Expert Golf Tips

Keeping your balance sounds very simple. The key to playing good golf is keeping good balance. Balance is much more than just having the correct stance.

Having optimum balance depends on three things – how you see things, inner ear signals, and the signals that come from your muscles and joints. Sometimes one of these things gets out of order and this causes a balance disorder

When your head position changes, your balance can be thrown off and this is a wonderful reason for you to keep your head still when you are swinging!

If you suffer from migraines, this can add to balance problems. If you have chronic migraines then you need to consult your physician. Migraines can cause difficulties to your golf game that you have never thought of.

Before you spend hundreds of dollars on new golf equipment to help your golf game, evaluate the medications you are taking to see if any of them may affect your balance. “Ear poisoning” can severely affect your balance. “Ear poisoning” can be a side effect of some medicines, including the antibiotic gentamicin. Half of the people who take this medication have the side effects of “ear poisoning.”

Taking diuretics can cause problems too. If you start to feel dizzy, then you need to consult a physician immediately. Dizziness can sometimes become a lifelong problem, so you need to get help as soon as possible.

If you are having minor balance problems, there are some very simple ways that you can improve it. Kick a ball around your backyard with your kids. Set up an obstacle course to weave in and out of or have your kids set one up for you!

A balance board can also help you increase your center of gravity. Affordable boards can be found on eBay. Using a balance board can be a challenging and fun thing to do!

Flexibility training can also help increase your balance by releasing muscle tension also. Simple yoga stretches to loosen up tight muscles are also a good thing to try.

A yoga ball or exercise ball is another great tool to try. Sitting on the ball takes balance and concentration. Try one for part of the day and then work up gradually until you can sit on it for 30 minutes. Ball exercises are great for developing proper posture, back mobility, and body core strength.

Balance is a necessity to have a great golf game and it is very important to work on it consistently. If you work hard enough you could help your swing and your score!

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Did you know that a set of golf clubs off the shelf usually will not be a perfect fit for you? The golf clubs off the shelf are created for people of average size. Everyone is a different size and no two players have the exact same swing, so one golf club size does not fit all!

If the clubs that you have are too long or too short, then you are probably going to have problems. To find the perfect clubs for you, you will want to swing a few different length clubs. You will want clubs that are about the same distance from your belly button to the floor. Try out different golf clubs at golf courses and driving ranges so you will find the right clubs for you!

Renting golf clubs is a great way to try out a wide variety of them. Test them for a few months to ensure that you like the enough to invest in them. Play a few rounds of golf with them until you find the right ones for your body, swing, and game.

Once you have tried out several different sets of clubs and you know that you like the game, then it is a good move to be professionally fitted for your clubs by a PGA professional at your golf course or golf range. There is no need to do this until you can consistently repeat a swing. If you cannot hit that well, then you do not need to be fitted for expensive clubs yet!

A golf professional is your best resource to find the best golf clubs for you. Everyone is built different and some clubs just will not feel right to you. This does not mean that you cannot play golf and need to quit playing. If you buy professionally custom fit clubs, then your golf game will be more consistent and accurate.

The first thing the professional will do is have you hit a few balls. Hit the ball normally and try to loosen up. The swing speed will be recorded to help your professional determine the correct shaft flex.

The professional fitter will also determine the most comfortable length of club for you. They will even look at your hands to see if you need special grips. You may need longer or shorter clubs.

Club angles may need to be adjusted too. When you are done with your “fitting,” other recommendations will also be made regarding:

• Club length
• Club head size and design
• Club angle
• Type of shaft
• Grip of club
• Set make-up

When you learn all of this information, you will be able to make a more informed decision about your golf club purchase. Your game will most likely improve when you have correctly fitted equipment just for you.

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Playing golf relaxed and confidently makes for a much better game than being frightened at the thought of the hazards. Fear is not something that you should take along with you to the driving range.

When a good player begins to have problems, they are usually mental in nature. Clear thinking should be your main goal in playing golf. When you start to feel fearful, clear thinking is not possible.

If you can change your thinking, you can help your game. There is no need to worry about why the ball went the way it did. Keep your mind on the next shot and focus.

A major problem for some golfers is that they are worried what others will think if they make a bad shot. If you are concentrating on what others think, then you are not concentrating on your shot, the ball, your swing, or the basics.

