I don’t know a thing about you, but I bet you’d like to know how to play golf better. Playing better is achievable by any golfer. Although I am sure you don’t believe that sometimes. This game can be incredibly frustrating and many people have given up completely.

What is Your Reason For Wanting to Know How to Play Golf Better?

People play this sport for different reasons. Maybe you just enjoy getting out with some friends, or maybe you are looking at improving your game because you take clients out occasionally.

Maybe you have a spouse or significant other that plays often and you are looking to join them. Golf is a game that men and women can play; in fact, even children play as well.

Whatever your reason, you can improve your game. Many people take lessons or buy new equipment because they think that will help their game. It is true, that will help, although buying new equipment all the time will not always improve your performance on the course.

What About Improving You

One thing that often is overlooked is actually improving your fitness. If nothing else works, maybe you should take a look at yourself.

Many people tire before they finish eighteen holes. Improving your stamina and fitness will help prevent you from becoming tired before you have completed a round of golf.

All the new fancy clubs in the world may not help you to learn how to play golf better if you do not improve your fitness.

You don’t have to become a body builder, but you should become more flexible and this is done through stretching.

Golf Instructional Videos

Another thing that can help you learn how to play golf better is golf instructional videos. You can view them from the comfort of your home and then head out into the yard and practice your swing. Simply practicing your swing without a ball will help you become more comfortable with the clubs.

Many golfers that play on a regular basis struggle with some of the same things. The biggest thing that most amateur golfers struggle with is slicing the ball off the tee box or fairway. A slice can be disastrous in golf because it will most likely end up with your ball being out of play.

Click here to fix your golf swing

This costs the golfer penalty strokes and can be very frustrating. One of the easiest and quickest ways to fix golf swing slice is to strengthen the grip. Many golfers have what is known as a weak grip. Their hands are rotated too far clockwise on the grip. This invites the hands to stay more open at impact which in turn keeps the club face too open.

Having a club face that is open at impact will cause the ball to veer sharply to the right for right handed golfers and to the left for left handed golfers. By taking the hands and rotating them counter clockwise, this can give the golfer a stronger grip and help to close the face at impact. This change in grip will feel very strange for the first few rounds that the golfer plays.

One of the most important factors to making this change is to stick with it. A golfer that takes a stronger grip will be on their way to fix golf swing slice, but they might find themselves hooking the ball right away. While this is not the intended outcome, it does let the golfer know that they are on the right track to hitting some straight shots.

Another important thing to remember when changing the grip on the golf club is to grip the club lightly. Trying to grip the club too hard is another thing that can cause the shot to go offline.

When attempting to fix golf swing slice, golfers need to focus on the grip and being comfortable. While shifting your grip sounds like a really simple and quick fix, it is not going to change if it is not practiced. It is also a good idea to talk to the golf professional at your local course about giving you a lesson on the proper grip.

A final bit of advice on finding a fix golf swing slice is to know that the grip is just the start of the swing. Taking the club back and following through properly are equally as important in hitting straight shots. Aligning yourself to your target when hitting shots is also key in having the ball go where you want it to go.

I’ve been there before and know how embarrassing it is to be the only slicer in a group of golfers. Everybody knows that your ball is going right, no matter how hard you try! The further left you aim the further right it goes. The harder you hit, it disappears in the rough to the right…ouch.

Click here to fix your slice problems

You’ve probably heard suggestions from others, but it gets old. You are looking for the right book or TV show on how to fix my golf slice, but so far nothing is working!? Maybe a few tips from this article will help alleviate some of your pain.

Desperate golfers please listen. There is help! Here are a few basics which will alleviate your slice or at least limit its severity. The first step is probably your stance. Try standing with your big toes about 16 inches apart and slightly pointed outward (move your left toe about an inch forward of your right).

Your heels should be about 6 to 8 inches from each other. Stand up straight and bend from the waste (an arched back is a big mistake), keeping your back straight. As you start to bend, bend your knees slightly and start to sit until you feel comfortable. Remember to keep your weight on the heels for balance. This stance is the one you will use!

Addressing the ball is your next step. This routine will help you get comfortable before swinging. Use an 8 iron and drop the ball about 2 or three inches right of center. (Note: the more left of center, the more slice). Grasp the iron with your right hand as though you were shaking hands with someone. Do the same with your left hand.

Shift your hands to the right on the club slightly. This is a stronger grip and promotes a draw! When you slowly bring your club back keep your right elbow against your body. Keeping your elbow next to your body throughout your swing promotes an in-to-out swing.

