Sunday, July 5, 2009

Improve Your Golf Game

Become a More Athletic Golfer to Improve Your Golf Game

Golf and Fitness are two terms that can finally go hand in hand, thanks to one Tiger Woods and his famous mystery workout routine, and the other professional and amateur players who have followed his lead. Once an activity perhaps identified more with pot bellies, motorized carts and cups of beer on the course than physical strength and a good physique, there is now no question that golf has entered the world of a full fledged sport that requires physical training to perform at its best.

Golfers on the professional tours look like athletes now, with more and more toned athletic bodies being seen on TV crushing the ball down the longest, most difficult courses in the world. Spending some time in the gym has been shown that it can make as big a difference in a golfer's score as time on the range or putting green. The game itself has changed, and the way players approach it has changed, as well.

As a personal trainer and avid golfer, the relationship between fitness and golf is a natural one to maintain, but it wasn't that way when I started playing the game as a junior. I first picked up clubs when I was about 5, then started playing seriously by about the seventh grade. By seriously I mean it had become the obsession that many golfers feel when they realize they would rather be golfing than just about anything else. A group of friends and I played regularly, and by high school, we were not only on our golf team together, we were some of the best players in our entire small town.

I was never able to hit the ball as far as my friends on the team, and one thing they told me over and over was that I should lift weights and get stronger, which at the time they did because they also played on the basketball team in the winter. As a skinny cross country runner at the time, I saw no need nor had any interest in lifting, as the weight room intimidated me in high school. I look back almost 30 years later as a much stronger, longer and better player than I was then (because I lift weights!) and wonder what might have been had I listened to them.

What my friends on the golf team did in the high school weight room in the early 80's was primitive to the workout science and programs that are available to golfers now, but they were definitely on to something. One way to look at it was that before it became popular, they were athletes who happened to play golf, and it showed in the length they had off the tee. This athletic approach can be applied to any golfer's game in the present day and immediately improve their ability to play better. With some examination, it is easy to see why.

How to Prepare For a Golf Tournament

How to Prepare For a Golf Tournament

Your club's Match Play or Club Championship is coming up, so how do you get your game in shape? Your tournament will not have grand stands and TV cameras but do not think you will not feel the pressure. With a little thought and preparation, you can give yourself the needed confidence to beat your archrival, win the Club Championship or Match Play tournament.

Granted with your tournament nerves, you are probably not going to be swinging as smooth as Ernie Els when the big day arrives. Now is NOT the time to start messing with your golf swing. I repeat. It is NOT the time to make any major golf swing changes. First of all this is supposed to be fun. You know, better than anyone, your own tendencies. Depending on how much time you have before your golf tournament, chances are you are going to have to find a way to play with what you got. This is fine.

Most of these types of tournaments are flighted. This means players with similar handicaps are pitted against each other. What you can do is check your basics. Review your posture, grip, alignment, and ball position and insure they are in the best shape they can be for your game. Hitting balls is fine but do not go overboard on making changes. The most effective thing you can work on is your swing tempo and insuring that your golf swing is in balance. You can do this by simply counting to three once you finish your golf swing.

Since the average of greens hit in regulation on the PGA Tour is only twelve, you will miss some greens during your round. Set up a practice schedule for your short game up until the golf tournament. You can go out in the evenings when the course is quiet. Go from green to green hitting multiple pitch and chip shots from all around the green. In addition, choose a couple of "nasty" lies just in case you hit a good shot that ends up in a bad place. Although the ultimate goal is to hole the ball, sometime you may need to play away from the hole to be able to make the next shot easier.

Spend most of your time on the practice putting green working on short putts,very short putts. Hit as many two to three foot putts as you can. This does a couple of things for you. First it gives you confidence to see the ball go in the hole over and over again. Second, you will be able to see if you are starting the golf ball on the correct line.

Do not forget to take a look at your golf equipment. Are your grips in good shape? Do they need replaced? If your grips do not need to be replaced, scrub them vigorously with a stiff brush. Use a solution of warm water and dishwashing soap with a degreaser to clean your grips. The degreaser will help remove the oil and dirt buildup that accumulates from your hands over a period of time. Rinse your grips well and pat dry with a towel.

