Posts tagged "Golf Handicap"

Making Practice Pay Off

No matter how much athletic ability or natural talent you have, you still have to practice to become good. Practicing fine-tunes your skills, develops consistency, and builds confidence. It also improves your balance, rhythm, and timing. Look at VJ Singh. One of the world’s best golfers, he practices tirelessly. Many on the tour consider him its iron- man. If you’re serious about reducing your golf handicap, you’ll practice hard, too.

But practicing has its challenges. Time is one. Productivity is another. Boredom is a third. Then there’s the challenge of taking what you practice to the course. It’s not uncommon to hear students taking golf lessons complain of being unable to transfer what they do in practice to the course. That’s a major challenge. You must overcome its challenges to make practice pay off. Below are some golf tips on how to do that.

Planning Is A Key

Most of us are extremely busy. Between our jobs and our families, there’s not much time to practice. To make practice pay off big time, we must get the most from each session. The best way of doing that is to plan your practices. Planning focuses your efforts and directs your activities. Both are key when time is a factor. Your plan doesn’t have to be elaborate. In fact, it can be quite simple. Just make sure you have one.

Also, make sure plan should include objectives for each session. Quantifiable objectives work best. Try to make them course related as well, like cutting down putts per round. And make sure your plan addresses your weaknesses. We all like hitting bombs in practice. But if you hit your irons poorly, you must spend time practicing them, too. Finally, balance your sessions as much as you can, but plan to spend more time on your short game than anything else. Improving it drives down golf handicaps quickly.

Make Practice Fun

Overcoming boredom is among the biggest challenges in practice. It’s a drag doing the same drills over and over again, no matter how effective they are. Vary your practice sessions as much as you possible. Have three or four drills to improve putting and switch off between them every couple of sessions. Also, try working on different aspects of your game at different sessions. Work one session on your short game. Work the next session on your iron play. Change it up. Keep your mind engaged.

Another way to alleviate boredom is by playing games with yourself or with someone else. Use your imagination to invent games. Challenge your foursome your foursome for a drink or just for bragging rights to a putting contest. Better yet, challenge yourself to beat yourself. Tell yourself you’re going to hit five shots to the red flag. Then see how many you hit. Keep track of how many times you do it. Do this over a few months, and then see what your average is.

Work on Realistic Situations

One of the biggest challenges in practicing is translating what you work on to the course. Many golfers complain that they do well in practice, but when it comes to real-life, they fail to make the transition. One way to do that is to practice on grass whenever you can. It’s nice to hit off the mats at the practice range, but it’s not the same as hitting on grass. Hitting on grass also lets you check your divots, which can tell you a lot about how you’re hitting the ball. And practice the way you play. Practice a wedge shot, and then follow it up with a putt, just like you’d do on the course.

Also, work in some realistic game situations in practice sessions. Try chipping over a wading pool in your bag to practice hitting over an obstacle on the course. Vijay Singh hits half his practice shots under game conditions. First, he hits a couple of balls with each club. Then he places himself in a key situation and practices executing the right shot. The more of “realistic” drills you program into your practice sessions, the easier it is to make the transition to the course.

You have to practice to improve your game and develop consistency. But practicing has its challenges—like boredom and time limitations. Learn to dispel these challenges and you’ll make your practice sessions really pay off. That in turn will help you cut your golf handicap down to single digits.

Jack Moorehouse
http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/making-practice-pay-off-1017537.html

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Pre-Swing Fundamentals Reduce Golf Handicaps

Vijay Singh works harder than anyone on the Tour. He spends hours and hours every day working on his game, practicing every facet of it—from putting to chipping to driving—so that he can be the best he can be. In fact, his practice sessions are legendary among the world’s best players. Needless to say, his determination has paid off. He’s earned millions and millions of dollars in prize money.

While you’d probably like to spend more time practicing and playing golf, you can’t always do it. You have too many responsibilities. But hitting balls at the range or taking golf lessons from a pro isn’t the only way to cut strokes from your golf handicap. You can also do it by working on key pre-swing fundamentals—fundamentals that many a weekend player overlooks. By ingraining them, you’ll trim strokes from your golf handicap without ever picking up a club.

