Wednesday, 19 January 2011

The Simple Golf Swing" by David Nevogt: A Golf Instruction Book Review

'The Simple Golf Swing' will appeal to golfers looking for a simple system to develop more accurate and powerful golf swings, which they can easily and consistently execute in the golf course. The great thing about the book is the simple and clear way the lessons are given, and how each chapter gradually helps the reader fully grasp Nevogt's simple system in executing a great swing.

The first thing Nevogt tackles is the set-up. Several set-up tips and how they affect the swing are provided in this book, together with some illustration to help the readers understand the concepts.
What makes Nevogt's book especially useful for non-professional golfers is that the lessons are clearly described step-by-step and the key concepts are well-illustrated. Nevogt's makes sure that the reader is not left confused or in need of another golf book to help them understand the book's lessons. Moreover, chapter summaries are provided to further reinforce learning.

David Nevogt's, 'The Simple Golf Swing' also distinguishes itself from other golf lesson books with its special emphasis on how to develop and maintain 'powerful timing' in golf, and not just how to hit the ball with more power. From the back swing to the down swing, ball impact, and follow-through, Nevogt explains the effect of good timing and how to achieve it.

Next, Nevogt de-constructs the effective swing into 5 basic movements which makes up his version of the 'simple golf swing' that works. According to Nevogt, these 5 basic moves will help any golfer to easily hit long distance golf shots at a greater consistency. So if you correctly set up and execute Nevogt's 5 simple steps, you will be able to deliver a powerful swing that would feel natural for you.

Nowadays, printed and digital swing tutorials are largely written by professional golfers teaching you how to do 'their style' of a swing. However, we have come to realize that these types of swings with its numerous minute moves are not necessarily the best golf swing for less advanced players to start learning and improving their golf game.

Hence, in his book, Nevogt makes it a point to teach us how to streamline our golf swing in just a few steps to help us to be able to play a good game of golf more consistently.

Sunday, 16 January 2011

Finding Great Golf Instruction

Regardless of your budget there are a variety of great golf instructional materials and trainers out there today. You can seek referrals for local trainers at golf shops. And you can search for some online with keywords that include your location.

If money is an object, turn to televised golfing lessons or golf videos online. Another great way to avoid spending a lump sum on such books is by joining a library. You could also look through the DVD section and find stuff that will help you. These economic steps while effective in upgrading your game will not cost you much. It just might be the case that on seeing your improved game, your friends will be fooled into thinking that you have hired an expensive professional trainer.

A vast number of players take the help of training aides designed to help perfect their techniques. These aides, which are easily available in the form of DVDs, cassettes and television programs, demonstrate that perfect swing or explain the proper way of getting the perfect grip. The advantage is that they are cheaper than professional instructors but the disadvantage is that they cannot give you an instant reaction to your attempts that a trainer would.

Needless to say that if you are serious about the game then the most important thing that can help you improve is - practice. Hit the driving range which is the most popular choice of players who want to refine their swings. Moreover the driving range also allows you to practice the long shots. Some even have putting greens thus enabling you to practice hitting at close range. However it must be mentioned that you will find it economical to buy a bucket of balls and practice in any open space than pay the membership fees at the golf club.

Be imaginative while choosing places where you can practice. Despite what conventions say your little backyard or a spacious room in your house can be a nice place to practice. In fact there are not too many golfers who have not practiced in their homes at some point or the other. While working within a budget you must realize that your house is a rent-free inexpensive space you could use. So why not go ahead?

Golf can be a pretty complicated game that requires much of the player. The proficiency that the game requires demands a lot of practice and obviously some amount of proper training. Hence if you want to see yourself improve, it becomes mandatory that you get help of some kind. Whether you want to hire a professional or buy tapes and books is up to you, but anything can most definitely help.

Friday, 7 January 2011

Will Reading Golf Training Reviews Improve Your Game?

I love to golf every chance I get, and I will spend at least one day a week on the course, either on my own or with friends or professional colleagues. One of the best aspects of golf is that it is a game that I am constantly trying to improve my skills and performance with, and that challenge is what keeps me coming back to the course over and over. This is why I take time regularly to read golf training reviews. Reading these reviews helps me to keep on edge over the competition on the course in many different ways.

