Choosing the Right Golf Balls
May 7, 2008
You’ve watched Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson on television ? you know the brand of golf balls they use. And they’re good, right? You should be able to use the same brand of golf balls and be good too, right? Wrong!
Maybe using the same type golf balls as the PGA golf pros will improve your game…and maybe it won’t. You need to choose the golf ball that’s right for your own game. Choosing the wrong kind of golf ball can be a bigger handicap to your game than starting at the 19th hole. Choosing the right kind of golf ball can have you feeling like a Tiger, even if you don’t quite have his handicap.
Golf balls come in three styles: 2-piece, 3-piece, and high performance. 2-piece golf balls are designed for improving your distance, while 3-piece and high performance golf balls can typically help with accuracy.
The 2-piece golf balls are especially good if you’re just starting out or if you’ve played just enough to know you really want to give this sport a try. They’re also terrific for high handicap golfers who have been around a while. Hey, we can’t all be pros! These are the most common type on the market and usually less expensive than 3-piece balls. Best of all, the large rubber core provides faster speed off the tee for those of you with a slow swing. In turn, that gives you greater distance.
Choosing the Right Golf Clubs
May 6, 2008
Planning on becoming the next Tiger Woods? If so, the first thing you might consider is getting some new golf clubs. Choosing the right golf clubs can make the difference between spending your time on the fairways and greens and spending your time in the rough. Although famed golfer Ben Hogan once said, “The only thing a golfer needs is more daylight”, for my money, having the right set of golf clubs runs this a close second.
First, I’ll assume you aren’t a pro. Otherwise, you probably wouldn’t be here; you’d be out perfecting that already outstanding golf swing. For the amateur golfer, choosing the right golf clubs hinges on two factors - distance and accuracy - and, of these, accuracy is the more important. The ability to hit the ball half-way across town may sound great, but if you can’t keep it on the fairway, out of the bunkers, and heading for the flag, then all the distance in the world isn’t going to help your game. So, the starting point for all of us needs to be accuracy. Once the ball starts going just where we want it to go with reasonable consistency we can start working on building distance.
Improve Your Golf Game Right Now
May 4, 2008
Improve your golf game right now you say? I say, absolutely! Don’t waste another dime on new golf equipment; taking one more lesson; or hitting one more ball at the range, until you finish reading this article.
You see?it’s not what you think that’s not allowing you to improve your golf game.
It’s something very simple and easy to remedy. It’s YOU! How your body moves throughout your golf swing.
Let me ask you?do you feel nice and loose, relaxed and fluid when you swing a club on the golf course? Do you feel like your backswing is what it should be? How about your distance off the tee? Are you happy with it?
Now let me ask. What have you done to improve the above situation? And has it worked up to now? If it has?congratulations! I am very happy to hear that another golfer is improving.
If it isn’t working?don’t you think you should try a different approach? One that makes total sense from a mechanical (technique) standpoint.
If you’ve tried all the above?there’s only one thing left. As I said above?YOU!
Hit Longer Drives - Heres How
May 3, 2008
To hit longer drives is the dream of every golfer on the planet! Even the professionals players want to hit longer drives. Is there a magic bullet? Do you really know what it takes to dramatically improve your driving distance?
I’ll bet your first answer will be a new driver at $500. Am I right? If not a driver?take more golf lessons. Am I getting warmer yet? If I still haven’t guessed right?hit more balls at the range? Am I scorching hot yet?
The key to hit longer drives is clubhead speed and solid ball-clubface contact. That’s it! Seems easy enough right?
Not!
The ONLY way to improve clubhead speed is to have optimal strength and flexibility in your core region. This is the area of your body that creates the torque on the backswing that is unleashed at impact.
How many times have you tried to swing hard and the ball didn’t go anywhere? I’ve been there. How many times did you "just not care" and all of a sudden the ball rocketed off the clubface.
Public Golf Courses ? Making The Right Choice
May 1, 2008
Chances are, if you’re just starting out, you haven’t decided to apply to a fancy country club yet so you can play their outstanding course, right? That’s a very good idea, because there are probably several public golf courses close to you that are just as terrific and much cheaper too! Do you think Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson started out on private courses? I doubt it! Even though we can’t all have the status of a Woods or Mickelson, we can make sure that we don’t have an argument with our wallet every time we want to hit the course for some practice time on the driving range or to get in a leisurely round.
Of course, the first thing you want to check at a public golf course is the course itself. Find out how many holes it has ? some courses only have 9 and, to play a full 18 holes of golf, you just go around twice. Walk a few holes and take a look at the course. Check to see whether it appears well maintained. Are the greens plush and even? Is the rough bearable? Does it look like they regularly mend divot holes? There’s nothing more discouraging for a novice golfer than playing a course that ends up being too tough just because of poor maintenance. While poorly maintained courses can provide lots of entertainment value ? you know you look funny when you’re swinging away in a bunker ? they don’t provide as much “good” experience for a novice golfer as a well cared for course will.
