Welcome back - here's today's featured article:
by: David Barnard
Here's my warning to all wannabe golfer's, if you start on this sorry path, and do nothing to stop it, you will lead a life of pain and anguish.
All my golfing life I've been a hooker! How or why it started I don't know. I never wanted it to happen, it just did.
When I first started hooking, it was not every shot. It just sort of creeps up on you, over days, weeks, even months, and gets gradually worse, until nearly every shot is hanging left. And I don't mean just a little bit left, these 90 degree plus benders would make a circle look tame.
Finally, it got so bad, I was spending so much time in the trees, searching for lost balls, that my friends stopped coming round, and asking me out to play.
Then came that dreaded day. I can remember this so clearly, its almost as if it happened yesterday. I ran out of golf balls during a round. It was SOooo embarrassing. Thats what made me finally seek professional help.
After walking off the course that afternoon, I went straight to the clubhouse and spoke to The Pro. When I spoke to The Pro, he admitted that he had already heard about my little problem. It seems that a few of my so-called friends had already spoken to him, to find out if it was contagious. What he told me, certainly made me feel better.
There is a cure. And its really quite easy. Just keep reading:
THE PROBLEM:
Hitting the ball with a closed clubface, causing shots to curve (sometimes dramatically) to the left.
^^^^^^^
Slash 7 strokes off your game – guaranteed!
Http://tinyurl.com/2mmeux
^^^^^^
THE CURE:
The first thing you should do is check your grip. When you grip the club the Vs in each hand should point over your right shoulder. If they point farther to the right, then your grip is too “strong” and could produce a closed face and a hook at impact – when the hands return to their normal position.
If your grip is good and you are still hooking, try weakening your grip by gradually moving both hands to the left. Check your stance to make sure that your feet, knees, hips and shoulders are all parallel to your target line.
Another cause could be the ball position. If it is too far back, it could produce an excessive in-to-out swingpath. Try gripping the club more in the palm of your hands, rather than the fingers, to reduce wrist action and premature closing of the clubface.
Make sure that your left wrist is not too relaxed at impact. If it is, your right wrist will take control and close the clubface too early. On your downswing, make sure that the action begins with your legs and body. This will stop your wrists unhinging and closing the clubface too soon.
There, you see. I told you it was curable. Although, maybe not TOTALLY curable. To this day, many years later, occasionally it happens.
But the major difference is that, now as I'm walking towards the trees to look for that wayward shot, I'M SMILING - because I know how to fix the problem.
The Happy (occasional) Hooker
About The Author
David Barnard has been playing golf for more years than he would care to remember. But he can also be found hanging around, and passing on tips at http://golf--swing.blogspot.com.
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Editor's note: Next time, George Gabriel talks about course management. Until then, stay well and keep swingin' - and enjoy your Labor Day Holiday.
Jim Nettleton
Friday, August 31, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
The Anatomy Of Slicing The Golf Ball
Welcome back - here's today's featured article:
by: Jeff O'Brien
In order to slice a golf ball (impart a left to right ball flight for a right handed golfer) you have to strike the golf ball in a manner that will cause a clockwise rotation of the ball. The more dramatic the rotation the more dramatic or worse the golf slice.
For the context of this article, I will speak from a right handed golfer’s swing and perspective.
When defining the golf slice there are a couple of basics characteristics to the ball flight. First, there is the slice that initially may start down the target line then move off line in a left to right movement. This type of slice tells us that the swing path was traveling down the intended target line, but at impact the club face was left open and did not get back to a square position at impact. Usually this type of golf slice doesn’t produce as sever of left to right movement of the golf ball since the swing path itself was not cutting across the ball in an outside to inside manner. This type of slicing of the golf ball is more easily cured. And can usually be done so with a bit of work on the golfer’s setup, alignment, and or grip.
Slash 7 strokes off your game – guaranteed!Http://tinyurl.com/2mmeux
The second type of golf slice is the one that plagues the vast majority of beginning and high handicap golfer’s. This is the type of slice that produces the ‘banana ball’ type of flight and is very uncontrollable and frustrating.