Below are six pre-swing fundamentals that help you cut strokes from your scores without going to the driving range:

1. Acquire The Right Mind Set

Having the right mind-set before swinging the club is crucial. It’s even more crucial when driving. Hitting a good opening shot gets you started on the right foot. So work on having a positive attitude before hitting the ball. Don’t think, “Don’t hit it in the water.” Think, “I’m going to hit it right down the middle.” That way, you’ll create positive images of successful shots in your mind. That develops self-confidence.

2. Perfect Your Grip

Many golfers—especially beginners—overlook the importance of having the right grip. These players don’t fully understand how the grip affects your swing. Since your hands are the only part of your body touching the club, how you grip it is critical. It determines clubface position. If your grip is incorrect, your clubface will mirror it and be either open or shut. The perfect grip has both hands rotated 45 degrees to the right for right-handed golfers.

3. Develop Good Posture

Posture is another pre-swing fundamental weekend golfers overlook. Golf is an athletic activity. You must be in the optimum starting position to be able to “explode” when you need to. If you’re slouched over or too straight at address, you can’t generate the kind of swing discussed in golf lessons and golf tips. In short, good posture lets you make a good pivot. Use a full-length mirror to examine your posture. Make sure you’re in the right position at address.

4. Apply Proper Grip Pressure

Work on holding the club with the right grip pressure. If you grip the club too hard, you’ll “strangle it,” preventing you from swinging fluidly. If you hold the club too loosely, you’ll lose it during your swing. You must apply the right grip pressure to strike the ball well. Good swings come from good, free-flowing pressure, not death grips. More importantly, applying the right grip pressure produces the right tempo during your swing.

5. Align Your Body Properly

If you’ve ever shot a gun, you know there’s no point in pulling the trigger if you don’t aim the gun properly. The same thing is true in golf. If you don’t aim yourself properly, you won’t hit your target. When your bodylines cross, your chances of making a free flowing swing greatly diminish. That means anything can happen. Work on aligning your body to the target line and let your swing flow. Good alignment produces a good swing path.

6. Find The Right Ball Position

All good swings start with the club descending into the ball—even when you hit driver off the tee. But playing the ball too far back or too far forward in your stance when driving throws your swing off. You’ll pop the ball up, dribble it off the tee, or hit some other type of ugly, embarrassing shot. Good ball position results in good contact. Lay a club down so the toe is against the heel of your front foot. The shaft will stick out two inches from your heel. That’s where your want to position the ball on a drive.

These six pre-swing fundamentals are as critical as any swing fundamentals you work on in golf instruction sessions or read about in technical articles offering golf tips. They are timeless. Work on them in your home or at the office as often as you can and make then an integral part of your pre-shot routine. Ingraining them will impact your golf handicap more than your think.

Jack Moorehouse
http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/preswing-fundamentals-reduce-golf-handicaps-1018719.html

Stop Bad Weather From Boosting Your Golf Handicap

Sometimes you have to play when the weather is bad. Unfortunately, the USGA makes no specific provisions for “winter play,” as it’s called. There’s also nothing in the rules about the lift, clean, and place practice used on the PGA tour when it’s wet. Meanwhile, playing in bad weather adds strokes to scores and golf handicap, if you’re not careful. But you can save the strokes, if you know when and how to take appropriate relief.

The USGA prefers players play the ball as it lies. What’s more, most golf lessons or golf instruction sessions don’t cover winter play—leaving many players guessing what to do when they play in bad weather. Sometimes players make up their own rules to cover certain situations. That’s not appropriate. If you’re brave enough to play in bad weather, you should follow the rules as closely as possible. Here are some golf tips that may help you do that.

Check Out Local Rules

Appendix I of the USGA rulebook provides for local rules when playing in bad weather. Check them out. In fact, check out the local rules of any course you’re not familiar with. It’s good information to know before teeing off. Other than that, the key USGA rule concerning bad weather is Rule 25, which covers abnormal ground conditions.

