This is a small post to test images.

First of all, a right floated image. This sentence should theoretically wrap around the image so to fit in all nice and neat. Proin ante sem, sodales eu, tincidunt vel, vulputate lobortis, metus. Nam dapibus. Aenean eget magna ut sem porta malesuada. Etiam rutrum tempor libero. Aenean arcu. Pellentesque ante sem, aliquet a, lacinia eget, molestie nec, justo.

This image should now be floated to the left. Again, this small sentence should wrap right around the image to make it look nice and neat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nam odio libero, viverra vel, faucibus vel, lacinia eu, libero. Cras aliquet est id urna. Ut id urna eleifend magna rutrum convallis. Phasellus et neque.

This is a test post for the polls, want to check them out.

Tags: blog, poll

Joomla isn’t an easy system to perform SEO work on, but it can be done.

If you are a professional, or even someone who runs a Joomla blog and wants to do your own SEO work, you should first of all download all the available SEO plugins for the Joomla blog platform. Install them, run them, and then get to real work.

Remember that meta tags are good, but content is better.

One of the keywords I was focusing on was heat transfer fluids, difficult at best because of the little amount of content, but doable. The content is the key, focus on the keywords, use the natural tags that HTML provides you, and the search engines will find your content and rate you accordingly.

Tags: heat transfer fluids, joomla, oiluk, seo

This is a trackback test for a post on Test Blog 1.

After a couple of weeks in dry dock (or should that be the sand bunker?) Aspiring Golfer is going back live with a new design. Jazzed up, fired up with enthusiasm for the game of golf, Aspiring Golfer is poised to be one of the best golf commentaries in the blogging world. Take a look for yourself.

Tags: golf

Nick Dougherty won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and picked up prize money of £400,000 After a nervous, bogey-bogey, start on the final day at the Old Course, St. Andrews, Dougherty finished with a final round of 71 and an 18 under par aggregate score. This was enough to leave him two shots clear of Justin Rose and three clear of Rory McIlroy. The Dunhill trophy is only Dougherty’s second win, having won the Singapore Masters, two years ago.

Justin Rose’s second place closed the gap on Padraig Harrington for the European Tour’s Order of Merit(about £21,000 behind) while the emerging talent, McIlroy secured his tour card for next year, in only his second tournament as a professional, meaning he is the youngest player to have done this since Sergio Garcia. How I’m going to enjoy following his progress through the professional ranks.

Ernie Els continued to discover something like his old form and was in contention for much of the final round, however his push for glory came to an abrupt end on the 17th hole. Incredibly, he caught the wrong side of a slope and putted into the bunker, which left him with a sequence of shots which read: putt, bunker-shot, 3 more putts!

Ernie Els, Justin Rose, Padraig Harrington and Colin Montgomerie go on to the HSBC, World Match Play Championship at Wentworth, which begins tomorrow.

One of the more unusual tournaments of the year is the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. The multi-venue event which has prize money of £2.5million is played on three courses; Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and St. Andrews. There are 168 Pros taking part, who have each been paired with an amateur, including famous names such as Bill Murray (lock up the buggies), Samuel L Jackson, Dennis Hopper (very Hollywood as he puffed on a cigar before his first swing) and Hugh Grant, to name but a few.

Sixty Pros and 20 amateurs will make the third round cut to play a final round, back at St. Andrews. The whole event makes for an eclectic mix of playing styles and dress sense, with some of the celebs providing an injection of good humor and antics along the course.

The standout on day one was Samuel L Jackson. Anyone who can make a Kangol hat, worn backwards, look cool, is always going to look stylish and at ease in their finest golfing apparel. In this case that meant bright red trousers and a lime green, blue and yellow jumper.

The event also marks the return of Padraig Harrington to the scene of his summer’s British Open success and is in fact his first appearance in Europe since then. In the early stages of the second round, the pace is currently being set by Hennie Otto. The 31-year-old, South African, followed a fine six-under 66 in his opening round at Carnoustie yesterday, by moving to a nine-under total after four holes on the Old Course at St. Andrews.

