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!

To Ensure Consistency and Success - Play with a Straight Back!

I believe that to mature as a golfer, you need to have an understanding of why certain individual fundamentals on the course are working for you, and why others aren’t. In short, you have to understand the working components of your swing. Secondly, you need to understand what corrections or adjustments could be made in order to attain success.

The set-up that we teach is very specific and important. Playing with a straight spine and back angle is an important fundamental that we teach, and something that is literally the glue of our swing theory. Whether you are 5 yards form the green or teeing off, playing with a straight spine and back will ensure that you swing on a consistent plane every time you set over the golf ball. The following are reasons why a straight back is essential for you to see success out on the course:

Gives you a fixed position to start from - every time

Allows for the club to travel on a consistent plane

This is essential in golf. If you are hunched over (and golfers areusually unaware of this) your swing plane is constantly changing due to the level of your body over the ball. This leads to manyinconsistent shots (especially around the green).

Minimizes hitting behind the ball or hitting the ball thin This is a big problem for most golfers. If you haven’t played for weeks and you find yourself not making solid contact, the first fundamental that should go through your mind is: “Is my back straight at setup and throughout the shot”?

This is one of the most important truths that we teach about the golf swing. If you look at the tour pros they always have a straight spine angle and back at set-up and throughout the swing. Whether you are on the tee, fairway, around the green, or even on the green - having a straight spine and back angle is extremely important. Especially around the green when you are pitching and chipping!

For some golfers, straightening your spine angle is going to feel very strange, because you’ve never played that way. But trust me, maintaining a straight spine throughout the swing will do wonders for your consistency because it leads to better impact with the ball. Next time you watch the tour players on TV, make sure to check out how straight their backs are at setup.

The main point that I want to communicate is that there are many factors in golf that you can’t control. For example: course conditions, weather, and course difficulty. However, one aspect of your golf swing that can be constant and unchanging is your spine angle at set-up. So play golf this way and you will begin to develop consistency and confidence.

I have a great tip for you that’s going to end all the doubt you had in your mind about golf setup and where the golf ball goes in your stance. It’s called ball position.

A lot of amateurs, unfortunately, address the golf ball, what I call, backwards. They come in and they put their feet down and try to aim where they’re going, either down the fairway or towards the pin, and then they just stand to the golf club that they’re holding onto. Sometimes their golf setup is too far back and sometimes it’s too far forward.

Other amateurs do this. They like to play all of their shots off their front foot. Some like to play all their shots off the middle of their stance. But let me tell you something, and I think this is really going to help you.

This weekend if you’re sitting around watching TV, watch the tour players and watch how they come up and they grip the golf club first, they take a look at where they’re going, and then they stand to the golf club that they’re using.

For instance, put the butt of the pitching wedge across from your belt buckle, and stand to the golf club with the face square and your shoulders going where you want them to go.

What that does is put the golf ball in the middle of your stance for your pitching wedge. Now, keep that stance with your 7 iron.

Now, the 7 iron is three inches longer than the pitching wedge. If you just stand there and grip it with your shoulders square, look how the golf ball is just starting to move forward in your stance over towards your left heel, and it’s about three inches apart.

Now, pick up your long iron and do the same thing. Keep your shoulders square, don’t move your stance, and grip the golf club. And all of a sudden, the long iron starts to move even further forward.

Lastly, watch this. During golf setup, when you hold your driver in your hand. If you just put the butt of the club across your belt buckle, put the club on the ground the way it was built in the factory and stand across from it with your shoulders square, that puts the golf ball across from your left foot.

It’s not complicated, but remember this: During golf setup, stand to the handle of the golf club. Don’t address the golf ball first, but address the golf club to the ball and then take your stance.

David Nevogt writes golf instruction material that helps golfers of all levels reach their full potential and lower their scores. David is the author of “The Simple Golf Swing” which guarantees to have you shooting 7 strokes lower in only 1 week from today. You can find more of his golf instruction by going to The Simple Golf Swing.

I have now been playing golf for almost a year and I think it’s probably fair to say that I’m hooked on the game. Whilst it hasn’t yet become a complete obsession it’s definitely pushing the boundaries.

When I began my journey I decided that I would start a website to chronicle my progress. The website has now become less about me but more about the game of golf and this has helped me stay incredibly focused. Now that I’m less of a novice than when I started, I thought it might be interesting to pass on some thoughts and ideas for those people thinking about taking up the game.

