www.shawnclementgolf.com Shawn Clement, Director of the Richmond Hill Golf Learning Centre, and top 25 CPGA Teaching Professional as rated by Score Golf Magazine, shows you untold putting secrets that will have you sinking putts from everywhere!
Tag: Secrets
Golf Swing Improvement Secrets To Stop The Insanity
Golf Swing Improvement Secrets To Stop The Insanity
Article by Mike Pedersen, CPT
Golf swing improvement can be elusive for most golfers. I have read many articles and studies on the huge number of golfers quitting the game every year. They are tired of putting in the time, buying equipment, taking lessons, and purchasing every golf training aid on the market only to see no golf swing improvement.
You can’t fault a frustrated golfer who experiences the above and quits. Life is too short to spend 5 hours on a golf course and not enjoy it.
Let’s discuss why this happens!
First off, golf swing improvement should be approached from the inside-out. That means starting with your body. If your body has physical restrictions, you won’t ever be able to make a repeatable golf swing with any power or accuracy. It’s a physical impossibility.
You can try-and-try, but it won’t happen!
You body dictates your golfing ability. Like in any sport, raw talent is hard to come by and is only for a small percent of the athletic community.
Do you feel like you should be a better golfer? How many times have you walked off the course in disgust…knowing you should have played much better? This is a common occurrence and one that can be fixed quickly.
The right approach to golf swing improvement is one that looks at your current golf swing faults and the ‘physical’ reason behind it. I see this all the time. A golfer takes a lesson; the instructor tells the golfer what he needs to do; and the golfer can’t do it!
What a frustrating situation!
For every swing fault, there is an underlying ‘physical’ reason why it keeps happening.
Let me give you one of many examples to substantiate the above statement.
You are a slicer. That means you come “over-the-top” with your upper body. Do you want to know one of the many reasons why this happens?
Here goes!
You have poor core strength and flexibility.
If your body cannot initiate the downswing with the lower body, especially the hips rotating; it is because your core muscles are sending a message to your brain saying, “we can’t do this, so figure out another way (compensation) to get me back to the ball.”
Now the upside to this scenario.
You work on your core rotational strength and flexibility. You don’t hit more balls. You don’t add more swing thoughts to your swing. You don’t do drills at the range til your hands are bleeding. You just improve your core. That’s it!
The result?
You are able to initiate the downswing with your lower body, create and retain stored energy in your core area, and you not only stop your slice, but you add 30 yards to your drives!
That’s golf swing improvement the right way!
Again, this is just one example of a golf swing fault; and the cause and solution to eliminating it forever.
Now golf is fun again!
So when you think of playing better golf; take a new approach to your golf swing improvement.
About the Author
About The Author: Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf performance experts in the country. He is Golf Magazine’s golf performance expert author, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf performance sites. Take a look at his just released golf performance dvds and manual at his golf swing improvement site – Perform Better Golf.
Secrets of a Veteran Traveler for Successful and Peaceful Travel With a Small Child
Secrets of a Veteran Traveler for Successful and Peaceful Travel With a Small Child
For the past 13 years I’ve been traveling between the US and Europe on a regular basis. Since my son was born, he’s been going with me almost every time. On some trips my husband was with us to help, but on many more I was alone to take care of my now-8-year-old son on the nine-hour flights…
As an organizing and time management expert, I took advantage of those trips to accumulate a wealth of tips and strategies to make every plane trip a smooth and successful one every time. Here are some of them. May they save you some of the less-than-pleasant learning experiences I went through:
Separate seat or no separate seat, that is the question.
The first decision that needs to be made for all children under 2 years of age is whether you want them on your lap or in their own seat. As long as your child is small enough, there is no need for a separate seat, since many airlines can give you an in-plane bassinet. The airlines don’t exactly advertise the fact, but if you call the airline – and you may have to do this yourself, they sometimes won’t accept this kind of request from a travel agency – you can request a bassinet for the flight. You will then be assigned a bulkhead row seat, with a bassinet hooked on the wall in front of you. The bassinet was big enough for my 10-month old to still fit in. The hidden advantage of requesting a bassinet is that the bulkhead seat gives you a built-in play area in front of you for your baby to play, and invaluable advantage.
Once your baby outgrows the bassinet, the choice of a separate seat is much more of an open question. My personal choice was to have a second seat if I was traveling alone with my son, and to have him sit in our respective laps when we traveled with my husband. It worked well for us, but you may make a different choice. From my experience, there is no right answer at this point. Of course, past 2 years of age, this question becomes a moot point, since airlines will force you to get a separate seat for your child.
The car seat issue
The next big question, once you’ve chosen your seat option, is whether to take a car seat with you on the plane or not. If your child has his or her own seat and is less than 2 years old, FAA regulations force you to have one.
