Archive for July, 2008

Golf Swing Alignment And Golf Techniques

Posted by admin On July - 6 - 2008ADD COMMENTS





You were told that your golf swing needs improving? Well, it could need a complete makeover and change your game! But how about improving alignment and the short game? This could be the answer. This article will give some useful pointers on improving golf swing but at the same time revolutionizing your game dramatically by ,let us say, shaving seven strokes off your score in a few weeks !

Learning golf is done gradually rather than all at once and that is why it is not as easy as any other sport. With the essence of the game being to use a club to send a ball to a target, the essence of learning golf is to learn how the club must swing to the target if the ball is to go to the target.

Your Swing

Your swing is natural and everything will depend on using the spine as an axis to keep you on the correct swing plane so alignment is crucial. How about concentrating on alignment? What about the importance of understanding ball flight to understand your swing. ?. Some golf gurus point out how swings can differ markedly in their mechanical aspects; the only thing important is that the club contacts the ball the way you want it to. And what about the short game – maybe we should be giving more attention to that. Golf tips are nothing more than the thought you hold in your head as you swing your golf club. Your golf swing is like your signature, it is unique. The reason finding the right golf club is so hard is because there are so many types, designs, and features you have to consider in correlation to your skill, swing and needs.

Your Golf Handicap

Handicap statistics compiled by the National Golf Foundation and United States Golf Association show that most golfers establish their level of competency after a few years. Well, which category are you in ? High handicap golfer : Someone who has played a while, knows his or her way about the golf course, but can’t seem to break 100 consistently. Mid to low handicap golfer: reserved for small percentage of people who shoot below 100 consistently, and want to get even better.

Whatever your handicap, you can improve it by following the advice of famous golfer who will tell you how to improve your swing but give you loads of great advice in getting your score down and reducing your golf handicap.

The Origin Of Golf

Posted by admin On July - 5 - 2008ADD COMMENTS





Golf is a sport in which individual players or teams of players strike a ball into a hole using several types of clubs. Golf is one of the few ball games that does not use a fixed, standardized playing field or area; defined in the Rules of Golf as “playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules.

Golf

Golf is a very old game of which the exact origins are unclear. Golf is played in an area of land designated a golf course. Golf courses have not always had eighteen holes. The first game of golf for which records survive was played at Bruntsfield Links, in Edinburgh, Scotland, in A. The word golf was first mentioned in writing in 1457 on a Scottish statute on forbidden games as gouf, possibly derived from the Scots word goulf (variously spelled) meaning “to strike or cuff”. But there is an even earlier reference to the game of golf and it is believed to have happened in 1452 when King James II banned the game because it kept his subjects from their archery practice.

The origin of golf is open to debate as to being Chinese, Dutch or Scottish. However, the most accepted golf history theory is that this sport originated from Scotland in the 1100s. A game somewhat similar to golf was first mentioned in Dōngxuān Records (Chinese: 東軒錄), a Chinese book of 11th Century. However, modern golf is considered to be a Scottish invention, as the game was mentioned in two 15th century laws prohibiting the playing of the game of gowf. Some scholars have suggested that this refers to another game which is more akin to modern shinty, hurling or field hockey than golf.

Golf

The word golf derives from the Dutch kolf meaning stick, club or bat. There are reports of even earlier accounts of golf from continental Europe. The oldest playing golf course in the world is The Old Links at Musselburgh Racecourse. Evidence has shown that golf was played on Musselburgh Links in 1672 although Mary, Queen of Scots reputedly played there in 1567. As early as the 15th century, golfers at St Andrews, in Fife, established a customary route through the undulating terrain, playing to holes whose locations were dictated by topography. The major changes in equipment since the 19th century have been better mowers, especially for the greens, better golf ball designs, using rubber and man-made materials since about 1900, and the introduction of the metal shaft beginning in the 1930s. Also in the 1930s the wooden golf tee was invented.

