Friday, April 29, 2011

Golf Swing Basics - 5 Tips to a Lower Score

Golf swing basics are the key to improvement for most golfers. All amateur golfers (and even some professionals) attempt to replicate the "perfect" basic golf swing (think Tiger Woods on a good day). Doing this will improve their game dramatically - helping them to make effortless powerful golf shots. The problem is that there is no such thing as a generic perfect golf swing. Each player has their own, individual, perfect swing.

You see, each golfers' body is different. Some are taller or shorter, more or less muscular, etc. So when it comes to golf swing basics we need to tailor the swing to the individual. Now, obviously just understanding the basics is not enough. You also need to practice your individual swing in order to achieve the results you desire.

Some golfers are fine hitting their irons, but cannot hit their driver well at all. For others it is the reverse. And for many golfers, especially those that play mainly on weekends - they have trouble hitting both irons and drivers. The most frequent result is a nasty slice or loss of power. Most of us have our standard blame list - bad weather, bad course, bad equipment.
For many people the real problem is that they have gotten away from golf swing basics. They have added complexity to their swing and thus made it much worse. By keeping the swing simple you will become more consistent and have much better results.
Just follow and practice these five basic golf swing fundamental to improve your mechanics and your overall golf game:

Alignment is the most important factor in hitting the ball square. The fundamental idea behind a good swing is to hit the ball dead center. This means that your setup to the ball is the most important element of the basic golf swing.

Be sure that your stance is comfortable and it will allow your body to rotate effortlessly. You can think of your spine as an axis around which your body will rotate. Find your center of gravity by sticking your backside out (yes it sounds strange, but really does work).

You must keep your eyes on the ball. This is an absolute essential to a proper golf swing, but is probably the most often ignored element. Yes, this one should be common sense. After all you need to see the ball in order to hit it. Looking up too soon in order to see where your ball went, will usually result in your ball going nowhere!

You need to take a different approach when it comes to your woods and irons. For your woods think "sweep". Woods are designed to sweep the ball off the tee. However, for your irons think about "pinch", as irons are made to pinch the ball off the ground.

Humming a tune can help your focus and also helps with your overall rhythm. Rhythm is an important aspect in striking the ball squarely and evenly. Personally, I like to hum Motown tunes, but anything will probably work.

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How to Improve Your Golf Swing in a Few Simple Steps

When you're not getting what you want out of your game, you may want to focus on your swing. Many golfers don't put enough time and effort into developing their swing and end up with low scores. If you can't figure out what you're doing wrong, take a look at the consistency of your golf swing. Here are a few pointers on how to improve your golf swing.

Many new golfers are in a hurry to get out on the green and get going without learning much about the game or how to be the best they can be at the sport. There are several factors that go into having a good, consistent swing.

A key factor to improving your swing is your overall health and dexterity. If you're starting your game without appropriate stretching and warming up, you tend to be stiff and short with your swing. Make sure to get limber by stretching and bending as well as getting your cardiovascular system going. You'll have the energy and flexibility to deliver a solid swing much better when you're pumped up.

Position is very important and can make the difference between night and day in your golf swing. Start with your footing. You need the perfect stance to create a foundation for the perfect swing. If you stand with your feet too close together, you will have a great back swing but that is only one piece of the puzzle. Too wide of a stance will prohibit a good back swing but help your forward swing.

There's obviously got to be a middle ground. While you'll want to improve on both areas once you get more comfortable, the easiest thing to do for now is be neutral. Using a good square stance will get you the best overall control over your swing. Stand with your feet both pointing out, slightly. Make sure you're comfortable, nothing is an exact science and the proper body position makes all the difference in the world.

Hand position is also a very important element to your golf swing. While some professional golfers have a style of holding the club that is very different from the norm, go with what works, first. When you get good enough to consider yourself to be in the big time, you can develop whatever grip you like.

For now, during your back swing, act like you're thumbing a ride. Keep your thumb up and aimed at the clouds during your back swing. As you rotate forward, make sure you keep your shoulders steady, not too rigid but not too loose. You don't want to be swaying in the breeze as you follow through. Keep your back straight and your arms positioned correctly. Letting go of your position too soon can land you in deep water, literally.