As well as the overall winner I will being keeping an eye on the highest placed celebrity.

1.Play more golf.

If you played 2 rounds last year, make it four this year. If you played 20, make it 30. I played my all-time record of 198 rounds of golf in 2005, and it was awesome. Of course, it helped to have a job which includes playing a course virtually every day!

2.Play more courses.

It’s easy to fall into the habit of playing the same course over and over, but I suggest everyone play as many different courses as possible. It keeps the game fresh, exciting, interesting and fun. There are many fantastic courses that open every year in virtually every corner of the globe, and there is no better vacation than a trip which includes playing some of them.

3.Get properly fitted

If you bought your clubs “off the rack” they’re probably not playing the best they can. Take them to your local professional golf fitter and make sure the length, loft and lie are all correct for your swing. You’ll be amazed how much straighter you hit the ball.

4.Take a lesson.

The top athletes in the world have coaches and teachers. The top golfers in the world do, too. They are better than you, so why would you think you can’t benefit from some professional golf instruction? If private instruction is too costly get some friends together and take some group lessons

5.Introduce someone to the game.

Golf is a game for the ages. It’s the only sport of which I know that three or four generations can actually have fun playing together. It is also a great game for business. If you know someone who could benefit from the game of golf, take them to your local range and introduce them to the game!

6.Support a local charity golf tournament.

There will be more than 50,000 charity golf tournaments in the U.S. this year, and at least one of them will strike a chord on your heartstrings. Many tournaments are very reasonably priced – some as low as regular green fees. Others range into the thousands of dollars per player. Pick the one(s) that mean the most to you and sign up to play!

7.Take a Golf Vacation.

Need to get away? Golf courses offer some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, and playing golf is always a great excuse for a needed break. Whether it’s a weekend in Pebble Beach, a week in Scottsdale, Arizona, or a month exploring the origins of the game in Great Britain, there is definitely a golf trip to fit your budget and your time.

8.Join (or start) a Golf League.

This is a great way to enjoy the game of golf – and make new friends. Many courses are now offering league play on various days at various times, so check with your local favorite course. If they don’t have a league, help them start one!

9.Take time for nine.

Many golfers believe they need to play 18 holes of golf in order to enjoy the game. You don’t have to play 18! Nine holes of golf fits into the traditional time frame of sports games (2 to 2-1/2 hours) much better than 18 holes. If you want to play golf but don’t have time for 18 holes, go ahead and play 9! This is especially true when you can only get 9 holes in after work. Do it!

10.Buy better balls.

Are you stuck in the rut of playing balls you found in the woods or weeds last time you played? Don’t do it! New balls play much better than old balls, and golf balls can actually lose some playability after just a few holes. Many professional golfers switch balls several times throughout their round, and so should you. Different brands and models of balls really do play differently, so buy some top-of-the-line balls before your next round and see if it makes a difference to your score.

11.Spend some time on the practice green

Do you want to lower your golf score? I mean really lower it? Then practice your putting. Putting is half of the game of golf, and yet it gets about 1% of the practice time. Watch any golfer when they get to the course. They check in, grab a bag of balls and head to the range, whack their driver to see how far they can hit it, then head to the first tee. Start counting your putts and try to get down to 28 to 32 putts per round. You’ll be amazed how quickly your average golf score drops if you do. A great way to do this is to play “The Putting Game.” Every putt’s worth $1, and you pay everyone who beats your putt total $1 per putt. For instance, if you have 32 putts and Bob has 27, you owe him $5. If John has 38, he owes you $6 and he owes Bob $11.

12.Don’t swear or throw your clubs.

You can learn a lot about a person from a round of golf. In fact many highly successful business people won’t fill an important position until they play a round of golf with a prospect for the job. Bad shots are a part of golf, and they happen in virtually every round. So what? Take them in stride, offering a sheepish “oops” rather than a “#$@!&*%$” when you hit the roof of the house three doors down the fairway…or three streets away! Learn to laugh at a bad golf shot and you’re well on your way to learning to deal with adversity in a positive, healthy way.

