Why do we find a move that seems so easy to the professionals so incredibly difficult to perform?
Recently, I discovered that psychologists believe that we learn differently as adults than we do when we were children.
And I believe this may be the key to explaining why we have such a difficult time of it.
The large majority of professional golfers will have taken up golf when they were kids – Tiger Woods was swinging a club well at 3!
But … I would imagine the majority of amateur golfers took golf up when either in their late teens, early twenties or even later in life … as adults.
The psychologists believe that as children we learn from repeating the model that we see – we know that kids are very trusting of what they are told. Yes, they ask lots of questions but they trust the answers given. They see, and are told, and DO.
Now as adults we learn differently. We have already formed opinions about how the world is and how things operate. So when we learn something new we actually test it against the rules that we have already built up in our heads as to what is right and wrong.
Unfortunately for us, the golf swing is actually illogical to our adult minds. That’s where the problem stems from. In our heads we can’t actually accept or believe that that is how the golf swing works. We then trust our instinct and test it against our rules and go back to what we believe is logical.
Here is what is illogical about the golf swing:
A Golf Swing without Effort = A Powerful 300 yard drive
It’s been said before that the secret to the pros swing is that it achieves ‘Power WITHOUT Effort – how illogical is that!
It’s a bit like saying we’re going on a 200 mile car journey, but we’re not going to turn the engine on! No ones going to believe you.
That’s how our brains interpret it…we think there’s no way you can hit a golf ball 300 yards without LOTS of effort.
So next time we coil up on the back swing our brain tells our muscles ‘right guys we need plenty of effort if we’re going to send this ball long and straight’.
Pro’s do actually put effort into their swings to get the ball to go that far (look at Tiger Woods face just before impact and you’ll see what I mean) BUT they put it in at a completely different point in the swing to amateur golfers. They also know the technique that allows them to produce such great results …. and it doesn’t involve power, certainly not how the amateur golfer understands it.
Amateur golfers think you need to start the golf swing powerfully BUT the pro golfers know that you put the effort in at the bottom of the swing.
If you try and take this point on board this will start the process of adjusting your mind.
In my book … Golf Swing Eureka … I OPEN your EYES to how the golf swing actually works … much of which we amateurs don’t appreciate … and the answer to the question … why is the golf swing so hard?
Where Should The Golf Ball Be Positioned
Critical Ball Position Instruction Revealed
When you swing a golf club well you do so without any conscious thoughts. Or in other words you swing the club automatically using your subconscious mind. The better and more consistent your setup the more you’ll be able to swing automatically. And to back me up on this read this quote from Tiger Woods:
“Poor ball position is a silent killer. If you don’t place the ball precisely in relation to your stance, the ball will be playing you instead of you playing the ball. You’ll have to conjure up some type of weird swing movement just to get the club on the ball, and because of that you’ll never be consistent.”
Tiger Woods
So one huge determining factor as to whether or not you become a consistent ball striker will be where you position the ball in your stance and how consistently you get the ball positioned where it needs to be for each club. If your ball is positioned poorly then you’ll need to make a lot of compensations as you swing and this will mean you’ll greatly lack consistency.
So here’s where you need to position the ball in your stance to become a consistent ball striker.
For your Driver and 3 Wood your ball should be positioned directly off your left foot instep.
Then for your 2-iron through to 6-iron your ball should be positioned a ball width inside your left instep.
Important Note: If you’re using high lofted woods or hybrids then here is what I suggest. Anything up to 19 degrees in loft, e.g. a 5 wood should, use the driver ball position. Woods/Hybrids over that, e.g. a 21 degree 7 wood, should use the 2nd ball position that I suggest for 2 – 6 irons.
Finally for your 7-iron through to 9-iron your ball should be positioned two ball widths inside your left instep.
Now after seeing this you may be wondering why I teach three ball positions when it would be so much easier to have just one ball position. Well, here’s the reason.
When you swing a driver you need a more sweeping motion than you do with say a 5-iron. And if you had just one ball position for both of these clubs then you would have to adjust your swing consciously to produce the correct swing motion (i.e. a sweeping one for a driver and a more downward blow with a 5-iron) and that’s not good.