So how can reading golf training reviews help you with your performance on the course?

Reviews are written by real golfers, so they often have valuable tips and ideas in them that have worked for other people, as well as great product comparisons from real-life scenarios.

New training aids and equipment are constantly hitting store shelves as new innovations are being made all the time. Reviews are a great way to keep up to date with the latest innovations in aids and equipment so you can ensure you always have the best equipment available and take advantage of the latest training aids to help your game.

With so many new products hitting the shelves all the time, it can be difficult to sort through the noise and find the best products. Reading reviews can be invaluable in helping you to determine which products are the best investment versus which are not worthwhile investments.

Like many people, I spend as much time as I can on the course, but this is often limited by my professional commitments and family life. So I don't have a lot of time to spend reading reviews all day long. Instead, I have bookmarked a few websites that contain great product reviews, and I check back at those sites periodically. This simple step can really help you to get that edge over the competition on the golf course and really doesn't involve a huge time commitment on your part.

You can see that there are many great benefits from reading golf training reviews, and while it will take just a little time and effort on your part to do so, your efforts will be well-rewarded by the information you learn from reading the reviews. The information is there waiting for you to read it, so you simply need to take advantage of that information. As you continue to read reviews regularly, you will find that they are a great way to keep up to date with the latest information regarding golfing.

Monday, 27 December 2010

Putting Practice Makes Perfect - Golf Putting Instruction

Many pro golfers say that good putting is the most important part of your golf game. How you practice, not just how much you practice, can also affect your game.

A little golf putting instruction goes a long way. Here are some tips for beginners, or refreshers for old pros.

Keep A Skill Set

Keep track of all your putting practice exercises and skills. A skill set is a list of all the stuff you've learned before during your training.

Sometimes a basic exercise that you used in your practice routine gets forgotten under all the new stuff you've learned. If you keep a good skill set list, you can rotate all your exercises and make sure you hit them all.

Practice Your Address

Be careful when getting ready to shoot. Don't just go out there and start putting. Spend a little time during your practice session making sure you have a good, well-balanced starting stance.

Make sure you're posture is good, with your back nice and straight. Don't hunch over the ball. Your weight should be balanced, but leaning a little bit on your forward foot (left foot for right-handers).

One technique for relaxation is to stand for a few minutes in address position and let all the tension go out of your muscles and body. A little deep breathing might be a good part of the routine.

Your feet shouldn't be too wide. Most trainers recommend your feet be about shoulder-width apart. Also, don't get too close to the ball. If you find yourself bending over it like the Hunchback of Notre Dame, you're too close.

Get A Grip

Always check your grip. It's important for the consistency of your shot that your grip is the same each time. Like the address position, this is an important part of putting that often gets overlooked.

For practice purposes, it's probably best to use your usual grip. Now is not the time to try out a new grip you learned from somebody. You can always work that in to another part of your training routine.

Your grip on the ball should be relaxed. When you're practicing, it's a good idea to use a lighter grip than you would use during the game. The idea is to practice exercising the right control over the club.

Go With The Short Putts

When you're practicing, you want to smack those balls into the stratosphere, but actually it's the short putts that give most golfers a headache. Your putting practice routine should focus more on short shots than on long ones. These can be especially tricky.

Work On Speed

Getting your putting speed just right is more than just a matter of going as fast as you can. Practice getting just the right control over the club, so you can hit the ball at just the right speed you need to make the hole.

As you watch your golf game improve over time, never forget to get back to basics once in a while. It never hurts to review the essentials of putting. And, always keep your ears open when you're playing with other golfers. You never know when you might pick up some golf putting instruction during the game.

Tuesday, 21 December 2010

Core Strength Training Exercises for Golf

Different types of core exercises exist. Many of you are probably familiar with an exercise such as the sit-up, which is a great exercise that can be utilized to train the core. If you have read any of our other articles, you are well aware of what the word core means, and its relation to the golf swing. Let us do a quick review for your benefit, and introduce the types of core exercises to perform for your golf swing.

The core is an anatomical region of the body. It can generally be defined as the part of your body between the hips and chest. It in encompasses many muscles groups on the front, side, and backside of the body. In general the core consists of the muscles that make up your; abdominals, lower back, obliques, and hips.