Is it necessary to have the approval of others? Is hitting a bad shot going to completely ruin your life?

It is the theory of some psychologists that we become a composite of the five people that we are with the most. You may need to find more relaxed golfers to play and practice with.

If you play golf with a perfectionist, this may not be very much fun. Why ruin the golf game for yourself? Find people to play with that enjoy the game. The way you play will improve because you are having more fun, are less keyed up, and are able to swing better.

If you concentrate completely on your game, this can help you to beat your fear. Ben Hogan’s key to concentrate was “to ignore the gallery and the other golfers, and to shut my mind against everything but my own game.”

Worrying about what others think may make your game inconsistent. You are careful one second and aggressive the next.

What is the key? You need to focus on your target and not who you are with or where you are at. Ignore everything around you. Concentrate fully on your game.

Perfectionism can ruin your game enjoyment and cause ulcers. Great players rework their skills each year. They are always refining their game in little ways, which add up. You are not always going to play a great game and you will never play a perfect game no matter how many skills you master. If you will work to improve the little problems, then your golf game will get better and better.

Keeping a wide smile helps to relax your face and will help to decrease anxiety also. Make smiling a habit before you hit the ball instead of tensing your face.

Mistakes should stay in the past. Tiger Woods even says, “I hit it and forget it.” Forget about the shot and move on, because you cannot go back and replay it.

Keep your mind off what others will think about your shots. If you can get over that fear, then your game will definitely improve! When you play your next golf game, keep a clear mind and think confidently.

You will soon overcome your fear and become a master of golf!

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By: Alastair Canaway

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.

On the course a simple test to see if this is the case, is to look at the target, if you can see your left shoulder, then you are lined up to too far to the right (visa versa for lefthanders), your shoulder should be just out of sight.

Poor Alignment can have several affects, these are all negative. Aligning too far to the left most commonly leads to the slicing of the ball, this occurs because you are not parallel to the line running from ball to pin. As a result the backswing is limited so an ‘out to in’ swing results. As a consequence the club face is slightly open on impact which generates side spin on the ball. This leads to the common problem which is the slice which I will explain in another article.

If you align too far to the right, the opposite will take place and a hook will occur due to the ‘in to out’ swing of the club, although quite common with beginners and inexperienced players.

Often they will subconsciously become aware of this and try to adjust mid-swing, over adjusting by opening up the clubface as impact approaches. This again results in the slicing of the ball, which is very difficult to control and usually leads to ‘the rough’.

Alignment is an often overlooked and crucial part to any golfer’s game and therefore must be addressed for you to succeed at any level of golf. For as long as you’re alignment is out, you will never be able to consistently hit straight accurate shots and will increasingly find yourself hooking or slicing into the rough, turning those pars into bogies and taking your round from a 75 to 85.

So get that alignment sorted and go shoot some birdies.

Discover amazing free golf tips and secrets to help you take your game to the next level and shave a minimum of five shots off your best round. Visit : http://golf-tipsandsecrets.blogspot.com

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By: Ben Poston

Grips are the least expensive yet one of the most important parts of a golf club. Remember, the grip is the only part of the clubs that you make contact with, so it’s extremely important to make sure that you have the right size and the right quality of material. If you use a club grip that is too small, there is a good chance that the club will twist towards the target just before impact and cause the clubface to be closed. This often happens when the golfer unconsciously grips harder just before impact, resulting in the twist. If you use a club grip that is too big for you, your physical grip will often break loose at an off center impact causing the club face to be open

OK, so what grips are right for you? Believe it or not, that depends more that just how big your hands are! Hand size, which is easy to measure, will determine the final grip size that you should have on your club. The size of your golf glove is an easy way to tell how big your grip should be. Basically grips come in Ladies size, which is also a Men’s small. Then there is regular, and midsize, and jumbo.

But here’s SECRET number ONE about grips!! Grips have an internal core that is different between styles of grips!! And here’s SECRET NUMBER TWO – the end of the golf shaft comes in different dimensions between styles of shafts!! What this means is that even if your golf glove size determines you need a particular grip size, you can still go wrong if you put that size with a smaller inner core on a shaft with a large outside dimension. So you see, it’s the combination of golf core size and shaft OD that REALLY determines the final true size of the grip!!!