In 2005 Golf Digest calculated that there were nearly 32,000 golf courses in the world, approximately half of them in the United States. The countries with most golf courses in relation to population, starting with the best endowed were: Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Canada, Wales, United States, Sweden, and England (countries with fewer than 500,000 people were excluded).





Discover the Secrets to Developing a Strong Golf Swing

Every golfer who works on their game is looking for something that will give them a consistent ball flight. There are so many golf digest swing thoughts and golf channel tips out there that really it just gets more confusing as you soak it all up.

What the golf swing really comes down to is proper sequence. If you can master the proper sequence of events you will find that you misses will become much less extreme – isn’t that what you’re really striving for? Anyone can hit a good shot, but how good are your misses? Consistency is the key to lowering your scores.

The secret to the swing is seen in just about every sport. When you attempt to throw a ball, what is the first move once you have wound up? When you curl, what is the first move after you pull the rock back? When you throw darts, what foot do you have the majority of your weight on? How about billiards or bowling? If you answer the front foot or forward foot, than you’re well on your way to understanding the secret to the golf movement.

Once you have coiled to top of the swing the first move for a right handed player, is to get the weight off the right axis (hip) and move it on to the left axis (hip). When you follow this sequence wonderful things begin to happen. The club will naturally drop down from the shoulder plane to the original shaft plane and from here it’s all about rotation to the finish position.

Most players start down with their right shoulder because it’s in a very strong position at the top. This automatically puts you over the top and you enter into the hitting zone on an outside to in swing path. Good Luck! The miss is either high right or low left. You can witness this by watching 90% of all players. You will see at impact most of the weight gets stuck on the back foot at impact.

To correct this you must first understand what you want to do, then you must change your focus. You can no longer think about striking the ball. You must concentrate on the body motion as a whole. With a short iron swing slowly and think about the sequence. This is how you develop feel for where you are in time and space. Focusing on the body and not the ball is crucial to the evolution of your golf movement.

For the next few practice sessions, focus on where the weight is in your feet during the different parts of the swing. Feel the weight transfer and notice when that happens. Don’t attempt to control that, only allow yourself to notice it. Your body will learn and will automatically self-adjust.

It is important in doing this golf drill that you make sure that when you are set-up to the golf ball that your weight is primarily on the INSIDE OF YOUR RIGHT FOOT. This will allow you to transfer your weight back to the left side without swaying. If your weight rolls to the outside of your right foot, you will be forced to sway or slide your hips to get the weight back to the other side on your downswing. This is the opposite for left-handed golfers.

Taking lessons from a certified PGA Golf Instructor is very important because they will have a trained eye on how to improve your golf swing. It’s very difficult to teach yourself everything you need to know simply because you can’t see your own swing faults.

Having said that, it’s important that your golf instructor focuses on what you are doing right and only works on making a couple of adjustments at a time, otherwise you will likely become confused and frustrated.

The best thing you could do for yourself to improve your game is get on a golf instruction program where you work with one golf pro on just one aspect of your game at a time. Watching yourself on video can be an excellent way to observe your own motion.

Golf Club Staff Bags

Posted by admin On July - 3 - 2008ADD COMMENTS





As the touring golf pros play their competitive rounds, they are accompanied by two very important accessories; the indispensable caddy and their staff bag. The tour staff bag is an important part of the golfer’s arsenal. It easily carries the full component of fourteen clubs and has lots of pockets for golf balls, golf shoes, hats, tees and all the other little pieces of equipment that get the touring pros through their rounds. As the pro strolls down the fairway, the caddy carries the staff bag that, loaded, can easily weigh over fifty pounds.

A golf club staff bag is rarely carried by the average golfer, but happily placed on the golf cart. The more adventurous walkers usually use a Carry Golf Bag. However, if a “hold absolutely everything” golf bag is needed, staff bags do fit nicely on the average golf cart.

Where do you get a Golf Club Staff Bag? All the major brands certainly have them in their online stores or at your friendly pro shop.

