‘Mechanics’ Articles at Golf Product Review by Experienced Golf Balls

Review Of Golf Training Aids- Can They Really Help Lower Your Scores?

Review Of Golf Training Aids- Can They Really Help Lower Your Scores?

Article by Jack Moorehouse

Today’s marketplace is flooded with training aids. You can find one for nearly every part of the game. And more and more are being introduced every day. While a training aid won’t lower your golf handicap overnight or replace golf tips, it will help improve your golf game if you work with it faithfully.

Below are five training aids golfers often ask about in my golf lessons. Designed to improve your swing or a phase of your swing, these products help correct faults, groove mechanics, and/or ingrain the feel of swing. The key, as always, is finding a training aid that works for you before investing your hard-earned money.

(And incidentally, I am in no way affiliated with these companies nor do I make money from these reviews.)

Amazing Assist Swing Trainer (www.matzie.com)

Available from Gibas & Matzie Golf Products, the Amazing ASSIST training club improves your swing and increases strength. It’s like getting a golf lesson free of charge. Its weighted head and bent shaft teaches the correct hand action. The ASSIST improves muscle memory, extension, and weight transfer as well as tempo and timing.

As the club is swung, the proper release action is exaggerated to eliminate slicing, increase clubhead speed, and produce straight shots. In addition, the training grip places the thumbs and index fingers Vs of your hands in the traditional 11 o’clock and 12 o’clock positions. You can use it at home, on the range, or before your golf lessons.

The Amazing ASSIST is ideal for pre-game or pre-practice warm-ups or for everyday use to improve your swing. The ASSIST is available for men, women, and juniors, and for right-handers and left-handers. An instructional video comes with the product. The cost is .

The Elbow Tac-Tic (www.4golftraining.com)

Maintaining one’s left elbow (for right-handers) as straight as comfortably possible determines the width of your swing arc, as I’ve explained in my golf tips. The wider the swing arc, the greater the power. The Elbow Tac-Tic sleeve clicks when the elbow breaks down, providing the instant feedback needed to correct the swing and keep the left elbow extended. The Tac-tic also works on the right arm, clicking when the elbow bends at the proper point in the backswing. Cost: 39.95.

The Speed Stik (www.speedstik.com)

Most golf instruction will tell you that clubhead speed determines the distance a ball is hit. The faster the clubhead speed, the farther the ball goes. Working out with the Speed Stik increases a golfer’s clubhead speed and trains proper balance and on-plane swing. Swing the Speed Stick in a continuous motion back and forth, keeping it about 18 inches off the ground. Start slowly at first, and then build momentum. Check the speed gauge for your MPHs. Every increase of 1 MPH equals three more yards of distance. Repeat a few days a week and chart your distance. Cost: .99

The Impact Ball (www.theimpactball.com)

The Impact Ball develops the feel of hitting a ball properly. Available from To-M-Pact Golf, Inc., it’s easy to use and understand. It’s based on the idea that many recreational players have certain swing faults (chicken wing, flying elbows, etc.) or that they try to scoop the ball off the ground when hitting. Sometimes, even the best golf instruction can’t rid a player of certain faults.

The Impact Ball works. It’s placed between the forearms and held there through your swing. The ball is bi-colored, and the only thought to focus on is to getting the ball to change colors as the club moves through the impact area. The product trains golfers to strike the ball solidly with a square clubface, eliminating any attempts to flip or scoop the ball during the shot.

The Impact Ball addresses every phase of the game–chipping, pitching, putting, driving, and bunker play. You can hit balls on the range with the Impact Ball or practice swinging the club with it at home. The cost: .95 + shipping and handling.

The Swing Magic Driver (www.swingmagic.com)

Training with Kallassy’s Swing Magic Driver ingrains the proper motion into your swing. Designed to improve timing, tempo, and rhythm, the Swing Magic synchronizes the movement of your arms, hands, and body. A sliding training clip enables you to separate your right hand (for right handers) during the backswing. By separating the right hand on the backswing and reconnecting it on the downswing imprints an on-plane golf swing, essential for consistent ball striking. It prevents you from coming “over the top” as well. Cost: .95.

