Backspin Advice
February 19, 2008
Lately, I have received many requests for 2 things.
1. Advice on how to hit backspin (always a common request) 2. Advice on the short game in general.
Honestly, the first thing that you need to realize about creating backspin is that it’s a very tough shot to accomplish, let alone control.
The second thing that you should realize is that there are very few situations where this shot is actually needed.
In my opinion, the best shot to master is an approach shot that bounces once, and then stops on a dime. This shot is not easy to accomplish either, but is more realistic and much more effective in the vast majority of cases.
So I’ll get in to the basics of this shot now, but please realize that an entire book could be written on this subject, and it would still be very hard to incorporate into a recreational game.
Here are the basic conditions that must be met before the shot even occurs. If these factors are not in place, don’t try to create backspin.
Conditions must be completely dry - (the club face, and the ball included)
Banish Your Lower Back Pain Permanently Without Drugs or Surgery
February 19, 2008
It is estimated that about 80 percent of the population will suffer from low back pain at some point in their lives. The condition accounts for millions of dollars in medical expenses and lost work time and is often a perpetual misery for the sufferer. Recent evidence indicates that many cases of lower back pain can be permanently treated without medical intervention or drugs using exercise and flexibility. This article aims to provide some very basic information on LBP and offer helpful tips to individuals on dealing with the condition themselves.
What is Low Back Pain (LBP)?
LBP is a complex condition ? sometimes pain onset can be traced to a mechanical defect like a ruptured disc, while in other instances there may be no apparent cause or history of injury or trauma (for example, "tweaking your back" when bending over to pick a pencil off the floor). Growing evidence from Australia now indicates that the root cause of lower back pain may be linked to muscle imbalances and instability of the low back due to poor control of the core stabilizing muscles. Traditional methods of treating LBP often fail - being either ineffective or even worsening the condition, or providing only temporary relief. Why? The answer is simple: these treatments fail to identify and treat the muscle imbalances and low back instability leading to pain, leaving the person feeling desperate ? that the only resort is surgery.
Treadmills Prove Health Concerns Are No Longer An Excuse Not To Exercise
February 18, 2008
Walking has long been praised for its health benefits. It is a simple, easy workout that provides great results. That makes treadmills an ideal piece of exercise equipment. There are no special moves to learn to make it complicated. You already know how to walk, so using the treadmill is no problem. For people with health concerns using a treadmill for exercise is a good option.
Having back or joint problems can shut down an exercise routine fast. Most forms of aerobic exercises involve movements that can put great strain on your body in the places that are already injured. Walking is a low impact, cardiovascular workout that is easy and natural for your body. Using a treadmill allows you to keep up your walking workout all year round, even during less than perfect weather conditions. For someone suffering from pain in their back or joints, using a treadmill is an option they might want to discuss with their doctor.
Getting Your Hands Through the Ball at Impact
February 18, 2008
Have you ever thought about what your hands and forearms are actually doing at the moment of impact? If not, please give this a try because it’s one of the most important parts of the swing. The Simple Golf Swing explains this move, and others, in much more detail.
Try to get into the impact position, like you are about to make solid contact with the ball. Now flip your trailing wrist like you were casting a fishing pole. This is referred to as a wrist break, and it’s not a move that you want to make in golf. So if you are trying to "flip" your hands through the ball at impact, this tip may help you understand the correct way to make this happen.
If you put a wrist watch on you’ll be able to visualize the correct moves to make. As your leading arm approaches impact the watch face should be getting close to pointing exactly down the target line, or to the flag. Now simply ROTATE the watch face so it’s pointed at the ground. With a club in your hands, you’ll see that this move makes your trailing wrist and forearm “flip” on top of your leading wrist and forearm.
Bodybuilding Benefits - The Price for Confidence!
February 17, 2008
Success came to me at an early age. However, it did not come without a price. Bodybuilding found me; I did not go looking for it. At seventeen I knew nothing about weights, eating right, let alone having any sort of discipline. Here are a few things I learned along the way that I believe it takes to make a champion in your own heart.
Hope:
Deep in side you only need a small amount of HOPE to get you to the next day. In the beginning of my career that’s all I had.
Belief:
Confidence can grow inside. If you don’t have it, take your ego out of it and sooner or later bodybuilding will give it to you. Whether it comes from you or someone else, you really have to belief. For me, I had two friends that believed in my first, then after a while they began to rub off on me.
Pure Motives:
Have pure motives of being healthy verses just looking good. If you have desires to truly feel better health wise and about your self, then you will have more motivation in the down times. Early on, I started to feel the benefits both physically and emotionally of what bodybuilding was doing to me.