So work hard on getting the ball positioned correctly and consistently for each club you’re using and you’ll give yourself a great chance of becoming a consistent ball striker.
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Article used with permission from Nick Bayley (Professional golfer) who has discovered just one golf swing fault that could be stopping YOU from ball striking consistency and success.
But now you can take a simple 2 minute golf swing test to see if you have this swing fault or not.
What Is Medicus Golf
What Is Medicus Golf… Chosen by golf pros as top swing trainer club in the world.
The Medicus Learning System is dedicated to assisting golfers of all ages “Master the Basics” of golf through a consistent process of education, training and practice.
Medicus golf has always heard that “practice makes perfect.” However, educators know that “practice doesn’t make perfect, practice makes permanent.” So how does a golfer know when a golf swing motion is correct or incorrect?
Until now golfers had to rely on the theories and interpretations of their teaching professional, books and videos which gave conflicting information, and golf tips from friends and other golfers. All these have led to the confusion, frustration and inconsistency of the player.
This is why the Medicus Learning System was created It is a comprehensive series of golf training aids. Bob Koch says…”Throughout my years of playing and working with different instructors, something was missing in my ability to know and feel the correct swing. The Medicus Learning System was developed to provide the immediate feedback needed to practice and play with confidence, resulting in long term positive results on the golf course”.
It is the mission at Medicus golf, to assist golfers of all ages to “Master the Basics” of golf through a consistent process of education, training and practice.
The Best Selling Golf Training Aid Ever…The Medicus!
The Medicus has been chosen by golf pros as the #1 swing trainer club in the world. It is the best selling golf training aid ever. It is used by over half a million amateur golfers and thousands of professionals and now it’s BETTER THAN EVER.Once you learn to swing the Medicus without breaking it you know you are swinging in tempo and on plane. You’ll get rid of that slice and start hitting longer, straighter shots and start shooting lower golf scores!
It is a great training aid and will help anyone at any level groove the proper golf swing.Be sure to check it out at this website…Medicus Dual Hinge 5 Iron…Chosen by golf pros as top swing trainer club in the world.
What Are The Keys To Golf Practice
A Few Keys to Efficient Golf Practice
Whether it’s in baseball, hockey, soccer, tennis or any other sports that involves a ball, there is a feeling of immense satisfaction and pride that comes from hitting the ball solidly. Nowhere does this apply more than in golf, where the small golf ball goes where it wants on anything but a solid shot.
If you want to hit the golf ball solidly on a consistent basis, the only way is through practice and more practice.
Though you may not think so, the best time to practice golf is right after a round. Everything that didn’t work for you during the round is fresh in your mind, and your body and mind are ready to go. Failure to work consistently on the golf shots that regularly give you the most trouble means your golf game won’t soon improve.
The key to maximizing your efficiency in golf practice is creating ‘real’ situations. Ideally, you would mirror what happened in your golf round and employ your best swings. Also work on hitting golf balls from every bad lie you can think of. Obviously, it’s extra important to practice if you haven’t played for a while.
Boost your game further by visualizing a round of golf during lunch or breaks, on your way to or home from work, etc. Imagine taking many good swings and hitting a great shot each time. See your entire body flowing in unison through each shot, completely tension-free. This isn’t useless preparation. You are increasing your muscle memory and preparing them for the next round.
If you enjoy other sports, you can transfer movements in these sports to help your golf game. For instance, the way you shift your weight on a tennis backhand shot is very similar to the bodyweight transfer on a golf shot. Use the tennis experience to remember what you need to do on the links. For detailed steps on how to swing properly we suggest you pick up a copy of the Lady Golfers Guide – it’s a 222 page ebook full of great advice, tips and lessons in golf – all from a woman golfers perspective.
When you’re hitting a lot of balls in one session, remember to take a break between swings. You will avoid mental and physical exhaustion and can use the time to process what you’ve learned or accomplished. Remember, you’re not out there to hit a thousand shots, rather a few beautiful ones. Hitting 20-30 balls at a time is sufficient practice, especially if the majority of these are struck on the sweet spot of the clubface.