13.Read a golf book.

There are a lot of different books about golf, in virtually every genre you can imagine. Visit your local bookstore and browse through their book section. You’ll definitely find a book you’ll enjoy. And it’s about time you read a book instead of watching the TV. A recent favorite is “Munie” by Bobby Steiner. It will bring the game of golf to life in a way you’ve never seen before.

14.Buy a fun head cover.

Are you into animals? Have a favorite college team? Know a real butthead? Whatever you’re into, you’ll probably find a head cover to match. Frank the Tiger is one of the most popular (and the only TV star in the bunch), but there’s a new company making head covers from the opposite end of the animals. They’re called Butthead Covers, and they’re some of the cutest things you’ll ever see. Check them out at www.buttheadcovers.com. You’ll love the cow. It’s udderly ridiculous!

15.Take a kid to a professional golf event

Whether it’s the PGA Tour, LPGA, Champion’s or Nationwide, take a kid to see the professionals play the game of golf. It’s an eye-opening experience that could literally change a young person’s life forever. Maybe yours as well.

16.Play faster.

The President of the United States loves to play golf. He often plays with his 80-year old father. They play in an average of two and a half hours. 18 holes! There is no reason for golf to take 4-1/2 to 5 hours to play. I’ve played in tournaments that took 6 hours to play. That’s NO FUN! There are many, many ways to play faster, so let’s all make a concerted effort to get the average round of golf to be played in under four hours – especially if you’re the first group off the tee in the morning!

17.Walk rather than ride.

Unless it is mandated by the course or impractical due to a physical impairment, you should walk next time you play golf rather than rent a cart. Did you know that the typical championship golf course can stretch to about a six to seven mile walk? Did you know that the typical walking golfer plays faster than the typical cart golfer? Did you know that the walking golfer also usually scores better? There are a lot of reasons to walk rather than ride, so unless you have a lot of beers to haul around, I suggest you walk!

18.Have more fun!

Golf is a game, and should be treated as one unless you’re playing for a lot of money. There are also a lot of games you can play within the game of golf that make it more fun and interesting. Captains, Wolf, The Putting Game, Bingo-Bango-Bongo, the Animal Game (Camel, Snake, Frog & Beaver), these are just a few of the examples of various games that make golf even more exciting. If you aren’t familiar with these, get a book about them (or just read Golf America every week) and find out about these games and a whole lot more ways to make golf the most fun it can be!

Have a terrific 2007 everyone!!

by Keith James of Golf America

Tags: 2007, golf, resolutions

This is one of the most-asked questions from newbies to golf: How far am I supposed to hit each club? What is the golf club distance? Unfortunately, the only completely honest answer is: It depends.

It depends on a lot of factors: the clubs you are using, the balls you are using, the conditions under which you play (hard fairway or soft fairway? windy or calm? humid or dry? etc.), your gender and age, your physical fitness, coordination and athleticism, your swing speed, how solidly you are connecting with the ball. You get the idea. It depends.

It depends, and it varies widely from golfer to golfer. One person’s 5-iron distance is another person’s 3-iron distance is another person’s 7-iron distance. There is no wrong golf club distance, there is only your golf club distance. And knowing your distance is much more important than knowing how far each club is “supposed” to go. Here’s an interesting fact: While PGA pros hit their drives anywhere from 280 yards to 320 yards on average, and LPGA pros hit their drives from 230 to 270 yards on average, most amateurs - according to Golf Digest - average somewhere around 195-205 yards with their drivers.

The moral of that story? Don’t compare yourself with the world’s best players. Although some recreational players do out hit the pros, they are rare and you probably aren’t one of them.

You’ll quickly get an idea of whether you are a “long” hitter or “short” hitter by simply playing golf and comparing yourself to those you play with. There’s no shame in being a short hitter, and being a long hitter doesn’t guarantee anything, and certainly not a lower score.

And of course, hitting the ball far doesn’t matter at all if you can’t also hit it straight.