Beyond 2 years old, you are faced with a choice where both options have their advantages and disadvantages. Taking your car seat with you makes your life easier, because you know how to install it, and your child is used to it. However, a car seat is a very bulky item. If you’re traveling alone with your little one – or worse, with several little ones – it’s almost impossible to juggle a car seat, a stroller, your carry-on an wiggly little one(s). Trust me, I’ve tried…
Some other things to take into consideration: your car seat, even if FAA approved, may not fit in a standard coach seat. It might also be perfectly useless at your destination if it can’t be installed using a standard car seat belt – not all countries have adopted the LATCH system, or they may have their own version of it. My choice has always been to get a car seat at my destination rather than travel with one.
The stroller
When you are traveling by plane, a sturdy, umbrella-style stroller is by far the best type of stroller to have. The lighter it is, the better, yet you want it to be sturdy: you don’t want it to break at the first opportunity, and you want it to be able to easily negotiate uneven streets and sidewalks, or even a dirt path, yet you don’t want to be heartbroken should it get stolen (yes, it happens, and happened to me). I found the Chicco umbrella strollers to be a great, affordable solution, and one of them, the Liteway, even fits infants from birth on! We bought one and it’s resisted everything we put it through – we still have it in case a little one visits our home.
Should you choose to take both a car seat and a stroller, know that there is an option that allows you to have both in one, the Sit N Stoll car seat stroller, which is FAA approved. However, I’ve seen some of those up close and personal, and I doubt that this seat would fit in a standard coach seat, so do your homework and make sure it will fit everywhere before splurging for one.
The passport
The passport deserves a section of its own because of the quirks of getting a passport for a little one. You see, you can’t just order a passport by mail, the way you can for yourself. The government will refuse to process your child’s passport application unless they are confident that you are not planning on kidnapping your child, so you have to apply in person, with your child, and provide proof that the other parent is ok with you getting the passport… This easiest is to make the passport application a family affair, and all go together to the post office or government office to file your application. Barring this, you need a notarized letter from your spouse agreeing to the passport application, or papers showing that you have sole custody. Knowing that ahead of time will save you a lot of delays – again a hard-earned lesson on my part.
While you’re at it, if you travel alone with your child or children, get a notarized letter from the other parent certifying that they know and approve of you taking the child on this trip. You most likely won’t need it, but having this document with me has avoided some less-than-pleasant interactions with zealous and paranoid immigration officers of various nationalities.
The carry-on
When traveling with a small child, which type of carry-on to choose is important. After trying different versions, my recommendation is a backpack – you’ll be glad you chose that when you have to bodily carry a squirming pre-schooler under one arm, while guiding the stroller with your remaining hand. A specialized diaper backpack is of course an option, but any good, slightly oversize backpack to which you add a changing pad and an insulated pouch works very well. Just make sure your backpack fits airlines carry-on size requirements, the airlines are getting stricter and stricter about it. You don’t want to find yourself having to check your carry-on in!
When filling your carry-on, take about twice what you think you will need. In other words, if you think you’ll need 2 diapers, take 4. If you think you’ll need formula for 4 bottles, take enough for 8, etc.
Make sure to include in your carry-on one, if possible two, full changes of clothes per child, and one for you. I wish I had followed this piece of advice the day my son threw up 15 minutes before boarding, and soiled both his and my clothes. I had a full change of clothes for him, but no extra pants for me, so I had to endure a slight yet uncomfortable whiff for the whole 8-hour flight (fortunately it wasn’t perceptible ahead or behind me).
Also include in the carry-on everything you think you’d need if your child fell ill: thermometer, nose pump, pain killer, fever reducer, antihistamine, etc. Depending where you go, it might be harder to get, more expensive, or simply hard to get on short notice. Besides, should your child develop an earache in the plane, you’ll be ready.
Finally, make sure to have plenty of of your child(ren)’s favorite snacks, some of their favorite toys and a few new toys they’ve never seen. Always having old and new toys and favorite snacks to give to my son is part of what made passengers comment on how well-behaved, calm and quiet my son was throughout the flights.
When he was younger (circa 2005-2007), we also frequently took a DVD player and a Leapster to occupy an extra few hours. Nowadays, most transatlantic planes have individual entertainment systems, so you may not need to take any of those, but it doesn’t hurt to make sure that your plane has individual on-board entertainment.
When your child is an infant, a Boppy-style pillow may be something you want to take. It’s your choice, and a question of personal comfort, but I’ve always found that taking a sling or infant carrier on board allowed me to comfortably install my baby for sleep, and took a lot less space.
Once on location
Once you are at your destination, your small child will need two things: a place to sleep and a chair adapted to his or her size. Your hotel or friends and family may have equipment, but there is no guarantee that it’ll be as safe and sturdy as the one you’re used to. I personally never counted on finding either after my first trip, where I found myself with an inadequate crib and no high chair at all in restaurants.