To hit a more accurate shot and promote better contact, pull out your favorite iron and try this exercise: take two tees and stick them in the ground a couple of inches apart. (You can also use two balls.) Try (air)swinging your iron through the tees without hitting them. Start with partial swings and work your way up to full swings as you get better at avoiding the tees. Soon you will be hitting the ball more solidly.
It may sound corny, but don’t forget the feeling of a good shot. Memorize it and internalize it, then practice it and you will soon be able to produce it consistently. It’s very easy to lose the feeling of a great shot because there are so many variables that went into hit, from hand position, proper grip and good pre-swing body alignment to the right ball position, clubface impact and follow-through.
Source: The above information is just a small morsel taken from the Lady Golfers Guide. This 222 page ebook is full of golf tips and advice like the above, and for just $37 we think this every Lady Golfer should have it.
Ultimate Golf Fitness Training
Ultimate Golf Fitness Training
Here is a guide to golf fitness training that could be very helpful, especially if you are in the off season.
Weight Training For Golf: The Ultimate Guide @ Amazon
Outline:
Weight Training for Golf is the most comprehensive and up-to-date golf-specific training guide in the world today.
It contains descriptions and photographs of the most effective weight training, flexibility, and abdominal exercises used by golfers worldwide, including the 2010 US Open champion, Graeme McDowell and World Golf Hall of Famer, Annika Sorenstam.
This book features year-round golf-specific weight-training programs guaranteed to improve your performance and get you results.
No other golf book to date has been so well designed, so easy to use, and so committed to weight training. This book enables golfers of all skill levels to add extra yardage to their drives and irons without having to buy the latest technology in golf. By following this program you can develop the flexibility and strength required to eliminate fatigue and increase distance with every club in your bag.
With stronger and more flexible muscles, you will not only hit the ball farther but you will have better control over all of your shots throughout the round. Most importantly, you will reduce your chances of injury and be able to play 18 holes without any problems.
Ultimate Golf Fitness Training Reviews:
1)I’ve been using workouts from this book for about a month now. I can really feel the difference! I’m more in tune with my core and mechanics. The workouts and illustrations are easy to follow. Fusser also covers other aspects of your life to help you achieve your goals. Kind of a “how to” of sorts. I’m looking forward to continued progress and success!
2)It’s time to replace your last-century voodoo concepts of training (and over training)for golf… of spending $500 a year on a gym membership. Frankly, I am convinced that Kai Fusser has written THE authoritative golf fitness book. It is clear and concise. That won’t stop others from exploiting this market, but this is the only book you will ever need on the subject. Put Fusser’s book along side Hogan’s “Five Lessons,” Watson’s “Getting It Up and Down from 40 Yards and In,” Stockton’s “Putt To Win,” and Rotella’s “Golf Is Not A Game of Perfect,” and you’ll have what are essentially the only golf books you’ll ever need to own.
Titleist Pro V1 Golf Balls
The new Pro V1 provides the exceptional distance and durability golfers have counted on, and now also delivers increased spin control and a more consistent flight. This advanced performance results from a new innovative ZG process core technology, responsive ionomeric casing layer, Urethane Elastomer cover and spherically tiled 352 tetrahedral dimple design. And with 3 axes of symmetry, our new aerodynamics deliver a penetrating ball flight that holds its line in the wind. The Pro V1 from Titleist: The #1 ball in golf.
Tips For Driving a Golf Ball
Tips For Driving a Golf Ball… learn to adjust to playing conditions and reduce your score.
Here are some good tips for driving a golf ball in tough conditions by Bobby Eldridge, head pro at PurePoint Golf.
Have you ever gone to play a round of golf and the first hole the wind is straight into you, the next two holes it’s blowing out of the right, the next two holes it’s from the left, then four holes in a row straight back into the wind, and then it gets worse?
The next three holes it’s blowing harder from the left. Then you get the shortest hole in the golf course downwind. And then, of course, you know the rest of the story, the next three holes, the longest holes in the golf course, dead into the teeth of it.
Well, those are tough driving days and you have to be prepared to react to it, because the wind isn’t going to stop just for you.
