In that glorious battle between you and the golf course designer there are certain weapons you need in your armoury. The obvious ones are a set of golf clubs and a golf ball and you are set to engage the enemy, the bumps and hollows of the fairway, the three inch rough and the sneaky pin positions. However a set of clubs and as many balls as you can carry are not enough to win this battle consistently so a few tricks of your own are required and this is where you will find them.

The lob shot.

Arguably the hardest shot in the whole golf game the lob shot is fraught with danger but can reward you with close to the pin birdie opportunities or even up and down par saves. Practice is required as a miss hit will leave the ball in exactly the same place or sixty yards over the green. Set up slightly open to the target with the ball slightly forward in your stance and the club a little open, take a three quarter swing and accelerate through the ball fast, the combination of speed and open club face will pop the ball high into the air with gallons of backspin so it will land softly and stop or even roll backwards a little.

The Pitch Shot.

The shot from sixty to seventy five yards out which can float your ball to the green and roll up to the pin. You can use any wedge for this shot but usually a pitching wedge or sand iron would be selected. This is a wristy shot with not much arm or body movement. Set up with the lower body open but the shoulders and club face square to the target. Take the club back fairly steeply keeping it on plane and only around three quarters of the way back, i.e. you arms should reach a point at where they are parallel to the ground, the down swing is a mirror of the back swing and will finish at about three quarters of maximum so the club shaft will be pointing straight up.

The Bump and Run

A shot played mostly on links courses where there may be a lot of wind but you can utilise it anywhere to keep the ball low beneath the breeze or where you want to just run it up to the green. A low shot is usually safer than a high, lofted shot for most amateurs and the bump and run is a low risk shot. Use any club for this from a putter to a five iron. To play the shot set up square to the target line, place the ball back in your stance and swing in a putting motion with little to no body motion. The length of back swing will affect the distance the ball travels so practice with a few different clubs to get a feel for it. My favourite club is my trusty seven iron and having used it for a few seasons I now have a pretty good idea of the back swing needed to get the ball where I want it.

The Chip Shot

From a few feet off the green or even on the putting surface a good chip shot can be a par saver, allowing you to roll the ball close if not in to the hole. This shot could be described as a jumpy putt as the motion is the same and the idea is to get the ball rolling not flying. This is, like all these shots a feel shot and preparation and practice are required. To play the chip shot stand slightly open to the target and place the ball to the rear of your stance, keep the wrists firm and putt. The trick is to select a club which will give you a short flight and the roll you need to get to the pin. Practice will allow you to gauge this for your swing but as a rough rule of thumb a nine iron will fly approximately as far as it will roll and as you go up the cubs the ratio will change so a seven iron will roll about one and a half times as far as it flies.

The Greenside Bunker Shot

The evil course designers like to protect the hallowed greens with these nasty, horrible sand traps knowing that for the amateur player and pros as well they can wreck a scorecard in seconds but you can leave your partners in the beach as you fly softly to the pin with a bit of practice. To play a bunker shot first and foremost dig your feet in, this gives you a solid base and allows you to get a feel for the sand, set up open to the pin with an open club face, aim a little left of target and use your arms and wrists for a wide swing, keeping a firm grip on the club, and accelerating all the way to a high finish. You have to imagine the ball is the yolk of a fried egg and you want to slice it off the surface so the club will enter the sand slightly before the ball. The bounce of the sand wedge will cause the club head to glide through the sand creating a wave upon which the ball will ride and fly softly out. Do not wimp out on this shot as anything less than full commitment will leave you in the bunker

You will have noticed all these shots are in the short game area and the reason for that is because that is where most of your strokes are played and wasted. Drive for show, putt for dough as the saying goes but the short game is vital to maintaining a healthy score card. Practice these five shots and see your handicap tumble, leave the driving range to the muscle heads and play the golf of winners.



By: Norman Stanley

About the Author:

I grew up on a golf course. Mine was the perfect golfing family. Our surname was identified with one of the greatest golfers of the 20th century, Bobbie Locke (no relation though!). My father courted my mother on the golf course and she learnt to play and my brothers did too. But I never really got to play golf really well but if I had had access to the beginners golf guide I want to tell you about, well, my golf career would have been very different!

Learning golf is ideal for families. It is also ideal for getting away from families it is your choice! Fact is that 80% of American golfers never really make it to the top ! Learning golf is like learning a musical instrument. 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. A significant part of learning golf is learning the most efficient and consistent wrist motion for the forward or target hand.

