My Single Digit Handicap

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Understanding the Biomechanics of a golf swing allows you to build a repeating swing.
We all want to realize how to build a repeating swing.
Well, learning to swing efficiently and to be as consistent as possible is what it’s all about.
The golf swing is a very complex body motion. The forces on the spine are extremely high and the angular velocities in the upper extremity joints are high.Understanding and mastering the biomechanics of golf techniques reduce the risk of injury.

Biomechanics or Motion Capture Technology (MOCAP) is the mechanical analysis of body motion. Studying and understanding the physics of golf swing by analyzing the biomechanics of a golf swing can be very revealing. This is usually achieved with the help of high speed video.
Let’s watch this clip to see one type of weight movement pattern

According to Golf.com MOCAP or Biomechanics of golf swing shows where your swing movements go bandy and exactly how wrong they are so you can make the right fix.
Every time we hit a bad shot something is out of whack with our swing.

David Ostrow , the President and CEO of Body Balance for Performance says that If you have an imbalance in the pelvis, you will develop degenerative conditions, and you will see motions like reverse spine angles, lateral sways, straightening of the backswing side knee, loss of spine angle, and most disastrous, recurrent lower back pain episodes.
Our experience has told us that if we resolve these imbalances, most back pain can be resolved or prevented.
Finally, improving pelvic balance will improve the efficiency of your golf motion.

This clip shows the Motion Capture technology, its analyzing your swing and turns it into a real time video.

We can use the knowledge of the biomechanics of a golf swing to self-improve our own golf swing, but how exactly do we do that?
• The grip according to biomechanics will support the club’s weight using the least amount of effort as so to discourage any force that hampers the motion of the club.
• Swinging the club forward and back slightly off the ground and then do it again, this time use your shoulders. The repeating of this motion promotes a slow smooth balance
• While in this balance turn your shoulders and hips while holding your arms extended away from you as long as you can.
• Repeat the same swinging motions until you feel confident to take the club all the way back in one smooth constant motion.
Read more about how to use the biomechanics of a golf swing.
The biomechanics of a golf swing is a way to optimize the use of our muscles during the swing, it is essential to identify our physical potential as well as our limits.

Tags: Biomechanics of a Golf Swing Explained, Biomechanics of golf swing, golf swing Biomechanics// Category Uncategorized // Add Comment »

We all want to hit the ball further and straighter, in order to do it we need to understand the importance of golf swing tempo.
We can imagine golf swing tempo like a kind of glue that holds everything together, that is why it is important to work on your tempo and timing more than anything else.

We all tend to swing too hard or too fast simply because in our mind, golf is a game of distance more than it’s a game of accuracy and that is the reason for us wanting to hit the ball further.

According to the biomechanics of a golf swing every golfer has all the tempo, momentum and timing to produce a perfect swing in every shot.

When a golfer is aware to his tempo, he can produce a perfect and consistent swing.
Golf can be easy if you remember that it’s all about tempo:

One major problem for bad tempo and bad timing in the swing is the use of the arms in the takeaway, the thing is the arms get lifted in the backswing, it is not you that lifting the arms, it’s the arms that get lifted through inertia and momentum.
The fundamentals of the success of your shot depend on the momentum and the timing of your golf swing.

• The first golf swing tempo drill for most golfers is to relax and to slow it down; we tend to hit the ball too fast, this can be difficult, especially when you are under pressure or coming towards the end of a round or hitting a really important shot in the course of a round.
• The second golf swing tempo drill which is also one of my favorite drills to practice on my tempo is to count ’1′ as you start your backswing,’2′ when you get to the top of your backswing and ’3′ as you swoosh through the ball.

Let’s see what Tiger Woods say about the routine and rhythm which is basically the tempo of your golf swing:

Every shot is different and we never hitting the same shot twice, so by developing your awareness to your tempo you do not get uncomfortable just because of the fact that this is a different shot then before or this shot is more important, the pressure is gone and of top of that by being aware of your tempo you can see when someone is at stress, simply because his not aware of his tempo.

Golf swing Tempo is the rate of movement during your swing which is enables you to keep focus if using a constant tempo rhythm. Your tempo rhythm can be fast or slow. It is your tempo and therefor it’s personal. You can even increase tempo during your swing as long as it has a smooth transition and rhythm, with no sudden jerks.
Not all is lost and if you feel that you don’t have it naturally you can practice your tempo with those Golf swing tempo drills that mentioned above.
Practicing on my golf swing tempo drills allows me to be consistent and to develop a routine that reduces my gap between my practice swing and my real swing.

Tags: Drills to Improve Your Golf Swing Tempo, Golf Swing Tempo, Golf Swing Tempo Drills// Category golf swing // 1 Comment »

If you have a golf swing guide that helped you to shave some strokes off your golf Score, call it the best golf swing guide!

Really, there are golf swing guides all over the place, for each problem on each subject I have seen a solution in the form of a golf swing guide.
Most of the guides I have red, had all the information I needed and sometimes even more than I needed.

The thing is, I use none of the golf swing guides I have bought for more than one month, I think it’s because it is loaded with too much information and this makes me goes out of focus.