These are a few simple ideas that should help improve your golf swing. Most importantly, remember this-have fun. Don't take yourself or the game too seriously. No one expects you to win the Masters on your first outing. No one expects you to win it on your 1000th either, but you will definitely improve over time. Laugh and enjoy the greatest spectacle in the world.

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How to Improve Your Golf Swing - 3 Tips to Teach Yourself

Every golfer wants to know how to become a better golfer, and if you want to know how to improve your golf swing then perhaps you have come across more questions than answers. It can be frustrating, but it all becomes worth it when you start shaving strokes off of your game. Here are three tips you can use to improve your game and get the most from your golf swing.

1. First and foremost you must check your grip, stance, and posture. A good grip will have minimal pressure, and will not be too strong or too weak. Ideally you want your left hand to have two knuckles showing and the right hand to develop a v shape between the right index finger and thumb pointing to the right shoulder. Your stance should be square, with your shoulders and club face pointing at the target. Your posture should be erect and athletic, do not slump your shoulders!

2. Check your take away. Everything should move back together. This is known as the one piece take away where the arms hands and shoulders start back at the same time. In addition when the club reaches hip high it should be slightly outside the hands with the toe pointing to the sky. This is a key element when examining how to improve your golf swing.

3. Make sure that you have a complete shoulder turn. An incomplete shoulder turn leads to all kinds of problems from poor tempo, to a reverse pivot, to a swing that is too steep. Your shoulder turn must be full in order to get the most power and accuracy from your golf swing. A full shoulder turn should be where your left shoulder turns completely under the chin.
These tips should help you with your golf swing, and should get you shooting better scores and hitting more solid shots. If you really want to learn how to improve your golf swing then you need to practice everyday and you will succeed with this crazy game!

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Three Guaranteed Ways To Improve Your Golf Swing

There is more involved in improving your golf swing than just working on the mechanics of the golf swing. In fact many people make golf too complicated. They focus on every position and angle and very quickly suffer from what has been call paralysis by analysis. This article will present three ideas which if acted upon cannot help but improve your golf swing.

To start you should have your swing analyzed by a teaching golf pro and also ask to see and keep a video-tape of your swing. To make progress in any aspect of life you need a starting point, a benchmark. It is all well and good to be told your swing is too flat or you slide ahead of the ball at impact but there is nothing like seeing it for yourself. Only then will you really accept the current state of your swing and be able to take concrete steps to improve it.

Something most golfers seem to take for granted is their physical fitness. Now this doesn't mean being able to bench press 200 pounds or run a marathon. Where golf is involved there are really two areas to focus on; flexibility and golf specific strength training. Of course if you find stamina is an issue a regular walking program wouldn't be a bad idea either. Most golfers know that they are supposed to rotate their upper body to generate power on the backswing. The problem is that very few have the flexibility to do so without throwing their spine angle out of tilt. Another crucial element is having a strong core. Work on these two things and your game cannot help but improve. The website listed below recommends an excellent flexibility program you may want to look into.

The final piece of advice is simply to accept whatever physical limitations you may have and not try to swing like the pros. Basically do not over-swing. It is far more important for you to stay well-balanced and hit the ball with a square clubface than to try to generate a little more swing speed by sacrificing form. Try remembering just one thing; when your upper body has rotated as much as it can comfortably you should stop swinging your arms as well. This should be the top of your backswing. We all want to reach parallel or a 90 degree turn but for the average weekend golfer that spends all week at a computer this is just not realistic.

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Improve Your Hands and Improve Your Golf Swing

It seems as though many golfers are unaware of the importance the hands play in the execution of the golf swing. Obviously, we know that the hands grip the golf club and attach the body to the club. But what is the importance of them during the swing?

The answer has to do with releasing of the club. Let's go back and do a quick golf biomechanics review. During the swing, from address position to follow-through, the hands are active in a passive type of manner.