Golf Tips ? The Secret and Crucial Role of Alignment in Supercharging Your Game!
April 30, 2008
The alignment is an absolutely crucial and vital part to any golfer’s game. You swing round your body, therefore if your body is offline, your swing in turn will be off line and out of sync, resulting in a poor swing and a poor shot, usually ending up deep in the rough.
When setting up to the ball, firstly ensure the clubface is square to the ‘ball to pin line’ (the line between the ball and the pin), and ensure that your shoulders, hips and feet are all parallel to the ‘ball to pin line’, if these 3 are not aligned and one is out, a good body turn is ruined with a poor swing resulting.
When training, on the driving range or wherever you can practise, a useful technique for lining up is to place a club on the floor and check that you’re your feet, hips and shoulders line up with each other, the shoulder alignment is particularly crucial because your body turn starts with your shoulders.
Ideally, you should be lining your body up slightly to the left of the target (slightly to the right for left hand players), as opposed to trying to line your body up with the target itself.
Golf Swing Trainer - What Is It?
April 28, 2008
Golf swing trainer is a term you might think of for a training aid that works on your golf swing. I’ve come up with a new definition for a golf swing trainer. It happens to be what I do for a living.
I won’t take up this whole article talking about myself, but I do want you to think of a golf swing trainer in a different light after reading this.
You see?I’ve watched and read about the millions of golfers who are in search of the "silver bullet". The "magic pill" that will give them the perfect swing and the game they dream of. Well?it’s not out there! I hate to ruin the party, but there is no such thing.
There is hope!
I have spent the better part of 10 years studying the golf swing. And over 25 years in the field of fitness and exercise physiology. I have combined my two passions into the label of golf swing trainer.
It came to me one day when I was working with one of my personal golf clients. We were talking about his swing faults and I was prescribing golf stretches and exercises to eliminate the swing fault.
Golf Swing Technique And How To Improve It
April 27, 2008
There are two approaches to achieving a better golf swing. There is improving your physical capabilities?and improving your golf swing technique.
How many times has your teaching pro recommended a golf swing technique change and you couldn’t do it no matter how many balls you hit? It’s because you didn’t have the "physical capability" to successfully make the change and repeat it.
For example, if you didn’t have adequate core strength and flexibility, you would be unable to create and maintain the "x-factor", or the separation between the hip rotation and shoulder rotation, therefore losing force and ultimately distance.
But by implementing simple, golf exercises?it is possible to develop the ability to execute these key actions, which result in greater clubhead speed, force and distance.
Identifying your weak points, and doing golf-specific exercises to replicate the specific action will allow you to achieve the specific golf swing technique change effectively.
I’ve seen some very simple, yet effective golf exercises and stretches that when implemented and done consistently can result in substantial increases in driving distance and accuracy.
Creating specific exercises related to your teaching pros golf swing technique recommendations can give you the quickest results?that are lasting.
Golf Injury Prevention
April 25, 2008
A golf injury is one of the most common issues with all amateur golfers. But having adequate strength and flexibility of muscles and joints and participating in effective training technique, can also prevent a golf injury.
Well-conditioned limbs and joints that are under control when the stresses of the swing are encountered will greatly reduce risk of a golf injury.
If your body motion is out of control when you execute the swing, the muscles and tendons have little room for error. The result is likely a tear or strained tendon or ligament?keeping you off the course indefinitely.
The golf swing is a complicated movement (skill). In order to maximize your distance and power, you must have a high level of flexibility (range of motion) and force in the joints involved. This would include the shoulders, back and hips.
And when looking at the areas of a golf injury, the above mentioned areas are at the top of the list. Go figure!
Keep in mind that with an above average level of strength and flexibility and swing technique, you will not only reduce the occurrence of a golf injury, but also enhance the quality of your game.
Golf Strength Training Slows The Aging Process
April 24, 2008
Golf strength training is critical in slowing down the effects of aging. Issues like rapidly declining strength, flexibility, and endurance. The number of golfers who are middle age or older is growing and they all want to play as long as possible.
In order to both slow the aging process AND play longer, you need adequate levels of strength, flexibility, and other physical abilities.
Golfers (and most others) lose as they age. The cause is quite simple. They do not partake in any form of golf strength training exercises to maintain the fitness levels they had early on in life.
It is NEVER too late to improve strength and flexibility. I have worked with golfers in person and via my websites that are in their 70’s and 80’s that have almost doubled their current strength and dramatically improved their flexibility (specific to golf).
Just by doing a simple golf strength training routine a couple of times a week, you will increase the level of strength and other important aspects, and not be as aware of the changes that come with aging. You can’t stop it, but you can slow it down and even reverse it depending on your current level of fitness.