How To Learn Golf

Learning golf doesn’t have to be difficult. Learning the lesson to be learned often requires a shift in our understanding that alters the way we think about what we believe. Learning patiently, drawing from nature with observation, experiment, and deduction leads one in the directions of long-term progress. Learning the mind/body game is long overdue if you are serious in your pursuit of high performance and excellence in golf or business. Without learning golf, one cannot play golf properly. But learning golf can be fun and be really enjoyable.

Equipment

Equipment should “fit” the golfer as to length, weight, and “feel”. Equipment is supplied at the beginners and intermediate levels. Golf equipment for a training program is inexpensive, portable and is definitely used in the convenience of your home. These people — who spend untold zillions of dollars on equipment, lessons, magazines, books, and assorted paraphernalia — are the ones for whom this is written. The main reason, I think, is because the secrets make golf seem far more difficult than purveyors of equipment, golf travel, golf lessons and golf magazines care to admit.

Maybe there are no shortcuts, but there certainly are a lot of other factors needed to become a top player: like a good teacher, high tech equipment, proper course management, and plain old ‘grit and determination’. The guide below will really set you on the right road to learning golf.

By: Robert William Locke

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How many times have you had a bunch of trees slightly blocking your balls path to the pin? Wouldnt it have been nice to be able to fade or draw the shot accordingly? It will take a bit of time at the range; but after a bit of practice, you will be confident in fading or drawing your shot.

The Draw:

A draw (for a right handed player), is when the golf ball curves slightly to the left when hit. It is less severe, and more desirable than a hook; which is when the golf ball sharply curves to the left (and often ends up in a pond or the woods).

How to Draw the Golf Ball:

Stand with a slightly closed stance. This means that if you placed your club even with your feet, the club would be pointed slightly to the right of the target. You will therefore feel as if you are aiming to the right of the target.

Close the club-face slightly, relative to how you are standing. This means the face of your club will be pointed at the target.

Play around with this. Go to the range and try playing around with how much you close your stance, this will determine how much the ball will draw.

The whole idea of closing your stance causes your swing to have a slight in-to-out swing path; which is what causes the ball to curve to the left when hit. The club will make contact with the ball slightly below the balls equator (looking down on it).

The Fade:

A fade (for a right handed player), is the opposite of a draw; when the ball curves slightly to the right when hit. The fade is the more controlled form of a slice; which is when the ball wildly veers off to the right when hit.

How to Fade the Golf Ball:

Just like you had a slightly closed stance with the draw, this time you will have a slightly open club face. Have your feet align slightly to the left of the target. You will feel as if you are aiming to hit the ball to the left.

Open the club-face slightly, relative to how you are standing. It will again be pointed at the target.

Again, practice this at the range. Test to see how much the ball curves relative to how open your stance is; the more you do this, the more confident you will be in judging how to fade the golf ball out on the course.

Opening your stance forces you to hit the ball on an out-to-in swing path. This means making contact with the golf ball slightly above the balls equator (looking down on it). The out-to-in swing path is what gives it proper spin to fade to the right.

Fading and drawing your golf shots may be tricky at first, but keep on playing around with it, and you will be able to fade or draw your shot around those trees with confidence and finesse. Those are the types of shots people ooh and ahh over, so get practicing!



By: Savannah Durbin

About the Author:

Whether you are a golf veteran or a newbie who just setting you foot on the golf course, you must follow the rules. In fact, good golf ethics not only help you appreciate the game bit also serve as a respect to both the game and other people who are playing the game. Below are some general rules of golf that golfers must know.

1) Before starting the games, make sure to have enough tees and golf ball to ensure that you can finish the game to the last.

2) Before attempting every shot, make sure there is no one near to the target and no one around when you perform your swing.

3) Never play fast just to finish the games

Keeping pace is a necessary part of the golf games. You need to maintain the appropriate speed in the golf course when swinging each time. Never go too fast just to finish the games faster.

4) You only allow to spend 5 minutes to look for the lost ball.

5) Master your golf fundamental – Grip, stance, posture

These are “must skills” to master before you have a consistent swing that helps you to stand up to 18 holes. If you get one of the basics wrong, it will compromise your points. For example, if your grip method is wrong, you will find it hard to drive your ball to the desired direction. Besides the grip method, the posture indicates your swing path and swing plane. If your posture is wrong, your path will be out of position and you’ll probably get a poor shot distance.