Favorite choices are those from Callaway, Cleveland, Cobra, Ping, Taylor Made, Titleist and Wilson. Wilson is now offering golf bags made in China at, we understand, very competitive prices. Staff bags are also made by well known golf bag manufactures like Mizuno and Ogio.

You can also have a custom staff bag made with your name, company logo or some other significant decoration.

I use a staff bag and it becomes a happy home for everything I use on the golf course. In addition to my full complement of golf clubs, there are pockets and storage areas for balls, tees, markers and my trusty distance gauge as well as golf gloves and shoes and several other golfing accessories. A large pocket in the bottom even has room for my rain gear, an extra sweater or two and there is even space for a nutrition bar, snacks and a tasty beverage.

While it’s a bit heavy from the car to the clubhouse, once the staff bag is on the cart, weight doesn’t matter.

One slight problem is that all these clubs and golf accessories have a tendency to take up permanent residence unless a conscious effort is made to take time to empty the contents and remove all the wrappers, empties, ripped golf gloves and all the other nasty things that have taken up residence over the past few months.

Since you have spent a couple hundred dollars on this beauty, this is also the perfect time to clean up the staff bag. The best way to do this is to put a little dishwashing soap and water in a container. Spray the bag with a hose or wipe it with a wet rag to get it wet. Then, using an old towel or wash cloth aggressively clean the bag. Take some time and get rid of any dirt pockets that can build up in any nooks and crannies. Be more careful on any embroidered or velour covered areas.

Once your golf staff bag is cleaned to your satisfaction, prepare it for drying. This is also a great time to, literally, get it back into shape. Fill the pockets and storage areas of your staff golf bag with paper of regular towels. Don’t overfill and make sure all the zippers close and the snaps snap. Let it dry for twenty four hours, indoors or in a shady area to prevent any fading. You can also use leather or vinyl cleaners, but good old soap and water works just fine.The next day, remove the towels and presto, its almost like brand new.

If you can handle the weight and don’t forget it needs a little loving care and feeding, your staff golf bag can be your best friend on the golf course.

Golf Etiquette Equals Golf Courtesy

Posted by admin On July - 2 - 2008ADD COMMENTS





The game of golf is claimed to have first been played in 1456 at the Bruntsfield Links located in Edinburgh, Scotland. Since that time golf has evolved into a sport played by men, women, and children world wide.

While playing the game of golf you are challenged both mentally and physically. Golf can be exhilarating and exasperating at the same time. The highs and lows of the emotional roller coaster one can ride throughout a four-hour plus round of golf can be draining.

With so many people playing golf, it is important that we each know a little about golf etiquette so that our rounds of golf will be more enjoyable, not only for ourselves, but also for those playing around us. Along with eagle, birdie and par, we should all add the word “courtesy” to our golf vocabulary.

Being courteous on the golf course is really just treating others the way you would like to be treated. If you are playing in a foursome and you are delaying a threesome, let them play through. If you are a threesome holding up a foursome, let them play through. Even a single, who according to the USGA has no standing, should, in my opinion, be allowed to play through if golf course conditions allow. If you or your group are being held up by other groups in front of you because the golf course is “full,” then take a minute to let the players behind you know that you would let them play through but there is no place to go due to golf course conditions. This is practicing golf courtesy.

Nobody enjoys listening to someone being loud, yelling obscenities and throwing golf clubs. Very few people can keep it on an even keel all the time and golf will surely test your ability to do so. Being unnecessarily loud is intruding on someone else’s space and throwing a golf club is dangerous, not to mention stupid and irresponsible.

It is also not any fun to find your ball in a bunker inside someone’s footprint. All it takes is a little golf courtesy and a little time to rake the bunker and leave it in good condition for the next person. Repair your divots on the golf course and your ball marks on the greens. This little bit of golf courtesy will make the game more enjoyable for everybody.

What also makes the game more enjoyable is having the right golf equipment. All of which is available in the golf department at RitzyShopper.com!