You’d be amazed at how many golf club makers sell people clubs without even MENTIONING the grip! And you’ll find that most (if not all) of the “click and ship” websites don’t even take core size and shaft OD into consideration AT ALL!! They just ask you how big your glove is, and then stick a cheap grip on the end of the shaft and that’s it. PLEASE don’t let this happen, because you’ll pay for it in your golf game!!

Last, but certainly not least, you need to understand a very important piece of advice — CHANGE YOUR GOLF GRIPS OFTEN. Over time, grips will oxidize, harden, get slick and LOSE THEIR GRIP (sometimes called tacki-ness), especially if you keep your clubs in the truck of you car (which we don’t recommend by the way). You should remember to re-grip your clubs often — it will improve your game. Change your grips at least twice each season if you are an average weekend golfer. Does that sound like a lot to you? Did you know that some of the pros change their grips every week? So change your grips and change your game.

Ben Poston is a builder of custom golf clubs and the author of the book “Saving Strokes and Saving Money”. For more information go to http://www.trianglecustomclubs.com/savingstrokes.html

info@trianglecustomclubs.com

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By: Mike Pedersen

I’m sure by now you’ve heard most of the professional players; both men and women actively participate in golf workouts. It’s no secret. But why then do most amateur golfers ignore this? Is it because it seems like work? Or, does the thought of actually breaking a sweat get you tired already?

Either way…the proof is in the bag. The number one player in the world, Vijay Singh, does his golf workouts all the way through Sunday of each tournament. Does it look like it’s hurting his game? I don’t think so. Back in 1997, a young, very athletic golfer came on the professional scene and blew everyone away. I think you know who I’m talking about.

Tiger took golf to another level. A real eye-opener for the veteran players who were hitting the 19th hole after every round…and the last thought on their mind was “exercise”. What a wake-up call to be totally dominated by a player who was only 20 years old at the time.

How about the year Annika Sorenstam shot a 59 and totally dominated the LPGA? Do you know what she attributes it to? Golf workouts! She hired a trainer and got serious about her fitness. And look what happened? She hasn’t looked back since. She just recently came out with an instruction book and devoted a chapter to golf workouts.

To my recollection, that’s the first women’s instruction book to include golf workouts. Working out to playing better golf isn’t just for the guys; Annika has proved that. Now more LPGA players are working out to try and catch her, just like the guys did with Tiger.

How about the senior tour? Now players are realizing they can still make good money, even after they’ve turned 50 and can’t really compete with the young guys anymore. With the money at stake, they too are all working out. This group of players both amateur and pro is the biggest demographic that needs it the most.

With age comes a decline in both flexibility and strength. When the body declines, the swing goes right along with it. The result is a big loss in yardage, more mishits, and ballooning scores. The end result…frustration! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played with and received phone calls from older golfers who are just about ready to quit the game.

They are SO frustrated at this rapid decline, that golf’s not fun anymore. But there is hope. The answer? Get your body moving just a little better. How? By participating in golf workouts that focus on golf-specific strength AND flexibility. It’s amazing to see golfers in this age bracket dramatically improve their driving distance, accuracy and scores.

You don’t have to accept that with age, your body declines. No way! You’ve got to fight it all the way! I’m dead serious. The ones who do, are the ones who are enjoying the game again and taking all the money in their foursome.

What is a golf workout anyways? Is there such a thing? You bet there is. The golf swing is an awkward movement that puts a tremendous amount of stress on the body. To prevent injury and improve swing speed and distance requires your body to be both strong and flexible specific to the swing.

I could spend dozens of pages describing what this entails, but for the sake of this concise article, let’s keep it simple.

The golf swing is a rotational movement, with your body in golf posture. Slight flex of the knees and a bending forward at the hips. Since the golf swing is primarily rotational, wouldn’t it make sense to focus on rotational strength and flexibility? That is improving your turning ability related to range of motion and speed.

So anything involving twisting with resistance such as a medicine ball, a dumbbell, or even a weighted club would work. You need to have a resistance to take your body beyond where it normally goes.

For instance, if you took a club and placed it behind your neck, got in your golf posture and rotated back and forth; do you think that by itself would improve your range of motion or power?

