Eight Great Golf Exercises (Part II)

This article is the second of a two-part feature describing exercises I use in my golf instruction sessions. We discussed Part I in the last article.

Last week we said that no single swing is right for all golfers. All golfers' swings are different because of their builds, their ages, their strengths, and so on. The same holds true for workout programs. No single workout program is right for all golfers. Different people require different programs based on their builds, their ages, and so on, so very golfer needs to find a workout program that's good for him or her..

But, as we said last week, some exercises benefit every golfer. These exercises not only improve range of motion and balance, they also strengthen problem areas-hips, back, and rotary cuffs. They're all low intensity. They won't give you the sculpted look of a world-class body builder, but they will improve your swing and golf handicap.

These exercises can all be done in your home. Some require a modest investment in time and equipment. You will need to adjust the weight, intensity, and frequency of each exercise to fit your physical capabilities, but other than that the program should be the same for everyone.

Below are the final exercises for a good workout program I recommend to those who are serious about improving their golf handicap.

Torso-Resisted Swing

This exercise requires the use of a device called an Instant Replay System, anchored to a door and then belted around your waist. It's great way to finish your workout because it re-synchronizes the golf muscles you just trained. Perform 10 to 15 swings at the end of each exercise session.

Hook the Instant Replay band on the rear leg side and wrap it around you so it exits the same side and feels tight at address and tighter at the finish position. Now perform your swing using a longer club. Next, attach the band around your lead shoulder and wrap it around your body so it exits your rear hip and the band feels taught at address and loose at the finish of your swing. Now perform your swing using a short club. Try to make each swing longer than the one before.

Torso-Leg Lift

This exercise coordinates the muscles of the abdomen, pelvic region, and legs. It also strengthens the shoulders, stabilizes the hip, and helps with lower back pain. Do 10-15 reps, each side, 2 to 3 sets, 3 times a week.

Lie on your side supported by your elbow. Your arms legs and hips should be in line. Now press up with your elbow so your body lifts of the ground. Hold, and then return to the ground. Optional, after you press up with the elbow, make a scissor movement with your legs.

Medicine Ball Throw

This exercise trains the big muscles of the golf swing-the abdomen, the lower back, hips, and legs. Do 10 to 12 reps. twice a week. Then do the same drill left-handed.

Hold the medicine ball in front of your like a golf club. Make a backswing and then, as fast, as you can, make an explosive downswing to throw the ball forward, just pact the impact position. Throw it against the wall or into a net.

The Tire Exercise

This exercise strengthens your hands and wrists. Take 10 to 15 swings then stop. Repeat the drill 3 times.

Take a normal golf stance with a tire positioned like a large golf ball in front of you. Employing a normal grip, use a quarter swing to hit the back of the tire moving the clubhead as fast as possible. The pitch of the swishing noise and the sound of the impact are your indicators. The higher the pitch and the louder the crack, the faster the clubhead speed will be. The loudest crack is heard when the clubhead releases properly-similar to the way a hammer strikes a nail. The longer the hit is delayed the stronger the sound.

You can repeat the tire drill in the opposite direction, if you wish, so as not to strengthen one side of the body more than the other. But even if you don't, completing these exercises, as well as the ones in the previous article, will strengthen you, increasing your chances of cutting strokes from your golf handicap.

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. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction. http://www.howtobreak80.com

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By Jack Moorehouse

Which is the Most Popular Golf GPS?

There has been a lot of interest in using GPS technology for golf and this has led to an industry within the very competitive golf industry. But which is the most popular golf GPS at the moment? The jury is out on this one! Certainly the ever popular Skycaddie range of models are still selling, but there popularity could be based on past reputation and not necessarily on new features. There are a lot of new models coming on to the market with new features to benefit the golfer. And like all technology the new models have more memory, are smaller in size, more versatile and often cheaper.

In addition to the golf specific GPS models there is software that can be used on mobile phones that provide the same or similar benefits.

So which is the most popular Golf GPS at the moment?

The iGolf Neo, which is the smallest, is proving to be very popular because of its price tag. At under $150.00 the Neo is something that most golfers are happy to spend on improving their game. Often the purchasers of the Neo are first time buyers or buyer's who are buying a golfer a present. And what a nice present it would make.

At the other end of the price spectrum is the uPro by uPlay Golf. At just under $400.00 the uPro features the latest in graphic technology, with a color screen and incredible graphics. The Pro Mode feature takes you on a helicopter video flight over the hole in play and includes detail of the undulations, hazards and everything that the player faces.

The uPro is selling very fast to those people who have been using a golf GPS for some time and to those who have no budget limitations.

