2007 February | Golf Club

Do You Want a Golf Swing Plane Training Aid?

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Caddy @ 9:53 am

A golf swing plane training aid is a fun way to improve your swing. Many beginning golfers think that improving their swing has to be a lot of work, but it doesn’t. Swinging your clubs around is supposed to be the best part of playing golf. Using a swing training aid is a great way to get the feel of what your swing should be like, but you don’t want to become dependant on it.

Just for the Fun of It

Golfing is a fun sport that many people take too seriously. When you go out to play a round of golf, you are usually doing that to help you relax. So instead of worrying about your golf swing plane… have a little fun and relax.

A swing plane training aid can is a fun alternative to trying to fix your swing plane on your own. With the training aid, your swings will soon be exactly how you want them. PGA professionals use training aids when they are working on their own swing.

If you’re into sports, then you know how much dedication it takes to get better at any sport and golf is no different. You can’t just pick up a club and expect that you will know exactly how to swing it. By spending time on the golf course, you will be able to pick up new tips and tricks from the other people you are golfing with.

When to Use a Training Aid

A training aid should be used when you need that extra boost to help you find the right swing. With a swing training aid you can over do it, so you do not want to use it for hours at a time. Only use the training aid for a short ten to fifteen minute period, then try to mimic that swing with your regular golf clubs.

It is important to get back to your regular golf club and practice your swing. To improve your golf swing, you can alternate between a swing training aid, swinging your own club, and regular golf play. You will soon have the feel of what a good swing plane looks and feels like.

Golfing is a great sport that is fun for the whole family. You can spend an hour or a whole day at the course and never really get tired of it. How many other sports can you say that about?

Although it may take many years to get your golf game to the point that you want it to be at, you can have fun and enjoy the process of becoming a better golfer. Every day that you are out there playing golf, you will be getting better and better at it.

Author: Remy Jirek

Comments (0)

Tips For Golf Beginners On Selecting The Right Set Of Clubs

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Caddy @ 8:05 am

Golf beginners looking for their first set of clubs can often rush the purchase stage before taking on board proper advice and really getting a feel for the most suitable clubs which will suit their game.

Quite often, new players will take an interest in golf with the intention of playing the game regularly but after several rounds, the interest starts to wane and in many cases, they’re left with an expensive set of golf clubs that gather dust in the basement or in the trunk of a car.

How Serious Are You About Golf?

If you are in the beginners stage and showing an interest in making golf a regular past time then hold back on purchasing your first set of clubs. Why? Well, firstly, as mentioned, make sure golf is going to be a regular routine for you. Regular could mean playing a round at least once a week. Secondly, once you feel you want to continue to pursue the game, then you can start to think about buying your own set of clubs.

In the initial process, either borrow a set of clubs from friends or hire them. Hiring facilities are available at most golf courses with a pro shop on site and while you won’t have the best looking bag or buggy to cart around the course, you’ll be gaining valuable experience and getting an idea of the type of clubs that will suit your game. Asking the local golf shop pro for advice will pay good dividends. They will be only too happy to help you identify the correct golf clubs to include in your armoury. Usually, golf shop pros will make time for you by appointment and a fee is usually involved but it’s well woth the cost considering you are on the verge of making a major investment.

Choosing A Beginners Set Of Clubs

Be careful not to get too carried away about the number of clubs that will make up your starting set. Golf is a game of skill and patience and as a beginner, your initial foray into the game will be all about mastering the art of the golf swing and mastering individual clubs. As your game improves and you need to go up a level, then you can start to think about adding an extra club or two. Again, clubs should be added only after receiving proper advice.

There are lots of brands to choose from such as Wilson, King Cobra, Titliest, Callaway, Nike, Ping, Slazenger and the list goes on. In fact, as a beginner, you’ll be slightly overwhelmed about which brand is best. Don’t get too hung up on what brand you should buy. Quite often, new golfers will buy a brand of clubs simply because they are in fashion or because they received rash advice from friends. In the end, most brands have excellent quality clubs; what you need to decide is not which brand to buy but which club to buy.

Try Before You Buy

An excellent way of finding the most suitable clubs for you is to venture into a major golf store and try them out. Many golf superstores will have inside driving ranges where prospective buyers can try before they buy. It’s much like a clothing store where you try the clothes on to see if they fit right. The same concept applies to swinging a club before buying it: you want to make sure it’s the right fit. Does it feel right; does it grip right, how well does it swing and how much flexibility does it have? Doing it this way gives you the best chance of selecting the clubs that feel right to you.