The core region is important to the golf swing for many reasons. The core is essentially called the "engine" of the body. It is the area that "drives" the body for most any human movement, including your golf swing. It is primarily responsible for the capacities of: balance, stability, and power development within the body. For these capacities to occur efficiently it is necessary to train the core for improved performances.

Core Training Concepts

Many of us correlate core training to only the abdominal section of the body. In order to develop the core correctly for the golf swing, we must train all areas of the core equally. This means to address the obliques, hips, and lower back with the same number of exercises and repetitions as you do for the commonly trained abdominal region.

A quick note from experience: More times than none, the majority of individuals have what are termed "imbalances" in the core region. This statement means that certain muscles or muscle groups are weaker than others. The key for optimal performance in golf is to have a balanced core when it comes to the strength, endurance, and power levels in the muscles within this area of the body. Keeping this thought in mind, many times the lower back region is "weaker" than the abdominals (imbalanced core or not balance core as we like to say). If this is the case, additional attention/exercises are needed for the lower back, to bring it "up to speed" so to speak, in level with the abdominals.

Moving forward, knowing that we must train the entire core and create balance between all the muscles. It is time to discuss what type of exercises to utilize in training the core region. To develop the core region for golf you will want to perform exercises in the following categories: stability (balance), strength, endurance, and power. All four of these categories are necessary for an optimal swing. Leaving one of the categories listed above out of your training program is like building a boat with a hole in it. It won't work!

Let us define the differing training categories of a "golf specific core program" to help you better understand the purpose behind each category. The categories of core training are incorporated in golf training are: 1) Stability (balance) training, 2) strength training, 3) endurance training, and 4) power training.

Stabilization exercises are exercises that develop the balance capabilities of the body. A large portion of your balance capability is directly related to the core region of the body. We know that if you are unable to maintain your balance through out the golf swing. The efficiency of the swing, contact with the ball, and club head speed, will be compromised. For example, when you swing your driver and are not able to maintain that perfect "finished position", the problem may be related to you ability to balance.

Balance training develops the integration of your neural and muscular systems. Improvement in the functioning of these two systems of the body and integration of these two systems will result in a better swing. Follow the Logic and it will all make sense. They improve the capacity of the scale, then the body the ability to easily maintain the balance in your golf swing is when. Conducting exercises in your basic program, improve your balance (stabilization) the ability of a direct transfer to your golf swing then run.

The golf swing is necessary that certain parts of the body remains in a stable position while other body parts move. These actions aresimultaneously. To perform a powerful golf swing, the body must have the capacities to perform this action.

In order to perform the above activity it is required to develop the strength parameters of the core. If you have a weak core then the ability to maintain a posture, keep a posture, and perform this over a period of time will be compromised. To repeat, the core region of the body is involved in the stabilization process of the body. To improve this capacity, we must train to be more efficient to stabilize the body in the golf swing. exercise the power to develop and improve the capacity, while in your body to improve your golf swing.

The golf swing is a repetitive motion of the body by the theater group. They do the same tasks over and over again. An efficient golf swing and scores require that you have the same swing on the 18th hole, as is the 1st hole. If you do not repeat yourswing mechanics of your swing will suffer, as will your scores. To eliminate this situation it is necessary to develop the endurance capacities of the core region. Endurance exercises allow the body to perform the same activity over and over without getting fatigued. As a result of the golf swing being a repetitive athletic movement, endurance training will enhance the ability to maintain your optimal swing mechanics over an extended period of time.

Power Exercises are geared towards improving the power outputs of the body. The core region of the body is directly related to torque development in the golf swing. Power can also be defined as torque (rotational power) when discussing the golf swing. In order to create high amounts of club head, it is required of the body to create large amounts of torque. Creating greater power in the golf swing is the result of inputting power exercises into a comprehensive core training program.

Summary

In this article we have describe the core and how to train the core specifically for the improvement of your golf game. A few points to keep in mind from this article: 1) the core is a region of the body that includes all muscles from your hips to your chest, 2) you must develop the capacities of stability, strength, endurance, and power within the core for a benefit in your game, and 3) the development of the core must be balanced in terms of all muscles involved, and in all the training components (equal amounts of stability, strength, endurance, and power) within the core.