Interestingly at $400.00 the golfer who plays once a week will have a caddie for life for the incredibly low price of under $8.00 per round in his first year, reducing to $4.00 per round in the second year. Do you think Steve Williams should start getting concerned?

Seriously though, all the Golf GPS models have an array of benefits and vastly different pricing structures. Some come with annual membership plans - a clever ploy by the manufacturers to generate cash flow. For your membership fee you are entitled to a certain, sometimes limited - with others not, amount of downloads and course storages. These are stored either on the unit itself or in cyberspace on a website hosted by the manufacturer.

There are the normal screens and then color screens. Some offer a digital scoring system whilst others are able to retain your scores, what club you hit over certain distances and the ability to analyze your game.

With some models you can plot your own points on the course.

The power source and the number of hours that the batteries last are important issues to consider.

Accuracy on all of the models depends on the amount of satellite signals each operates off. Generally the more satellites the GPS can access the more accurate the distances will be. These are all useful features and will benefit your game. For example knowing exactly how far you hit each club in your bag is something very few amateurs know. We all tend to think we can hit it further and it is a known fact that amateurs tend to leave more of their approach shots short of the green than to overshoot. Think of your own game.

Which is the most popular Golf GPS at the moment?

Personally I think this will depend on your budget. Certainly the iGolf Neo is a brilliant little model that will do what you need it to do. But it doesn't have a colour screen, will not keep your score and does not keep your statistics. You can however determine how far you hit each club. The models that fall into the 'most popular' category would include the following (in no particular order):

• iGolf Neo
• iGolf Caddie II
• Golf Guru
• Sonocaddie XV2
• Sonocaddie V300
• Skycaddie 2.5, Skycaddie 3, Skycaddie 4 and Skycaddie 5.
• Golf Buddy Plus
• Garmin Golf Logix GPS 8
• Sure Shot
• uPro.

When selecting a Golf GPS you need to write down the features you want, how much you are prepared to pay for these features and then compare apples with apples.

One thing is certain: once you have used a GPS for golf you will wonder why you never did it years ago.

I realize that I haven't directly answered your question "What is the most popular Golf GPS at the moment?" but I hope I have given you some food for thought in selecting the Golf GPS that is ideal for you. After all why follow the crowd?

Lawrence Bredenkamp is a qualified golf coach and a mad keen golfer. He has several golfing websites one of which is dedicated solely to Golf GPS.
This website has the most comprehensive comparison chart available on the web. It provides a full review of each of the most popular models and gives recommendations based on budget.
Buy your GPS using this information and rest assured that you have bought the best available for the money you have spent.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lawrence_Bredenkamp

By Lawrence Bredenkamp

Add Spice With Free Golf Clipart

Do you own a golf-related website? Do you publish a golf blog or maybe a newsletter? Do you use email marketing for your golf items? If so, then try adding some free golf clipart to it to make it more attractive and enticing.

In the internet world, the attention span of a surfer is just a few seconds. You can't always capture his attention with words. But you can certainly try to do so with the use of images. Clipart is one of the most popular tools in website making and document creation today. Images add life to almost everything. And if you happen to have free access to a wide collection of free golf clipart, you know how much marketing power is in your hands.

People like to see images more than anything else. However, images are not thoroughly recognized by search engines that's why golf-related website owners tend to focus on their content more than the look of their website. On one part, that's understandable. On the other, you surely could have done better. A good mix of content and image is what you need. And the result is very powerful too.

The only way to attract viewers and pull them to your website is through the use of attractive golf images. And if you can get them for free, then you're in for a bigger treat. Clipart are usually sold for $5 or so. But of course, there are free versions all over the internet as well. Just search for them and use them accordingly. These images maybe all you need to improve the performance of your website.

Start looking for free golf clipart with the help of a powerful search engine. Google or Yahoo will do. Just type in those words on the search bar and you should come up with choices for golf clipart offered for free by their respective creators. Most of the owners of these websites are graphic artists who can draw digital golf-related characters that you can freely use on your website or at almost any other places. There may be copyright laws that you have to respect, though. After all, you're not paying for these images.

The best free golf clipart that you can get are those which you can modify. Some clipart makers don't allow this. But there are also a good number of them that give users the freedom to do whatever they want to do with the image. The only thing they request is that you sign on their guest book or enlist in their opt-in list. Either way, just get the clipart that you need and you should be all set.

The free golf clipart available over the internet can be static or animated. Jpeg clip arts are usually static. If you want the animated types, look for the ones that have the gif extension. These are the more attractive ones, as you can actually see the images moving in a repetitive manner.

When it comes to free golf clipart, your imagination is the limit. A strong suggestion is that you use at least one of these images in your blog, website, or newsletter to create the impact that you really want. There are clipart that are made out of real photos of golfers, a golf course, or golf items. Just do a quick search on the free golf clipart website of your choice and you should be able to see the images that you can add.

