to make,” he said.

During his presentation, the Chief showed a slide comparing Antioch’s police force in 1995 with what it is today to illustrate why he believes crime rates may be so high.

Antioch in 1995 had about 75,000 residents and had 89 sworn officers to deal with it’s 48,000 calls for police service. Fast forward to today and the population has grown to 104,000 and must deal with over 81,000 calls for service and it only has 88 sworn officers. In addition Antioch has had to rid itself of nearly all of the specialized units such as the narcotics and traffic units it used to have in 1995.

Antioch City Council has actually approved up to 102 sworn officers and 6 Community Service Officers, (CSO’s), for the police force. Currently the city has 88 of those sworn positions filled with 7 more in the hiring process, leaving 7 vacancies waiting to be filled. Two CSO’s have been hired and one more is in the hiring process, leaving 3 CSO vacancies.

To fix the city’s crime problem Cantando presented the city council with two hiring options. He said that the city could approve hiring 24 more officers to get to the 126 sworn policeman he considers the minimum to get crime rates in check. The police force could then have dedicated officers for the area high schools, 4 traffic officers, 5 community officers, and a narcotics and a special response unit, among others.

It’s estimated that those 22 officers would cost taxpayer’s $3.6 million.

What Cantando really wants however, is to eventually have 144 sworn officers in Antioch. It would allow the same specialized units only they would be better staffed. The extra police would also allow things like specialized gang enforcement and burglary suppression – things that have plagued the city for years.

The cost for 42 more Antioch police? An estimated $6.8 million.

Despite the cost, Cantando and the city council say they support whatever is necessary to bring crime rates down in Antioch.

Mayor Wade Harper – a former Tracy Police Officer who ran his campaign mainly on reducing crime – said that the crime rates are unacceptable and he commended Cantando for working with the city to fix the problem.

Mayor Pro-Tem Mary Rocha, a resident of Antioch for decades lamented the city’s transformation into a high-crime city. “Those who haven’t lived here long don’t know what we’ve lost.”

Council member Gary Agopian, a self-professed fiscal conservative, said that the high cost needs to be paid, and he openly supported hiring up to 144 officers.

“I’ve heard the argument that we can’t afford this. Well look what we’re affording right now,” said Agopian. “We’re affording reduced property values. Is that OK? Is it OK that we have to buy security systems? For a city our size we need the 144 sworn officers. I want to make that statement tonight – that’s the number we need. Nothing less because anything less gets us what we already have, and that’s not good enough.”

Several Antioch Residents showed up at the meeting, complaining of crime in their neighborhoods. Many said they see daily drug deals from low-income housing nearby.

Resident Shelly French who lives on rock island drive off of Deer Valley Road choked up when describing the two bullet holes that went through her husbands truck and into her garage.

If the city council decides to approve the hiring of additional officers, they will need to find funding and even then the city will likely wait for years to see the benefits of the new officers.

Antioch Police Department has been struggling to fill it’s current vacancies, let alone dozens more. According to Cantando that is due to the standard slow recruitment and hiring process for officers. He said that the city’s police department has gone through 833 applicants just to get those 7 sworn officer candidates that are currently in the hiring process – a capture rate of about one percent.

Chief Cantando said hiring those additional officers could take up to two more years.

Also at the Meeting:

The Bay Area’s Water Emergency Transportation Authority, (WETA), recently completed a feasibility study on the proposed Antioch Ferry Terminal.

At the last council meeting they presented city council with four possible locations for the ferry terminal.

The early estimates are that the terminal will cost from a low of about $7 to $17 million to a high of $18 to $26 million.

Two of the proposed sites were located off of the fishing pier while the other two were closer to the land area of downtown Antioch. The “fishing pier” sites tended to be less expensive due to some infrastructure being in place while the “downtown” sites tended to increase in price due to higher construction cost estimates.

The city council seemed to want the site that would most allow economic growth in the downtown area while still remaining affordable to the city.

The cost estimates are very early and the city and county would still eventually need to find revenue to pay for the terminal.

“Ultimately this is going to feed into a discussion of a sales tax,” said WETA Planner Chad Mason. “Right now there is no operational funding for this project.”

Next up the city has to develop the project further, find funding partners and then go through the environmental review process.

Mayor Wade Harper planned to attend the meeting with WETA on February 21 to further discuss the project and will keep the city updated on it’s progress.