Golf Fitness Training Equals Great Golf

If you’ve watched any golf on the television you’ve no doubt heard the commentator’s mention golf fitness training. It’s no secret that 95 percent of professional golfers are doing some for of golf fitness training.

If there livelihood depends on their performance and they are participating in golf fitness training, why wouldn’t amateur golfers do the same?

The golf swing is one of the most physically demanding movements on the human body of all sports.

Swinging a three and a half foot long implement at upwards of 100 mph, while maintaining balance, stabilization and proper swing mechanics is very difficult.

I don’t think I have to convince you of that do I?

The “only” way to be able to accomplish this is by improving the strength AND flexibility of your golf muscles with a golf fitness training routine.

What’s the simplest way to do this?

I can tell you not on a machine in your local gym.

Just take a look at the golf swing to realize it’s “on your feet” and bent at the waist. How could sitting in a machine help that?

It can’t!

You’ve got to do as many exercises as possible on your feet, involving balance, coordination, strength and flexibility.

You don’t even have to be a golf fitness specialist to come up with some creative golf exercises on your own.

How about making your golf swing while holding a single handweight? You can’t get anymore golf-specific than that.

What about some exercise tubing (that’s inexpensive) attached to your door and make your golf swing? Another very golf-specific exercise.

You don’t need a gym membership to do any of these and many more golf exercises. Convenience of doing these exercises in your home saves time and money.

There is a lot of information (including books) showing golfers on machines in gyms. That’s not “golf-specific”, that’s “general fitness”.

If you want to improve your game quickly and easily, try doing these “in-home” golf exercises. You won’t believe how quickly your body will respond to golf fitness training and how you’ll be the LONGEST hitter in your foursome in no-time.

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Golf Workouts For Winter

Golf workouts for winter is a great approach to taking advantage of the time you now have available to improve your golf since you’re not playing as much, if not at all. It’s a way to stay connected to your golf game when you’re not able to play due to the conditions (snow, temperatures, ice, etc.).

Have you gone into depression mode when winter hits and you can’t play golf anymore? I know this use to happen to me until I finally moved to a year-round nice climate. This transition from playing golf regularly to not at all can be depressing.

What do you do with all the time you now have since you’re not playing?

The answer? Golf workouts for the winter! This is your “off-season” and like most athletes they work on their body’s to take their game to the next level. This is a time where you evaluate your game and work on your weaknesses.

A common denominator for most golfers, especially senior golfers is “physical capabilities”. This is your current level of golf-specific strength and flexibility. It is highly unlikely you have no physical limitations in your golf swing. 80% or more of amateur golfers play with an injury during the season. This would tell me there is a physical issue.

What better time than winter to do golf workouts to greatly improve this situation. There is no excuse. You’ve got the time and hopefully you’ve got the motivation to improve your game. You’ve just got to set up a game plan in regards to your golf workouts for winter.

The first step is to get a physical evaluation done to diagnose your current level of fitness specific to golf. You can hire a local golf fitness trainer or look on the web. Golf workouts are becoming so popular you can’t miss finding out information about them.

Once you’ve gotten your golf fitness evaluation, assess the areas that need the most work and spend the majority of your time on those areas. Most likely this would be flexibility and core strength. These are two very common areas that are lacking and can make the most impact on your golf improvement.

You will be shocked at your progress if you stick with it through the entire winter. The first time you step on the range, you’ll feel like a different golfer. It will be like an “out-of-body” experience. You’ll soon realize this is what you’ve been missing all along.

So when you put those clubs up for the winter and go into depression mode…remember this article and start your golf workouts for winter.

Balance and Your Golf Game

Golf professionals all have different opinions on improving your golf game, but most agree on one thing. Unless you keep your balance during the entire swing, you simply cannot have a good stroke. Keeping your balance should be easy right? If you are so tense that you’re crushing your club, tensing your entire body and trying to hit the ball to hard, it’s nearly impossible.

As a beginner playing golf, you’re told quite often to not hit the ball to hard. Staying focused and hitting the ball with the center of the club will give you a longer shot that a swing that doesn’t hit at the club’s center, no matter how hard. Establishing your balance frees you to hit the ball correctly.

Keeping your head still will allow you focus on the ball. With your eyes on the ball, this creates a foundation for keeping you balanced. It is imperative that you keep your head perfectly still and ensure it doesn’t move during your swing. Movements or distractions that disrupt your balance mean you lose focus on the ball.