You also need to read up on the procedures covering casual water—defined as an “accumulation of water on the course visible before or after a player takes his stance.” Simply put, if your ball lies in casual water or you must stand in casual water to play the ball, you get relief. The rule doesn’t apply to water hazards or later water hazards. But water that overflows beyond the hazard’s margin is considered casual water.

To take relief, determine the nearest point to your lie that allows for complete relief from the water, but not nearer the hole. Then drop the ball one club length from this spot. The club you use to measure should be the club you intend to use to play the next shot. Your drop may not be on the putting green or in a hazard. Also, you can clean your ball.

Abnormal Ground Conditions

Relief from abnormal ground conditions in a hazard or on the green is slightly different from that above. In a hazard you must take your drop within the hazard. You can drop outside the hazard, but it costs you a stroke. If a bunker is filled with water and the ball rolls into the water no matter where you drop it, you have two choices. After two drops, you can place it in the bunker outside the collected water, or you can take the penalty.

If there’s water on the green you may place the ball at the nearest relief point, even if it is off the putting surface. You can get relief from casual water that’s in the intended line of your putt, but you can’t mop up dew or water on the intended line of your putt. If you’re off the green and there’s casual water on your intended line, that’s tough luck. You can’t mop it up.

Rule on Embedded Balls

 Another important rule to know is the embedded ball provision of Rule 25. It says that if the ball plugs in your own pitch mark, you can lift, clean, and drop it, but not if you’re in the rough. Also, you can’t have someone else protect your head while taking a shot. But you can hold an umbrella over your head and hit.

If you serious about cutting strokes from your golf handicap, you’ll keep these golf tips in mind next time you play in bad weather. They provide relief and can save strokes. Also, check the local rules. They can also provide relief as well.

Jack Moorehouse
http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/stop-bad-weather-from-boosting-your-golf-handicap-1009396.html

What You Can Do For Your Game at Golf Academy

You can learn to golf like a pro at a golf academy. You can learn tons of invaluable information and gain loads of on course training and practice at a golf academy, all while you are surrounded by one of many golf courses that this country has to offer. A golf academy is first class, and the greens are the perfect places to enjoy breathtaking views while you learn how to improve your golf.

When you attend a golf academy, you can get the same quality instruction on how to lower your score and improve your game without the expenses, lodging, meals, and extras of a golf school. In contrast to a golf academy, a golf school is often intertwined with a vacation like atmosphere.

Although golf is a game that has been around quite a while, there are new technologies evolving that you need to know about. You can learn about the physics behind the newest golf clubs and balls at a golf academy, allowing you to understand the technology to hit a longer ball. Are you at all confused about golf handicap statistics? Learn everything you need to know about handicaps, and how to use the statistics to put together a team that has a great chance of attaining a low score in a game. A golf academy will help you to learn how!

At a golf academy, you will learn how to choose the right club for any shot that you need to make. Instructors at a golf academy can teach you how to read and play with the wind, which helps your windy game. Learning how to select the correct club when it comes to uphill and downhill shots will be invaluable. Improving your club selection is important, so that you will always be prepared well. A golf academy is the perfect place to learn these and more crucial tips for golf.

Most golfers tend to under read putts by 70% or more. At a golf academy, you will learn how to read greens and adjust for breaks, which can save you a lot of frustration during your game. Many golfers have their own shot patterns that are unique specifically to them. A golf academy pro can help you learn more about your shot pattern, and they will also help you learn how you can use it to lower your score out there.

We all have accepted the fact that no matter how hard we may try, we just cannot control the weather. Just because it is a bit windy or foggy doesnt mean that you have to call the game. A golf academy will help you learn how different weather conditions can affect your golf ball. The school can also help you maximize your distance off of the tee, no matter what is going on out on the green.

Phoenix Delray
http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/what-you-can-do-for-your-game-at-golf-academy-578245.html

Cut 10 Strokes Off Your Golf Handicap With Two Fingers

If you’ve played golf a while you’ve heard practice makes perfect.