6) The most important for a beginner golfer to learn how to swing a golf club.

This is the first step to enjoy the game and see the consistent improvement in you. Without mastering the golf swing, you’ll never master golf. Nowadays there are many quality video that teaches you how to perform your golf swing with the correct grip instruction, posture, and stance. It is the easiest way to master the swing with tips and simple step by step instructions which can be watched again and again.

Golf is a unique game that is played by people of all ages, you can play alone or in the group at different level social group. Most importantly, it is also a healthy sport which you can enjoy and keep your body fit and flexible. If you are new to golf, you will never quit after you master the basic rules and the golf swing.

By: Eason Chan

About the Author:

There are almost as many theories about the golf swing as there are instructors. And one of the least understood aspects of the swing is the rotation of the hips to an “open” position just before impact.

Most contemporary golf instructors believe it is necessary to “clear your hips just before the point of impact” in order to get your hips out of the way of your hands. According to this theory, if you don’t “clear your hips” your hands and arms will be impeded and will not be able to attack the ball with power.

This is sometimes used as an explanation for why an overly “vertical” stance is not a good thing. According to this line of thinking, when you stand too close to the ball your hands will not be able to make a clean pass in front of your body because on the way down your hips will get in the way.

But while hip rotation is very important to the effectiveness of the golf swing, it is not because the hips are in the way of anything. In fact I can’t see that this idea of “clearing the hips” makes much sense. Your hips are not in the way of your hands. In fact, rotating your hips towards the target pushes your backside out further towards your hands and puts your hips more in the way than if you did not rotate them.

Most of us — whether we rotate a lot or not — are not in the habit of hitting our hips with our hands when we swing our golf clubs. The reason is simple: our hips do not get in the way of our swing, and to suggest this as an explanation of the importance of hip rotation is just plain misleading.

In my own research, on the course and in my basement “lab”, I have found that hip rotation does indeed put the club on a more powerful, more direct path to the ball coming into the point of impact. But as far as I can tell, this has very little to do with getting your hips out of the way of your hands.

What happens when you rotate your hips is that this allows you to get your shoulders and arms in the optimal power position. This happens because your upper body and lower body move in a synchronized way. In the golf swing, as in most other movements involving the human body, your upper body, including your shoulders and arms, moves in harmony with and in response to the movement of your lower body — your hips and legs.

Think of a power hitter in baseball. Those classic photographs of Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Reggie Jackson or Barry Bonds making contact with the ball always tell the same story. Their arms are fully extended, hips are rotated to an open position, head is back, and they are perfectly balanced with most of their weight now centered over their front leg and hip. In fact they have used their front leg and hip as a pivot around which their upper body has rotated. Take that pivot away — swing with just your shoulders and arms — and you’re left with a much less fluid, much less coordinated, and much less powerful swing.

In the golf swing this connection of upper and lower body is less obvious because the golf swing is a combination of vertical and horizontal. But the principle is the same. The rotation of the hips pulls your upper torso around and gets your lead shoulder into the correct position (the left shoulder in the case of a right hander) at the point of impact. Ben Hogan described this hip movement as a matter of throwing your lead hip around and back against the wall — one of the most useful images in all of golf instruction.

Try it in slow motion. Place your club head along the swing path about 18″-24″ behind the ball (on the inside/out arc). Make sure your lead hand and arm are straightened as they should be in the impact position. Now rotate your hips so the club head moves towards the ball (keeping your hands and arms locked in the previous position).

Notice that when your club head reaches the ball, your hips will be “cleared”, and your lead shoulder will be rotated as well. Your lead arm will be in the correct “power position” with the arm and club shaft forming a more or less straight line down to the ball.

Now pick your club up and swing it more horizontally like a baseball bat. If you have had any baseball training at all, your hips will just naturally lead the swing and your shoulders, arms and “bat” will follow.

In fact trying to make an “all-arms” swing without hip rotation will feel awkward and unsynchronized. Your arms will not be able to follow the momentum that wants to carry them around to a natural finish. This is why golfers who do not “finish” their swing by rotating their lower body will often snap the club back to the starting position.

The basic principle here is one taught by golf teachers since teachers first started analyzing the swing: upper body follows lower body. Coming to a better appreciation of this principle can only have a positive impact on your golf swing.