Remember, a training aid is not a panacea, as I often mention in my golf tips. It won’t dramatically improve your game overnight. It won’t make up for good course management. And it won’t take the place of a one-on-one golf lesson. But it will ingrain the fundamentals of a good swing, cut strokes off your scores, and lower your golf handicap, if you practice with it faithfully. Just make sure the training aid is right for you before buying.

About the Author

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately.

The Joy Of A Golf Cart

The Joy Of A Golf Cart

Article by Julee Mitchelsin

You are going to love to read this article in search of some valuable instruction in the mystery of the perfect golf cart. But I doubt you are going to find what you are expecting. What I am going to do is give you some advice that will hopefully help you in your game but more in the head game than in the physical part of the game. I want to in the next few paragraphs talk about three truisms that will hopefully put you at ease, steel your confidence, and allow you to play up to your ability. The three areas are rhythm, routine, and consistency.

When I talk about rhythm in relation to the golf cart I mean pace of cart play AND peace in your thought. Most people have heard of the evils of hurrying a cart or of deceleration, but what about rushing your mental game or losing your concentration. First have this one swing thought in mind as you step to the ball–“smooth carts produce better rides, I don’t have to drive slowly.” This allows you to have something for your mind to latch onto in that critical moment as you stand over the ball in front of your cart. It is easy to produce and isn’t complicated or distracting.

Secondly you need to have a routine. The golf course is not the place to be thinking about the mechanics of curing your slice or cutting or drawing the ball. You have to be concentrated on the best type of shot to hit, NOT how to hit it. All of that work should be done on the range. Routine refers to the natural sequence of events that goes into envisioning the shot that you want to hit, selecting the club, and choosing the golf cart that you will use to get yourself around the course. The routine is very much a part of the rhythm of your game and allows you to find a level of “been there, done that” comfort that is so helpful to your confidence.

The last thing is consistency, and this requires discipline and time. The mechanics of the golf cart are important, sure, but the consistency of the cart is ten times more important. If you have a natural slice but you know how to use is and can trust that it is going to go in a certain way you are way better off than if you hit the ball straight 80% of the time and don’t know what is going to happen the other 20%. You can also trust your cart to get you to your shots even when they are in the deep rough.

So instead of filling your mind with all the intricacies of the newest hybrid carts and trying to always have the best, find your natural fit in a golf cart and make it consistent. Then work on the part of the game that has a lot more to do with your score, the head game, and finding the calming and confidence building influences of rhythm and routine.

About the Author

Julee Mitchelsin loves her job designing the perfect golf cart. If you want more information then click on http://www.aboutgolfcart.info

Why Owning a Golf Cart is Such a Great Idea

Why Owning a Golf Cart is Such a Great Idea

When I talk about rhythm in relation to the golf cart I mean pace of cart play AND peace in your thought. Most people have heard of the evils of hurrying a cart or of deceleration, but what about rushing your mental game or losing your concentration. First have this one swing thought in mind as you step to the ball-“smooth carts produce better rides, I don’t have to drive slowly.” This allows you to have something for your mind to latch onto in that critical moment as you stand over the ball in front of your cart. It is easy to produce and isn’t complicated or distracting.

Learn about cuttlefish facts and donkey facts at the Facts About Animals site.

Tiger Woods And His Putter

Tiger Woods And His Putter

Seems like every time he has a putt of 30 feet or more, the ball grazes the hole or finishes a foot away for Tiger Woods.

No. 1, he puts a great roll on the ball, and that’s because his mechanics are very solid. The face of his putter is squaring to the path at impact, not cutting against it, and he has that constant acceleration. He never looks like he’s holding the putter back or accelerating it; it looks like the putter accelerates itself. And finally, he practices long, breaking putts. You’ve got to hit it solid to be close to the hole from long range.