No, you need to add resistance to accomplish this. Take a weighted club and make golf swings. Now you’ll be making a bigger turn AND improving your power. Same thing with a medicine ball. Make turns back and through holding a 4 to 6 pound ball and you’ll see a BIG improvement.

In fact, most of your abdominal work should be rotational. Doing straight crunches won’t improve your driving distance. Doing rotational movements with added weight will. This is where I could go on and on, but I won’t overload you.

I hope I’ve convinced you to take a real serious look at what all the other successful professional players are doing to stay at the top of their game. Doing golf workouts can and will dramatically change your game forever. Now get out there and get it started. No procrastinating. Do it right now!

Mike Pedersen is a respected golf fitness expert, and the author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, numerous golf fitness tips and founder of several online golf fitness sites. For more information on his new, cutting-edge golf fitness e-book, go to http://www.ultimategolffitnessguide.com.

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By: William Breland

Fuel for the golfer.

“A good diet can not make an average athlete great, but a poor diet can make a great athlete average.”

-David Costill, Ball State University, Indiana

Golf is a lifetime sport that both men and women of all ages enjoy participating in. However, for the competitive golfer, it is a test of the athlete’s physical and mental endurance. While equipment and physical fitness are important to the game, a balanced diet is often the most overlooked aspect that all serious golfers must consider.

DEFINING A BALANCED DIET

For golfers, a balanced diet begins with eating at least 50% of your total caloric intake from carbohydrates such as whole grains, breads, pastas, rice, fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy. Carbohydrates are the body’s preferred energy source during activity. It fuels the brain and nervous system, preserves protein while helping to burn fat. Consuming carbohydrates during activity helps maintain blood glucose levels, allowing the golfer to have improved concentration.

Protein is another important macronutrient to incorporate into the balanced diet. Have 6 to 8 ounces of protein daily, and choose lean protein sources such as chicken, fish, round or loin cuts of beef, beans or legumes. Protein is needed for growth and repair of muscles, and helps regulate body processes as enzymes and hormones.

Fat is the final macronutrient in the balanced diet. Fat, like carbohydrate, provides fuel for working muscles, but it is a more concentrated fuel source. Recommended fat intake is the same for athletes as for all healthy people – no more than 30% of your total calories coming from fat. This is approximately 4-5 servings of fat (based on 2000 calories). One serving of fat equals 1 teaspoon of oil or margarine, 6 nuts, or 2 teaspoons of peanut butter.

FILL UP ON FLUIDS

Hydration is an imperative component in the successful golfers game. Consuming adequate fluids before, during and after playing golf is beneficial. Even a slight decrease in bodyweight due to dehydration can affect your performance and result in fatigue & mental dullness. Consume approximately 8 oz of fluid before tee time. While golfing consume 4-8 oz of fluid every15-20 minutes or at every hole. If celebrating with alcoholic beverages is planned at the 19th hole, alternate fluid (nonalcoholic) with alcoholic drinks. Alcohol acts as a diuretic and actually increases fluid loss, so it is not a good choice for the replacement of fluids lost during the round of golf.

To help your performance try these nutrition tips as you eat for “peak performance!”

BEFORE THE MORNING ROUND

1 cup oatmeal

1 banana or 1 cup orange juice

1 cup skim milk or 1 cup nonfat yogurt

2 slices whole-wheat toast

2 teaspoons margarine

AFTER THE 9TH HOLE

12 ounces Sports Drink

2 tablespoons peanut butter and crackers

or

1 piece of fruit

or

1 granola or cereal bar

POST GAME

Don’t forget to re-hydrate as mentioned above!

3-4 ounces grilled chicken breast

1 cup brown rice

1 cup steamed broccoli

1 cup mixed greens salad

2 teaspoons low fat dressing

1 cup fruit salad

These are just a few tips to jump start proper fueling as an important and integral part of your training program. Each athlete is unique and has different training schedules, food preferences, lifestyle factors, and weight concerns. For a more individualized assessment and recommendations for your needs submit a rquest at: www.GoLoGolFitness.com

William Breland has been a Physical Therapist for over 25 years. He is the ONLY Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Sports Therapy and Touring Golf Professional in the United States.

GoLo Golf Grub is a trademark of GoLo Golf, LLC, http://www.GoLoGolFitness.com

william@gologolfitness.com

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