Keeping your body relaxed is the key. Relaxing your muscles and body will prevent your head from moving during the swing.

Use a mirror to watch yourself. This allows you to quickly realize that you need to relax in order to keep your head still while you swing. Since your build and movements are not the same as mine, you’ll have to work out some of the details on your own. Work the most on keeping your head in the same position from start to finish through your swing. Doing this will let you focus on the ball and you will turn your hands at the right time.

If you can master keeping your head completely still, you’ll see several problems disappear altogether. Eventually, you will grip your club correctly every time, keeping your balance and keeping your head still, without even thinking.

A correctly formed follow through will also mean that you can keep your balance.

Concentrating on your balance, and keeping your head still will prevent you from swinging to hard or pulling your club away. The amount of strength you put into your swing will be just right, and you’ll stay relaxed and finish successfully with a smooth swing.

Enjoying a great game of golf requires keeping your balance. This isn’t a quick fix, it’ll take time but you should start seeing improvement quickly, but be patient. Focus on maintaining your balance, and your head in one position, and in almost no time at all you will be enjoying such an improvement your friends will be asking for your secrets.

Are You Ready for High Tech Golf

It was only a matter of time before golf and technology merged, and that time is now. From computer gadgets to software, you’ll find that there are some very interesting technological advances aimed at golfers.

Scorekeeping is one place where software has really come into play. Keeping score on a single game of golf isn’t that difficult, but tracking a series of games and establishing a handicap for tournament play has traditionally been serious business. There are several types of scorekeeping software for golf players and some are even recognized by certain tournament officials to establish eligibility to play.

The options include online sites that are very simple to use. The golfer enters his or her information online and the program does all the calculations. Some golf organizations include the use of this type of program as a benefit of membership.

Evaluating a player’s swing has always been the bane of golf professionals and instructors. Where exactly is the player going wrong? And how can it be corrected? There are a couple of major programs for swing analysis available. Typically, a movie is taken of the golfer while he executes a typical swing. Then the computer software overlays an image of a perfect swing, giving the golfer and the instructor a frame-by-frame analysis. Not only is the golf swing slowed down for a critical look, but it’s easy to pinpoint any problems.

Practice is another area improved by technology. Those who want to practice their golf games often have very limited options. They can go to a driving range or golf course to get in real practice, or they can practice putting in limited space. But the golfer who lives in a crowded neighborhood can now use one of several golf aids to practice swings right in the backyard.

In this case, the answer doesn’t have to be high-tech, though there are some really great technical options. Some golfers use a net to catch the ball a few feet past the swing, though this does at least slightly limit the benefits of practice because there’s no way for the golfer to tell whether it would have been an excellent shot. Some of the high-tech golf aids allow you to see how far the ball would have traveled and the exact path it would have taken.

There will probably never be a time when computerized golf takes the place of 18 holes on your favorite golf course, but there’s no doubt that technology has an important role in golf today.

5 Golf Facts That Will Change Your Game

Are you seeing the same decrease in your handicap that reflects your hard work and efforts? Do you consistently fall short on your drives or feel exhausted at the end of 18 holes? Do you carry the disappointment of a missed putt over into the next hole? If you are plagued with problems like these then it is time to give your golf game a boost. Change your golf game for the better by focusing on the following five areas: flexibility, strength, endurance, nutrition, and mental toughness.

Flexibility:

Have you ever rushed to the golf course, quickly stepped up to the tee and felt stiff when you swung your golf club? Warming up your muscles can help relieve stiffness, but it is better to be more proactive in your approach. Therefore, it is essential to stretch on a regular basis. This allows you to increase and maintain your flexibility. You only need a small investment of your time in order to see significant gains in your range of motion.

Strength:

Have you incorporated strength training into your exercise routine? Many golfers are tempted to swing as hard as possible when hitting the golf ball. There are several adverse side effects of doing this. Your muscles may not be physically prepared for the intense strain and you may become injured. Increasing strength will enable your body to tackle the demands of the golf swing and prepare it for the action ahead.

Endurance:

Do you lose your intensity or feel tired after a few holes? If so, then focus on your endurance. At first glance, golf may not appear to be a game in which aerobic fitness is necessary. However, golfers that walk the course can walk nearly five miles over the course of 18 holes. Try to work in 20-45 minutes, 3-5 days per week of cardiovascular activity.