Firstly, it helps to clear your mind of any preconceptions about how easy or difficult the game appears to be. A comment I often hear, and something I was also guilty of, is trying to compare golf with other ball games. Do not assume that success in other sports can be easily translated to success on the golf course. While hitting a stationary ball with a stick doesn’t seem particularly sophisticated, ‘hand/eye co-ordination’, which many people claim to have, is not so relevant in golf

If you’re serious about taking up golf, then it makes sense to invest in a reasonable set of clubs. However, as a novice, don’t believe that a more expensive set of clubs will make you a better player- it doesn’t matter how good your clubs are, if you’re not making good contact with the ball. This doesn’t mean that you should buy the cheapest set, but be sensible and buy a set which you can be comfortable with for a couple of years

If you do have a little bit more money in the budget then you could perhaps have the clubs custom-fitted to suit your physique. Also, whilst golf equipment manufacturers would have you believe that the technology in recent years has evolved beyond recognition, older club sets which are coming toward the end of their product life cycle, will be discounted accordingly and can be incredibly good value for money.

An excellent way to receive these offers is to subscribe to an online, Golf Shop newsletter. In this way you will learn about the latest product information, and discounted Golf Clubs.

Then, when you realize the game is not as easy as you thought, seek professional tuition. Most reputable Golf Clubs will have a golf coach affiliated with them and this is a good place to start. The coach will correct your stance and grip so that you can go away and practice

Golf Clubs can seem quite intimidating to the beginner, particularly those courses with a stuffy image. This shouldn’t put you off and there’s no substitute for getting out on the course for playing and improving. Don’t take it too seriously and get too frustrated to begin with. Recognize that there will be a learning curve, something in fact every golfer will have gone through

I have found that there is an excellent comradery between golfers and as long as you observe the etiquette of the course, then you will usually be welcomed, whatever your level of play. For this reason a ‘Golf Rules’ book, makes suggested bedtime reading.

Above all enjoy the game, play with a smile and appreciate the freedom of being out on the course away from everyday stresses. With regular practice and some guiding tuition along the way you’ll be amazed by the progress that you can make in one year, and the better you become, the more you will enjoy.

I know some of you are laughing under your breath wondering what I am doing writing a tip on uneven lies. What in the world could I possible know about uneven lies living in Scottsdale, Arizona? Well, it is the Grand Canyon State for starters, but yes you’re right, we do not face as many uneven lies as someone from North Carolina, for example. However, there are plenty of times during the course of a round when we are faced with a golf ball that might be on a side hill lie.

Before I begin, I am going to first give you the definition of the four uneven lies in golf.

Uphill Lie - The easiest of the four uneven lies. The ball is level with your feet but the slope is up-hill, we refer to this as an uphill lie.

Downhill Lie - A ball that is level to your feet but the slope is down hill, probably the second most difficult shot in golf.

Ball Below Feet - The most difficult shot in golf is when the ball is below your feet

Ball Above Feet - The fourth uneven lie is when the ball is above your feet.

Don’t get confused between an uphill lie, and when the ball is simply above your feet. These are 2 different lies, and should be addressed separately. Also, don’t get confused with the downhill lie, and the ball being below your feet. Again, these are 2 different lies.

Let’s start with the easiest shot in golf, the up-hill lie. If you struggle with this shot, you probably swing the golf club to vertical into the ground and hit a fat shot. Before you prepare for an uphill lie, you need to think of a few important items first.

1. Make sure you take a less lofted club. When you have an uphill lie, it will make the ball go HIGHER and SHORTER.

2. The ball will have a tendency to hook to the left, so aim a little to the right.

3. To avoid hitting the shot fat, check your shoulder alignment and make sure they are parallel to the ground you are standing on. If you are on an uphill lie, your back shoulder should be a little lower that your leading shoulder.

4. The ball should be positioned according to what club you are using, as though you were on a level lie. (A bit forward for longer clubs.)

5. You want to make sure you follow through HIGH after impact.

Now we can move on to one of the hardest shots in golf, the down hill lie. If you have a tendency to struggle with this shot, the miss hit is usually a top. Follow the steps below and you will see a huge change in your down hill shots.