Always take a practice swing to relax. Remember to only hit the ball about 75 to 80 percent of your hardest swing. This will help your control! You should make your practice swing the same speed as the swing you’re going to make! When you start your downswing, start slow. Speed up only when you’re about to hit the ball. This will promote follow-thru and control.

If your balls are still slicing, make small adjustments stroking a little more to the RIGHT. That’s correct, RIGHT. For the desperate reader who wants to quit slicing, this should help! Practice these basics for a while and find the swing that works for you! Good golfing!

Working the ball left to right, or right to left can be extremely useful when the flag is behind a bunker or you’re staring at a dogleg. It takes practice and a little knowledge to become better at moving the ball. Watching the better players do this, seemingly with ease, makes the weekend golfers envious. It should not be discouraging because with a few tips you too can fashion your shots. Most players have a natural fade or slice. Unfortunately the shots are not usually controlled. It seems the harder we try to make corrections the worse it gets! Try the following in order to get rid of golf slice.

Get rid of your golf slice

To understand how a club striking the ball affects a shot, consider the ping pong paddles effect on the ball. If you pull the paddle left to right the ball spins towards the left. Conversely, if you push the paddle right to left, the ball spins right! This same effect occurs in a golf swing! A golfer who consistently slices is hitting the ball left to right (for a right handed golfer), which means the club is crossing the ball right to left. One of the best ways to get rid of golf slice is to learn to draw or hook the ball. This means you will learn to hit the ball right to left. You’re probably wondering how to start.

Try making small changes and working on only one change at a time. The first try is ball position. When addressing the ball, the closer towards the hole the ball is the more likely you will slice. This is because the club is hitting the ball later in your swing. The club is moving right to left at the point in the swing.

Try moving the ball straight away from the hole about an inch at a time. Hit a few balls, and then move it back again, repeating this pattern. Take notice how much the slice lessens as you do this. In extreme cases this will not get rid of golf slice. You might have to make some further changes.

Along these lines, your second try might be feet alignment or stance. Stand as you usually would and pick a target. Before you swing move your left foot forward one half inch. Make your swing towards the same target. Try hitting a few balls this way. Next, try the same thing, only this time move your left foot forward one inch.

Continue this till you reach three inches. If these tips didn’t work, there is one more that often works. Address the ball as usual, but before you swing, turn your left wrist to the right about an inch. With some or all of these tips you should make great strides to get rid of golf slice! Remember small changes and large gains!

It really helps having the proper golf stance as the golfer addresses the ball. The feet need to be spread about as wide as the golfer’s shoulders. Also, the feet should be lined up with where the golfer wishes for the ball to travel. The golfer’s stance should be comfortable and the left foot should be pointed slightly to the left. Proper placement of the ball in this stance is also required in order to achieve correcting a golf slice. The ball should be in the middle of the golfer’s stance to achieve a straight drive.

A proper golf club grip is essential to correcting a golf slice. Many golfers use a baseball bat type grip when they hold the club. While this may be comfortable, it is not the correct way to hold the club. Grip the club with the left hand so that when looking at the grip your right eye sees the gap between the thumb and forefinger. Then wrap the right hand into the left hand. Swinging the club with this grip will allow the club face to meet the ball straight and will aid in correcting a golf slice.

After the first two correcting a golf slice techniques have been accomplished, the third is having the correct swing in order to use what has been learned thus far. The proper golf swing is a system of mechanics beginning with the hands moving backwards into the backswing. This should be a slow and methodical movement followed by the arms and shoulders. Then beginning the forward swing should be a purposed swing pulling the club through the ball with the club head meeting the ball in line with the golfer’s stance. Using these short correcting a golf slice techniques will help in lowering both the frustration a golfer can have, as well as lowering the golfer’s score.

If you want to improve your golf game without putting 50 yards onto your driving then this strategy is guaranteed to knock at least 6 shots off your scorecard.

Your pitching around the greens, your ability to get your ball up and in, will turn 3 shots into 2 all day long.

Tip 1-Pitching

Your pitching around the greens, your ability to get your ball up and in, will turn 3 shots into 2 all day long.

And if you do this only 6 times in a round, out of 18 holes, then you will see enormous improvement in your golf game.

Tip 2- Chipping

Your chipping will save your bacon and turn an average or poor round of ball striking into a solid, consistent score. And the best thing is the scorecard does not lie and you don’t have to explain anything on your card.

