Wednesday, 29 July 2009

5 Essential Golf Swing Basics: Cut 7-10 Strokes By Mastering The Basic Golf Swing Secrets

Golf is one of the most technical sports in terms of player technique. However, it isn't as complicated as some players make it out to be. In fact, in order to improve your game, all you have to do is learn and implement the basics correctly.

As any experienced golfer will tell you, the key to having the lowest score in golf is to get your golf swing right. Once you have a decent golf swing, you can hit the ball in whichever direction and for whatever distance you want 8 times out of 10. If you've ever marveled at how easily great golfers like Tiger Woods or Vijay Singh get the golf ball to do their bidding, then you should probably know that these players first spent years perfecting their golf swing basics to reach the top of their game.

Here is a brief look at the important golf swing basics:

Golf Swing Basic #1:

The golf swing begins at the time before you are about to tee off. This is where a lot of amateur golfers lose focus and end up hitting the ball into the pond or woods instead of the fairway. Here, it is important to make a mental map in your head and chart out a specific area where you would like for the golf ball to land and concentrate on hitting it there. Once you do this, you should be able to hit your target without much problem. The key to this is mental focus.

Golf Swing Basic #2:

Next, you need to take care of how well you grip the handle of your golf club. If your grip is too relaxed you are likely to end up slicing the ball and if you grip the club handle too tight, you will probably hook the shot instead of hitting it where you want to. The solution is to find the right grip level that you are comfortable with before the back-swing. Speaking of which, another important golf swing basic is the back-swing.

Golf Swing Basic #3:

It is a common mistake for rookie golfers to raise the club somewhat casually during the back-swing. If you make this error, it means that you won't be able to hit the ball very far. This is because, the downswing is where, as you begin to twist your body and energy from your muscles is stored as potential energy, which is then converted into kinetic energy during the downswing and all that energy is transferred to the golf ball at the point of impact. To put it simply, you need to be like a tightly wound up spring in order to generate enough momentum and the best way to achieve that is by executing the back-swing in one motion moving only your arms and not your hands or wrists!

Golf Swing Basic #4:

After the back-swing comes the all important downswing. The secret to getting this right is to make sure that you have a smooth and gradual back-swing to begin with and then bring down the head of the club at least 30-35% faster than the speed of your back-swing.

Golf Swing Basic #5:

One of the most important basics for a good swing is the pivot movement during the back-swing. For right-handers, it is pertinent to get the left shoulder and hips properly into correct alignment while transferring weight slightly to the inside of the right foot. At the same time, it's equally important to keep this movement as natural as possible without overdoing it.

To conclude, apart from the above-mentioned golf swing basics, the best way to start a day of golf is to step up to the tee with a positive mindset, since a nervous golfer is a poor golfer. So just be confident, stick to the basics and you should comfortably find your way around the golf course better than most!

Wednesday, 22 July 2009

Golf Swing Tips - Top 5 Golf Rubbish!

These are the top 5 golf swing tips handed down by generations of golf pros that are pure RUBBISH!!

These 5 golf swing falsehoods have ruined more golf swings than I care to imagine. I believe these 5 so called "golf swing tips" are the reason the average golfer's handicap has stayed the same for the past 20 years - Even with all the advancements in golf equipment technology.

I will be pulling the curtain back on some golf swing tips you may consider as gospel...so please keep an open mind.

Top 5 Golf Fallacies That Are Ruining Golfer's Game:

1. RELAX - Pure rubbish! How many times have you heard this golf swing tip from a golf pro or a playing partner? The golf swing is a violent action - is there any other violent action you take when you relax? - of course not - This is foolish advice.

2. Be Loose. This is the second cousin of "Relax". When you are "loose" in the golf swing your hips are NOT restricted therefore you will NOT have that important coil in your backswing robbing you of much power.

3. Take The Club Back Inside - More rubbish! I'm sure you've heard many times how the correct golf swing is from the inside. So some golfers yank the club way inside early in their backswing thinking this will allow them to hit from the inside. These golfers are shocked when they still hit the golf ball from the outside. Hitting the golf ball from the inside comes from proper hip and shoulder action at the start of the downswing. You can take the club back way outside and still hit the ball from the inside - look at Jim Furyk - he takes the club way back to the outside however his move from the top of the swing is pure and from the inside.

4. The Golf Club Is On The Same Plane Going Back As It Is Coming Down. Again, this golf swing tip has been misguiding golfers for generations. The path of the clubface is much more to the inside during the downswing than during the backswing in a sound golf swing. This is because a proper golf swing has a lateral shift of the hips which drops the club into the all important "slot" early in the downswing. This action of the left hip automatically puts the path of the clubface much more to the inside than the path going back.

5. Turn The Hips To The Left To Start The Downswing. This golf fallacy causes golfers to "spin out" during the downswing and the result is a total mis-hit of the golf ball. Turning the hips to start the downswing forces you to throw the golf club to the outside causing terrible mis-hits. Again, the correct move is a lateral shift of the left hip to start the downswing and the hips will then turn automatically. It is possible to NOT have this lateral shift and still turn the hips from the top - however, it is IMPOSSIBLE to have the lateral shift of the left hip to start the downswing and the hips NOT turn.