By: Rick Hendershot

About the Author:

For anyone who wants to learn the secrets of golf there are lots of lessons for beginners. Special golf schools organize golf lessons for beginners all year round for groups of fifteen to twenty people. Recently it has become a business practice to send members of the staff to golf lessons for beginners in order to achieve some team building goals. Or you may simply take advantage of golf lessons for beginners while on vacation and the hotel where youre staying offers this facility. This could be a truly unique opportunity for you and thered be lots of fun.

Who can take advantage of golf lessons for beginners? There are no restrictions for age or gender; on the contrary children are highly encouraged to take up a sport that creates great focus skills. The internet is the most rapid way to learn on the possible offers golf schools provide. You may choose to have golf lessons for beginners with an individual trainer, or you may attend regular classes designed for groups. It is important to mention that it comes much more difficult to start learning golf on your own, whereas golf lessons for beginners provide the basic knowledge necessary for further practice.

Keep in mind that if you want to take golf lessons for beginners as a hobby, you have to take it as some sort of leisure activity. By this I mean that you should make all the efforts necessary without losing the fun part of it, after all this is a sport and a great relaxation opportunity. Golf lessons for beginners vary in price from one school to another; usually classes are more expensive at clubs that target mainly executives for instance. At regular sports centres, the costs are pretty accessible when it comes to golf lessons for beginners.

A site such as www.ultimategolftips.com will give some insight on this sport and will teach you what to expect from golf lessons for beginners. Moving to the next step on your own should not be too difficult afterwards. You may consider the golf lessons for beginners as the first step of individual practice too, as when you master the basics it is a lot easier to move to some more difficult exercises. There are plenty of tips online for those who want to aim at the professional level; yet, it takes patience and a lot of practice. Good luck!







By: Emmanuel Mba

About the Author:

While football is considered one of America’s greatest pastimes, few know the secrets of throwing the ball properly. A proper football pass is a perfect spiral delivered directly to the target. With that in mind, this article will attempt to explain some methods that actual football coaches use to teach their quarterbacks the right way to throw.

When trying to throw the perfect spiral, there are three things that you need to consider: the positioning of your hand, the release of the ball, and the timing of the whole pass movement. As far as gripping the football goes, many coaches recommend that you grip the ball with your ring finger placed on the first lace of the football. Your pinky should also grip the laces, and the best positioning for the pinky is between the next two laces up from the first. This usually varies from player to player, due to hand size and preference. For instance, Michael Vick of the Philadelphia Eagles is a highly respected quarterback who keeps his fingers on laces one and four, respectively.

When it comes to the actual throw of the ball, it’s recommended that you hold the ball with as tight of a grip as possible. This tends to aid the spiral’s spin, making it easier to catch for the receiver. After pulling back for the throw, you’re going to want to make sure that you are on your last step before you take the throw is with the foot that you are throwing with. Simply put, if you are throwing with your right hand, your right foot should be forward. One little trick that many coaches use to help their players develop aim in their throws is to point at where they want to throw with the big toe of their leading foot. This helps the body to rotate properly and to ensure a throw in the right direction. When it comes to releasing the ball, you should release when your wrist is cocked at a 90 degree angle from your upper arm. Immediately after releasing the throw, flick your wrist in a downward direction. This causes the ball to spin, and when done properly can result in a perfect spiral throw.

Now that you can see some of the basics of getting a good throw down, it’s time to practice. Just be sure to watch what is going wrong when you try to make a pass so that you can better correct the problem in the future. It’s all just a process of getting your body used to doing the proper motion.



By: Jonathon Hardcastle

About the Author:

As a beginner to improve golf swing, you need an instructor with a good teaching reputation. He or she will observe you and make the necessary corrections. If you’re serious or interested in improving, get the basic from one instructor. The instructor is very important in your developing a consistent, repeatable golf swing.

Another way is go to a space with a large area of grass, put a marker in the middle and walk 50 or so yards away. Take some old clubs and using your golf swing, throw the club towards the target. The motion you use is very natural and you want your swing to be as close to your throwing swing as possible.

You may also take a couple of basic lessons starting with the grip, stance, ball position and the swing plane. Chances are if these are all co-related you will have a good base from which to work. The swing plane is the path the club will take from the time you start your back swing to the finish when your belt buckle faces the target you selected.

You can put your right hand on the bottom of the grip but if you aren’t use your left hand. Then take your left hand and put it on the grip and your thumb is about to touch the tip of your fingers. You need to keep your knees bent and loose keep your legs apart keep your shoulders down.

