I had heard from some of expatriates living in Shanghai that there was some sort of baseball team playing in city, so I did some Google searches to see whether I could find information about team. I found a few articles on Internet about Shanghai Eagles' spring trip to U.S. to compete against junior college teams. The game summaries, published by news people at a few of U.S. schools against which Eagles played, described a team that had decent pitching, but not much hitting. As can happen with that kind of team chemistry, Shanghai club lost all seven of its exhibition games in U.S.

I didn't expect much when I went to watch team play, but I was excited to actually see a baseball field again, having been in China for awhile, and I wanted to experience baseball environment here. A Chinese friend of mine hunted down information about where Shanghai Eagles played and at what time, so I took my wife out for a Friday afternoon at baseball field.

The old ball game didn't have any peanuts or Cracker-Jacks, or hot dogs, or drinks, or very many spectators. There was a mascot dressed in a chicken suit, and, although we had to search behind some buildings to find it, surprisingly field looked pretty standard. There was a total of probably fifty people in attendance when game began. People came and went as game progressed. Something that struck me was feeling that many there were obviously hard-core baseball fans, kind you would expect to find catching foul balls at a MLB park. After quickly being spotted as one of only white guys in attendance, I was approached by Dan Washburn, a news consultant doing a story for Baseball America. During my conversation with him, he told me that he met some older Chinese men at one of games he'd attended. He mentioned that when he asked them what brought them out to event, they told him they played ball when they were much younger, being forced to leave game behind when Mao Zedong did away with American influence during Cultural Revolution. As for group of boisterous, college-aged enthusiasts, I was told that a group of them attended local baseball college, and they were being trained to later become professionals. (In China, many children who express a particular athletic skill are guided down a specialized path devoted largely to ultimate fulfillment of their athletic capabilities.) There were some younger T-ball aged kids at game who were introduced to me by uncle of one of boys. He wanted them to practice English with me and my wife, and later two boys asked me to play catch with them using homemade-looking, well-used baseball one of boys brought to game.

The area we used to play catch was same grass area outside stadium used by professional teams to warm up their bullpen pitchers. I used opportunity to get a feel for how well a professional pitcher in China throws. The one I saw was probably throwing in high-70's to low 80's. I watched him throw curve balls with some good movement and change ups as well. His control was comparable to an average to good college pitcher.

The particular game we watched went into extra innings as Eagles dropped a large lead late in game. Being distracted by people attempting to practice English during tenth and eleventh innings, it wasn't until twelfth that I noticed a strange twist to baseball as Chinese play it. Probably for sake of ending game as soon as possible, they allow both teams to start extra innings with a runner on second base. One problem I saw with this approach is that it made game boring, as apparent lack of confidence in hitting on part of both teams turned extra innings into a bunt-fest. Finally Tianjin broke open and went on to win 9-5 in 12 innings.

Optimum golf balance depends on three aspects: your visual perception, signals from inner ear, and signals from your muscles and joints. Sometimes these aspects get out of sync, causing a balance disorder. Most of which can be easily fixed with some simple ideas.

A lack of balance usually occurs when your head position changes, which is a good reason to keep your head still during your swing! How many times have you been told or noticed yourself that you looked up during your swing? Everybody wants to see where their ball is going and when you move your head and throw off your balance, ball doesn't usually go anywhere. At least not where you wanted it to go. So, keep your head down and still and let your playing partners watch for your ball.

Migraines can attribute to a balance disorder. So if you have frequent migraines, seek medical attention. These headaches can affect your golf game in ways you may never have thought of. Not to mention being just plain painful and debilitating.

Also, don't go spending a fortune on new golf equipment hoping for better play before you check your medicine cabinet to see if any drugs you're taking affect your balance. The condition "ear poisoning" seriously affects your balance. Ear poisoning is usually caused by side effects of some medications. Always be aware of possible side effects of any prescription drugs you may be taking. This is just good advice all way around, let alone it having an effect on your golf game.