Some of the best things in life may still come free. And this is exactly how it is with golf clipart. Use these clipart to impress your clients, to make them loyal customers, and to attract more visitors. Sometimes, these clipart are all you need to properly promote the golf equipments that you are selling. Use clipart properly and success in your online business would soon follow.

You don't have to invest so much on paid golf clipart when there's always a free version around. Exhaust all your options first. Look at all the free golf clipart offerings accessible to you before you embark on shelling a few dollars on these images. While it is always nice to buy unique images, sometimes free stuff can provide you with the same results.

More great information about golf, please head on to http://www.golftravelcasestips.com where you can also find more information about titleist logo golf balls and custom logo golf balls.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Irsan_Gao

By Irsan Gao

SkyCaddie SG4 Golf GPS Review

SkyCaddie's SG4 seems to be quite a popular choice with many golfers today with a lot of useful features that promise to help improve your game.

The GPS comes in a small compact case which looks strong and robust. This was also confirmed while researching this Sky Caddie SG4 GPS review as we found a number of actual users had dropped their SkyCaddies with no detrimental effects.

Don't think that because it is such a small unit that it will be difficult to read as there is a large screen which shows you all the important information you need displayed in a simple to read manner. The display is grey scale this proves to give a clear and crisp display in all lighting conditions - almost all other GPS units on the market have color screens, so be aware of this limitation.

The interface is intuitive and with it's simple to use one touch controls make for a well thought out and designed golf GPS system.

As with some of the other SkyCaddie offerings this unit uses the patented Intelligreen software which is able to show you the depth and shape of the green distances from any angle of approach.

Another notable feature of the SkyCaddie is their human mapped data system, which means that they have certified individuals walk every hole and map every hazard and green, which is checked three times to ensure its accuracy. This they claim makes their data more accurate than their competitor's information which is transcribed via global positioning satellites.

The SG4 as with some of the other SkyCaddie units has an expansion slot for storing more map data while you are out on the fairways or traveling on courses away from home.

Although the unit as you can see has many features which you might think would affect the battery life this is definitely not the case. SkyCaddie decided to fit a lithium-rechargeable battery which gives the unit a potential 12 hour charge life.

While researching this Sky Caddie SG4 golf GPS review we found some customers who had bought the unit and had issues with customer support and struggled installing and setting up the software on both the home computer and the unit itself. Most of the software issues seem to be with the Windows Vista operating system.

Sky Caddie SG4 Review Summary

Compared to some of its competitors the Sky Caddie SG4 GPS is lacking on features, especially a color screen. If you value the Intellisense system and the fact that all the data is mapped by humans rather than computers then it could be a golf GPS system worth considering.

You'll find more actual user feedback and SkyCaddie SG4 reviews, as well as full consumer ratings for all the major golf GPS units and rangefinders at YardageRangefinder.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=J_Symons

By J Symons

Is it Possible to Play Better Golf With No Practice?

I, like most golfers, am always looking to play better, beat my mates and get bragging rights. I have a lifestyle that is pretty hectic and spend a lot of time with my family. I have two boys and we are a soccer mad family. I coach one of my boys teams and my other son plays twice a week as well. So you can see I don't get any time to perfect my golf at all.

Recently I have been managing about a game every 4 weeks and absolutely no practice, so I have been in search of a way to help me enjoy my game with no practice, so I researched and investigated and came up with 2 things that I could do with out too much bother.

1. Course management
2. Pitching and Chipping strategy

Course Management I decided that I would concentrate on choosing the right kind of shot at the right time, then I would definitely get better scores. The golf course that I play at has loads of bunkers on every green, and I figured that if I went for the green with my approach shots that I would either be on the green or in a bunker. Now depending on how far out from the green I was also had a bearing on my shot. I decided that for any shot requiring more than a 9 iron I would actually play short/lay up and take my chances with my chipping and putting. As part of that decision process was also where to lay up to to give me the best angle to chip on to the green.

So my simple course management technique was really to avoid the bunkers at all costs and give myself a chance of an up and down from a green side chip.

Unless you can hit the ball from where you are onto the green at least 7 times out of 10 then you would be better off playing short.

Pitching and Chipping Strategy

I read the following tip recently

"You can vary the distance of your chips by using different clubs - try using your 5 iron, 7 iron or 9 iron and only ONE SWING instead of using your Sand Wedge and 3 different swings."

Basically, the secret is to have the same length backswing, but use a different club to ship the ball either longer or shorter, and I adapted it to have two swings.

