Archive for September, 2010

The Secret To Playing Better Golf And Shooting Lower Scores

Posted on Thursday, 30th September 2010 in Golf Tips

The Secret To Playing Better Golf And Shooting Lower Scores

golf exercise programRegardless of how many tournaments the pros have played this year, they have been working on their games for more time than most of us realize. Make no mistake about it: in golf – or baseball, football, basketball or any other pro sport – there is no longer an off-season.

So while it may be the first official shot of the season for some, the training process to get ready to make that shot has been quietly going on for months.

The amateur can learn a great deal from the professional golfer. Many parts of the world it is not possible to play golf year around, but there are ways to keep your golf game in shape all year long. Professionals know how to do it and so can you.

Realistically, there is very little time to take a break and do absolutely nothing for professional golfers. While every pro is different, there is a generic blueprint most will follow. After the pro finishes his last golf tournament, they take a little break. A few weeks off to give the body and mind a little rest. Every pro athlete needs that time to just recharge and give the body – both physically as well as mentally – time to recover. The PGA Tour season is one of the longest in sports and even though they may not play every week, it’s very taxing on the body and the time off is essential to ensure positive results when we begin training for the next season.

I would recommend the same recipe for the amateur. Regardless if you are able to play year around or not, take a period of at least 2 weeks to put the golf clubs in the closet. The break away from the game will do wonders. You may even find after you return you are playing better golf and shooting lower scores.

Following the rest time – and like I said, it’s longer for some, shorter for others – its time for the tour player to begin ramping up for the next season by physically improving the parameters of the body for the upcoming year. Just like any other golfer – from the Sunday hacker to the scratch golfer to the club pro – the professional golfer will work on trying to increase flexibility, balance, strength, endurance and power.

The amateur during this time of the year (usually the winter when snow is on the ground) can implement a golf fitness program. A golf fitness program will entail developing the physical capacities of the body around the golf swing. The program will look to develop flexibility, balance, strength, endurance, and power in relation to the golf swing. This is the first step for the amateur to keeping their golf swing in shape all year long.

The amateur during this time of year can also implement swing drills into their training program. The professional may or may not incorporate swing drills into their program at this time year. But for the amateur I recommend it, why? This is the time of year in addition to developing the body for the golf swing. The amateur can work on swing faults that hindered their scores the previous season.

The swing drills can be simply performing “mirror drills” to work on posture and the phases of the golf swing.

You should start putting drills this time of the year. If you are lucky enough to live in a region you can play golf year around, a couple short sessions at the range every week is a good idea. I would recommend the range sessions be kept short and focused on fixing the “problem” areas in your golf swing. The important point is the off-season is a time the amateur can take advantage of working on both their bodies and their golf swing

Professionally when the PGA Tour season approaches, we begin what is essentially the preseason. This is when the player starts to practice the fundamental mechanics of the sport. If it’s a golfer, he’s on the range working on his swing, if it’s a pitcher, he’s throwing getting ready for spring training. Physically, we’re still training the body, but we tone it down while the player fine tunes his game. But make no mistake about it, even though working on the golf game is 75 percent of the focus of this pre-season training program, we’re still working on the basics of flexibility, balance, strength, endurance and power training.

The pre-season for the amateur marks the time of year when the snow is beginning to melt and the “itch” to play golf comes around. I would suggest the amateur follow a similar program as the professional during this time of year. Start spending more time at the range. Working on all aspects of your golf game. Continue with your golf fitness program, but you may want to back off it a little as a result of the increased practice time. Again, keep in mind the body swings the golf club and we must keep the body in shape to do so.

The pre-season program of increased golf practice and a little less golf fitness continues with the professional golfer until their first tournament. This marks the point when we shift to an in-season golf fitness program. The golf fitness exercises don’t stop, but we back off on the intensity. The program doesn’t change much. We’re still focused on flexibility, balance, strength, endurance and power, but the amount or volume of work is much less to accommodate the physical and mental strain of competition.

Four days of tournament play can take a toll on the body. As a result, we must back off on the amount of golf fitness training. The amateur during the golf season is probably in a little different of a situation. They are probably not playing 4 competitive rounds of golf per week plus practice. At most, they may be playing 2-3 rounds per week with a couple practice sessions. As a result of the lower volumes of golf they can spend a little more amount of time with their golf fitness program.

Essentially, the amateur can pretty much stick to pre-season volume of golf fitness training unless they are playing quite a bit. Just make sure the right balance of golf fitness training is in place in relation to your golf practice and playing. This is necessary so that you do not physically over-tax the body. Bottom line if you are looking to keep your golf game in shape and improving year around, I recommend following what the pros do; take a break at the end of the season, implement a golf fitness program, work on your swing faults during the winter, increase your practice time at the range before the season, and during the season keep a good balance of playing, practicing, and working out.