The attributes of this type of slice for the golfer are the ball will initially start left of the target line indicating that the swing path is incorrect right from the get go. When the ball immediately begins left of the target line that tells you that your swing path has come from the outside to the inside.
Now, having done that with your swing, doesn’t necessarily guarantee that you are going to slice the golf ball but you sure have made much easier for a slice to occur. Now combine the outside to inside swing path with an open clubface at impact and you now have a golf shot that starts left and has the double whammy of a slicing swing path across the golf ball, and an open club face. With these two laws of physics going for you; you have just produced one beautiful slice. One that only a proud parent could love! You know the one I’m talking about. The ball that travels 300 yards total distance, but only about 220 yards further down the course (if you can find it all).
Slash 7 strokes off your game – guaranteed!Http://tinyurl.com/2mmeux
A golfer who is plagued with this type of golf slice is going to require quite a bit more work in order to correct this because their basic swing is flawed and must be corrected. But, it’s important to understand what it is in your golf swing and your golf swing mechanics that makes the ball do what it does. Once you understand the 9 rules of ball flight you’ll be more able to understand what it is in your swing that is producing the flight of the ball you are seeing, and as such you can more quickly address and adjust to ensure success.
About The Author
Jeff O'Brien is a youth and beginning golfer instructor with a real insight on getting your golf swing and game off to a start by establishing a good foundation onto which you build your golf swing and game. Please visit (www.golf-ology.com) for more of Jeff's golf tips and online golf lessons. publish@golf-ology.com
Editor's note: Next time around, Jeff Barnard talks about the opposite problem - hooking the ball. Until then, stay well and keep swingin'.
Jim Nettleton
by: Jeff O'Brien
In order to slice a golf ball (impart a left to right ball flight for a right handed golfer) you have to strike the golf ball in a manner that will cause a clockwise rotation of the ball. The more dramatic the rotation the more dramatic or worse the golf slice.
For the context of this article, I will speak from a right handed golfer’s swing and perspective.
When defining the golf slice there are a couple of basics characteristics to the ball flight. First, there is the slice that initially may start down the target line then move off line in a left to right movement. This type of slice tells us that the swing path was traveling down the intended target line, but at impact the club face was left open and did not get back to a square position at impact. Usually this type of golf slice doesn’t produce as sever of left to right movement of the golf ball since the swing path itself was not cutting across the ball in an outside to inside manner. This type of slicing of the golf ball is more easily cured. And can usually be done so with a bit of work on the golfer’s setup, alignment, and or grip.
Slash 7 strokes off your game – guaranteed!Http://tinyurl.com/2mmeux
The second type of golf slice is the one that plagues the vast majority of beginning and high handicap golfer’s. This is the type of slice that produces the ‘banana ball’ type of flight and is very uncontrollable and frustrating.
The attributes of this type of slice for the golfer are the ball will initially start left of the target line indicating that the swing path is incorrect right from the get go. When the ball immediately begins left of the target line that tells you that your swing path has come from the outside to the inside.
Now, having done that with your swing, doesn’t necessarily guarantee that you are going to slice the golf ball but you sure have made much easier for a slice to occur. Now combine the outside to inside swing path with an open clubface at impact and you now have a golf shot that starts left and has the double whammy of a slicing swing path across the golf ball, and an open club face. With these two laws of physics going for you; you have just produced one beautiful slice. One that only a proud parent could love! You know the one I’m talking about. The ball that travels 300 yards total distance, but only about 220 yards further down the course (if you can find it all).
Slash 7 strokes off your game – guaranteed!Http://tinyurl.com/2mmeux
A golfer who is plagued with this type of golf slice is going to require quite a bit more work in order to correct this because their basic swing is flawed and must be corrected. But, it’s important to understand what it is in your golf swing and your golf swing mechanics that makes the ball do what it does. Once you understand the 9 rules of ball flight you’ll be more able to understand what it is in your swing that is producing the flight of the ball you are seeing, and as such you can more quickly address and adjust to ensure success.
