Keeping Your Swing Free and Easy

Keeping Your Swing Free and Easy
Every golfer knows that keeping your swing free and easy is the key to successful drives and chips. Having tense muscles is a guaranteed way to have problems. How do you stay relaxed and have an easy and free swing?

You first need to learn that your pivot center is between your shoulders. The center of your stroke is not in your hands, wrist, or head. The muscles that put energy into moving the club forward are in and below the center of your shoulders.

Think about the muscles that control your head. If you keep your head still, then you can keep your balance and your center of gravity. If you can keep your balance and hit the ball with the toe of the club then you will have a shot that travels the correct distance.

Extending your arms can help give more power to the ball than when you bend your arms. If you keep your left arm and club shaft in line with each other, then you have a fixed way to guide the club.

Don’t over think the shot. Many times, players take too much time thinking about angles. Then they move their heads and tense up their muscles when they swing. Tension destroys any chance that you had at a shot and reduces your power and accuracy.

Keeping your arms pulled into your body allows you to control your downward stroke more efficiently and easily. This way you only have to yield a little to reach the ball, but if you are going beyond the ball, it is much harder to pull in the hands. This is why it is good to try to keep your arms in toward the body.

You will not need as much effort to guide the club if you let the centrifugal force work for you. Let it carry your club out during the downward swing until it makes contact with the ball. Then you can use your energy to propel the club.

Ensure that you do not reach for the ball during the address or your muscles will stiffen up.

People just learning to play golf usually swing short. Due to the great amount of centrifugal force that is created, the beginning golfer may pull in their hands involuntarily because they are afraid that they will go beyond the ball.

If you keep your hands still during the address then they will most likely be in the correct position when making contact with the ball. This also helps for you to achieve a comfortable position so your muscles will stay relaxed. The angle that you address the ball will have little influence on your game. It is the way you move at the top of the swing that makes the difference.

The best advice I can give you is to keep your arms straight and pulled in close to your body. Keep your club shaft and left arm in line with each other and parallel to your right leg. This helps to give you better control of the golf club.

Using these tips should help your swing become more easy and free. The most important thing is to breathe deeply and relax. If you approach the game of golf with enjoyment, then the rest of your body will follow suit!

Golf Widows' Revenge

According to figures derived from the National Golf Foundation and the US Census, there are at least 5.5 million golf widows in the United States. They are the women who stay home or sit by the pool while their spouses enjoy golfing with their buddies.

But two can play at that game — literally. Today, more and more women are playing golf for both recreation and development of business relationships. Though they tend not to be able to hit quite as far, on average they have superior accuracy so scores are comparable.

Gone are the days when it was exclusively a men's club. (Augusta notwithstanding.) Even a chauvinist can rejoice. Where else do you get to see a fine form in motion without penalty?
It's been said that living well is the best revenge, but I lean toward the old saying that getting better is better than getting even. So beg, borrow, or buy (ah, credit card revenge!) a half-set and take some lessons. It won't be long before you're embarrassing the mate by sinking that twelve-foot putt when he or she just missed a two-footer.

Of course, those without an interest in golf (bite your tongue!) can enjoy other pursuits. It's not difficult to make sure that planned trip to Maui for a week on the links contains sights and delights to occupy the 'abandoned' spouse, male or female. Makena's 1,800 acres of lush green and dramatic cloud bedecked mountain views practically guarantee that.

If African safaris are more to your taste, there's even a course in The Gambia, a little sliver of a country with a coast carved out of Senegal. I'd stay out of the water traps, though.
For the stay near home types of either sex, you might welcome a chance to get a few of those projects done without some of the — oh, I'm sure very valuable, yes indispensable — advice they often engender. If you'll forgive the pun.

Such projects could involve taking the spouse's second set of clubs to the repair shop for getting that long-delayed re-grip. Or, for the really ambitious and tidy, you could polish the grass stains off those woods and take a good saddle soap to that leather bag. Er... not what you had in mind? Hmm... some people are just couch potatoes, I guess.

Probably the best advice I've heard to rein in a golf fanatic is to make easing up seem like the duffer's own idea. Of course, it's hard to get them to sit still long enough for hypnosis to take effect.

So, how about this?

Rather than harangue and insist the golfer play less golf — suggest they play even more. Yes, but add that it would be just delightful if the three children were taught to play. That way the golfer still gets to golf and the whole family can still be together.

Of course, all would just have to have individual custom sets at $2,000 per. Not to mention, those great $100 shoes — which, kids being kids, would need to be replaced every few months. Throw in three more course fees twice per week — more during summer vacations.

Pretty soon the hobby, er... excuse me, the "well-spring of life sport", is costing an extra $1,000 a week. Before long that photography hobby is looking like a bargain.

Or, the golfer could just play less golf. Ouch! That hurts just to say out loud.
And, please, don't show this article to my spouse.

Getting the Right Golf Clubs for You

With so many clubs out there, deciding which one to get can be a tough decision. Here are some tips on how to narrow down the selection.

- Decide on your levels for playing Some play for the weekend game and there are others who’d like to move up in the ranks. If the occasional game is your pace, a low- to mid-performance club can work for you, while a high-performance club is suited to those who’ll play more regularly.

- Set a budget

The notion that the more expensive the club, the better it is simply doesn’t hold water anymore. If you do enough homework and read reviews you’ll find a club that matches your level of interest. Don’t be afraid to check out used clubs as they can give you the best chances of getting the club you need at a good price.

For the best golf club deals we've ever seen go to PinemeadowGolf.com right now. These guys are unbelievable!

Now that you know your interest level and have established a budget, here’s a brief run-through of kinds of golf clubs and what each one does.

WoodsA typical golfer's bag will have a driver (called 1-wood) and a couple of fairway woods (3- and/or 5-wood). A driver is the longest club (usually 45 inches) making it the toughest to control during a swing.

IronsIrons feature thin clubheads with grooves on it. Experienced players opt for a blade style iron while beginners get a cavity-back style. A blade-style has a clubhead with a full back, whereas a cavity back’s clubhead is hollow. It is hollowed out to create a perimeter weighting effect helpful for less-experienced golfers.

Irons are categorized as long (1, 2, 3,4), mid- (5,6,7) and short (8,9). Short irons are the easiest to hit while the long ones are the hardest. The shorter the iron, the more loft there is and for beginners, the more loft, the better.

PuttersPutters are the clubs most often used in the game and come in clubhead styles of blade, heel-toe and mallet. Lengths come in belly putters, standard and broomstick (long) putters.

Which option to get is a personal choice.

Utility clubs/hybridsThe clubs combine features of woods and irons and are best for beginners who may not want to buy too many clubs straight out.

Finally as a final word before taking them out of the store, most new clubs fit individuals at the average height of 5’10” for men and 5’5” for women. If you are significantly shorter or taller than these figures, you should get your club fitted to your height.

Start off with these considerations to build on your research when choosing your golf clubs. The game becomes that much more fun with the little effort you make now.

For over 15 years Pinemeadow Golf has built clubs for thousands of players worldwide. They are quickly becoming one largest golf distributors in the world. A lot of their success has to do with staying up to date with the hottest and most popular technologies in golf offering them at a low discounted price. If you haven't taken your time to check out their site. Go there now!!