1. Because the ball will fly lower, you can take a more lofted club to help the ball go a little higher.

2. The ball will have a tendency to curve to the right, aim a little to the left.

3. If you have your shoulders at address tilted level to the down slope of your lie, this will encourage the club to swing DOWN into the ball (correct) and not up in the down swing. Thus, you will hit the bottom of the ball and not the top.

4. Play the ball in your stance according to the club you are using (again, a little forward for a longer club).

5. You want to make sure you follow through LOW to the ground after impact.

Now we are back to an easy shot, the ball above feet. If you follow the steps below, you will not hit the ground behind the ball anymore, and the ball above your feet will become your absolute favorite shot in golf.

1. If you struggle with hitting the ball fat in these shots, make sure you are standing taller than your normal stance.

2. The ball will have a tendency to fly to the left, aim a little farther to the right.

3. DO NOT BEND YOUR KNEES

4. This is the main point, the golf club wants to swing more AROUND your body, let it…DO NOT TRY TO MAKE A NORMAL SWING…let the club swing around you.

THE HARDEST SHOT IN GOLF. The dreaded, (I can’t believe this is happening to me) BALL BELOW YOUR FEET golf shot. You have come to the right place, below is the answer.

1. When the ball is below your feet, you will have a tendency to top it to the right, whiff the ball, or shank it.

2. The address is the most important part of this shot. Bend your knees and bend WAY over at address. You ALMOST can not bend TOO much.

3. The ball will have a tendency to go to the right, aim farther left.

4. The golf club wants to swing up and down, NOT around. LET IT…It will feel like a lob swing, this is correct. IF you make your normal swing, you will whiff the ball completely.

Now, forget everything you knew about uneven lies and give this a try. I KNOW IT WILL HELP! Get back to us with all of your golf successes.

David Nevogt writes golf instruction material that helps golfers of all levels reach their full potential and lower their scores. David is the author of “The Simple Golf Swing” which guarantees to have you shooting 7 strokes lower in only 1 week from today. You can find more of his golf instruction by going to The Simple Golf Swing.

Healthy eating before and during a round of golf may be just the boost you need to take your game to a new level. Just look at the increasing number of golfers on the tour slimming down, eating healthier, and playing better golf. Everyone realizes that it’s good to eat healthy. But nutrition is not a common topic in golf instruction sessions or golf tips. Most golf lessons and golf tips focus on how to swing a club or how to play a certain shot, not on what to eat while playing 18 holes. If you’re not learning how to putt better, you’re correcting a swing fault. Nevertheless, the fact remains: All golfers can benefit from better nutrition and proper hydration.

Avoiding a Quick High

Many golfers get a little hungry during a round. To satisfy this hunger, they often eat foods that give a quick energy boost. A candy bar, bagel, cookie, hot dog, soda, or a beer are probably the most popular foods consumed during a round of golf, at least judging by students who take my golf lessons. While these foods are among our favorites on or off the course, they don’t help you play your best. These foods give you a quick high. But the high is inevitably followed by an energy crash, as the body releases insulin to combat the sudden elevation of blood sugar. The insulin release makes you feel tired and sluggish. No one I know plays his or her best golf when feeling tired and lethargic. Just swinging a club seems like a real chore. You also tend to lose confidence in yourself when you feel tired. But eating the right foods helps maintain your energy level.

Eating Before A Round

The key to eating before (or after) a round is consuming healthy foods, foods that don’t add extra fats or empty calories. You should be thinking whole foods and nutritional balance instead. Don’t have a huge bowl of pasta with a slice of white bread before a match. That just adds a lot of empty carbohydrates and not much else. Instead, eat a side dish of pasta (whole grain, if possible) or whole grain bread with a small piece of meat, fish, or chicken (no skin).

Fruits and vegetables also are good to have before (or during) a round. In fact, they’re good to have anytime. They act like nutritional bodyguards. They contain antioxidants, which protect the body’s cells from potentially harmful chemical reactions. Fruits and vegetables should be a part of your diet whether you’re playing a round or not.

A good rule of thumb to keep in mind when it comes to eating before (or after) a round is to go for a variety of color. If your plate is made up of foods having the same hue, your nutritional balance is probably off. So you’ll want to make some changes. And, of course, you should drink 64 ounces of water a day. Drinking water before or after a round keeps you hydrated and healthy.