About The Author
Jeff O'Brien is a youth and beginning golfer instructor with a real insight on getting your golf swing and game off to a start by establishing a good foundation onto which you build your golf swing and game. Please visit (www.golf-ology.com) for more of Jeff's golf tips and online golf lessons. publish@golf-ology.com
Editor's note: Next time around, Jeff Barnard talks about the opposite problem - hooking the ball. Until then, stay well and keep swingin'.
Jim Nettleton
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
It May Not Be Your Golf Swing That's Rubbish
Welcom back - here's today's featured article:
by: David Barnard
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.
^^^^^^^
Slash 7 strokes off your game – guaranteed!
Http://tinyurl.com/2mmeux
^^^^^^
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.
^^^^^^^
Slash 7 strokes off your game – guaranteed!
Http://tinyurl.com/2mmeux
^^^^^^
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.
About The Author
David Barnard has been playing golf for more years than he would care to remember. But he can also be found hanging around, and passing on tips at http://golf--tip.blogspot.com.
Editor's note: next time, Jeff O'Brien talks about the slice - and what you can do to get rid of it. Until then, stay well and keep swingin'.
Jim Nettleton
by: David Barnard
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.
^^^^^^^
Slash 7 strokes off your game – guaranteed!
Http://tinyurl.com/2mmeux
^^^^^^
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.
^^^^^^^
Slash 7 strokes off your game – guaranteed!
Http://tinyurl.com/2mmeux
^^^^^^
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.
About The Author
David Barnard has been playing golf for more years than he would care to remember. But he can also be found hanging around, and passing on tips at http://golf--tip.blogspot.com.
Editor's note: next time, Jeff O'Brien talks about the slice - and what you can do to get rid of it. Until then, stay well and keep swingin'.
Jim Nettleton
Thursday, August 16, 2007
So Your Teenager Wants To Be A Champion Golfer
Welcome back - here's today's featured article:
by: Lawrie Montague
Do you harbour secret desires that your teenager will one day play the PGA or LPGA tour? Millions of dollars in prize money attracts so many talented golfers willing to sacrifice everything to have a crack at making money playing golf.
So how can you help your teenager become a more successful golfer? Give every opportunity to develop their skills, experience and knowledge in golf. Becoming successful at golf is not easy, so you need a solid team to give you help and guidance to make it happen. At the Australian High Performance Golf Academy we design programs to the specific needs of our students.
Your Golf Support Team
To progress to professional golf, your teenager must understand what is required to nurture their talent continually. Golf is as much a mental game. Ideally they need one hour golf lessons every week (forty to forty five lessons per year) from the age of twelve and they should be focused on a number of critical factors;
1. Good good grip produce good golf swings.
2. Start right and practice right; a golf swing that is in plane and a strong rotation of the body and arms to generate sufficient club-head speed.
3. Junior golfers grow continually; they can suffer from postural problems like slouching shoulders and bending from the waist not from the hips. Shoulder stretching every day particularly in the back of the legs, (hamstrings) and upper body (shoulders/chest) is vital.
4. Begin working with your teenager’s attitude towards adversity. Develop effective coping strategies to deal with setbacks and accelerate their progress through the tough spots.
5. Get them into competition right from the beginning and teach them to enjoy the idea of competing against others and also the added bonus of developing lifelong friendships.
6. Encourage your teenager to study the rules and etiquette of golf and become familiar with the most important and most common rules infractions so they feel confident about any situation that may arise on the golf course.
7. Your teenager should spend sixty to seventy percent of their time working on their short game and the rest of the time on their long game.
Find a good golf instructor early in your child’s development and build a committed relationship with them. Ask around and find a coach who is getting success with junior golfers and interview them about their approach to teaching junior golfers. I’ve seen many parents chop and change golf teachers to the detriment of their son or daughters golf progress. It is critical to start laying down a good golf technique as early as possible and going to different teachers looking for the ultimate golf lesson doesn’t work and will lead to confusion and dissatisfaction.
About The Author
Lawrence Montague one of Australia's leading golf instructors and Director of the Australian High Performance Golf Academy which runs courses throughout the year. For more information about their unique training techniques and training aids visit their website at http://www.golf-school-australia.com/.