Nutrition:

Your body needs the proper fuel to work efficiently. Common sense dictates that loading up on junk food is a bad idea. So what exactly should you eat? An optimal sports nutrition menu plan will include high quality carbohydrates, lean protein, fruits, vegetables, and plenty of water.

Mental Toughness:

Are you still thinking about the drive you sliced on the first hole as you set up to tee off at the second hole? This negative thought pattern will adversely affect your game. How you perceive the situation affects each shot. One way to increase your mental toughness is not to relive missed shots. Visualize a good shot to help erase the missed shot from your mind.

Take these five facts into account and you’ll likely see better results with your game. It will take some time to make these activities a habit, but will be well worth the effort.

All For The Love Of Golf

Golf is supposed to be an enjoyable game. We golf over and over again, because we love the game. So why do we beat ourselves up, just before we get off the first tee box? Have you ever heard yourself with a bunch of negative emotions before the golf round?

“Another day out on the golf course and my back is killing me.” Why would you even consider golfing, if it were painful? Why did those even consider golfing with a bad back? I’ll tell you why. All for the love of golf!

“I have to get through this eighteen with the least amount of pain.” Why not play nine holes instead of eighteen? I’ll tell you why. All for the love of golf!

“I am not too sure if the mental part of my game can take any more. It’s tough mentally when things just aren’t going right.” If your confused mentally, why even bother picking up a golf club? I’ll tell you why. All for the love of golf!

“I hope this is not going to be another brutal round, like the other day?” When things are not going right, why not take a day off from golf and meditate instead? I’ll tell you why. All for the love of golf!

“If I do not hit the fairway on the first tee box, I think I’ll quit playing golf after eighteen.” Why quit after eighteen when the first shot may be the reason to quit? I’ll tell you why. All for the love of golf!

“If I do not make par on the first hole, I am not going to keep score for the rest of the round.” If your temper is that bad, why carry a scorecard at all? I’ll tell you why. All for the love of golf!

“The first water hazard my ball ends up in, my golf clubs are going in with it.” Do yourself a favor and play with rentals. Why? All for the love of golf!

“I better not three putt any greens today. I’ll break my putter on the first three putt green, if I do.” Do yourself a favor and pick up for two. Why? All for the love of golf!

“Frosty will never see winter, if I get a snowman today.” Do not play golf with anybody by the nickname Frosty. Why? All for the love of golf!

To help avoid some of these negative emotions, booking a tee time in advance will help keep your mind on a positive level. Why? All for the love of golf!

Handling Tee Box Pressure In Golf

If you’ve played golf for any length of time, you have undoubtedly encountered a situation or two which made you nervous. This phenomena is called ‘tee box pressure’, or TBP for short.

Perhaps it’s happened when you were getting ready to hit your tee shot off #1 with a dozen people watching. Maybe it was when you were paired with the top golfer in your club championship. Whatever the situation, one thing is sure: every golfer will find themselves dealing with TBP sooner or later!

WHY THE NERVES?

What is it about golf that gets us feeling this way in the first place? After all, when you step onto the golf course, there usually aren’t any lives at stake. In addition, whether you perform well or not on any given day, there are a billion people in China who will not care!

This is a complicated question which will have different answers for different people. Often times, we have too much of our egos wrapped up in the game. The more we invest in something (and we all know that golf can be all-consuming), the more we expect in return. When the ‘game is on’, we fear failure. With this fear in our mind, our muscles tighten. This, in turn, makes it harder to have the free-flowing swing and effective touch game that is needed to score well.

Here are a few tips which will help you the next time you are getting ready to play a pressure round.

• PREPARE MENTALLY

During the days leading up to the big game, prepare yourself mentally for the atmosphere you will be facing. You know you are going to be nervous. Being nervous, however, does not mean you cannot hit good golf shots. Think of all the times you have hit good shots under pressure before.

Picture yourself dealing with various situations that will occur during the upcoming round. Think of the feeling as you prepare to hit your first tee shot. Your heart is beating out of control. Then, you swing under control, in good tempo, and strike a solid one right down the middle of the fairway.

Next, imagine hitting one into trouble. You’re confronted with the options and weigh the risks of punching a miracle shot through the trees. Instead, you calm yourself and ‘take your medicine’ by chipping back out to the fairway. This type of clear thinking will help you to avoid those double and triple bogeys which ruin rounds.