And when you’re playing well, I know you’re going to laugh, but it seems like every hole’s downwind. And when you’re playing difficult, it seems like every one of them is into a gale.
Remember this about tough driving days, this driver is not always the answer. How many times have you driven the golf ball 50 yards left of the fairway and only wished that you would have hit 6 iron off of the tee to get a better golf swing?
I’m not advocating that into the wind. However, the flatter the face on the golf club, the more the golf ball’s going to curve and the better your golf swing will be. And the windier it is, it exaggerates the curve if it’s going in the direction of the wind. So, this isn’t always the answer.
I have a 1 iron that I love, and I have driven with it many times on windy days, even into the wind, because it was important to find the golf ball in the fairway and not out of bounds.
So, don’t forget this is not the answer on rugged days. This is the answer when you’re driving the ball well.
When you’re not, it might be a 3 wood. Don’t give into the driver.
Timing In Golf Swing
Here`s a quick golf tip on the timing in golf swing from Bobby Eldridge, head pro at Purepoint Golf.
PurePoint Golf – Timing – Golf Instruction Lesson
I want to review something with you that I consider to be one of the, I don’t know, I think it’s one of the most misunderstood verbiage’s or terminology’s in all of golf.
It’s called timing. And it’s used a lot on television and in all the magazines, but they don’t explain to you what timing is and what it means.
So, let me give you a little golf instruction lesson, and then, that way you’ll start to understand the value of the word timing. Okay, here it goes.
Whenever you watch a good player hit a golf ball and or when you hit a good shot, this is what timing means. It was your ability to swing the arms down as your left hip moved out of the way, and gets out of the way for you.
Now, there are a couple of mistakes you can make. First of all, some people swing the arms down, and this never moves and you stay still. If you do that, you would be one that would come down and the club face closes quickly at the bottom of the hit.
If your timing is off because you didn’t move the bottom out of the way, the arms will cross over real quick.
On the other hand, most of the golfing public, when they swing down, their body moves out of the way and leaves the club behind them and open.
So, a little golf instruction lesson, if your timing is off and your body’s too quick, you’ll go to the right. If your timing’s off and your body’s a little too slow, you might hook it.
If your timing is on, all that’s saying is that you have the combination of the body, the bottom part of the body moving out of the way, as the arms swing down.
Again, the body moves, arms swing down. It’s just a combination of getting the arms and the hands to match up with the bottom part of the golf swing.
Thanks, and have a great day. I hope that golf instruction lesson helped.
Bobby Eldridge is the Head Instructor for the PurePoint Golf Academy where he teaches “The Simple Golf Swing” theory.
The Golf Driver – How To Hit It Long And Straight
The Golf Driver – How To Hit It Long And Straight
Here is some straight forward golf driver advice from Nick Bayley, who has a very unique golf swing test that can be found at The Golf Swing Test.
Here`s Nick…
So often I have golfers come to me saying….
“I can hit my irons well but I greatly lack consistency with my driver. Can you give me some advice on what I need to do to hit my driver like my irons?”
If you resonate with that question then you’ll want to read this entire article now. Because in it I’m going to give you some simple tips to improve your driving off the tee. And the first thing we’re going to look at is your equipment. More specifically, I want you to look at the shaft in your golf driver.
You see, the shaft of any club is the most important aspect of the club that will affect performance. And if you have a shaft in your golf driver that is not suited to you then you’ll struggle to hit that club consistently well.
So when a golfer comes to me complaining about great inconsistency with their driver over their irons I routinely ask this question…
“Does your driver have a different shaft than your irons?”
And normally I get an answer back like this…
“Yes, but my irons have steel shafts in them and my golf driver has a graphite shaft in it. Although they are all regular shafts.”
Now what most golfers don’t understand is that because a shaft has regular on it does NOT mean it is the same flex as another brand of shaft that has regular on it. There are no standards as far as golf flex is concerned. So don’t ever assume that having the same shaft flex from two different companies means you essentially have the same shaft.
So my first advice to people that can hit their irons well but not their driver is to get the exact same shaft as is in their irons put in their driver. And 9 times out of 10 just doing this solves there driving problem.