Hit 'em Long and Straight!

Friday, 17 July 2009

5 Golf Tips On Driving Better Off The Tee

#1) Adjust your setup - Make sure you play the golf ball all the way forward in your stance so that it is directly in line with your left heel. Your stance should be slightly wider than shoulder width apart. You want to have a nice solid base which you can turn and coil around. Also, for the right handed golfer, you want to tilt your spine slightly to the right as this will allow you to swing and hit the golf ball on a slight upswing, launching it high into the air. This adjustment in your setup will also lead to more distance off the tee.

#2) Keep Your Lower Body Stable - When you are swinging, the job of the lower body is to act as a base around which your turn and coil your upper body. This allows you to wind up correctly and will create more power as you swing through the golf ball and release the golf club.

#3) Keep Your Shoulders Square At Impact - It is a very common swing fault to open your upper body too early in the downswing without giving your arms time to catch up. Everything needs to come together at impact, so making sure your shoulders stay square through the impact zone will allow you to be more in-sync and hit more solid and consistent golf shots. Having the shoulders open is even more common with the driver as it is a longer club so you need to allow yourself to be more aware of the timing of your arms and body working together. It's a slightly longer swing, so you have to stay down and through your shot at impact just a split second longer than when hitting an iron.

#4) Make Sure The Hands Lead Ahead Slightly At Impact - You want to build up some lag or leverage in your golf swing because this will allow you to hit it farther and strike the golf ball more consistently. Make sure that you create some wrist angle or wrist set in your backswing and then maintain that angle in your wrists for as long as possible in the downswing. This will allow you to come into impact with your hands slightly ahead of the golf ball producing a much more solid golf shot. It is a common fault to release the golf club too early in the downswing where the clubhead gets to the golf ball before the hands do. Make sure to focus on creating a good angle with your wrists and hold that angle until the last second right as you are hitting the golf ball.

#5) Eliminate Excess Body Motion For More Consistency- It's common with the driver to want to swing extra hard in order to try and hit the ball farther. One problem with swinging too hard is your body will probably move too much. Your head should stay relatively still during your golf swing even with your driver. You do not want too much lateral movement. If you shift your weight too much to the right on the backswing, you may be getting your weight outside your right foot. Make sure when you turn in the backswing, you turn so that your weight shifts to the inside of the right foot. On the downswing and follow through, make sure to stay balanced and behind the ball slightly, instead of feeling like you are moving forward too far.

For more information and tips on the golf swing, check out http://www.thegolfswinggenius.com.

Friday, 10 July 2009

Do You Know All Of The Best Golf Tips?

If you do not yet know all of the top golf tips that there are to be found then you had better get a move on. If you want to improve your game that is. There is no better way to brush up on your playing than to make use of some great golf tips. And the best thing about golf tips is that they are so darn easy to find.


You can find hundreds of the best and most popular golf tips on the internet. In a matter of minutes you can have tons of amazing golf tips at your disposal and most of them will be so basic that you will be shocked at how quickly they will improve your game.


Your game needs to be excellent if you want to be able to rule the links at your home golf course. There is some [pretty stiff competition out there and in order to you to kick butt you need to know all of the latest and best golf tips. By doing a basic search online for some golf tips you will find all kinds from tips to help you improve your swing to tips to help you aim better. You will even find all kinds of golf tips to help you choose the best possible equipment in your price range. We cannot all afford the top of the line clubs so finding out how to make the most of your dollar is one of the best golf tips that you will ever come across.


You should spend more than on day searching for good golf tips. These should be something that you are always on the lookout for, you never know where you will come across some fantastic golf tips. You can get them from your friends who play or from watching golf shows on the TV. It does not matter who or where you get your golf tips as long as they can be put to use in order to make your golf game all that it can be and more.


If you are having some trouble in a particular aspect of your game then ask someone for some advice. Do not wait for good golf tips to fall out of the sky because this does not happen very often. You need to be brave and speak up. If you see someone doing something that you have had trouble with ask him or her how they make it look so easy. This is the best way to get the golf tips that you really need and that will really have the biggest impact on your game each time that you play golf.


You may even want to take a few lessons with your local pros. These guys are full of great golf tips and they are always willing to share. Take some lessons and really pick their brains in order to glean all that you can from them. And when the lessons are over ask if they have any more good golf tips for you to take home and mull over. They might just have some.

Sunday, 5 July 2009

Golf Fitness Exercises for the Amateur Golfer

With all the talk about the players on tour getting stronger and more flexible, we hear a lot about exercising for golf from television commentators and read about it in the golf publications. But what exactly are the best exercises for the amateur golfer?

A great question that has a good answer, but before we give you the answer let us provide some background so the answer makes a little more sense to you. First of all, discussing the golf swing for the time being will get us rolling.

What exactly is the golf swing? The golf swing is an athletic movement that requires using of the entire body from “feet to fingertips” in order to complete the swing. Realize that the golf swing is not about the club, not just about your grip, or where your head is during the swing. The golf swing is a movement that requires your entire body to move through a sequence of movements with the correct timing. To perform the “athletic movement” of the golf swing requires the body to begin at address, move through the actual phases of the golf swing and complete it with the follow through. In order to perform this activity with efficiency and repetitively, the body must have certain physical parameters.