You just stick in a number for each hole. So even on a bad day for your ball striking if your short game is sharp and you get up and in on 6 occasions that you would not have in the past, then you will still be 6 shots better off per round.

Tip 3- Putting

This is part of the same strategy that all the professionals use..a real sharp short game and it is no use pitching or chipping close if you can’t convert the putt.

Don’t beat yourself up over your lack of distance or average ball striking. If your short game is sharp and you have worked and practiced at it you will turn 3 shots into 2 regularly and produce good scores..even on a bad day.

Don’t believe me? Ask Tiger.

Through out the history of golf the golf ball has evolved more than any other piece of equipment used in the game. From the very first wooden balls followed by the feathery to the latest 4 piece, high energy core, tungsten weighted, titanium, super thin covered, go further go straighter last forever golf ball, advances in science and the materials used in manufacturing has taken that little white thing to a new level of performance.

At the moment in my shop I have 36 different balls to choose from and there are plenty more types I could stock. This being the case it is difficult for a golfer to choose which is the right ball for them especially when they all claim to be the best thing since the couch potato was given the remote control.

The Number one

Titleist golf balls have been known for many years as ‘The Number 1 Ball in Golf’ and it is true that more tour players across the world use a Titleist ball. Some golfers think that if Ernie Els is playing with a Titleist then they should play with a Titleist as well, however, that is not necessarily the case. Believe it or not in amongst this huge selection there is the right ball for you and the ball you choose to play with needs to suit your requirements and level of skill.

In my opinion the huge range of golf balls on the market can be broken down into 5 categories.

1) Budget

2) Hard

3) Medium

4) Soft

5) Swing speed

If you are a beginner, or lose a lot of golf balls, then buying budget balls is the best thing to do. These are often packaged in 15 ball boxes and are a hard durable ball that will generally go further when you hit them. The draw back of this ball is that it is very lively off of the club face and when it comes to chipping and putting can lack some of the soft feel that some golfers prefer.

The harder golf balls such as Topflite XL 3000, or Callaway CB1 are perfect for the golfer who doesn’t lose too many balls but could do with more distance off the tee. These balls are not as hard as the budget type, but are durable and offer some feel around the green although they still won’t stop very quickly on landing.

If you want the combination of distance, feel and durability then balls such as the Titleist NXT Tour, the Callaway Hex 2 or the Strata Tour Straight are ideal. These are all what I call a medium ball giving the golfer consistent performance in all areas.

The top players in the world all use soft golf balls. Up until about 4 years ago the cover of the ball was actually soft enough to mark with your finger nail and marked very easily when miss hit. This meant that only the best ball strikers, or golfers with more money than sense, would use them. These days the covers on these balls are very durable and the ball will spin and stop very quickly on and around the greens.
The leading balls in this category are Titleist Pro V1, Callaway Hex, Strata Tour Ace, Hogen Apex Tour and the Maxfli M3. These balls are manufactured to the highest specification and quality and every golfer could play and enjoy them. They are however very expensive at about £10 for 3 balls if you are a bit wayward with your shots then it could cost a fortune in golf balls.

When it comes to swing speed some players just cannot swing the golf club very quickly. If this is the case some manufacturers are now making balls specifically for those of you who struggle to get any distance because you just can’t hit it hard enough! The Maxfli Noodle ball is perfect for anyone who has a slow swing and they are durable and affordable.

Whichever ball you choose, try to stick with that ball every time you play. You will get used to the feel and performances of the ball, which in turn will help, play more consistent golf.

How do you get the edge when you’re playing junior golf? To keep up with the top junior golfer’s means getting stronger both physically and mentally; and almost perfecting your golf swing. That’s how competitive it’s become.

There are big bucks at stake. Full scholarships are now worth up to a hundred thousand dollars, and for some of these to junior golfers, becoming a professional golfer can mean millions…

We have started to see a dramatic change in the caliber of junior golfers. They are getting fitter, stronger and are hitting it as long as the PGA and LPGA players. This is a combination of personal coaching on swing mechanics and getting stronger.

Junior golfers like Ty Tryon, Michelle Wie and the Song sisters are a perfect example of what junior golfers are capable of, given the right approach. Parents are now realizing the investment in their kid’s golf pays off big when they receive partial or full scholarships for college.
The difference between junior golfers and adults is typically strength - not flexibility. I’ve worked with hundreds of junior golfers and within a very short period of time, doing strength training, their drives increased as much as 50 yards.