But you didn’t click on this topic to read all this, did you? You want those yardages, darn it! OK, I’ll give you some yardages, but consider everything you’ve read to this point to be my caveats on this subject.

The yardages listed in the chart below show a range for average amateurs, both male and female. As you’ll see, the ranges are quite large, and represent short hitters, mid hitters and long hitters. (There are, of course, people who hit it longer, just as there are people who hit it shorter.)

There is a greater gap, percentage-wise, between the longer and shorter women than there is between the longer and shorter men because better women players tend to be significantly longer than weaker women players. Especially compared to men. A male player who shoots 110 might be just as long as a guy who shoots 80. That is extremely unlikely in female players, however.

You can also find a handy ‘Golf Club Distance Calculator’ at Deep Rough

A final caveat: You can find charts such as this one on other sites around the Web. And if you do, one thing you’ll notice is that the numbers rarely, if ever, match up. Because golf club distance depends more on the player than on the clubs

Article provided courtsey of About:Golf

You are about to be introduced to a cutting-edge golf mental game technique that combines centuries-old wisdom with quantum physics, enabling you to effortlessly slash strokes off your score…without a bit of additional practice

Does it sound too good to be true?

Skeptical? - Who could blame you?

Despite being “unconventional”, do yourself a favor and suspend disbelief for a short time. Dare to “think outside the tee box” and actually test these techniques on the course. After all, it’s about results, right?

Renegade Mindset Techniques ™ is a do-it-yourself form of acupuncture—without the use of needles. Instead you simply “tap” on a few “clearing points” while focusing on a negative feeling or emotion.

There are countless situations where RMT for Golf can be applied to make your game more effective. For example:first tee jitters, yips, anxiety about hitting over water, fear of embarrassment, anger and frustration, etc

Want to know more? Read on…

Step One: Tap the Clearing Points (Negative Focus)

Using the tips of your index and middle fingers, lightly tap each point approximately ten (10) times while focusing on the negative emotion (anxiety, tension, fear etc.) or physical symptom (rapid heartbeat, sweaty palms, etc.) you are experiencing. It is important that you focus on the negative while tapping. I shudder to think what the “positive thinking police” will have to say, but that’s a topic for another article.

• Point One – Collarbone 

Technically speaking, it is not the collarbone, but rather the two boney notches at the base of your neck (the location of the knot of a necktie). Tap lightly ten times while focusing on the negative emotion.

• Point Two – Under Eye

Tap on the bone about one inch directly below the eye. Tap lightly ten times while focusing on the negative emotion.

• Point Three - Double Wrists

Simply tap the insides of both of your wrists together (about the area that you would wear a watch). Continue to focus on the negative emotion.

Interesting (sort of) side note: this wrist point is the one that can reduce sea sickness. If you have ever been on a cruise ship, you may have used one of those wrist bands for your queasy stomach. The truth is, those bands are designed to stimulate these exact wrist points. The manufacturers don’t tell you that because it seems too weird!

Step Two: Tap the Collarbone Point (Positive Focus)

Now tap the collarbone point again approximately 10 times while repeating (aloud or silently to yourself) the phrase “Let it be easy

Step Three: Take a DEEP BREATH. 

The chances are very good that the intensity of your emotion will have decreased substantially or disappeared completely. If some of the emotion is remaining, simply perform the above routine one or more additional times until it dissipates completely.

You could test this out right now by simply imagining a stressful situation out on the course.Your subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between what is real and imagined.

Could this sound any more like voodoo nonsense?

I’ll concede that it is rather unusual. But one thing more unusual than the technique itself is the RESULTS it produces.

As a golf mental game coach, and a fellow golfer, the only thing I really care about is results.

How about you?

Stephen Ladd is a “Renegade” Golf Mental Game Coach, pioneering breakthrough energy psychology techniques, and the creator of Renegade Mindset Techniques for Golf ™. Visit RMT for Golf, for free reports, newsletters and products to catapult your game to a new level today!