Core Strength Limits Arm and Leg Power
February 17, 2008
Core training has become such a hot topic in the exercise field recently and rightly so. Ask just about anyone what they understand about the body’s core and you’re likely to get an answer as it being the abdominal muscles. While this is not an entirely false statement, the word "core" signifies a collection of muscles that act to stabilize the body and allow functional and powerful movements. This article aims to give a very brief explanation of the core and its significance in human movement.
The "core" is a complex of 29 muscles that act to stabilize the connection between the hip, pelvis and low back (also called the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex). While the core may include the "six pack" abdominals (rectus abdominis and obliques) to a degree, the most important muscles of the core are the transversus abdominis, deep spinal muscles and the glutes (butt muscles). The transversus is the deepest of all the abdominals, and when it contracts, acts like a natural corset, bracing and stabilizing the area of the low back.
The Cost/Benefit Analysis
February 16, 2008
There is a very useful method that many accountants use called “The cost/benefit analysis”. You may be familiar with it. The analysis is done to cut the company costs that do not provide a specific benefit. It’s done on all the different costs of the company, and then the accountants can then analyze which costs provide a lot of benefit, versus which costs provide little benefit. Then quite simply, the costs that provide little benefit are cut.
The golf swing is really quite complicated. The reason that I wrote “The Simple Golf Swing” was to get rid of all the unnecessary movements that end up causing many golfers trouble. To do this, I applied the cost/benefit method, but I did it in golf terms.
Just as an example, we’ll use the wrist cock. In analyzing the golf swing, I found that the wrist cock at the top of one’s backswing, produced great results for a few golfers. However, for the vast majority of golfers, it actually proved to cause MANY inconsistencies.
A Samurais Power Is In His Little Finger, Not His Samurai Sword
February 16, 2008
In the 12th Century the Shogunate was formed. The head of this regime was the Shogun, the supreme ruler. Under him where his regional ‘daimyo’ or ‘dukes’. Under each ‘daimyo’ served the Japanese samurai. When a samurai stepped out of line, became too unruly or displeased his ‘daimyo’, the samurai would often have to go through a procedure known as yubizume. This procedure is a very barbaric punishment in which the first joint of the little finger on the sword hand would be amputated.
Not only would this be a very painful punishment, but it served a much cleverer purpose. When holding a samurai sword the finger which has the strongest grip is the little finger. Each finger right up to the index has a weaker gripping strength. You can test this yourself. Make a tight fist with what would of been your sword hand, and take a slim object of equal circumference throughout such as a pencil or pen. Now, without causing you harm, take the non-sharp/drawing end and starting with the index finger end of the hand, while retaining a fist, slowly work the pencil/pen into the grip.
Who Else Knows These Facts About Trampolines
February 15, 2008
“El trampolino” was the Mexican word for “diving board”, and one of the many words in common usage, which was once actually trademarked as “trampoline”.
The first gold medal awarded in Olympic trampoline competition, went to Irina Karavaeva, of Russia. The event, which took place at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, was witnessed by George Nissen, the 86 year-old inventor of the trampoline.
The famous picture taken in the late 50s, of inventor George Nissen on a trampoline with a “tame” kangaroo, was only accomplished by Nissen holding its front paws when they got on it, so the animal could not kick him.
The Gillingham Jumpers, a club based in Kent, England, is the largest known trampoline club in the world, with 1500 members bouncing around the Jumpers Rebound Centre, every week.
Trampolines have entered the arena of “extreme sports”, with some centers offering a combination of bungee jumping and trampoline jumping, where participants wear a harness attached to bungee cord rigging, that allows them to bounce extra high off the trampoline, without the danger of falling if they lose their balance.
The Cure for a Fat Shot
February 15, 2008
This problem may be easier to fix than you think. You may not realize it, but your back shoulder may be dipping towards the ground. This move forces the club to hit the ground too early. Most of the time it happens when you are really trying to get into the ball. Imagine?You’re 200 yards out and you’ve chosen to hit the 4 iron. When you’ve got it in your head that you have to hit the ball hard to get it there, it’s natural tendency to start your downswing with the hips in an effort to “really get into the ball”. That may work in baseball, but not in golf.
I’d like to take you through what happens if you make that move in golf. First, get in the your setup position, now take your backswing and hold it at the top. Now move only your hips horizontally towards the target, and notice the way it forces your back shoulder to “dip”. If you’ve made that “dip” with your back shoulder, it’s over. You are going to hit behind the ball 90% of the time, and if you do make good contact, you’ll probably end up with a killer slice. Lateral movement is no good for the golf swing.