Here’s the bad news.

It doesn’t.

Keep reading for the good news.

Have you ever had a day on the course where everything goes just right? Tee shots are straight and far. Putts were true and short. The sand wedge was left in the bag. No hooks or slices.

And, if Tiger was in your foursome, you would have beaten him? Almost.

Then, the next time you played, you couldn’t do anything right? Hooks. Slices. Traps. Short putts that got longer. Topped tees shots.

What was the difference in the two rounds?

You know how to play golf. Any golfer that’s been playing for a couple of years knows the fundamentals of golf. You know where to put your feel, how to swing the club, how to putt, and what club to use.

What’s the big difference in the two rounds?

The answer is simple. And, now, believe it or not, the solution is easy.

On the good day you were hitting from “The Zone”. The one you try to get into on every shot. On the good day you managed to get into it on some shots. If it was a great day, you got into it on most shots. On the bad day the only zone you could find was the twilight zone.

But there’s another zone perhaps just as important in golf. The “Comfort Zone”. And, you’re about to learn how you can lower your’s.

What do you normally shoot? Eighty? Ninety? Hundred? Whatever it is, that’s your comfort zone.

All you have to do to lower your handicap is to change your comfort zone.

The problem with the comfort zone is that it has nothing to do with how well you know the fundamentals or techniques of golf. If you’ve been playing a while you know them. And, I’m assuming you do.

Instead, it has everything to do with how good a golfer you think you are.

If you “think” you’re 20 handicapper that’s what you are. If you think 10 that’s your handicap. Think 5…be 5.

Do you believe Tiger thinks he’s a five handicapper? Not on your life.
He thinks he’s a minus five so he’s the world’s greatest golfer. Maybe of all time.

So how good of a golfer do you think you are? More important, how do you change your thinking?

Ron Johnson, of Seattle, Washington, thought he was a 90 golfer. Until he changed his thinking and started shooting rounds in the mid 70s.

I’ll let Ron explain

“My statements began something like…”even though putting is extremely frustrating, I still completely accept myself.” I would practice on the putting green with 10-twenty foot putts, 10-ten foot putts and 10-five foot putts. Each time, I would go through the nine-step process with the same statement…”Even though these putts are nerve-racking, I still completely accept myself.” I found that I began to feel much more confident over the putts and some actually went in the cup. Three-putts to get the ball in the hole began to disappear and, within three months, my average scores went from 95-100 down to 85-90. I’ve had many rounds in the 70′s during the past year and I am now setting a goal of shooting below 70. The process works equally well with each shot in the game, not just the putter. In fact, I now use the process before beginning the round with the following statements: “Even though I am filled with apprehension on this round, I completely and totally accept myself.”

Statements? Completely accept myself? What is this new age stuff?

Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT. You’ve probably read about it in the golfing magazines at the club house.

Ron was so impressed with what EFT did for his golf game he started coaching golf using EFT.

One of his students dropped his “average putts per round” from 37 to 29. Another golfer knocked an average of 5 to 6 strokes per round off of her score.

How did they do that? They changed their “Comfort Zone using EFT.

What is this EFT you’ve been reading about in the golfing magazine and online?

Gary Craig, a Stanford trained engineer, who developed Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT, explains.

As he states on his world wide headquarters web site, “EFT is based on a new discovery that has provided thousands with relief from pain, diseases and emotional issues. Simply stated, it is an emotional version of acupuncture except needles aren’t necessary. Instead, you stimulate well established energy meridian points on your body by tapping on them with your fingertips. The process is easy to memorize and is portable so you can do it anywhere. It launches off the EFT Discovery Statement which says…

“The cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body’s energy system.”

He goes on to say:

“All of the discoveries of modern physics, from Einstein on, support the ancient theory that a universal energy flows through everything in nature,” says Gary Craig, a Stanford-trained engineer. “This energy, called Qi or Chi, flows through the body along paths called meridians. Anything that stimulates points along these meridians helps the energy flow freely. Acupuncture uses needles, acupressure uses massage, and EFT uses fingertip tapping. By combining the tapping with focused thought, you can release energy blocks that interfere with a good night’s sleep. In countless clinical cases, EFT has helped people fall asleep and stay asleep, even in times of stress and adversity.