This article is freely available for publication ONLY if the content is retained IN FULL, UNEDITED including the resource box and all links. Furthermore we would appreciate you sending us an email with a link to the page where the article has been published.©2006 Australian High Performance Golf Academy http://www.golf-school-australia.com/.
articles@golf-school-australia.com
by: Lawrie Montague
Do you harbour secret desires that your teenager will one day play the PGA or LPGA tour? Millions of dollars in prize money attracts so many talented golfers willing to sacrifice everything to have a crack at making money playing golf.
So how can you help your teenager become a more successful golfer? Give every opportunity to develop their skills, experience and knowledge in golf. Becoming successful at golf is not easy, so you need a solid team to give you help and guidance to make it happen. At the Australian High Performance Golf Academy we design programs to the specific needs of our students.
Your Golf Support Team
To progress to professional golf, your teenager must understand what is required to nurture their talent continually. Golf is as much a mental game. Ideally they need one hour golf lessons every week (forty to forty five lessons per year) from the age of twelve and they should be focused on a number of critical factors;
1. Good good grip produce good golf swings.
2. Start right and practice right; a golf swing that is in plane and a strong rotation of the body and arms to generate sufficient club-head speed.
3. Junior golfers grow continually; they can suffer from postural problems like slouching shoulders and bending from the waist not from the hips. Shoulder stretching every day particularly in the back of the legs, (hamstrings) and upper body (shoulders/chest) is vital.
4. Begin working with your teenager’s attitude towards adversity. Develop effective coping strategies to deal with setbacks and accelerate their progress through the tough spots.
5. Get them into competition right from the beginning and teach them to enjoy the idea of competing against others and also the added bonus of developing lifelong friendships.
6. Encourage your teenager to study the rules and etiquette of golf and become familiar with the most important and most common rules infractions so they feel confident about any situation that may arise on the golf course.
7. Your teenager should spend sixty to seventy percent of their time working on their short game and the rest of the time on their long game.
Find a good golf instructor early in your child’s development and build a committed relationship with them. Ask around and find a coach who is getting success with junior golfers and interview them about their approach to teaching junior golfers. I’ve seen many parents chop and change golf teachers to the detriment of their son or daughters golf progress. It is critical to start laying down a good golf technique as early as possible and going to different teachers looking for the ultimate golf lesson doesn’t work and will lead to confusion and dissatisfaction.
About The Author
Lawrence Montague one of Australia's leading golf instructors and Director of the Australian High Performance Golf Academy which runs courses throughout the year. For more information about their unique training techniques and training aids visit their website at http://www.golf-school-australia.com/.
This article is freely available for publication ONLY if the content is retained IN FULL, UNEDITED including the resource box and all links. Furthermore we would appreciate you sending us an email with a link to the page where the article has been published.©2006 Australian High Performance Golf Academy http://www.golf-school-australia.com/.
articles@golf-school-australia.com
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Golf Flexibility Exercises Can Improve Your Shoulder Turn
by: Sean Cochran
I had a very interesting conversation during my workout this morning at the gym. I was performing a series of golf flexibility drills (Tops, Windmills, & Spiders to be exact) and a friend and very good golfer approached me.
My friend, local club champion and a scratch golfer, was asking me about the series of flexibility exercises I was working on. He said; “Sean, I have watched your workouts and they seem to be very athletically oriented. I know you work on the PGA Tour and with Phil. Those exercises you were just doing, what are they exactly for, and how can they help my golf swing?”
I get quite a few of these questions like this and my reply to him was as follows:
“First off the golf swing is an athletic movement (if you disagree with me on that point, go play 4 rounds of golf in four 4 days and get back to me). It requires a high level of flexibility, balance, strength, endurance, and power to execute the swing correctly.
*******
Slash 7 strokes off your game – guaranteed! Click here:http://tinyurl.com/2mmeux
*******
Knowing this you need to develop these physical characteristics (Flexibility, Balance, Strength, Endurance, and Power) within your body.