Well that made sense to me so before my round started, I thought I would do a little scientific research, so I went to the practice area and played chips with 2 different swings

Swing #1 Take the club back about 18 inches behind my back foot. The key is to go back the same distance every time

Swing #2 Takes the club back parallel to the ground

I spent 15 minutes testing out how far the ball went with each club using swing number 1 from my 5 iron up to my lob wedge to get a feel for the distance covered in the air and the total distance I then repeated the exercise using swing number 2 I also used a simple setup routine for chipping and putting (you can get this set up routine from my website TheGolfHelper.com

Now I didn't change any other part of my game, and just applying these simple methods improved my game without any practice (well actually about 15 minutes practice on the chipping range!)

As I said before these 2 things were the key to me winning our club A grade competition, and all done with 2 very simple techniques that anyone can do without remodeling your swing or taking a lesson, so that should give you some food for thought!

If you want to discover the simple set up routine that I used, simply go to my web site and See my review of The Simple Golf Swing Review

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nigel_Reed

By Nigel Reed

6 Helpful Tips To Get The Perfect Golf Swing And Improve Your Golf Game

If you are a pro or a beginner to the sport of golf you probably understand that the golf swing is the key to your game. Other factors like the wind do affect your game but if you have a good golf swing, or the perfect golf swing, you can overcome almost everything.

I can not make you the next Tiger Woods without you learning the basics of the perfect golf swing. Here are six tips to help you get the perfect golf swing.

1. Just like with every other sport you need to know your strengths. Do you have a good angle on your shot or can you hit the ball 350 yards? If you know your strengths you can focus on perfecting them and also working on your weaknesses.

2. Do not attempt to be like John Daly, make sure you practice! You can not get the perfect golf swing without practicing a lot. Try if at all possible to practice in all types of weather. Practicing in different weather will help you to master your golf swing and it will also help you to be able to play the same in whatever weather.

3. Work on your back swing. You need to use your arms to create the force for the back swing. Many beginners use there hands to create the force and this will cause many problems. You need to have clean movement on your back swing.

4. When working on your down swing I would advice you to pull your left arm when it is coming from the top. Unlike your back swing which needs a nice clean movement, your down swing needs precision and speed.

5. Try to get coaching whenever possible. One on one coaching with a professional is a very good way for you to get your perfect golf swing down. You could also use a golf aid like the Tac Tic. The Tac Ti Golf Trainer informs you if you have a wrong grip or if your swing is wrong.

6. A successful sweep is hard to do. You need to transfer left and you know you made a good finish on your swing when your right foot is up and your right knee is facing the target. Your hands should be high over your left ear and the spikes of your shoe should be seen. If all of this is happening then you have accomplished a successful sweep.

These are six tips that will help you to get, if not the perfect golf swing, then a great one.

Quickly improve your golf score with golf swing aids and tips by visiting http://www.golf-swing-improvement.com, a popular golf swing improvement website that provides tips, advice and resources on improving your golf swing to include information on golf swing analyzer software reviews

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tim_Gorman

By Tim Gorman

Golf Simulator Projection Screens - Finding the Perfect Simulator For Indoor Golf

Golf is a game that many people play for leisure, although not everyone has the time to actually play it in a real course or a driving range at the very least. This is where golf simulator projection screens enter the picture. This special system recreates a golf course atmosphere to allow golf enthusiasts to play the sport inside the comforts of their own homes or offices.

Benefits of using golf simulator projection screens

The main benefit of using a golf simulator device is convenience. Golfers can swing and putt all they want without driving out to golf courses, paying green fees, and worrying about tee times. Moreover, there is no playing pressure so the golfer can work at his or her own pace.

Golf simulators are also highly convenient for golfers, professional or otherwise, who live in the city where the nearest courses are miles away. These golfers can use a simulator so they can keep up with their practices without having to travel far.

Buying tips

Purchasing a golf stimulator requires certain considerations such personal budget and available house or office space. Personal budget must be taken into account because golf simulators come in a variety of price ranges. Prices of golf simulators depend on the size of the unit, with the priciest selling for several thousand dollars and the most affordable costing a few hundreds. The more expensive ones require a special room and come with their own software programs that are able to project images of various golf courses from around the globe and to calculate players' data. These advanced systems also have their own golf stimulator projection screens, projectors, infrared clubs, swing arm controller, and Styrofoam golf balls.

On the other hand, the cheaper varieties work much like computer games. These maybe plugged into a game console or computer and do not feature their own software for projecting images.

Important information

Complete information on golf simulator projection screens is available at PickyGuide, the authority in free consumer advice. Access top-ranked, best-reviewed, and most competitively priced golf simulators in PickyGuide's recommended products section.

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By Ilse Hagen