Welcome back. It's getting to be that time of year when the dreaded layoff comes along - hope this will help:
by: Sean Cochran
Some PGA Tour players have been playing for a couple of weeks in Hawaii and California. Others like Vijay and Ernie have been playing on the European Tour. Regardless 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 this 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.
Sean Cochran
About The Author
Sean Cochran is one of the most recognized golf fitness instructors in the world today. He travels the PGA Tour regularly with 2005 PGA & 2004 Masters Champion Phil Mickelson. He has made many of his golf tips, golf instruction and golf swing improvement techniques available to amateur golfers on the website http://www.bioforcegolf.com. To contact Sean, you can email him at support@bioforcegolf.com.
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Saturday, September 22, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
Tips For Good Golfing: It's All In The Swing
Welcome back - here's today's featured article:
by: Edwin Shackleford
Believe it or not, when one performs a golf back swing, it is not just your arms. It is also more about the golfer’s back as it turns away from the target. The club is more so as being put behind the golfer’s back than it is swung up towards the air.
The move backswing
If you look at it closely, the golf back swing actually works from up to down. The takeaway back swing begins from the top as you make the movement on your arms and follows as you do that turn on your shoulders. The movement then goes straight down towards the legs and the hips.
The golf back swing is primarily about how the body is being coiled upwards thus creating the needed tension in the muscles as well as torque to be able to let out that all powerful downswing. Particularly, that swing is created anywhere in between the golfer’s turning his or her upper body as well as shoulders and the turning – to a lesser degree – the lower body and the hips.
Relax
It is highly advisable that one should not do the swing in a hurried manner. If a back swing is in any way done in a hurry, the downswing does not become fast, actually it could do the opposite.
The backswing speed should be in a tempo that is steady and should neither be fast nor slow. Although some golfers have that tendency to go way faster than the regular. Anytime you catch or are aware of yourself doing this, try to slow it down a bit.
The move downswing
When you reach the downswing, all you really need to do is to just let it go. Let the downswing happen. However, this only applies if ever you were able to start with a golf stance, backswing and grip that is correct.
The downswing must be the organic result of all that went before it. If you were able to do your backswing in the correct manner, your body will unwind in itself thus releasing the club and striking the ball that will therefore result in a follow through that is balanced.
The follow-through move
A follow-through should be best seen as the feather in your cap move. The legs must be adequately straight and the hips have to form a straight line together with the legs.
This move will serve as the gauge of the whole swing you have just done. You know that you were able to pull a swing that is smooth and balanced if in the end you have a position that looks like the letter C only in reverse.
About The Author
Edwin Shackleford has been helping individuals improve thier golf game for years. Try his Free Online Training Today! http://www.improve-your-golf-game.com.
**Get a money-making shopping mall FREE! Click here:
http://www.mypowermall.com/Biz/Home/30831
by: Edwin Shackleford
Believe it or not, when one performs a golf back swing, it is not just your arms. It is also more about the golfer’s back as it turns away from the target. The club is more so as being put behind the golfer’s back than it is swung up towards the air.
The move backswing
If you look at it closely, the golf back swing actually works from up to down. The takeaway back swing begins from the top as you make the movement on your arms and follows as you do that turn on your shoulders. The movement then goes straight down towards the legs and the hips.
The golf back swing is primarily about how the body is being coiled upwards thus creating the needed tension in the muscles as well as torque to be able to let out that all powerful downswing. Particularly, that swing is created anywhere in between the golfer’s turning his or her upper body as well as shoulders and the turning – to a lesser degree – the lower body and the hips.
Relax
It is highly advisable that one should not do the swing in a hurried manner. If a back swing is in any way done in a hurry, the downswing does not become fast, actually it could do the opposite.
The backswing speed should be in a tempo that is steady and should neither be fast nor slow. Although some golfers have that tendency to go way faster than the regular. Anytime you catch or are aware of yourself doing this, try to slow it down a bit.
The move downswing
When you reach the downswing, all you really need to do is to just let it go. Let the downswing happen. However, this only applies if ever you were able to start with a golf stance, backswing and grip that is correct.
The downswing must be the organic result of all that went before it. If you were able to do your backswing in the correct manner, your body will unwind in itself thus releasing the club and striking the ball that will therefore result in a follow through that is balanced.
The follow-through move
A follow-through should be best seen as the feather in your cap move. The legs must be adequately straight and the hips have to form a straight line together with the legs.
This move will serve as the gauge of the whole swing you have just done. You know that you were able to pull a swing that is smooth and balanced if in the end you have a position that looks like the letter C only in reverse.
About The Author
Edwin Shackleford has been helping individuals improve thier golf game for years. Try his Free Online Training Today! http://www.improve-your-golf-game.com.
**Get a money-making shopping mall FREE! Click here:
http://www.mypowermall.com/Biz/Home/30831
Friday, September 7, 2007
Golf Course Management
Welcome back - here's today's featured article:
by: George Gabriel
Playing a good round of golf comes with a lot of good golf course management. Sure it is great to know how to have a great golf swing, but if you haven’t got course management, then you haven’t got a game plan.
Have you ever noticed a professional golfer standing beside their caddie in a discussion about the next golf shot at hand? You can rest assured that they were not talking about Larry King live, unless he was in the pro-am the day before and he was leading the tournament. They are discussing the previous results and golf placement on where they hit their golf shot the prior hole before in the practice round or regulation round. Course management is what they are talking about. Every golf shot is tagged to the nearest yard. If you want to play a good golf shot, you have to know your distance and what type of situation you’re up against. This is where good golfers with a good course management excel over their competition.