Tournament day is here! Go through your normal warm up. Hit a few pitches, and make sure before you leave the practice green you make about five or ten two footers in a row. Seeing and hearing the ball go in the hole will give you great confidence as you head to the golf course.

Improve Golf Swing With Good Posture

Improve Golf Swing With Good Posture

The significance of your posture goes far beyond daily life. Your posture can alter, how you play your favorite sports. Actually, most sports need various types of posture in order to successful attain, the goal of winning the game. The sport of golf is not different, if you have bad posture within your golf game, than this will have a negative effect on your golf swing.

One of the best golf swing tips that anyone can receive is how to perfect, their posture to improve their golf game. The power, emphasise and accuracy of your golf swing lays within your posture, however, if your posture does not meet proper guidelines, than your overall game will be affected.

That you realize the importance of posture in your golf game, how can you attain the ideal posture? More importantly, what is the ideal golf posture? While many people feel that good golfing posture is simply lowering their chin to view the golf ball, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Never has there been a golfing technique that has the ability to be interpreted in such a wide variety of ways. While some feel that keeping your body drastically relaxed and unrestricted will give you perfect golfing posture, other believe that a rigid stance and stiff upper body movement is the ideal posture. However, both of these beliefs are half true and half false.

The optimal golfing posture is notably easy to find, all it takes is an noticing of how your body is positioned. To set your body up for good posture, you must remember three key elements. The first is always keeping your back straight. This will allow you to keenly include all of your core muscles that are found in your torso.

Never allow your back to sag, or hunch over. This will actually weaken your golf swing, and throw your accuracy completely off. Next, always make sure that you bend your upper body at the hips. How you can achieve this is by sticking out your backside as if you are going to be sitting in a chair and then bend slightly forward. Make sure that you don’t arch your back, always keeping a strong and aligned spine. After performing this, allow your arms to hang down in front of you.

Always make sure that you evenly distribute your weight throughout your legs. Keep your knees bent, but allow them to be flexible enough to give your legs a spring to them. It is common for this posture to feel awkward at first; however, desired posture always feels more intense than it really is. Although, if you are feeling any pain in your lower back, make sure that your quadriceps are absorbing all of your body’s weight. Keep your feet extremely steadfast, and your shoulders and arms unconstrained and in a natural state.

Golf swing tips are a dime a dozen, however, here comes a tip that many people aren’t aware of, and that is what do you do with your head? Never allow your head to stay focused on the ground the entire time. This will wreck your golf game, and cause you to have horrible shots. Instead, always let your head follow the ball. Whenever the ball leaves the ground so should your head. Your head is habituated to your body, thus allow it to be as free as your arms, legs, hips and feet.

An Experience of a Lifetime

Naked Golf:
An Experience of a Lifetime

Have you played in a real golf course yet? If so, how many trips to the golf club have you done so far? Golfers enjoy their game as much as they enjoy the cool, green soil of the golf course. A lot of people enjoy this sport and a good number of them are men. Golf is actually everybody’s game. It is not at all fast-paced nor does it require too much strength. But then again, these are the same reasons why people think of it is as a boring activity. If you don’t find walking around the golf course to be a relaxing feat, why not pump up your blood with naked golf instead? Surely, every man would agree that this is the best golf game they have seen yet.

If there’s topless golf, there’s naked golf too. This latter is considered as the more extreme version of the former. And yes, Playboy is the entity behind it too. Trust Playboy to think of the most unlikely places where women should come in their birthday suits. The Playboy millionaire certainly has a lot of bright ideas in his old mind.

The concept of naked golf is something produced by this men’s magazine. But since they have ventured into home videos, you are most likely to enjoy the game from a disc. It’s better to watch than just to look at the events that transpired through the pages of the magazine. If you want to enjoy a game of naked golf, you might have to go to your favorite video store and get a copy.

While it’s possible to hold a real game, there’s yet to be a group that would sponsor one. Unlike topless golf, this one is something that requires a lot of permissions. Finding a place that would approve such extreme nudity is going to be quite a task. These are the reasons why you have to content yourself with the videos for now. Even though there are naked golf producers all around, most of them are more bent on capturing the events with their camera rather than physically inviting men to join the game.