What can EFT be used for? For one thing, lowering your golf handicap.

And, almost everything. Here is a sample of disorders EFT is treating successfully: Pain Management, Addictions, Weight loss, Allergies, Children’s Issues, Animals, Vision, Headaches, Panic/Anxiety, Asthma, Trauma, PTSD, Abuse, Depression, Dyslexia, Carpal Tunnel, Anger, ADD-ADHD, Fears/phobias, Eating disorders, OCD, Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Neuropathy, Fear of Flying, Claustrophobia, Agoraphobia, Anorexia/Bulimia, Sports and other Performance.

Doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and practitioners world wide are using it in their practices to help millions of patients and clients.

Can anyone learn it? Yes. In just a couple of hours you can learn enough about EFT to shoot the lowest game of golf you’re ever shot. But remember, it’s tougher going from a 20 handicap to a 10 than it is from a 10 to a 2.

You can learn more about EFT by checking the author’s bio and his recommended reports and reading material.

Thomas Inman
http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/cut-10-strokes-off-your-golf-handicap-with-two-fingers-124059.html

How I Lowered My Golf Handicap

How did I lower my golf handicap?
How will you lower your golf handicap?

What would your life be like if you played more Golf?
Wait you say, you don’t have enough time to play more golf?
Have to go to that job, that “You Love So Much”?

Now think about this for a moment, golf is one of the greatest games ever!
Wouldn’t you agree? The sport of Kings.
Fresh air, exercise, out with friends and possibly doing a little business networking.
So how are you going to play more golf?

We know what you have been day dreaming about and it isn’t spending more time at work. Maybe it is about a time in your distant future when you can retire and play more golf or any other leisure activity ,that is not work.

Ever since I set myself free from the day to day job and created a successful online business, I have been able to play more golf and when the weather turns to winter my sport of choice is skiing.

So How much lower would your golf handicap be? How good of a skier would you be?

Spending my days doing what I chose to do and not driving into a dead end job has been great for my game and great for my health. Is your job killing you?

So How can I spend so much time having fun?
Would you really want to know?

Keep with me, and I will let you in on the secret to success.
Do everyday what you love to do is a great advantage over just doing what you have to do.

Learn the secrets to success and strategies of multiple streams of income, to free up your life. Now take the next step and your life and your game will be transformed.

Joe Kennedy
http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/how-i-lowered-my-golf-handicap-83267.html

golf qstion for 10 points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?

hi im 16 and havnt played golf in my life before but today i went to a golf course with a friend just to putt.

i found out im remarkably talented at it i kept making 8 to 10 metre putts on the green and i practised for hours.

i have no problem with putting its almost as if i was born to do it.

But i havnt tried Driving i do bodybuilding so im pretty strong i think i can easily learn how to whack the ball 200 to 250 metres.

do you think i can end up being a pro golfer

and can you provide me with steps or a link on how to do this?

what do i need to do enter tournamens yadyada.

once im on the green its game over i can easily do it in 1 shot thank you for your help.

am i to old to one day turn pro?
so 16 is to old to start golf?

um a handicap?

Having the goal of becoming pro is a great goal. But there is a lot more to golf than just putting and driving. Certainly, these are two big aspects of golf. But you’ve left out the middle part of approaching the green. You should be taking two shots to get the ball on the green on a par 4, which comprises most of the holes on a course. Your approach shot may land on the green, but more often than not it will land somewhere around the green. Then you have the short game to work on.

I don’t say this to discourage you. It is just that there is a lot more to golf than just whacking down the fairway and then putting.

Don’t ever take your putting ability for granted. It can come and go from day to day. There will be times that you struggle with your putting. Just look back at the times you were able to 1 putt and then putt with confidence.

Keep up the good work.