Author: Dean Caporella

Comments (0)

“Play Better Golf When You Have A Better Back”

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Caddy @ 6:25 am

Low back pain represents one of the most common and costly diagnoses that the health profession manages on a continuous basis. It is one of the most common reasons to visit a physician, physical therapist, or chiropractor. The costs for evaluating and treating low back pain patients are estimated to be beyond $50 billion dollars a year in the U.S. Regardless of the costs from the multiple diagnostic options, physical therapists and other healthcare practitioners must become more efficient and effective with their treatment plans. Treatment must be aimed at the individual with the back problem rather than the back problem itself. It is crucial for the clinician to include in their clinical assessments to examine the person and their ability to function, and not just focus on the traditional clinical tests of impairments such as range of motion and strength tests.

Traditional exercises have been shown to be an effective treatment modality for patients with low back injury. Multiple studies have examined the benefits of exercise in treating patients with low back pain; however, there have been very few published reports describing specific program designs as it relates to golfers. Golf injuries to the low back are the most common problems in both the professional and amateur player. It’s poor technique and the repetition of hitting balls that usually leads to an injury. Combine that with the typical sedentary lifestyle (in which people drive to/from work in a seated position and work in a seated position for most of the day) and you begin to understand why there is such a high incidence of back pain among golfers.

A back injury results from excessive stress placed on the spine, usually when the body does not perform the correct sequence during the golf swing. Here is an astonishing fact: Eight times your body weight is forced through your spine as you make contact with the ball. So if you have poor mechanics combined with a weak back you are more likely to cause yourself a significant amount of injury.

To avoid back pain, I recommend you start by visiting a health professional for a golf-specific training program. A well-trained health professional is able to identify skeletal and muscle imbalances and give you correct golf specific exercises to improve your posture and overall conditioning specific for golf. Correct posture and muscle balance will enable you to get into the proper positions required to swing the golf club effectively.

The golf swing is considered a very unnatural movement for most people, especially for people with a sedentary lifestyle. As with most sports, golf is a sport that requires a lot of rotary movement. When we sit for the most part of the day, certain muscles get used to that position and become “tight”, while other muscles get “stretched out”. This leads to significant muscle imbalances that then put unnecessary stress on the back. In all likelihood, their golf muscles have “shut down” due to sitting for long periods. Effectively, the muscles that absorb force and reduce load in a golf swing (that is, the lower and deep abdominals) are relatively weak and aren’t able to work together. And if your hips and shoulders are tight, there is a greater chance of moving incorrectly.

The golfer’s checklist to ensure a healthy back:

1. Visit a physical therapist or chiropractor well versed with golfers for a golf-specific physical assessment and conditioning program.

2. Take a lesson from a PGA professional about basic fundamentals and how the body should move during the golf swing. Hopefully the PGA instructor uses video to analyze your swing.

3. Practice golf specific drills that teach the correct movements in your swing, which will decrease the chances of injuring your back.

4. Ensure your clubs are fitted properly for you, e.g. are your clubs too short or long? Are the shafts too flexible or stiff?

Author: Dr. Robert V. Duvall

Comments (0)

Don’t Get Your Golf Tip For Beginners From This Man!

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Caddy @ 2:10 am

If you’re looking for golf tip for beginners, then I’m about to give you probably the best single tip you can get, and it involves one person you shouldn’t try to copy.
His name’s Tiger Woods.

When anyone hears that name, it usually conjours up 2 images.
The first is of the dominant champion, sweeping away the competition to dominate the game.
The second is of Tiger when he was a little chap, being shown how to swing by his father.

Those 2 images are precisely the reason why you shouldn’t try and copy his game!

If you are a beginner, and let’s face it, most of us rank as ‘beginners’ after playing for decades, your golf tips should concentrate on 3 main areas -

1. A solid drive which goes to the middle of the fairway.
2. A short game to get you to the green more often that not from 100-150 yards out.
3. A putting stroke to dramatically reduce your 3 putts.

If you develop these 3 skills, your recreational game will improve by leaps and bounds, and your fellow players won’t be able to keep up.

So why not look to Tiger for these tips?
Because he is at the top of the world game, he is not interested in just hitting the fairway.
He’s interested in smacking it as far as he can, a monster 300 yarder which bends around the dogleg.

When he gets into the trees, Tiger doesn’t choose to lay up and play safe, he tries to bend it around the tree in front of him to get on the green.

Once on the green, he will believe he can sink that 25 footer, he won’t be aiming to take 2 shots.

The skills he uses to play that kind of game have been developed over year after year – can you imagine how many hours he has practised?
And of course his body is finely trained to be able to cope with playing those shots.
If you try to hit monster 330 yards off the tee, you’ll give yourself a back injury.

Author: Gordon Bryan

Comments (0)

Golf Club

February 7, 2007

Do You Want a Golf Swing Plane Training Aid?

February 5, 2007

Tips For Golf Beginners On Selecting The Right Set Of Clubs

February 1, 2007

“Play Better Golf When You Have A Better Back”

Don’t Get Your Golf Tip For Beginners From This Man!