Before one can hold such an event like naked golf, certain permits have to be secured from the city government. Given this fact, there are a whole lot of cities that don’t want to get involved in too much obscenity. While topless golf is almost acceptable, being totally naked is still a no-no. More so, even if the city officials had approved the event, there would always be residents that would oppose to the idea, causing conflict in the society. So in order to prevent disorder in the area, it is always best to go for the easy way out. And that is to decline naked golf requests altogether.

Depending upon the organizer, the naked golf participants may choose to wear a skimpy bikini for a bottom. It would look much like a topless golf even though, but it’s the closest they can get to get permission. That’s the only way one can play a round of naked golf. The pretty women in their nude self would proceed to run and walk around the golf course chasing their ball. As for the male participants, they really don’t have to win the game to get all the excitement that they want.

Rules and Regulations of Golf

Rules and Regulations of Golf

We all know that without rules and regulations there is no game. Every game has its own rules and regulations. The rules of golf {2} {3} are internationally standardized and are jointly governed by the royal and ancient golf club of st.andrews, which was founded in 1754 and the united states of golf association. After the agreement with R&A, USGA jurisdiction on the enforcement and interpretation of the rules is limited to the United States and Mexico. Canada has the separate royal Canadian golf association, but generally follows the lead of the two larger bodies. The rules of golf continue to evolve, and every four years, the amended versions of the rule book are published. Any brand of Golf Equipments can be used. But it is better to go in for Good brands of Golf Equipments

The rules are made keeping in mind “fairness”. There are few statements stated “play the ball as it lies”, “play the course as you find it”, and “if you can’t do either, do what is fair”. Some rules that are stated:

• Every player is entitled and obliged to play the ball from position where it has come to rest after the stroke, unless a rule allows or demands otherwise

• A player must not accept assistance in making a stroke.

• The condition of the ground or other parts of the country may not be altered to gain an advantage except some cases defined in the rules.

• A Golf ball may only be replaced by another during play of a hole if it is destroyed (rule 5-3), lost (rule 27-1), or unplayable (rule 28), or at some other time permitted by the rules. The player may always substitute balls between the play of two books.

The decisions on the rules of golf are based on formal case decisions by the R&A and USGA and are revised updated every other year.

The Amateur golfers:

There are strict regulations regarding the amateur status of golfers. Anybody who played golf for money or who has ever received payment or compensation for giving instruction in golf game will not be considered an amateur. He may not be allowed to participate in competitions limited only to amateur only non-cash prizes won in competition may be accepted within the limits established by the rules of amateur status.

Golf course architecture and design:

There are many kinds of golf courses. Each country has one kind of golf course. It varies according to the climate, etc.

The different kind of golf courses:

• Link courses
• Parkland courses
• Heath land
• Desert courses
• Browns courses
• Sand courses
• Snow courses
• Par 3 courses
• Executive courses.

1. Links courses: this is the most traditional type of golf course. It is located in the coastal areas, on sandy soil, often amid dunes, with few artificial hazards and few trees if any.

2. Parkland courses: this happens to be in typical inland courses, they often resemble British parks.

3. Heath land: this means less manicured and more open area. They often feature gorse and heather and typically less trees.

4. Desert courses: this course has been recently started in Australia and parts of USA and Middle East. It’s a new invention.

5. Browns courses: akin to sand courses, but not much involved in terms of using layers of tar and gavel below the sandy surface layer, to give firmness and support and ensure a consistent bounce/roll.

6. Sand courses: instead of heavily irrigated green, the players play on sand unlike most golf players. Holes are less involved than browns courses. And are only for the casual golfer.

7. Snow courses: can be played in arctic or sub arctic regions during winter. This is a recent invention. Golf is played on snow, typically with an orange colored or any brightly colored ball.

8. Par 3 courses: this course consists entirely of holes with par 3. These are considered a good test of iron shot precision and short game, as the driver is rarely used.

9. Executive courses: the course is generally smaller than the typical 18 hole course.