Let me explain. The goal of the golf swing is to move the club on the correct swing plane to induce the intended golf shot that you want. This occurs through the body's moving through a series of positions. These positions are found within the different phases of the golf swing.
The phases of the swing are address, take-away, backswing, transition, downswing, impact, and follow-through. During all of these movements the body is performing, the golf club is being moved upon a swing plane. The swing plane is the path upon which the golf club is to travel. Proper impact with the golf ball requires the golf club's traveling upon the correct swing plane.
In order for the club to travel on the correct swing plane it is necessary for the clubface to open and close. Oftentimes, in golf terms the opening and closing, of the clubface is termed "releasing of the club." This is where the hands become an integral part of the golf swing.
If you talk to almost any instructor, they will say that any good player has "great hands." This statement refers to exactly what was described above (the releasing of the club correctly). It's obvious if you look at players such as Tiger, Phil, or Vijay.
I even remember walking the course at Doral in Miami with top-5 teaching instructor, Rick Smith. One point he continued to return to in terms of discussing the golf swing was "hands." He stated more than once how any PGA Tour player has great hands. This just provides additional support for how important the hands are in terms of the golf swing.

But what does this all mean? Well, we know the hands are involved in the "opening and closing" of the clubface during your swing. This movement allows for the proper release of the club. As I mentioned, the hands are "active in your golf swing, but in a passive manner."
Again, to open and close the clubface during the golf swing the hands move back during the backswing, hinge at the top of the backswing, return the club to square at impact, and release the club afterwards. In order for this to occur the hands must be passive!

What do I mean by passive?

You cannot force the hands to move through the golf swing and release the club. This creates tension in the golf swing, affects tempo, and, overall, results in poor shots. If you do not believe me, go to the driving range, grip a club as hard as you can, and attempt to swing. The results will be much less than optimal.

I think Dean Reinmuth, ranked by Golf Digest as a top-30 teaching pro, puts it best when speaking about the hands in the golf swing. He discusses "feel" as an integral part of the golf swing. He states that in order to have a successful golf swing you must be "tension free."
"Feeling" the club move on the swing plane is an indicator of being "tension free." And in order to have this feeling, your hands must be relaxed (i.e. passive).

How do you develop good hands in your golf swing?

Easier said than done. In order to develop "feel" in the golf swing, remove "tension" from your golf swing and develop great hands, you must develop three fundamentals.
Fundamental number one is an understanding of the golf swing. In order to know what the body and golf club are to do during the swing you must know the biomechanics of the golf swing. If you don't, how are you going to know what the body and club are to be doing during each phase of the golf swing?

Secondly, you must develop the mechanics of the golf swing. Your body and mind must integrate the movements of the golf swing into a repeatable movement. This occurs through proper instruction and practice of the correct golf swing mechanics.

Finally, it is necessary to develop the body. Yes, the body! Your body must have the flexibility, strength, endurance, and power to perform the golf swing correctly. If the body is inflexible, weak, and powerless, how are you going to be able to perform the mechanics of the swing correctly?

The obvious answer is: you are not!

Developing great hands in your golf swing comes down to developing a "basket" of fundamentals within your golf swing. Understand the biomechanics of the golf swing, develop the proper mechanics within your golf swing, and develop a body to support your swing. These are the keys to developing great hands in your golf game.

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How To Improve Golf Swing With These 3 Easy Tips

In this article we will go over a few "quick fixes" to improve your golf swing. After reading this article you'll know exactly what to do to drive the ball farther, straighter and more accurately next time you're on the course.

First I'll tell you about these three quick fixes... and finally I'll let you in on the "ultimate secret" to performing perfect golf swings, every single time!
When trying to improve your golf swing, the first thing to realize is that the most important part of any golf swing is the set up.

This starts with your feet. Position your feet around shoulder width apart. Depending on if you have a longer or a shorter club you might need to adjust with a slightly wider or narrower stance. However, you should not move more than the width of one foot in either direction.
A lot of people tend to point their left foot slightly to the left as they set themselves up for the swing. Don't do this, as it prevents you from following through properly in the rotation of your swing... which brings me to the next point...

The biggest mistake I see people make is the position of their spines.
Your entire swing revolves around your spine, literally. It serves as an axis.
So, keep your spine straight throughout the entire swing. I cannot stress this enough. It is absolutely vital (have you seen how things tend to rotate on a bent axis?)

Finally, pay attention to your grip. The club should lie at the base to the middle joints of your fingers. Not in the hands. You position the clubs in the fingers, then simply close your palms around the club.

Use a firm but relaxed grip on the club. If you grip it too hard or too softly, you will rotate it slightly either to the left or to the right.

Alright... now, what's that big secret?