Tiger talks about releasing the putterhead.

That’s a word that describes a specific feel for a very good player. It goes back to the pendulum: if you keep your center (head and sternum) still and you let the weight of the putter go past your center, that’s releasing the putter. I don’t think it’s flipping the putter or necessarily closing the face; it just has to do with simply letting the putter go past your center.

Is there a drill you’d recommend for short putts, long putts, or both?

Hit your long putt first, then try and convert the short one.

Most golfers have what I like to refer to as a signature backstroke. They take the club back the same distance for almost all putts. Let’s say it’s 12 inches – if they take it back 12 inches on a 4-foot putt their brain starts screaming, “Slow down!” If they take it back 12 inches on a 40-foot putt their brain screams, “Speed up!” Ultimately, what you really want to learn is what length backstroke is right for each putt. If you’ve got a 4-foot putt you should really have a backstroke of 6 inches. (Normal green speed, stimped at 10). If you’ve got a 40-foot putt you really need a backstroke that’s somewhere around 15 inches, so you’re allowing the putterhead to create its own momentum.

Think about a pendulum: A pendulum you swing way back and the distance it travels determines how fast it moves forward. If you swung it 6 inches it would swing slower than if you swung it 15 inches. What happens with most people is they’re controlling the putter’s speed versus letting it swing by itself. If you look at the best putters, they have a constant rate of acceleration and an equal back and through motion.

Any advice for the weekend golfer?

There are 10 people come through our short game school regularly, and I think 70 percent have the wrong putter; it’s not the right specifications for them. So they’re never going to get better. It’s like glasses: You won’t see clearly until you have the right specs.

Stop wasting your time with band-aids and quick fixes that don’t do anything. Get to the heart of the problem, and get fitted.

John Daly: Golf Needs Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods Was Made Fun

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When Seeking To Improve Your Golf Swing, Don’t Neglect The Set Up

When Seeking To Improve Your Golf Swing, Don’t Neglect The Set Up

Article by Stan Thomas

When you’re looking to improve your golf swing, don’t forget the basic premise of your set up. Jack Nicklaus has said many times that there is nothing more important in the game of golf than this.

Nicklaus: “If you set up correctly, there’s a good chance you’ll hit a reasonable shot, even if you make a mediocre swing. If you set up to the ball poorly, you’ll hit a lousy shot even if you make the greatest swing ever.” He went on to say that the set up is eighty per cent of the game of golf, and I concur.

When considering your set up, keep the following in mind: body alignment, the position of the head, your general stance, the placement of the ball between your feet and the distance the golf ball is from your body, and aim of the clubface itself.

It is easy to be distracted with the mechanics of your golf swing, but if you are to improve at playing golf, your set up is going to demand your constant attention. You’ll want to pay particular attention to the alignment of your body and the aim of your clubface.

How can you ever hope to hit a target if you don’t aim properly? How can you expect your body to perform the task of hitting a golf ball to a particular target if your mind is not focused and attentive to the target?

Golfers of all types could save themselves a lot of anguish and strokes by mastering the set up. But for many the set up seems too obvious of a task to cause concern. This is a big mistake.

The truth is that your golf swing begins before you begin to draw your club into the backswing. The golf swing actually begins at set up.

When addressing the golf ball, do the following:

· Make sure the clubface it square to the ball.

· Make sure your hands are comfortable and correctly gripping the club.

· Position your body properly over the ball.

It should be in that order. If you square the clubface first, it should make your stance follow properly and allow for a more exact aim.

To do this take the club in your right hand (if you are right-handed) and set the bottom of the edge of the club face perpendicular to the aim of your target. This should set your aim in direct contact with your goal.

About the Author

Stan Thomas has been playing golf since before dirt covered the earth. He knows he’ll never master the game, but he can’t deny the quest.