^^^^^^^
Slash 7 strokes off your game – guaranteed!
Http://tinyurl.com/2mmeux
^^^^^^
Taking all the great golfers and great golf swings into consideration, without the proper knowledge about distance, wind, uphill, downhill and all the great earthly weather that is always a surprise at times can be quite demanding to the best golfer at times. If you think that all you need is a great golf swing and a great set of golf clubs, you should rethink your game again. A lot of great golfers fall prey to a golfer with better course management. These same golfers with good course management do not need to out distance their competitor. They just need to place their ball where the next golf shot is a walk in the park.
If you haven’t got a clue about course management, your handicap is going to soar into the high double-digit figures. When you are talking about the shot at hand, you must take in consideration the prior distance and weather condition on your previous shot with the club selection at hand. Was the golf shot uphill with a wind behind you or against you? When choosing a golf club, one must ask a series of questions before making a formal decision. Do I want to play my next shot over a sand trap? Do I want to play my next golf shot with a pitching wedge or a 7 iron? In other words, do I want to fly the golf shot into the green, or place it where I can bump and run the next golf shot into the green?
Course management requires the golfer in paying attention to golf holes that are next to the hole that they are playing. They are constantly looking for good golf position for the next hole before they even tee up the golf ball. They are also checking out greens as far as slope and surrounding sand traps. Knowing where pin placement is, way before you’re sitting out in the middle of the fairway will definitely help on club selection. You may decide to play less club, because of the simple fact of a two-tier green and the pin is sitting on the bottom level. You would never have that knowledge at hand if you did not eye the situation on the prior hole unless you played it once before. It is called course management.
^^^^^^
Discover High Power Golf!
http://tinyurl.com/2gpoap
^^^^^^
Take a good look at the golf terrain and conditions that you are playing in and pay attention to golf holes that you walk by. Knowing the golf terrain well in advance will make it a lot easier on golf club selection and help drive confidence going forward.
About The Author
George Gabriel learned to play golf as a caddie in the mid sixties and continue to enjoy the game today. Now running a discount tee time site at http://www.golfanchor.net and a sister site at http://www.golfanchor.com.
**Get a money-making mall FREE! Click here:
http://www.mypowermall.com/Biz/Home/30831
Editor's note: Next time, Edwin Shackleford gives us some great tips for good golfing. Until then, stay well and keep swingin'.
Jim Nettleton
by: George Gabriel
Playing a good round of golf comes with a lot of good golf course management. Sure it is great to know how to have a great golf swing, but if you haven’t got course management, then you haven’t got a game plan.
Have you ever noticed a professional golfer standing beside their caddie in a discussion about the next golf shot at hand? You can rest assured that they were not talking about Larry King live, unless he was in the pro-am the day before and he was leading the tournament. They are discussing the previous results and golf placement on where they hit their golf shot the prior hole before in the practice round or regulation round. Course management is what they are talking about. Every golf shot is tagged to the nearest yard. If you want to play a good golf shot, you have to know your distance and what type of situation you’re up against. This is where good golfers with a good course management excel over their competition.
^^^^^^^
Slash 7 strokes off your game – guaranteed!
Http://tinyurl.com/2mmeux
^^^^^^
Taking all the great golfers and great golf swings into consideration, without the proper knowledge about distance, wind, uphill, downhill and all the great earthly weather that is always a surprise at times can be quite demanding to the best golfer at times. If you think that all you need is a great golf swing and a great set of golf clubs, you should rethink your game again. A lot of great golfers fall prey to a golfer with better course management. These same golfers with good course management do not need to out distance their competitor. They just need to place their ball where the next golf shot is a walk in the park.
If you haven’t got a clue about course management, your handicap is going to soar into the high double-digit figures. When you are talking about the shot at hand, you must take in consideration the prior distance and weather condition on your previous shot with the club selection at hand. Was the golf shot uphill with a wind behind you or against you? When choosing a golf club, one must ask a series of questions before making a formal decision. Do I want to play my next shot over a sand trap? Do I want to play my next golf shot with a pitching wedge or a 7 iron? In other words, do I want to fly the golf shot into the green, or place it where I can bump and run the next golf shot into the green?
Course management requires the golfer in paying attention to golf holes that are next to the hole that they are playing. They are constantly looking for good golf position for the next hole before they even tee up the golf ball. They are also checking out greens as far as slope and surrounding sand traps. Knowing where pin placement is, way before you’re sitting out in the middle of the fairway will definitely help on club selection. You may decide to play less club, because of the simple fact of a two-tier green and the pin is sitting on the bottom level. You would never have that knowledge at hand if you did not eye the situation on the prior hole unless you played it once before. It is called course management.
^^^^^^
Discover High Power Golf!
http://tinyurl.com/2gpoap
^^^^^^
Take a good look at the golf terrain and conditions that you are playing in and pay attention to golf holes that you walk by. Knowing the golf terrain well in advance will make it a lot easier on golf club selection and help drive confidence going forward.
About The Author
George Gabriel learned to play golf as a caddie in the mid sixties and continue to enjoy the game today. Now running a discount tee time site at http://www.golfanchor.net and a sister site at http://www.golfanchor.com.
**Get a money-making mall FREE! Click here:
http://www.mypowermall.com/Biz/Home/30831
Editor's note: Next time, Edwin Shackleford gives us some great tips for good golfing. Until then, stay well and keep swingin'.
Jim Nettleton
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