Participating in a strength training program doing the wrong exercises can hurt junior golfers not help them. The exercises have to compliment the golf swing from a dynamic standpoint and a stability standpoint. If this is not taken into consideration, improvement will not happen.

The age to begin a strength training workout for juniors is between 12-13 on up. Having a professional oversee the program at the earlier ages is crucial. The upside is a rapidly improving game and who knows…a scholarship for college.

Too many parents and juniors are going it alone and aren’t seeing the results they hoped for. This can be a long and frustrating road to take. Why not save years of searching and hundreds if not thousands of dollars, by doing a little research? Do some talking around your town to see if anyone knows of a fitness trainer who understands golf.

They are a rare breed, but if you look hard enough you can find someone somewhat qualified. Even talk to some of the teaching pros. They might know of some golf trainers who are acceptable. If not, hit the book store. There are several golf fitness books out there, but be on the “lookout”.

From what I’ve seen, most of them are NOT golf fitness books, but only “general” fitness books in disguise. If you see any pictures of a golfer sitting in or on a machine, don’t by the book. That is a telltale sign of a general fitness book. Remember, golf is played on your feet, not sitting down.

So get the edge, by getting stronger for golf! Who knows?you may be the next Tiger Woods or Annika Sorenstam.

Golfers will do anything they can in hopes to play better golf and hit the LONG ball. Am I right? Are you in this category? If so, I’m quite confident to say you’ve taken a golf lesson or two. Golf lessons can be very effective in getting you back on track, if your swing has gone south. But, not always.

How many times have you taken a golf lesson, only to be more frustrated and hitting the ball worse than before that golf lesson? Do you know why this happens? It can be many different reasons, such as too many swing thoughts; making drastic changes that require hours at the range and hitting thousands of balls; or lastly, your body just can’t effectively move in the way it needs to, to make a mechanically correct golf swing.

I’m inclined to say that for the majority of golfers, especially the older golfer, it’s the last reason above. Your body just can’t move the way it needs to. The question now is, why?

Why can’t your body do what you know it needs to do to swing the club correctly? It can drive you to the point of quitting the game. But there is hope. There is an approach that will almost 100% of the time correct this problem. Do you want to know what it is? It’s addressing your “physical limitations”. That’s what’s keeping you from a great game of golf.

Do you ever get on the course and just feel like you can’t make a full backswing? Or, it just feels impossible to maintain your golf posture and “stay in your swing”? No amount of golf lessons or hitting balls will correct this. This is a “physical” issue with your body, and until you work on it, it will never get better. I’ve seen it time and time again. Golfers walking off the course in pure disgust. They’ve taken golf lessons, hit balls at the range, and even bought the latest, greatest titanium drive; and yet still can’t play like they think they are capable of.

Finding out your “physical limitations” is the first step to a lifelong better game of golf. Once you find out what’s keeping you from making that perfect swing, you can set up a game plan to improve it. It may be a flexibility issue, or it may be a strength issue. But either way, you’ve got to find out what it is.

The most common issue (especially for the older golfer) is flexibility. Not being able to rotate your body fully on the backswing, creating that power and torque for maximum clubhead speed. If your back swing is cut short, you will LOSE yards on your drives! And I say again; no amount of lessons or hitting balls will make that any better. You’ve got to do specific golf stretches to improve this limitation.

Now on the other side of these limiting factors is strength, specific to golf. And one of the most common limitations is weak hamstrings (the back of the upper leg). The role of the hamstring is critical. It allows you to maintain your golf posture throughout the swing and for 18 holes. It prevents undo strain on your lower back. And can give you a steady, comfortable position while putting.

If your hamstrings are weak, I can almost say with certainty, you’ve got some low-back pain or injury. This is prevalent in older golfers and even the younger ones too. Back pain is the number reason to keep a golfer from playing his/her best. Have you ever walked off the course with your back in pain? I’m sure at one time or another you have. Now do you think hitting more balls or taking more lessons will improve this? I think you know the answer.

If you have a difficult time, “staying in your swing”, it most definitely could be the above scenario. In order to maintain the forward flex in your upper body (golf posture), your hamstrings need to have optimal strength (and flexibility). If not, your hamstring will send a message to your brain saying, “get out of this position, I can’t hold it any longer”. Do you think his has ever happened to you?

So working on the physical side of your game improvement may be the missing link. I can assuredly tell you with this approach, your game WILL improve. There is no doubt. Getting your body to move just a little better will make a huge difference in your ability to make an optimal swing for 18 holes. So before you take that next golf lesson, take a look at your BODY first!