Putting Improvement in the New Golf Season
As spring approaches, many golfers will pull their clubs
from the closet and hit the course. Often the winter layoff
lasts for months.
Something funny happens to many of these golfers. They begin
the year making a lot of putts. As the year progresses, they
seem to get worse and worse with the putting. This effect is
caused by the clean slate left after a long layoff from
playing.
The problems with their putting strokes have been forgotten
by their bodies after months of not repeating them. The
result is a clear mind rather than a focus on any specific
part of the putting stroke.
Still, most will quickly revert back to what they were doing
wrong before the layoff. They will hit the first bad putt,
or make the first bad stroke and that is all it takes to
send the golfer searching for the correction. The search
leads to confusion and inconsistency. In no time at all, the
golfer is so stroke oriented they have no chance of putting
well.
This year, why not do something different? Instead of
getting caught up in the search for a perfect putting
stroke, learn to play putting as the target game it really
is. When you learn target putting, your stroke becomes
automatic. There is no confusion or inconsistency because
you will be focused on making the putt, rather than the
stroke.
And your putting will continue to improve along with your
target awareness and experience in making putts rather than
putting strokes. Best of all, the putting improvement will
carry over to the next year, and the next.
Let me show you how to take advantage of your natural
putting instincts by showing you the unknown fundamental of
putting.
http://www.targetputting.com
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The Parallels of Golf and Leading Your Business
First of all I want to credit my friend, client and fellow
golfer, Deb Waitkus, with the idea for this article. Deb is
the founder and CEO of Golf for Cause. She is an expert in
demystifying the game, turning 'Golf into Gold?, and
leveraging golf for business. The Rules of Golf which as you
may know can be very obscure, daunting, and at time
bewildering. It struck me there are many parallels between
golf and leading a business. The rules of leading
effectively can also be quite daunting and at times
bewildering.
The Royal and Ancient Club may not have had business lessons
in mind when those rugged Scotsman devised this challenging
game, but they did us all a great service both
recreationally and professionally when they codified the
rules of the game over the years. Here are a few samples of
how golf and business parallel each other.
Golf: Penalty Strokes Business: OK, you goofed. You did
something by mistake or even knowingly did something that
you could have done better. Be honest about it, admit the
error, take the penalty stroke, learn from the error and
move on.
Golf: Maximum 14 Clubs Business: What are the 14 'go to'
tools you use most frequently and effectively to lead and
manage effectively? Golfers are continually following
technological developments and buying new clubs to get that
edge. Are your 'leadership tools' the ones you need in your
bag? Are you technologically savvy?
Golf: Be Ready Business: Being ready and prepared for your
next shot are critical in maintaining pace and enjoying your
round of golf. Are you anticipating and are you ready to
meet your next business challenge? Are you considering the
lie, have you lined up your next move, can you visualize the
ability of your company to respond, are the other players on
your team ready to respond?
Golf: Etiquette Business: Golf is not just getting the
lowest score. It is also about etiquette, honesty, and
following the rules. You learn a great deal about a person's
character, ethic and personal code of conduct when you're
playing a round of golf. Wouldn't it be nice to know how
your potential clients and colleagues react under pressure
before you engage them in business? You can learn this in a
friendly round of golf.
For those of you that are golfers I have adapted the Slow
Play Test from a Golf for Cause newsletter to a Slow Play
Test for Leaders and Manager. Slow Play Test for Leaders and
Managers
Yes or No 1. Am I courteous? 2. Do I know when it is
appropriate to make the next move to close the deal or coach
a subordinate? 3 Am I ready and proactive when action is
needed? 4. Do I note the reaction and change in market to my
strategy and tactics; do I learn from the markets reaction?
5. Do I delay and procrastinate to avoid difficulty
decisions? 6. If in doubt, do I have a contingency plan
prepared? 7. Am I decisive and committed to my decisions? 8.
Do I know how to 'take relief' and guide my team when minor
adjustments need to be made? 9. Am I preparing for my next
leadership action as I observe the activities of my team?
10. Do I note the score, take a quick assessment of results
and then move on rather than dwelling on the past?
Joyce A. Friel is the president of Peak Performance
Consulting Corporation, an organizational development
company that works with companies to assess and design
business solutions that deliver results.
With more than 25 years' experience in the organizational
development, human resources, and process improvement
consulting fields, Friel serves as a business leader,
strategist, facilitator, catalyst and developer. Her
applications' experience comes from having led change in
both Fortune 500 and smaller organizations, including
Eastman Kodak, IBM and Kodak Polychrome Graphics. She a
contributing author to Six Sigma: the First 90 Days
published in 2006 by Prentice Hall.
http://www.peakperformancecorp.com
http://www.joycefriel.blogspot.com
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Golf Guru Grayscale GPS Unit
If you are looking for the smallest, lightest and most
accurate full-featured GPS (Global Positioning System) Golf
handheld on the market, the GPS Golf Guru is the product for
you. This product has more than fifteen years experience in
the GPS golf business market.
This unique device not only gets you distances to bunkers
and other hazards on the course, the Golf Guru is equipped
with exclusive Guru Smart Green technology. This enables
golfers to get a unique perspective by measuring the full
depth and shape of the green from any approach angle,
whether you find yourself on or off the fairway.
The advanced Smart Green technology system even allows the
mapping of courses yourself. This allows you to have smart
greens on all your favorite courses.