One of the bed options is to take a pack ‘n play with you. This works as long as you don’t need to carry all your luggage yourself. I once had to negotiate an airport arrival on my own, and there is no way I would have been able to do it successfully had I had to carry a pack ‘n play on top of the luggage, the carry-on, the stoller and my very active then-15-month old. Besides, the airlines usually consider a pack ‘n play to be oversize luggage and charge for it as such. Having a kid-sized inflatable mattress with fitted sleeping bag offered a lot more flexibility and less bulk. When my boy was 8 months old, the sleeping bag kept him securely in bed, and the fabric let him breathe even if he had his face against it. As he grew, he loved having his own bed with him no matter where he went. No need to get him used to a new sleeping arrangement. this being said, if you want your little one confined when you sleep, and unable to just climb into your bed, the pack ‘n play may be your preferred solution.
The high chair is something we usually don’t think about – and an item I didn’t think of bringing with me the first time I traveled to Europe with my son. To my sorrow, I discovered that restaurants there are in general much less child-friendly than American ones, i.e. they often don’t have high chairs at all. Upon my return to the US, I immediately bought an on-the-go self-inflatable booster and blessed whoever invented it for the following 3 years. It takes almost no place in a suitcase, is easy to carry around, and makes you completely independent of what a restaurant, or a friend’s home, has or doesn’t have. As long as they have chairs with backs, you are set.
In conclusion – keeping your child happy during the flight
The best preparation in the world won’t make the flight easy if your child keeps crying through the flight…
Like most people, I hate it when I have to endure the constant crying or shouting of a young child in a plane, so when my turn came to travel with a small child myself, I did everything in my power to keep my son entertained and calm. I succeeded so well that until my son was 5 – at which time it apparently seems to become a given that a child will behave in a plane -, at the end of every flight passengers commented on how my son was calm and well-behaved during the flight.
The way I did this was by catering to his needs throughout the flight, no matter what they were. It was intense work during the flight, and I sometimes needed a nap once we arrived at our destination, but it was well worth it. The snacks, old and new toys were part of what kept him entertained. I also made the plane a no-food-rule zone, so that he would look forward to it, because then he could eat anything he wanted – as long as he stayed quiet. Presenting the toys one by one bought me calm time throughout the flight. When he wanted to walk (and he wanted to walk non-stop from 11 months old until he was 3), I would ask the flight attendant for the least disruptive place to do so, and then he would burn some energy there.
My son is now 8, and doesn’t require nearly as much attention as he used to. I can now read or even sleep, while he keeps himself entertained in the plane. But to this day I still travel with a couple of cheap new toys, and more than once have helped distraught parents calm a baby or toddler down and shared my strategies with them – helped by my son who seems to remember all the tricks that worked.
Karin Stewart Ph.D., owner of Daly Mastery, specializes in teaching time and resources management to people for whom traditional time management methods have failed, in particular working moms and people with ADD. In as little as four sessions, her clients reclaim control over their lives, find peace of mind and balance, and gain the confidence that comes from knowing that they have the resources to easily handle everything in their lives and schedules. Claim your free e-guide and take advantage of Karin’s open office hours by going to http://www.DailyMastery.com.
Stunning Golf Ball Position Secrets
Stunning Golf Ball Position Secrets
Article by John Lynch
The truth is golf ball position plays a major factor in not only the shape of your ball flight, but how solidly you strike the ball. More shots are ruined before the swing is even made because of improper golf ball position.
Watch the pros while they are practicing on the range. They spend hours working on ball position and alignment.
Proper golf swing alignment starts with the right ball position.
If the golf ball is positioned too far back in your stance, this causes you to close your shoulders at setup. As a result you take the club back too much to the inside. This can cause snap hooks and lower ball flight trajectories.
If the ball is positioned too far forward in your stance, this causes you to open your shoulders at setup and therefore you take the club back too much to the outside. This can cause a weak slice and higher ball flight trajectories.
I mean its simple physics. You want your golf ball to be positioned at the low point of your swing to maximize results. Each club in your bag creates a different swing arc because of the varying lengths.
3 simple steps for golf ball position perfection:
1. Setup to the ball and lay a golf club on the ground so the tips of your feet almost touch it, parallel to your target line. This works as a visual aid because it allows you to line up your body lines (shoulders, hips, and feet) parallel to the target line, the secret to straighter shots.
2. Take your driver and setup to the golf ball, your stance (distance between your feet) should be just a little wider than your shoulders. Position the ball in your stance to be off your left heel. If you’re having trouble making sure the ball is positioned off your left heel, you can use the shirt logo over your left chest as a visual aid to help you line up correctly over the ball.
3. For every subsequent golf club there on down, narrow your stance about the length of one golf ball (so narrow your stance about one golf ball when going from driver to 3 wood, the 5 wood one ball in from the 3 wood, and so on down right through to your wedges). For normal shots, postion the ball off your left heel or shirt logo with ALL clubs. By narrowing your stance each time you go down in clubs essentially moves the ball back in your stance.
There you have it…
3 quick and easy steps for proper ball position and stop those annoying duck hooks and banana slices today!
Play well.
About the Author
John Lynch is owner of No. 1 Golf Book Reviews and has helped hundreds of golfers lower their scores.To learn more on how to fix your slice, John recommends you visit:FixSliceGolf.com