He invites you to visit his website:

http://www.golfimproveswing.com http://www.squidoo.com/golfimproveswing/

Tips For Throwing A Great Curveball

Tips For Throwing A Great Curveball

Article by Hollis Ware

The curveball grip is fairly simple and, unlike other pitches, allows a pitcher to maintain a good grip on the ball, and therefore, control, and throwing an effective curveball involves more than just your arm. There is no specific moment when a coach or parent will say it is time now to throw curving ball. However, the proper age for the player to be able to throw curving ball is 14 or 15 years old. If young players throw curveballs on a consistent basis at younger ages they can cause damage to their elbows and thus hinder the growth process.

The mechanics of throwing a curveball are completely different from a fastball. The path of the ball on a fastball is generally far from your head. In the case of a curveball, the path will be much closer to your head.

There are several key elements to the curveball that must be followed in order to throw the pitch properly:First of all, start out by hiding your baseball in the palm of your glove. There is no need to advertise what type of pitch you are about to make. The same applies to your windup. Do not use it to advertise what you are about to do. Keep the batter guessing for as long as you can.

Grip the ball with your middle and index fingers together, with the fingers across the seams of the ball at the widest part (the widest distance between the seams). Keep a tight grip on the ball, especially with the middle finger. Don’t let the ball touch the palm of your hand, or you won’t generate enough topspin, which is what allows the ball to drop when it gets close to home plate.

Practice developing your speed as you master your form and stance. Speed is a very important factor in your delivery. Curveballs with little speed are easily hit by the batter as any batter that is any good will seek to determine the particulars of the pitch and respond accordingly. The more time the batter has to gauge the speed and angle of the throw, the easier it will be to successfully launch your curveball into the outfield

When releasing a curveball, your wrist will be hooked and your hand will pull down in front of your body. It is important that you release the ball close to your body (Short Arm). The further you release from your body, the less resistance your middle finger will have on the seam and therefore your rotation will be looser.

About the Author

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How To Develop A Brilliant Golf Swing

How To Develop A Brilliant Golf Swing

Article by Gerald Mason

For a good golf swing we have not only to bring the club head down through the same line time after time; we must bring it down so that the club face is square with the ball at the instant of impact–and because the path of the club head is a curve, this means that impact must be timed correctly to an infinitesimal fraction of a second in the sweep of the swing. Also the club head must be accelerating at the moment of impact.

So we have not only to set up the mechanism to make a good swing, which we can all soon do if we only swing at the daisies, but we have to time this swing to the fraction of a second. Now I think that most of us overrate the value of good mechanics in golf and underrate the value of accurate timing. I was once watching, with a pupil of mine who had a most perfect swing, a fellow whose action was not pretty–to put it kindly.

But he kept hitting nice long shots down the middle. “Not much to look at,” I remarked to my pupil. “I would not care a damn what I looked like if I could repeat like that chap!” he replied.

The awkward one could repeat his best shots time after time. His mechanics were ungainly but his timing was near perfect.

Well, you may say, if that is so, why should you go to so much trouble to give us a good mechanical swing? The answer is that good timing plus a good swing is better than good timing plus an awkward swing.

The best swing, mechanically, is the one that pulls the ball a little and then makes it turn a bit to the left at the end of its flight, but if you get your maximum golf happiness out of a swing which slices the ball all around the course, there is no reason to alter your mechanics!

If you do want to make an alteration, it may not be an extensive one. I remember one day at St. Cloud an someone came and begged me to give him even fifteen minutes–which I did out of my lunch time as he seemed so insistent.

His trouble was that every now and then his iron shots to the green would finish in the bunker to the left of the green. For three years he had failed to find a permanent cure. So on the advice of a friend he came to me. It did not take me long to see what was wrong and to explain to him that now and again his foot-and-leg work was sluggish, and in consequence the club head came in too soon–to put his ball a little to the left.