This will create the foundation upon which you can build an efficient and powerful golf swing. Lets take a quick a look at these concepts before moving onto some specifics.
Flexibility, in relation to the golf swing, is the ability to draw the club through the proper range of motion. A full golf swing requires you to draw the club through a long range of motion. In order to perform this action correctly the muscles within your body must be flexible.
If your muscles are inflexible the ability to draw the club through the correct range of motion will be compromised, resulting in compensations in your golf swing.
Secondly, the golf swing requires a high level of balance. Balance is often thought of as a responsibility of golf swing mechanics only. The reality of the situation is balance is a component of both efficient golf swing mechanics and the body.
The interaction of the muscular and nervous systems is responsible for your balancing capacities. These two systems regulate center of gravity, proprioception, and limb movement. If you have poor balancing capacities a directly negative effect will be seen in your golf swing.
Introducing balance exercises can improve the ability of your body to regulate its’ center of gravity, know where it is in “space” (proprioception), and regulate limb movement. This will have a direct benefit upon your golf swing.
Thirdly, the golf swing requires you to maintain a fixed spine angle, and rotate around this spine angle during the swing. In order to perform the swing correctly and maintain a fixed spine angle it is necessary to have high levels of muscular strength.
Muscular strength in relation to the golf swing is the ability of your muscles to maintain a fixed spine angle during each swing. If you are lacking muscular strength, the ability to maintain a fixed spine angle will be compromised.
*******
Slash 7 strokes off your game – guaranteed! Click here:http://tinyurl.com/2mmeux
*******
Fourth in our order of merit is endurance. The golf swing is a repetitive athletic movement, meaning you are performing the same athletic action (i.e. the golf swing) over and over again. Repetitive athletic movements over time cause fatigue within the muscular system. Once the muscular system is fatigued (i.e. tired) the ability to perform the intricate biomechanical movements of the golf swing will be compromised.
In order to combat such a situation it is necessary for the golfer to develop high levels of muscular endurance. Muscular endurance can be defined as the ability to perform a repetitive movement over and over again without becoming fatigued.
Finally, the golf swing encompasses power. Power is the ability to generate clubhead speed. Clubhead speed equates to greater distance on all your shots. Developing clubhead speed is a combination of both your swing mechanics and body.
In relation to the body it is the ability to generate the greatest amount of force within the golf swing. To increase the force outputs within the body it is necessary to develop high levels of muscular power. Developing muscular power relative to the golf swing increases the possibility of greater clubhead speed.
Quite often the amateur golfer does not have the flexibility, strength, balance, or power in the body to swing the golf club correctly. The result is that sloppy, ineffective swing with a lot of body compensations.
Any serious amateur must spend some time on developing the body for the swing. It does not need to be a substantial amount of time, but a little each day. This will over time develop the body for the golf swing.”
My friend shook his head in definitive agreement and said he has lost some distance over the years and directly relates it to losing some of his flexibility.
I said “exactly! That is what happens, the body becomes deficient in one area or another and the golf swing is affected. In addition, to developing the body for the golf swing a certain order must be followed.”
He asked; “What do you mean exactly?”
I replied; “The physical parameters of the body must be developed in a specific order to get the greatest benefit. For example, if you try to develop more power but are not flexible enough to execute a full shoulder turn. The power in your body you develop will be worthless.
Start with flexibility graduate to balance and then look at getting stronger and more powerful.
The exercises I was just performing are golf specific flexibility exercises to help the shoulder turn.
Remember, follow the logic; flexibility first, balance second, and then develop strength and power.”
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.
I had a very interesting conversation during my workout this morning at the gym. I was performing a series of golf flexibility drills (Tops, Windmills, & Spiders to be exact) and a friend and very good golfer approached me.
My friend, local club champion and a scratch golfer, was asking me about the series of flexibility exercises I was working on. He said; “Sean, I have watched your workouts and they seem to be very athletically oriented. I know you work on the PGA Tour and with Phil. Those exercises you were just doing, what are they exactly for, and how can they help my golf swing?”