• CONSERVATIVE STRATEGY – CONFIDENT SWING

The term ‘choke’ is applied to people who don’t perform well under pressure. Who can forget poor Greg Norman losing that 6-shot lead to Nick Faldo at the Masters tournament? The main reason people choke is simply because their thought processes become illogical. They start thinking negatively as if they have never hit a solid golf shot. Or, they start to take unnecessary chances and over-swing in the process.

Before the round, make up your mind that you will not beat yourself. Let the other players beat you. Hit shots that you know you can hit. One top amateur player used this strategy in the Minnesota State Amateur qualifying round at the Lake City Golf Club. He wasn’t playing very well on the front nine and was tempted several times to ‘go for broke’. On the eighth hole, a par five, his second shot left him about 110 yards out in some gnarly rough. He had a good angle at the pin, but if the shot went long, it was obviously going down an embankment leading to a difficult chip with little green to work with. However, he felt like he needed a ‘make something happen’. So, he debated whether to try to finesse a full wedge, or to take a full swing with his gap wedge. He had more confidence in the gap wedge because he knew this club would never put him in the big trouble which was over the green. He selected the gap wedge (conservative strategy) and made a confident swing which left the ball 30 feet below the hole. He two-putted and took his par.

This strategy paid off as he made birdie on the next hole. All of a sudden, his marginal round was heading in the right direction! This may not have been possible if he had taken the aggressive route on the previous hole and gone over the green.

• LET GO OF THE HANDLE BARS!

A player recently quipped, “You’ve got to let go of the handle bars!” How descriptive of the golfer who, when under pressure, holds onto the club as if it had “handle bars”. Unlike riding a bicycle, holding onto the handle bars is a bad thing in golf!

In other words, you’ve got to let the club swing to be effective. Holding on and trying to steer the ball down the fairway will produce less distance and less accuracy. A golfer has to feel like they are ‘giving up control’ of the swing. In other words, the golfer must trust that what he has trained will work when the pressure is on. This is called ‘muscle memory’.

Giving up control gets progressively harder as the round progresses. The tendency is to start counting your score as you try to figure out how you’re faring compared to everyone else. You must counteract that tendency by consciously trying to swing looser and freer as the round goes on. Stay focused on what you’re trying to do – forget about everyone else. You can’t control them anyway.

Keep the game simple. Pick your target, go through your pre-shot routine and let your swing go! Stay within yourself and you won’t be a victim of that TBP!

How Do The Wrists Release In The Golf Swing

The perfect golf swing is not just in the shoulders or the arms. The way your wrists release during your golf swing can have a major impact on the ball. So, how do the wrists release in the golf swing?

If you don’t release the swing at the wrists just right, you may end up with a slice. This is what most beginners, and quite a few pros, often do. Of all the culprits that might be ruining your game, you may not think to blame those harmless old wrists. Let’s take a look at the way you release that swing…

Perfect Timing Means Perfect Results

Here’s the perfect release:

Make a good backswing turn. As you start your swing, shift your weight to your left foot, the forward foot of your swing. As you swing, you unwind, starting with your legs and torso, then moving on to your shoulders and arms.

But wait a minute! Keep those wrists locked up. Until the very last part of the downswing, keep those wrists locked. Then, let them go and watch that ball fly.

Wait!!! Not Yet!

Most golfers release their wrists too soon in the swing. You just can’t wait to send that ball flying, so you start to swing your shoulders and arms down too early, instead of letting it start naturally with the torso. You end up swinging the club down and then you have to release the wrists in the middle of that downswing.

You’ve really got to wait until the final nanosecond of the downswing to let the wrists go. The timing is something that you have to work on. You shouldn’t have to force it; if you let yourself unwind just right, your wrists will know when to release.

Usually, when you release your wrists too early, you end up hooking the ball. If you get lots of hooking, you should take a closer look at your wrist release.

What Happened?

Some golfers don’t release the wrists at all. This is most often due to nerves, or trying to force the ball right into the target area. You might be uncertain of your shot, and this will make your shot stiff and frozen. It sounds bad, but even very good golfers do this.

If you don’t release the wrist at all, or not enough, you’ll end up hitting the ball much shorter than you intended to. You probably will be closer to your intended target, but you’ll lose yards and yards on it.