It's funny, because this is true of nearly every single sport on the planet.

Here it is: Relax.

If you can remove all the tension in your golf swing, I can guarantee you better, smoother, longer swings every single time.

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9 Ways to Improve Your Golf Swing and Bring Down That Handicap

Every golfer, whether high or low handicapper, wants to better his game and the secret to improvement lies in the golf swing. We are all individuals and as such we come in all shapes and sizes. However to achieve that perfect golf swing, and send the golf ball soaring away into the distance, we have to harness our individual physical peculiarities and ensure that at the moment of impact the club head travels through the drive line and impacts the golf ball square on. Here are nine ways that your golf swing can be fine-tuned to help Bring Down that Handicap.

* Before starting the golf swing the first basic essential is to keep your head still and look straight down at the golf ball. Many things are written and taught about the position of address relative to the ball but the position of the head is of prime importance. It should be perpendicular to your spine with your head raised slightly so that the left shoulder fits under the chin when you start the backswing. You will be unable to perform a proper golf swing with your chin tucked into your chest.

Practice addressing the golf ball, with your feet correctly positioned, your back straight and your head slightly raised whilst still looking at the ball. Practice a dozen times, your backswing and downswing without hitting the ball or following through, whilst keeping the head still. Take a rest, relax, and then repeat the exercise. Repetitive training will condition your body to automatically assume the correct posture each time you prepare to start your golf swing.

Relaxation is another important aid to perfecting your golf swing. Relaxation is not easy when you are striving to power the golf ball down the fairway. If however, you relax your muscles when addressing the ball, your golf swing will be that much smoother and consequently contact with the golf ball will be that much sweeter.

* However good an address set up you have it is still important to understand the affect of hitting the golf ball with your chosen club. There are 4 main factors affecting your golf swing and knowing how to combine these to produce a good swing is essential.
The first factor is the angle at which the clubface impacts the ball. A square on hit will propel the golf ball, without spin, straight down the fairway. Anything off of square will put spin on the ball and cause it to hook or slice.

* Secondly the vertical angle of the club head to the ball will affect the flight path height. Anything other than 90 degrees to the horizontal will cause the golf ball to fly high or stay low; either way the result will be loss of distance.

* Every golf club has a so called sweet spot. This is the optimum point on the club head that gives driving accuracy and distance. The size of the sweet spot varies with different golf club manufacturers and obviously the larger the sweet spot the easier it is to strike the golf ball well. The main point here however is to ensure that at address you align the ball with the centre of the sweet spot.

* The next important factor is the speed of your golf swing as the club impacts the ball. Speed equals power but this is not dependent solely on body strength. Flexibility, timing and movement of the upper body through the downswing play a great part in successfully striking the golf ball. Do not depend on shoulders and arms alone; accuracy and distance do not come this way.

* Following on from the last point it becomes apparent that to gain flexibility in your golf swing it is necessary to have more control over your body and a simple exercise regime should be followed to gain this control. The more control you have over your muscles allows you more relaxation and confidence during the golf swing which in turn leads to more control over your mind. We all know that golf is very much a game played in the mind.
Simple golf specific weight training will enable you to strengthen your muscles and improve functional strength and automatically gain more control and balance. We are not talking here about becoming the next Arnie Schwarzenegger; just a tone up to improve your general wellbeing which in turn will greatly assist your golf.

* If you are able to follow some simple golf specific weight training the main benefit will be found in your golf swing drill when addressing the golf ball.

To execute a good golf swing drill you start by swinging the golf club right back as far as your body allows. Obviously the older you are, the less flexible you become and you will not be able to achieve the back swing of your youth.

Having achieved your maximum back swing the drill moves to the down swing. Start this by transferring your weight easily from the back to the front foot as you swing the club with your hips, upper legs and then knees all moving forward.

The ideal golf swing is completed with the body weight on the outside of the front heel and the front of the rear foot.
If you carry out simple golf specific weight training as outlined in the previous tip your body will be better prepared to complete the perfect golf swing drill.

* You hear a lot about club speed and how important it is in achieving those long drives. Many of us are guilty of trying to hit the cover off of the golf ball. We get a great feeling of satisfaction when we make, what at first may seem to be a tremendous strike. Then seconds later we look up in dismay to see the golf ball veering sharply left or right.

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