With patented GPS Golf handheld technology, this device is
the lightest and most compact GPS golf rangefinder on the
market, but it is so much more than just a rangefinder, it
offers much more:
Allows adjustable pin location with Smart Green
Full 10,000 course library
Golf Guru Handheld Grayscale GPS Unit
1-Year Limited Warranty
Product designed, manufactured and supported in the U.S.
It has a large, 160 x 128 pixel screen which makes it much
easier to read and allows it to display much more
information more clearly. The innovative bottom screen
design allows for comfortable operation of all buttons with
one thumb.
Powered by a 14+ hour rechargeable lithium battery for a
longer lasting charge. The Golf Guru is rugged and durable
too. It has been drop tested with a drop from 4 feet onto a
concrete floor from all angles more than 100 times, and this
device proves to be just as accurate as ever.
It comes with standard USB connector, USB Cable, AC USB wall
charger, AC adapter, solar charger, car charger, battery,
holsters, Quick start Guide and much more. It is also water
resistant so you can play regardless of the weather
conditions.
Feel free to stop by and check it out.
Brian Dennis hosts a website for golf enthusiasts. Feel free
to visit us if you want more information on golf products,
golf news, golf equipment and everything else that is golf
related. Simply click on the link below:
http://www.we-r-golf.com/
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Start Playing Golf – Your First Practice Routines
People often ask me what are the first things they should do
to start to learn to play golf and my response is always the
same.
Beg, borrow or buy a cheap putter and a pitching wedge for
around $12-$15 each. Get 20-25 golf balls from your friends,
a local golf club or a cheap sports goods outlet. That's all
you need - one putter, one club and a bag of balls.
Go to your local or municipal golf course where there should
be a practice putting green. This will usually be free or
very low cost. To begin with just learn to putt from all
parts of the green - uphill shots and downhill ones; short
ones and longer ones, straight ones and 'curved' ones. Spend
several hours learning to putt.
When you feel you have the hang of putting, learn to chip
shots from between 5-12 feet from the green towards the
flag. This is much more difficult than it seems, and it is
where many shots are dropped in a round of golf.
The main problem inexperienced golfers have with the chip
shot is how far back to take the club and accelerating
through the ball. This requires practice and many, many chip
shots.
The common mistakes that golfers make playing this shot are
'grounding' (hitting the ground first) the club before
striking the ball or 'topping' the ball - striking it too
high.
Chipping requires you to adopt a much more upright stance -
that is with your feet almost together and no more than 2-3
inches apart. Your hands should be 'ahead' of the ball,
meaning that they are at a slight angle in front of the ball
as you strike it.
You only need to take the club back a short distance to
strike the ball - probably no more than 12-24 inches
depending on how far you want the ball to travel. Make sure
that you make good, clean contact and ensure that you strike
the ball in the centre of the club. This is crucial.
All you want to do is lift the ball a little up in the air
to clear the fringe around the putting green and land the
ball on the green to run towards the hole.
To help you develop your chipping technique, watch how the
professionals do it and note their stance, how they address
the ball, the extent of the backlift and accelerating
through the ball as they strike it. Memorise these
techniques and practice, practice and practice doing this
yourself around the green.
Chipping is a much neglected part of the game for amateurs,
and I can assure you, as a new golfer you will have to play
a lot of chip shots. Even good golfers do, but they practice
them often.
You have to keep your eye on the ball and make sure you
strike it in the right place at the right speed to avoid
these mistakes.
These two simple practice techniques will get you prepared
for learning other parts of the game. You probably need to
put in about 50-60 hours just learning to putt and a similar
amount of time on chipping and, of course, the practice
needs to be continued if you want to become a good golfer.
Remember - Tiger Woods, Anikka Sorenstam, David Beckham and
Roger Federer did not become the great sportsmen/women they
are without first learning some basic techniques and you
won't enjoy your game so much without learning how to do it
properly.
Charlie Wallace is a former lecturer and trainer and now
works as a consultant and internet marketer. He has been
playing golf for over 5 years and is a golf fanatic. Sign up
for his free newsletter and free golf ebook -
http://www.start2playgolf.com and visit his blog at
http://www.start2playgolf.com/blog
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How to Swing a Golf Club For Accuracy and Distance
For those folks who have come to realize that trying to hit
that little bumpy sphere with that rather small club is
harder than Tiger Woods makes it look, read on. If you are
ever going to be under par and hang out with the big boys on
the course, you simply must learn how to swing a golf club.
There is nothing quite like the feeling of power you can get
when your arms, hips, and eye are all in sync and the ball
goes straight down the fairway soaring ever closer to its
intended target. Golf is a personal sport, even if you play
doubles or as part of a golf team. There is not a single
golfer alive who does not want to improve his game, and a
big part of that is learning how to swing a golf club better
than you did last time.
So, what exactly is involved in that perfect arcing motion
that results in a solid thwack that lifts the orb into just
the right path and just the right height? Well, for
non-golfers, it may seem like a simple movement of the arms
only, but when you begin to learn how to swing a golf club,
you realize that it is not an isolated movement of the arms;
rather, a good golf swing involves the whole body, from head
to toe.
If you want to get the best swing, there are a variety of
ways to do so; check out some books on the subject so you
can wrap your head around the concept. Then, like anything
else, you need to practice, practice, practice. There are
classes you can take and computer simulation programs you
can use when you can't actually get out to the driving range
or golf course, and getting a good golfer to help you is a
great idea as well.
Hit a Golf Ball Harder, Further and Straighter! How to Swing
a Golf Club is the place to visit.
Check out this review of the best golf improvement products
on the market! Click Here
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