Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Why The Average Golfer Struggles

As a golf instructor, I see the frustrations of students trying to improve their game. Most are frustrated by the slow pace of improvement. Most golfers that I come in contact with play an average of once a week during the season. The golf season here in Pittsburgh is from April to September, which is only six months. Think about how many times you really get to play, considering holidays, rain days, and family days. Everybody has a different playing schedule, and I understand that working and tending to your family takes up considerable time. The fact remains that your improvement as a golfer is in direct proportion to the amount of time that you put into the game. Finding time to practice is important if you want to play better golf.

The first thing needed on the way to improvement is to take a lesson and learn the fundamentals of a good swing. Practicing the wrong swing obviously causes bad habits that are difficult to break. once you take a lesson, it is your job to practice what you learned. Most of my students do not practice enough. The game of golf requires a lot of time as does any sport or hobby if you want a good outcome. If you feel you are practicing a lot and not getting any better, it is time for a lesson. It is likely you are practicing the wrong thing.

My advice is to practice a variety of clubs in your bag. You should spend equal amounts of time practicing your weaknesses, not your strengths. Always take a practice swing, concentrate on only two or three swing thoughts. Then try to duplicate the same swing with the ball. In other words, the ball should just get in the way of your swing.

I believe that practicing two or three times a week for at least one hour is necessary to see serious improvement. It is also important to continue practicing throughout the off-season in order to maintain what you have learned. Progress from the previous summer will be lost for you the next season without some practice in the winter to preserve muscle memory. (Scallys Golf Center is open year round and has individual heaters for the cold weather.) In conclusion: Practice, practice, practice will help your game become less or a struggle


Phil Scally Jr. is a professional golf instuctor at Scallys Center Which is the home of Golfstuffcheaper.com

Monday, April 16, 2007

3 Simple Tips for Golf To Improve Your Swing

There are as many tips for golf swings as there are golfers. Your friends, relatives, and even people you just met on the course will offer you tips. The truth is, that there is a lot of disagreement even among pros, so how are you to improve your swing? Well there are three basics that are standard tips from pros. Keep them in mind and you will likely see improvement in your game.

Keep Your Head Still

It sounds simple enough, but one of the most common problems with amateurs and thus a common tip for golf is keeping the head still. With all of the other movements going on with a golf swing, it can be easy to let your head move around. Keeping it still will keep you looking at the same part of the ball without changing perspective.

Relax Those Muscles!

By relaxing your muscles, you can attain one of the most important parts of a golf swing: balance. Stand so that you are comfortable and relaxed while addressing the ball, by making sure that you can reach it easily. Remember, no matter which club or what distance you are swinging, what will make your swing powerful and smooth is balance. Of all the tips for golf swings that you might get, relaxing and maintaining balance may be the most important.

Keep the Head of the Club Traveling Straight Through the Ball

Again, it seems simple enough. Most people, in principle, realize that the club head must travel straight through the ball, but they dont give it any thought when they are playing. Once you have balance and your head still, the only tip for your golf swing left is to keep the head straight. By striking the ball straight, you can get rid of that nasty slice so many beginners have.

Golf is a fickle game, which is why there are tips for golf online, in books, from friends, and pretty much anywhere you look. While pros may vary on swing theory, these three tips are fairly universal and should get you going in the right direction.

Good golf aids can be a great tool on their own. However, if you already take lessons, and you should, they will enhance the experience. You can use the aids you pick up or read to add on to the information you get form you lessons. You will be amazed at how fast a few lessons and some well selected golf aids will improve your game.

Dean Iggo is the webmaster of www.improve-your-golf-swing.com providing golf swing instruction with heaps of tips, tricks and training aids. Youll have a perfect golf swing in no time!

3 Golf Swing Tips For Instant Results

Are simple golf swing tips a waste of time? Well, to improve your golf game there is no substitute for getting proper instruction from your local pro. He can help you develop sound technique and work out a practice regime to instil these swing fundamentals. However, quick golf swing tips also have their place in helping your golf. They can sometimes just help spark your game into life - a certain new swing thought may just help get your golf swing on the right plane, or a small change in your set up can have a major impact on your impact position.

Here are 3 simple golf swing tips that could just make that small but vital difference to your golf swing:

In golf a good shoulder turn is important. But how that shoulder turn is created is often misunderstood, and as a result leads to poor ball striking. Golfers sometimes make the mistake of thinking it is the length of the backswing that generates power. In an attempt to make a long backswing they allow their left heel to come up too far off the ground and their hips to turn too much. While this action may create turn, it does not produce coil. The main role of the backswing should be to stretch, or coil the muscles. It is then the release of that coiling action in the downswing that helps create power. The length of your backswing should be determined by how much coil you can create, not how far back you can swing the club.

Allowing your chin to rest against your chest at address makes it impossible to swing your left arm across your upper body in the backswing. When the natural path of the shoulders is blocked, it encourages you to pick the club up too steeply with your hands. The result is little or no weight transfer on to your right side, creating a backswing that is far too narrow. The resulting downswing becomes too steep and you usually end up chopping down on the ball instead of swinging through. Keep your chin up and allow your left arm to move freely across your chest. This will enable you to create the full wide arc required to strike the ball correctly.

When under pressure, many golfers make the understandable mistake of snatching the club away too quickly in their backswing. This gets the hands and body moving at different speeds and destroys the swings natural rhythm. Here is one of those simple mental golf swing tips which if used should help slow down the start of your backswing. At address, imagine there is a ball and chain attached to the clubhead. In order to start the club back you have to drag that ball along with it. Not only will this image help slow down you take-away, it will also make it easier for the rest of your body to work at the same pace as your hands.

One of these golf swing tips may help to instantly kick start your golf swing into action, but, remember that you should only have one (or two maximum) golf swing thoughts while you play.

Get free golf tips now by visiting Free Golf Swing Tips - the website of FREE golf swing tips, short game tips and putting tips to lower your golf scores!

Get free golf tips now by visiting Free Golf Swing Tips - the website of FREE golf swing tips, short game tips and putting tips to lower your golf scores!