After that brief lesson I never saw him again, as he was on his way back to the States from Paris. But he left me a note of thanks and a handsome present, and when I inquired of the caddy who had been out with him in the afternoon learned he had broken 70. Some time later I saw his photograph in the American Golfer with the news that he had won the West Coast championship.

Too much thought about the mechanics is a bad thing for anyone’s game. Now the reason why golf is so difficult is that you have to learn it and play it through your senses. You must be mindful but not thoughtful as you swing. You must not think or reflect; you must feel what you have to do. Part of the difficulty arises because, apart from simple things like riding a bicycle, we have never learned to do things in this way.

The beginning of the swing movement is in the feet; the movement passes progressively up through the body, through the arms, and out at the club head.

What we try to do is to make the club head come down in the same path time and time again–in such a way that the face of the club comes squarely into the back of the ball every time.

We have one fixed point (the feet) and one moving point (the club head) which we desire to move along the same line time after time. So the golf swing might be compared to the drawing of arcs with a pair of compasses. The reasons why we cannot be so precise in our stroking as the compass can, are that we are supported on two legs instead of one and we are full of flections and joints!

About the Author

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How To Hit The Golf Ball Longer And Straighter With Your Driver

How To Hit The Golf Ball Longer And Straighter With Your Driver

The mechanics of a golf swing are more complex than perhaps that of any other sport on the planet. A good golf swing must be underpinned with sold fundamentals including solid grip, square alignment to the target, a solid base / stance, and a dynamic upright posture. For the purpose of this article I am going to assume that you have solid basic fundamentals.

Please try a selection of the following tips and see which ones have a positive impact on your game. I can guarantee that you will begin to hit the ball further than you have ever done before.

Tip # 1 – Adopt a Stronger Grip

A neutral golf grip is when you can see 2 knuckles of your left hand / the hand at the top of the shaft. A weak grip is when you see less than 2 knuckles on the upper hand. This action tends to promote a fade or slice as the grip returns to neutral at impact thus ensuring the face is opened if the grip is weak. A strong grip is one in which you can see 3 or 4 knuckles on your left hand (for right handed golfers).

A good way to measure a strong grip is to make the “V’s” formed by the thumb and index finger point towards your right shoulder. A strong grip will tend to promote a draw which every golfer knows is a top spin shot that travels much further.

This is especially true with their left hand. To achieve this you should see about three to four knuckles on your left hand. This gives you so much more leverage in terms of your wrist movement. You are able to wait to the last moment to release the club, which results in a surge of club head speed through impact.

Tip # 2 – Release Tensions in Your Hands and Arms

If you were to really tense up your leg muscles and attempt to run a race, you would not be able to walk very fast let alone say run. The muscles in your hands and arms are no different. The grip pressure is perhaps the most important element to eliminating a tense rigid swing. Grip pressure should be light but firm. Professional golfers have stated that you should grip the golf club with the same pressure as if you were:

Lightly squeezing a tube of tooth paste Holding a child’s hand Holding a small bird in your hand Use which ever analogy is best for you but remember always be conscious of your grip pressure especially just before you commence your take away. It is literally not possible to grip a club too lightly. Your muscles will instinctively increase grip pressure throughout your swing to ensure the club does not fly out of your hands.

A light grip pressure will also have the positive effect of releasing tension in your arms. Build a few waggles into your pre-shot routine to further ensure there is no build up of tension.

You will be shocked an amazed how much further your ball will fly as a result of relaxed hand and arm muscles.

Tip # 3 – Increase the Width of Your Arc

Try this simple drill to realize the importance of the swing arc. Hold a golf ball in your hand 10 or so inches directly over your right shoulder. Now throw the ball as far as you can. You will notice the ball didn’t travel very far. Now extend you right hand back as far as is comfortably possible and throw the ball as far as you can. You will notice that the ball traveled significantly further. Many amateur golfers fail to realize the importance of the width of the swing arc in determining the distance the ball flies.