Now in case that doesn’t solve your golf driver problem here are three more tips to help you to hit the ball better and further off the tee.
1. Before you take some full swings with a driver you should always warm up by doing some stretches. The golf swing is incredibly hard on the body and you’ll only do yourself damage by trying to swing a driver hard without warming up your muscles first.
2. If you tend to fight a slice with a driver you should tee the ball higher as this helps to promote a draw. Conversely if your problem shot with a driver is a hook you should tee the ball lower.
3. When you’re teeing up to hit a golf driver you need to take into account the shape of shot you’ve been hitting with the driver and then tee the ball up on the best side of the tee to allow for that shape.
For example, if you’ve been fading your driver (and other shots) and you’re faced with a long par 4 that doglegs to the left then you’re going to be in trouble if you leave your ball on the left of the fairway. So to give yourself the best chance of success you should tee the ball up on the side you most want to avoid. And in this case you don’t want to go left as you’ll be forced to hit a draw for your second shot and that’s not a shot you’re hitting well.
So with this in mind in this example you should tee the ball up on the left-hand side of the tee box so you’re aiming away from the left-hand side, and you should aim down the middle of the fairway. That way if you hit the ball straight you’ll be in the middle of the fairway. If you hit a fade you’ll be in the right hand side of the fairway and if you hit a little slice you’ll be in the right rough still with a good shot to the green.
You see, you’ve got to be smart when you’re teeing up your ball. And here’s a general rule to remember to help you do this…always tee up your ball as the same side as the trouble and aim away from it.
If you’re struggling to hit your golf driver well I’m sure if you put these tips into action you’ll hit your driver longer and straighter.
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Nick Bayley is a professional golfer who has discovered just one golf swing fault that could be stopping YOU from ball striking consistency and success. But luckily for you, now you can take a simple 2 minute golf swing test to see if you have this swing fault or not. So don’t delay!
The Correct Golf Driver Loft
Choosing The Correct Golf Driver Loft
I`ll bet , like most of us, the last time you bought a new golf driver you hit a demo club at the range a few times, it felt good and you bought it.
This is how almost all of us buy new golf clubs. But let`s take a look at the driver. It is probably the most important club in the golf bag. Playing golf from the fairway is a lot easier than the rough and also, hitting a 9 iron to the green is a lot easier than hitting a 6 iron. That`s pretty obvious, so what`s the point?
The point is that most of us are not playing with a driver that has the proper loft to provide us with maximum distance and accuracy. The simple reason for this is that golf club manufacturers are not making drivers with the lofts that are correct for most golfers.
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Here`s an idea of the range of lofts that we are talking about to provide optimal driver loft: (source: Golf Engineering)
The numbers below represent (A)Clubhead Speed (how fast you swing the golf driver), (B)Estimated Optimal Driver Loft (your ideal driver loft) and (C)Category (who should be using these lofts)
(A)_____________(B)____________(C)
(1) 130-150…..4-7 degrees…..men long driving champs
(2) 110-125…..8-9 degrees…..men touring pros
(3) 95-105……10-11degrees….strong men & women
(4) 85-90…….12-13 degrees…most men golfers
(5) 75-85…….14-15 degrees…senior men & most women
(6) 65-75…….16+ degrees…..most women golfers
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As you can see, most men golfers should be using a 12-13 degree loft with their driver, senior men and women even higher and we know that this is not the case.
Also, what this validates is the fact that the average male golfer is better of driving with his 15 degree three wood. We have known this for years but we really did not know why, now we do. It is all about the optimal loft! There are more factors that control golf driver distance and accuracy, other than loft, but for our purposes today, this is one variable that we can easily control.
Now, we know that we are not going to give up hitting the driver. The grip it and rip it mentality is too deeply ingrained in us to give up our driver. But, at least now we can give up trying to hit an 8 degree driver and maybe change to a more sensible 10.5 degree or, even better, a 12 degree driver. The fact is that the lower degree of loft has been working against us and we never knew it!
So, stop fighting gravity and starting using a loft that will provide you with the optimal launch angle. Hit your driver longer and straighter. Give it a try, I think you will like it.