Sunday, 19 December 2010

The Best Golf Instruction Books

Golf instruction books have been written for a long time. The Great Bobby Jones even recorded videos back in his day! Golf instruction books have played a vital role in teaching America how to play golf as well as teaching teachers how to teach the game. Many of today.s PGA Teaching Professionals have developed their current teaching methods with what they have gathered out of golf instructional books.

In 1946, On Learning Golf by Percy Boomer was released and quickly became one of the first "Instructional Bibles." The infamous picture from this book is that Boomer that you could get a great feel for what should happen during the golf swing by attaching a weight to the end of a handkerchief and attempting to swing it.

Ben Hogan followed in 1957 with his classic book The Five Modern Fundamentals. This is one of the most recognized golf instruction books of all-time. Using the very detailed instructions, many teachers today still swear up and down that what is in this book is the gospel. Hogan spoke of the Grip, Set up and Posture, Backswing, Forward Swing and the Finish. In addition, Hogan wrote Power Golf.

When Jack Nicklaus released the first of his golf instruction books Golf My Way, it was a hit and became one of the first VHS golf tapes to be widely accepted.

The 1980.s and 1990.s saw the emergence of many nationally known teachers such as David Leadbetter, Jim McLean and Butch Harmon.

David Leadbetter is known for working with Nick Price and re-tooling Nick Faldo.s swing that allowed him to win multiple major championships including The Masters and British Open. David Leadbetter.s books include Faults and Fixes, Positive Practice, The Golf Swing and Quick Tips.

Dave Pelz is known for teaching and building the short game of his pupils who include Tom Kite, Colin Montgomery, Beth Daniel, Steve Elkington, Annika Sorenstam, and the late Payne Stewart. Pelz originally worked for NASA and brought his technical mind to golf. Pelz uses statistical data to better is students short game. Dave Pelz golf instruction books include Putt Like the Pros, The Short Game Bible and The Putting Bible.

Jim McLean had one of the most popular golf instruction books describing his "Eight Step Swing." McLean also introduced the idea of the "X Factor" as a new teaching concept. His golf instruction books include The Eight Step Swing, Ultimate Drill Book and The Three Scoring Clubs. McLean.s students include Brad Faxon, Len Mattice, Cristie Kerr and Sergio Garcia.

Stan Utley has become another short game guru by reviving the short games of Peter Jacobson, Jay Haas and Darren Clarke. In addition, he has worked with Roland Thatcher on his putting and in turn he placed #2 on the 2007 Nationwide Tour Money List earning his PGA Tour Card. Stan Utley teaches swinging the club on a natural arc thus making the Putting Arc Deluxe one of the most popular golf instruction training aids. Utley.s golf instruction books include The Art of Putting and The Art of The Short Game.

Thursday, 16 December 2010

A Golf Instruction Book That Can Lower Your Score

So, you have a problem with your golf game. For most players, the first time they look for help is when they can no longer swing their driver. Players who could hit the ball straight, almost 300 yards turn into players who hit a 150 yard slice. When this happens, a lot of players just give up instead of looking into coaching, videos, or even golf instruction books.

Other players have severe issues with their irons. Maybe they can't hit out of the rough, or maybe they are having to move up a few clubs, just to hit as far as they used to. And, we have all seen the professional players who can no longer chip or putt. It is sad and scary, knowing that players who are so good can have the same problems that we do.

When this happens to you, when your game falls apart, one of the best things you can do is to start studying golf instruction books. It may sound old-fashioned to go back to the printed word for information on a sport that is evolving so quickly, but when your game falls part, you need to go back to the fundamantals.

There are now some great golf instruction books online that incorporate video to help you fix your problems. Because there are so many types of swings, and so many different types of people and abilities, you can learn a lot by reading as much as you can. Not all advice works for all players - as you probably already know - but by soaking in as much as you can, you will no Doubt find the key to improving your game.

Golf is a sport for life and if you want to play to maintain life, successfully, for the rest of you, you owe it to yourself to education, to invest in golf and continue to learn, too.