Perhaps the best tip that I have come across for creating a wide powerful swing arc is that of Greg Normans. Greg Norman has long been one of the longest straightest drivers of the golf ball. His tip is simple and powerful. At your address position ensure your left arm and club shaft form a straight line down to the ball. Make sure there is no tension whatsoever in the hand or arm.

Now simply push your left elbow back away from the target. Keep pushing it back, back, back all the way. Sooner or later as your swing reaches the three quarter way position, somethings going to give and your wrist will automatically cock at the top. This business of an early wrist cock advocated by some of the games teachers doesn’t work very well because it eliminates the extension of your arc which is a key source of power in the swing. With sufficient practice, this powerful technique will seriously increase your driving distance.

Tip # 4 – Delay the Club Head Release Through Impact

Many of the games greats will differ in their back swing but generate a very similar down swing sequence. Contrast “Jim Furyk” with “Tiger Woods”. One swing attribute that they all have in common is a powerful late release of the club head (also known as club head lag). In my opinion the golfer with one of the most powerful late releases is “Sergio Garcia”. He has a rather unorthodox back swing but a powerful late release ensures he hits the golf ball a long, long way. What I mean by late release of the golf club is a delayed uncocking/release of the wrists just before impact.

Many amateurs suffer from the dreaded ‘casting’ motion whereby they throw the club at the ball from the top of the swing. Thus they are releasing all their power long before the club ever nears the ball. In order to create a late release you should consciously focus on retaining your fully cocked wrists for as long as possible prior to impact. I have come across two excellent tips to achieve this goal. Please only use one or the other as you should never have two simultaneous swing thoughts prior to impact. The club head is moving too fast to execute more than one.

Insert a tee peg at the butt end of your shaft and focus on the mental image of trying to drive that tee peg into the back of the ball. To condense this into one neat phrase think “pull butt of shaft down to back of ball”. This will cause a very late release of your club and store up considerable power during the downswing.

Ernie Els uses ‘Golf’s Magic Move’, which is a swing thought devised by guru Harvey Pennick for creating a late release of the golf club. To execute this technique, one you arrived at the top of your back swing think “right elbow down to right side”. This effectively retains the wrist angle and ensures a late release into the back of the ball.

Tip # 5 – Increase Your Coil

This move is not for those who have a stiff, unsupple back or back problems in any sense of the word. Effectively one of the greatest sources of power in a golf swing is the coiling of your shoulder turn against your hip turn. The further you can turn your shoulder and limit your hip turn the more wind up you generate in the backswing. This results in a powerful uncoiling in the downswing generating substantial power into the back of the ball. The effect is similar to wrapping an elastic band around your finger. The more tightly you wind it the faster it unwinds. A good mental image to achieve this goal is to imagine you are standing in a barrel of cement. Your legs and hips are thus restricted in their movement. Now focus on turning your back fully to the target. This will create a powerful shoulder turn on top of a limited hip turn. You will create massive distance gains with this single tip alone.

Tip # 6 – Widen Your Stance, Retain Flex in Right Knee

In order to generate strong club head speed, you need a stable base to ensure it is correctly delivered to the back of the ball. Ensure the inside of your insteps are outside the width of your shoulders. To ensure the correct distance apart simply hang two clubs vertically from the outside of both shoulders. The club heads should be directly over the insteps in both feet.

Tip # 7 – Retain Flex in Right Knee

A critical element in the creation of a powerful golf swing is the retention of flex in the right knee in the back swing. If your right knee straightens it’s like snapping the tension in the swing and all your power is immediately destroyed. A good tip is to bend the right knee and tilt it slightly in towards the ball. Focus on retaining this inward tilt throughout the back swing.

With practice you will build muscle memory and these swing changes will become a habit that will not require any conscious effort to execute. In the immortal words of John Daly “Grip it and Rip it.”

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