I get quite a few of these questions like this and my reply to him was as follows:
“First off the golf swing is an athletic movement (if you disagree with me on that point, go play 4 rounds of golf in four 4 days and get back to me). It requires a high level of flexibility, balance, strength, endurance, and power to execute the swing correctly.
*******
Slash 7 strokes off your game – guaranteed! Click here:http://tinyurl.com/2mmeux
*******
Knowing this you need to develop these physical characteristics (Flexibility, Balance, Strength, Endurance, and Power) within your body.
This will create the foundation upon which you can build an efficient and powerful golf swing. Lets take a quick a look at these concepts before moving onto some specifics.
Flexibility, in relation to the golf swing, is the ability to draw the club through the proper range of motion. A full golf swing requires you to draw the club through a long range of motion. In order to perform this action correctly the muscles within your body must be flexible.
If your muscles are inflexible the ability to draw the club through the correct range of motion will be compromised, resulting in compensations in your golf swing.
Secondly, the golf swing requires a high level of balance. Balance is often thought of as a responsibility of golf swing mechanics only. The reality of the situation is balance is a component of both efficient golf swing mechanics and the body.
The interaction of the muscular and nervous systems is responsible for your balancing capacities. These two systems regulate center of gravity, proprioception, and limb movement. If you have poor balancing capacities a directly negative effect will be seen in your golf swing.
Introducing balance exercises can improve the ability of your body to regulate its’ center of gravity, know where it is in “space” (proprioception), and regulate limb movement. This will have a direct benefit upon your golf swing.
Thirdly, the golf swing requires you to maintain a fixed spine angle, and rotate around this spine angle during the swing. In order to perform the swing correctly and maintain a fixed spine angle it is necessary to have high levels of muscular strength.
Muscular strength in relation to the golf swing is the ability of your muscles to maintain a fixed spine angle during each swing. If you are lacking muscular strength, the ability to maintain a fixed spine angle will be compromised.
*******
Slash 7 strokes off your game – guaranteed! Click here:http://tinyurl.com/2mmeux
*******
Fourth in our order of merit is endurance. The golf swing is a repetitive athletic movement, meaning you are performing the same athletic action (i.e. the golf swing) over and over again. Repetitive athletic movements over time cause fatigue within the muscular system. Once the muscular system is fatigued (i.e. tired) the ability to perform the intricate biomechanical movements of the golf swing will be compromised.
In order to combat such a situation it is necessary for the golfer to develop high levels of muscular endurance. Muscular endurance can be defined as the ability to perform a repetitive movement over and over again without becoming fatigued.
Finally, the golf swing encompasses power. Power is the ability to generate clubhead speed. Clubhead speed equates to greater distance on all your shots. Developing clubhead speed is a combination of both your swing mechanics and body.
In relation to the body it is the ability to generate the greatest amount of force within the golf swing. To increase the force outputs within the body it is necessary to develop high levels of muscular power. Developing muscular power relative to the golf swing increases the possibility of greater clubhead speed.
Quite often the amateur golfer does not have the flexibility, strength, balance, or power in the body to swing the golf club correctly. The result is that sloppy, ineffective swing with a lot of body compensations.
Any serious amateur must spend some time on developing the body for the swing. It does not need to be a substantial amount of time, but a little each day. This will over time develop the body for the golf swing.”
My friend shook his head in definitive agreement and said he has lost some distance over the years and directly relates it to losing some of his flexibility.
I said “exactly! That is what happens, the body becomes deficient in one area or another and the golf swing is affected. In addition, to developing the body for the golf swing a certain order must be followed.”
He asked; “What do you mean exactly?”
I replied; “The physical parameters of the body must be developed in a specific order to get the greatest benefit. For example, if you try to develop more power but are not flexible enough to execute a full shoulder turn. The power in your body you develop will be worthless.
Start with flexibility graduate to balance and then look at getting stronger and more powerful.
The exercises I was just performing are golf specific flexibility exercises to help the shoulder turn.
Remember, follow the logic; flexibility first, balance second, and then develop strength and power.”
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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