During A Round

For snacks during a round, forget the traditional convenience foods. Leave things like energy bars, sports drinks full of sugars, salty chips made with unhealthy trans fats are best alone. Also, beware of foods that seem healthy but really aren’t. Many yogurts, for example, contain high doses of sugar. Some ’multi-grain’ snacks are no better for you than their process grained counterparts. When you have snacks during a round, choose natural sources of protein and fat, such as nuts and jerky. You can also have carbohydrates in the form of fruits and whole grains. Instead of a beer or a soda, have water. These are better for you both during and after a round.

Older Golfers

Older golfers especially they have to watch what they eat before, during, and after a match. As a golfer gets older, you need to consume enough protein to maintain muscle mass. The body functions best when it has a constant supply of protein, from which to draw. Small amounts of meat, poultry (no skin), fish, nuts, and cheese, distributed among your meals and snacks, are excellent choices.

Eating healthy won’t help you cut your golf handicap overnight. You’ll still have to take golf lessons, read golf tips, and practice as often as you can. But one thing is certain. All golfers can benefit from better nutrition and hydration, two factors that play a key role in energy availability and utilization.

This Article is provided courtesy of Jack Moorehouse who is the author of the best-selling book How to Break 80

Golf season is fast approaching, and if you want to have a good season this year (better than last year, at least!), then there are a few things you should do to prepare. No, I’m not talking about cleaning the mud off your golf clubs. These are things to help you get your body ready for golfing.

If you figure that playing a round of golf is enough fitness for one week, then you are not alone. And it is true to some degree, but the far more important thing I want to discuss is how to get your body ready in advance of the new season after you’ve been out of shape all winter.

And for those who ride the course in a cart rather than walking, and then pack away a couple of cold drinks after the round, the fitness element can be almost non-existent. If your body is capable, I encourage you to save the money and global-warming contributing emissions from your golf cart usage, and take to the fairways by foot this year.

But before the season starts, there are several ways to prepare your body for the rigors ahead. The goal is to get you ready to handle the lengthy time standing and walking on the course, and to gently build muscles that are used frequently in golf.

Aerobic and stamina-building exercises are the key to beating the long walks in the heat of summer. And flexibility and muscle training will help you achieve longer drives, better swing consistency, and overall mid-torso strength. You won’t need to become a heavy lifting body builder at all! No, the goal is to tackle the repetitive, asymmetrical movements of golf by gently strengthening your muscles in advance.

Rotational flexibility, hip flexibility, lower back muscles, and shoulder strength all play a role in each golfer’s swing. And working these areas will also help you avoid getting spasms in your leg or back muscles during a long day on the links. If you have been cramped up in an office desk and chair all winter, then this is even more important.

Don’t feel intimidated by the time commitment, because you can perform many of these exercises during your lunch break, or at home in the evening in front of the television. You also don’t necessarily need to break a sweat doing most of them. The rotational power in your torso relies on the hips, buttocks, thighs, abdominals, and lower back muscles all working in coordination. So begin by stretching those core areas. Later you can begin strength training, but still maintain the emphasis on the core power zone areas.

The core area is all the bones, muscles, and ligaments between your chest and your knees. Hundreds of exercises and variations can help you work your core, including abdominal crunches, gentle trunk rotations, gentle torso twists, lower back stretches such as “cat” arches and hunches, hamstring stretches, and side rotations using resistance.

If you are like me and tend to spend the winters being sedentary, make sure you begin gently. The risk is that you will overdo things at the beginning, and injure some of your core areas, causing you to push back that first tee-off date. Begin each session by warming up for a short while using some aerobic option such as walking on an incline on a treadmill, a stationary bike, or a rowing machine

The key is to start early in the spring. I will provide some specific exercises in my next article, but don’t delay starting until a few days before your first tee-off! Try some of these things in an easy, short, daily effort, long before the first game of the year, and your torso strength and stamina will be much enhanced. Your body will thank you right up until the final hole of the round.

I often hear from amateur golfers about how training with weights makes them feel “tight” and it ruin’s their golf swing. Traveling on the PGA Tour I disagree with this point of view completely. It is well known that the top players on the PGA Tour; Tiger, Vijay, and Phil workout regularly. They praise the benefits of their workouts in the development of their golf swing. I am a first hand observer of what they do in the gym on the days they play.