Get It Right!

Here’s a good tip for you when you’re practicing: Relax. Let all that tension go. Being nervous about your shot is the number one cause of improper wrist release. Twist your body, put your weight on your forward foot, and do it. It should be a natural motion, and you just can’t be natural with it if you’re whole body is tense.

Here’s another way to think about it: You are using the rotational force of your body. Black belts in karate rotate their torsos in the same way to add power to their punch.

Getting the right wrist release is a Zen thing; it happens when you don’t think about it. Sound esoteric? Sorry about that! Put another way, you shouldn’t have to consciously release your wrists. If you twist your body just right and let the natural rotation do its thing, your wrists will know when to go.

A good grip, a good set up, a natural swing and you don’t have to do anything at all. Just let those wrists go!

Golfers – Do not move!

If you can become successful at just this one skill, you will find your golf game improving. When you make a terrible shot, concentrate on keeping your head still during the next swing.

Current info about Golf is not always the easiest thing to locate. Fortunately, this report includes the latest Golf info available.

Golf pros can give contradicting advice. It is common to read one golf player’s advice and then when you read another article or book, to have a different player say the complete opposite. For example, one pro says to keep your head straight, but another person comes along with an entirely different set of rules.

What should you do?

You should listen to me, of course. J

All people are different and no two of us play exactly alike. This is why it is a great idea to not concentrate on one particular method of playing golf.

Some basics can make or break your golf game. And I am telling you to keep your head still and not move it during your swing.

If you don’t have accurate details regarding Golf, then you might make a bad choice on the subject. Don’t let that happen: keep reading.

It is impossible to keep your head still if you tense up your muscles. Keeping your head still helps you to loosen up and allows you to finish your swing smoothly. By keeping your head still, you can also prevent the dreaded slice because you do not have to pull your hands in to keep balanced.

A golf championship winner said that every time he prepared to make a shot, he said to himself, “Keep your head still.” It is a necessity to a good golf swing that many players do not concentrate on.

If you can become successful at just this one skill, you will find your golf game improving. When you make a terrible shot, concentrate on keeping your head still during the next swing.

If you keep your head still, it will be possible to see the ball during the entire swing. If your head is moving, it will be impossible to keep your eye on the ball.

You can build your confidence by using this one technique. Keep your head still enough to keep a jar of water on the top of your head perfectly still and watch the ball as you swing. You will be able to see the ball better and hit it more solidly.

Even if you are nervous when you are playing, keep these two tips in mind and your game will definitely improve!

Hopefully the tips above have contributed to your understanding of Golf. Share your new tips about Golf with others. They’ll thank you for it.

Get In Shape For Golf

Now when most people think of golf, physical exertion hardly comes to mind. But we all know that a round of 18 holes can really take its toll on the body and the mind. While I am no expert on golf fitness, just looking at how most top professionals train will show you the amount of importance they place on their physical conditioning.

Improving your fitness could potentially help improve your control over the club, your concentration and consistency, your balance plus the power of your swing.

However, I’m guessing that a lot of you really aren’t very interested in starting a full-on fitness program in the hope that it will help your golf game. But here’s just a few simple ways that any player, regardless of their current physical condition, can get in shape for their next round, with really no effort at all.

Strength

Sure you can go to the gym and bulk yourself up to crush the life out of the ball, but that’s not always necessary. If you’re looking to improve your strength specifically for golf, it would be best to stick

with exercises relating to the movements of your swing. Such things as rotational exercises with weights in different positions will only take a few minutes of your time each day, but will improve your core strength as well as your flexibility, balance and control.

Flexibility

It’s one of the main areas people need to work on. There are a range of different stretches that you can do that will help your movement when you swing, but one thing most players ignore is performing a proper warm up. A few light stretches and a couple of swings with a heavy club (or two clubs) will help loosen up your joints and muscles for the round. Doing it often will help keep your golfing muscles loose all of the time.

Endurance

Again there are many ways to improve your endurance, but if you are looking for a quick golf specific solution, you can’t go past walking. I mean it’s what we do for the majority of the time that we are out on the course, and if you can learn to walk longer distances without getting tired then your swing is not going to suffer as much later on in the round.

So even if you don’t want to commit to a serious training program, you can still get in shape for golf, and maybe even improve your game just by performing a few of those simple exercises every now and then.