Expert golfer also asks you to make sure your back elbow is tucked in by your ribs or body. Concentrate on your hips. That’s where the power comes from for distance. When addressing the ball keep your hands directly underneath your face.

Taking tips from everywhere may actually be bad for your beat. Not all tips are applicable. Depending on where your swing is at now, and what your problems are, as well as type of your swing (one plane/ two planes). Thus if you don’t know what you need and try to apply those tips, they will actually ruin your swing.

You need to have a quality practice, meaning that you have a specific goal to work toward each time you do hit balls or in other words a routine. The best thing to improve golf swing would be to either buy the Medicus driver or 5 irons, or get a series of lessons in a video.

By: Adli Yusof

About the Author:

Any golf enthusiast understands the importance of having proper setup and address position before making a swing. Everything must be parallel to your target and you must achieve the right kind of focus before you go and swing your club. If you have problems with your swing, there are lots of golf swing trainers available. They help ensure that everything is in proper order so you can maximize your golf game.

Click Here For The ClubFace Golf Instant Access!

As a golfer, you must understand that you must align your feet, knees, hips, arms, and shoulders with your target. You must learn how to grip the club in such a manner that you do not feel like choking or squeezing something. You will know that you are properly setup once you achieve a balanced position. This simply means that you will not topple over if someone pushes you.

Golf swing trainers will also help you understand the mechanics of the upswing. You must remember that the power of your golf swing largely depends on the torque you are able to create with your body. A proper swing involves a nice shoulder turn and a hinge that will bring your club to the right place. Once you are able to completely wind up your body, you will be able to maximize torque and deliver a complete downswing.

Swing trainers will also help you develop your downswing. During your downswing, you will feel some kind of release in your hips and shoulders. Your wrists will unhinge in a relaxed manner and carry your ball away while your arms go down to impact. You must remember not to decelerate during your downswing as this can negatively affect the accuracy and distance of your golf swing. Do not forget to follow through.

If you want to improve on your golf swing, it is important that you seek help from golf swing trainers. Doing so, you will realize that you already understand the ins and outs of a golf swing which can greatly affect your progress on improving in this game.



By: Chris Jensen

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Golf is a sport where players must be right in gauging the distance of your target. It comes with experience and practice. But even still the pro players cannot get the yardage correct even after years of experience, especially on challenging golf courses with many levels of elevation. You want the best laser rangefinder for golf to get precise yardages on the course. Golf GPS and laser range finders have almost completely got rid of guess-work for every shot.

Thanks to the innovative engineering in laser rangefinders for golf, not only you can get dead-on distance to the pin just with a press of a button. Many of the best golf golf laser rangefinders have been brought onto the market today. They have been a blessing to numerous golfers worldwide. These devices use cutting-edge laser engineering to measure distance to any point on any course or practice range; even factoring in slopes.

Many of the best golf laser rangefinders are Bushnell Yardage Pro, Bushnell Pinseeker 1500 Tournament. Bushnell is the leader when it comes to finding the best golf rangefinders. Its models are used by amateurs and pro golfers alike.

Today players get a lot of choice of golf GPS units and golf laser rangefinders on the market. It can get very difficult to select the best rangefinder for golf which suits your preference and budget. But you can get a lot of direction by reading unbiased best golf rangefinder reviews on the internet. There are numerous independent sites which rank different golf laser rangefinders from different brands and judge each unit’s special benefits.

Critiques can help you make an informed decision. It also helps to read buyer feedback and reviews on several sites and blogs as youll get direct info from the end-user. Virtually all of the best rangefinders for golf are very easy to use. They present the yardage instantly without the delay that can be present in a golf GPS system. They use advanced laser and digital engineering to measure out yardage to any object. Many range finders also give you precise distance even if the mark is partially obscured by trees or other hazards.

In order to decide which is the best rangefinder for golf for you, then you must consider your skill level, whether you play and measure your rounds for handicap purposes or you are an occasional golfer playing for fun. Evaluate the characteristics of individual rangefinders and purchase the best rangefinder for golf that suits your talents and of course your wallet.

You can get the best golf laser rangefinder online. Its the best way to shop a golf GPS system or laser rangefinders for golf. Websites like Amazon.com or eBay offer you excellent prices which can be much less than what you would pay in any offline local sales outlet.



By: Richard Larkin

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