As a result, I see the reasons why amateurs do not workout as excuses rather than legitimate reasons. I would guess that the difficulty amateurs have with weight training or working out in relation to the game of golf is how to do it correctly. This article will discuss how to properly workout to improve your golf game.

Weight training is not bad for the golfer if done correctly.

Weight training done incorrectly is bad for the golfer.

This is where the amateur gets sidetracked, frustrated, and ends up thinking weight training is bad for golf. A typical weight training program found at many health clubs can be detrimental to the golf swing. These types of programs can make you feel “tight”, adversely affect your golf game, and leave you frustrated.

The reason why these “generic” training programs are counter productive to golf is their inability take into account what is required of the body in relation to the golf swing.

Golfers need to be very aware of a few important concepts when weight training in relation to the golf swing. First and foremost, any training program for golf needs to be cross-specific. A cross-specific training program develops the body to the positions, movements, and requirements of the sport you participate in.

Granted everyone’s swing is slightly different but the base components are the same. All golfers rotate around a fixed spine angle, transfer weight forward and back during the swing, generate clubhead speed, attempt to square the club at impact, and complete the swing in a balanced finish position.

The main goal of a cross-specific training program is develop your body physically around the golf swing. This induces what is termed a transfer of training effect onto the golf course. Simplified this states that the training you do in the gym pays off on the course in a positive manner.

Designing a weight training program for golf is a simple process if done correctly. The best place to start is with flexibility. Golfers need to be flexible. The golf swing requires you to move the club through a long range of motion, thus requiring your body to be very flexible. Areas of the body that typically require large amounts of flexibility for golf are; the hamstrings, lower back, hips, and shoulders. Oftentimes the amateur’s swing can improve from just adding flexibility exercises to their training program.

Another aspect of a cross-specific training program for golf is balance training. Balance is the ability of the body to control its’ center of gravity and body parts efficiently. Balance exercises address both the nervous and muscular systems of the body creating greater efficiency in its ability to control body movements and center of gravity.

After you have looked at the flexibility and balance components of a training program for golf, it is time to shift gears to the “weight training” side of the equation. The golf swing requires the development of strength within the muscles of the body. You need muscular strength to maintain a fixed spine angle, create an efficient weight transfer, and develop clubhead speed.

The development of strength in the muscular system is where the amateur commonly makes mistakes. Remember all the exercises in a cross-specific training program for golf must revolve around the movements of the swing, and create a benefit to your play on the course.

Typically, strength training is thought of as a group of exercises that create “bulk” and build the “beach muscles”. Bench pressing 300 and developing biceps like Arnold does not mean you’ll drive the golf ball 300 yards.

Developing strength for the golf swing is very different from “football” or “bodybuilding” strength exercises. The golf swing uses the whole the body, from feet to fingertips. As a result, golfers need to strengthen the entire body cross-specifically to the movements of the golf swing. A key to strength training exercises for golf is to integrate the entire body into the exercise patterns, rather than isolating a specific muscle (a.k.a. bicep curls and bench press).

For example, bicep curls may make you look great for the beach or fill out your golf shirt, but you do not swing the golf club with your biceps only. You use your entire body, and as a result the strength training part of your program, must incorporate the entire body. Exercises such as ball crunches, Russian twists, single leg squats are beneficial strength training exercises for golf.

Completing the template of a golf specific training program is endurance training. The golf swing is a repetitive movement. In a single round of golf the swing is repeated numerous times. A week on Tour might find players swinging the golf club well over 1000’s times. As a result, it is necessary to develop the endurance capacities of your muscular system.

Developing endurance in your muscular system allows you to repeat a movement over and over again without getting tired, a key component of the golf swing. Once the body becomes tired, the ability to swing the golf club properly becomes impeded resulting in miss hits, lost distance, and poor shots. Bottom line, you need to make the same swing consistently to score consistently. Endurance training assists in this process.

To summarize; weight training and working out is beneficial to the golfer, if and only if it is done correctly. The wrong choice in the type of training program, exercise selection, or even exercise sequence can hinder your golf game. Choosing a training program that is cross-specific to the golf swing and induces a transfer of training effect onto the golf course is best. This type of program incorporates; flexibility, balance, strength, endurance, and power exercises relative to the golf swing providing benefits to your body and golf game.