These parameters, as I call them, are actual physical categories of the body that need to be developed to a certain level. These categories of the body are the platform from which the body is able to perform the athletic movement of a golf swing efficiently. The categories are probably familiar to many of you, but for the purpose of this article let us briefly run through them.

The body is required to have certain levels of flexibility, balance, endurance, strength, and power to complete a golf swing. If the body lacks in any of the above categories, then the results will be seen in the golf swing. The results are usually in the form of poor mechanics, bad shots, or poor scores on the course. So, now that we know what the connection is between the “body” and the “swing” let us address the question about the best exercises for golf.

The Best Exercises for Golf

Let’s say you walk into your local health club and see all the fancy machines and aerobic machines at the facility to get you shape. What ones would choose? Would you choose running on the treadmill for 30 minutes, or would it be better to push out a couple sets of bench presses? Well, the answer to our question really lies within the connection between your swing and your body.

I will tell you that exercises meant to “pump you up!” or give you that “six pack” are not necessarily the correct exercises for your golf game. Neither is that weight training program you used back in high school. So, with those thoughts in mind what do you think the best exercises for golf are?

Right now we know, in general terms about the golf swing, what is required of the body for the golf swing and what exercises are not good for the swing. Armed with that knowledge we can decipher what the best exercises for golf are for you.

Beginning with flexibility, we know that the entire body must move through certain ranges of motion to perform an effective golf swing. And what happens if your body is not able to move through the required ranges of motion of the golf swing? The answer: the golf swing will mechanically suffer resulting in shots that are less than optimal. So part of the exercises that are good for golfers are flexibility exercises and, even more so, flexibility exercises that work the muscles used in the golf swing through the movements involved in the golf swing. So first and foremost flexibility exercises should be on the top of your list.

The second category of exercises that would be conducive to the golf swing would have to do with balance. We hear about balance in reference to the golf swing all the time. “Stay balanced through the swing; transfer your weight to maintain balance during the swing…” But what does balance exactly mean? Balance is the ability to control your body through a specific movement pattern. The movement pattern we are discussing just happens to be the golf swing. We know the importance of balance in relation to the golf swing, so how do we train our body for better balance in the golf swing? Before we answer that question we need to know a little more about balance. Balance in relation to the body has to do with the connection between your nerves and muscles. Essentially your nervous system, as a result of messages sent from your brain, tells your muscles how to move to maintain the body’s balance. The more efficient your nerves and muscles are to these messages the greater balance abilities the body develops. So balance exercises train both the nervous system and muscular system to become more efficient at this function. Summing it all up, balance is the second category of exercises that will assist your golf game.

The third category of exercises that are beneficial to golf have to do with your muscles. The golf swing requires the muscles of your body to move through a specific range of motion (flexibility) and help with your balance capacities. In order to perform these actions and others, your body needs certain levels of strength and endurance. The definition of strength is the ability of the muscles to exert force for the given “athletic action” (simplified definition but a good working definition for us). Endurance is the ability of your muscles to do the same activity over and over again for a specific amount of time.

First off, let us discuss strength. The golf swing has one intention of developing club head speed while maintaining balance through the swing. The muscles in your body must have enough strength in them to do both. Now, when we discuss building strength for the golf swing it is NOT the type of strength needed to bench press 250 lbs. Or squat 500! It is strength geared towards the improvement of your swing. I refer to this type of strength as “golf strength.” So when you get to the gym, performing strength exercises like bench press will not help your swing. Exercises that train the body in the positions and through the movements of the golf swing will help your swing.

In addition to strength, we need to develop endurance in your muscles. Think of how many swings you may take over the course of 18 holes. In order for you to be able to swing the club the same way on the 18th hole as you did on the 1st hole. Your body has to have high levels of endurance. This will allow your body to perform the golf swing without getting tired. You develop endurance similar to how you develop “golf strength.” Utilize exercises that train the body in the positions and through the movements of the golf swing. Lighter loads with higher repetitions will be used for these exercises. The end result will be the development of “golf endurance.”

The final segment of exercises beneficial to your golf swing is power training. Power training is geared towards the ability of your body to generate high levels of club head speed. Power development by the body is what allows for greater distance on your shots. Clubs help, golf balls help, but it really comes down to the piece of machinery, your body, swinging those club and hitting those golf balls. Development of power for the golf swing is very similar to the development of “golf strength and endurance.” It is the utilization of exercises that place your body in the positions and move you through movements similar to the golf swing.

Summary

So there you have it, the answer to the types of exercises best for the improvement of your golf swing. I think you now realize it is not one exercise, but a group of exercises that incorporate flexibility, balance, endurance, strength, and power. A combination of these exercises is what will enhance your golf swing.

Sean Cochran is one of the most recognized golf fitness instructors in the world today. He travels the PGA Tour regularly with 2004 Masters Champion Phil Mickelson. To learn more about Sean and his golf fitness progams go to http://www.seancochran.com