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Bad Golf Swing: Maybe It’s Your Golf Clubs

Posted on Wednesday, 29th September 2010 in Golf Swing

Bad Golf Swing: Maybe It’s Your Golf Clubs

Bad Golf Swing

Bad Golf Swing

You could be making a big mistake blaming your mishits and mishaps on your golf swing?

No matter how much time and effort you have been spending, grooving your golf swing to perfection, you still will not achieve your goal if you are using unsuitable or defective golf clubs, will you?

Now is the time for you to consider the following Golf Tip – this covers an examination of your golf clubs quality.

If you plan on buying used golf clubs as beginner’s tools, scrutinizing before purchasing is a must. The clubheads, the shafts, and the grips are golf club parts that should pass inspection first, before landing a decent spot in your golf equipment locker.

Another excellent golf tip that will help you when buying a used set of golf clubs, try and ensure you have set consistency. If all the clubs have the same grip, shaft and heads then this will add consistency to your golf swing. It will also help a lot if you check the price of new clubs versus used clubs.

A golf tip for a golfer that plans to regrip his clubs – Be cautious. This is because the grips are the only point of contact you have on the club during your swing. If the grips are too thin or too fat, this will make a big difference to your swing. Before carrying out the regripping, you need to know the core grip of the club and your hands grip size. To determine your core size grip, measure the diameter of the butt of the shaft you’re going to re-grip. The shaft’s diameter should match the grip’s core diameter. In determining your hands grip, the available size grips are regular, mid-size, oversize and jumbo. Use only the best re-gripping materials that will provide optimum performance for your golf clubs.

Another golf tip is that using ill-fitted clubs will be an obstacle to your golf playing success. A golfer must consider his or her body type in choosing the best-fitting equipment to support and carry out the golf swing effectively. Too heavy or too light clubs will result in changes to your swing angles when carrying out your golf swing. With the resulting poor results. This will be avoided if you select the best fitting equipment available.

Custom golf club fitting makes a better option than just buying a new set of golf clubs. Getting custom fitting golf clubs is a golf tip that translates to a very worthy investment. The uniqueness of each person is attributed to the need of this way of buying new golf clubs. A custom fitting produces golf clubs that specifically suit the height, strength, swing characteristics and clubhead speed of the golfer.

The type of club shaft also helps in predicting whether you’ll do well in a game or you won’t. There’s a choice between a steel club shaft and a graphite-made club shaft. This golf tip aims to make you realize which type of golf club shaft will benefit your game.

Observations show that the steel club shafts are more preferred by professional golfers while graphite shafts have become more popular with women, senior players and beginners. Steel shafts are less expensive than graphite shafts though.

One more golf tip that could help you is that the golf clubs in your bag must suit your skill level. Since various skill levels need various golf clubs, it won’t be wise to just use or bring a golf club that is just lying around. And, don’t ever forget about the maximum golf club load your bag is allowed to hold during a round. You can only carry a maximum of 14 golf clubs in your bag. No more.

Aside from your skill level contemplation, your mastery of a certain golf club and being comfortable with using it must also be put into consideration in deciding which golf club to hit.

The correct combination of the right swing and a good choice of equipment will better arm you to become the best golfer you could ever be.

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Is Golf Practice All You Need for Lower Scores?

Posted on Tuesday, 28th September 2010 in Golf Tips

Is Golf Practice All You Need for Lower Scores?

Is Golf Practice All You Need for Lower Scores?Golf is a very demanding sport, both physically and mentally. Most recreational golfers would love to have a more powerful swing and lower their handicaps. Good instruction from a teaching pro and practice of what you’ve learned can help lower your scores. There is however, more to achieving consistent improvement. It’s great to go to the driving range and practice. Unfortunately, sometimes you’re further embedding the wrong movement patterns into your swing.

To achieve the most from your instruction and practice time, there is another segment of your game that should be constantly evaluated. While it is receiving more attention of late, there’s still many avid golfers that don’t include this important factor into their strategy. What’s the secret?

One of the best ways to achieve and maintain overall improvement on the course is to perform a golf fitness routine on a regular basis. This can do wonders to improve power and consistency. Strength, balance, and flexibility play a major role in the effectiveness of your golf swing. I’m not talking about body building, but rather simply toning and conditioning your body for the movements required during a round of golf.

The golf swing places complex demands on the body. There must be mental concentration, neuromuscular coordination, balance, and muscular strength and flexibility all functioning at the same time during the few seconds it takes to make your swing. Most teaching professionals will admit one of the major reasons their students don’t progress to the next level of play is due to lack of muscular strength and flexibility.

By conditioning your body using what’s called the principles of functional training for golf, you can prepare your body for every movement required on the course. Functional fitness is designed to mimic the movements of the golf swing. All the components required for an effective golf swing can be improved. So, instead of hitting thousands of golf balls on the driving range, why not tone up the fuel for your golf club…your body. You’ll not only improve your performance on the course, you’ll be better conditioned for the demands of daily life.

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