Golf swing guides have helped many amateur golfers I know, there are two types of people, one that can get too frustrated with game and quit after spending some very good money on the “right clubs” or the “right god knows what…”, the second type try to locate the main problem and find the best solution for it.

I see myself to be more of the second type of people, those who try to locate the main problem and find the best solution for it.

For this reason I now prefer to use one of the best golf swing guides out there, I believe that if one sticks to his guide and really invest time and effort he can get very surprised with the result.

There is this guy I know, he was feeling frustrated, nothing seems to help him until he got this guide that got him to look on the game with a new eye, when I saw him the other day it looks like he realized something through this guide, it helped him.
If you are planning to get a golf swing guide be sure to identify your physical potential and even more important your limits, this way you can reduce the risk of injury.
I can tell you what I think the best golf swing guide should be like, a guide that teaches you how to play in a match as you play in practice.

Because we all share that sensational challenge, playing in a game like we play in practice.
Let me tell you what I’ve learned so far about this challenge:

• In order to build a repetitive & consistent swing I have found out that I have to practice much more than I play, practice is a must.
• While in practice I am counting my score to have the sense of some kind of pressure to replace the tournament pressure.
• When practicing, I always give 100% efforts, even in “the price” of loosing to my partner, due to using the competitive counting method, mentioned above.
• I keep on reminding myself to be with totally commitment to my drills in order to build the right approach.
• I don’t think about the outcome, my experience says that thinking about what I cannot control will create only anxiety and doubtful thinking, there is no point wasting energy and time.
• I accept whatever happen, many unwanted things can happen in a round of golf, so that goes to the same category of things I cannot control.

The best golf guide I need is a guide that will give me the perfect solution to my challenge.

What about a short golf swing guidelines clip from YouTube

Tags: Best golf swing guide, Best Golf Swing Guidelines, My Best Golf Swing Guide, The Best Golf Swing Guide// Category Uncategorized // 1 Comment »

One thing is for sure,Most golfers will encounter back pain or back injuries at some point in their golfing life.
Very few realize the benefits of an appropriate stretching exercises and how they can easily prevent back pain and back injuries with just a few minutes of daily practice.
The primary problem with golf training exercises іѕ that nοt everyone knows hοw to ѕtаrt.

There are many simple stretching exercises you can implement that will relieve and even cure lower back pain in golf.

Mike Pedersen, Golf Fitness Trainer, shows in this clip one of his favorite flexibility Exercises to avoid Golf Back Pain.
This golf stretching exercise can be done even a few times a day and allows mike to play pain free golf every day in the week.

Click here to learn more about golf stretching exercise with Mike Pedersen.

2 Simple Golf Stretching Exercises that you can do at home

• The Bird Dog- This basic stretch will relieve lower back pain.
• Side Plank for Trunk Stability- a good exercise for developing the core control and strength needed in the golf swing.

For the best Golf Stretching Exercises I do Pilates, it helped me with my lower back and it allows me to build more strength and to be more flexible.

Tags: Avoid Golf Back Pain, Golf Back Pain, Golf Exercises, Golf Stretching, Golf Stretching Exercises, Stretching Exercises// Category Uncategorized // 3 Comments »

In order to learn to swing like Tiger Woods we need to understand first the physics of a golf swing and the impact that it have on our body.
The two main components that go into the physics of a golf swing are

• The swinging speed of the arms and shoulders.
• Unlocking the wrists at the right moment so that the club connects squarely with the ball.

You can learn more about the physics of golf swing in the following article.

It has been said (according to Peter Kostis) that no one can hit exactly like Tiger Woods, the only thing you can copy from Tiger are his solid fundamentals.
When Tiger makes an adjustment, it’s to fix a tendency he has that strays from those fundamentals.

Tiger starts it all from a solid foundation of correct posture and balance.
15 years ago Tiger’s tendency was to stand far from the ball (watch this photo), which forced him to bend over too much to reach the ball. Now he has moved closer to the ball. This makes his spine angle a bit more upright at address.

You probably ask yourself how I can hit the low “stinger” that Tiger Woods made so famous. Well, you can do this with any club, really… it’s called a “knock down” shot.  It’s not an easy shot at all and you will need to practice a lot before you can get it out of the range to the actual course.
here is a clip of the famous shot by Tiger Woods

The discussion about Tiger Woods in never-ending and it is very useful to understand the evolution of Tiger’s golf swing.
Jack Nicklaus who coaches Tiger Woods commented about how Tiger swing evolved:
“When Tiger started out, there was nothing mechanical about him. Now he plays by mechanics, but I’ve noticed that when he starts making mistakes, he instinctively reverts back to feel. When he really has to win something, the touch and feel that he reverts to produces some unbelievable results. There are no mechanics at all when he’s really under the gun. That’s how he should play all the time.”
Watch a series of clips that show the evolution of Tiger’s swing since 94′ when he was just an amateur up until today in the 2011 US masters.

Tags: how Tiger swing evolved, swing like Tiger Woods, the correct golf swing, Tiger Woods golf swing// Category Uncategorized // 1 Comment »

You can improve your Putting with practice drills.
Practice drills are for building your confidence and allow you enjoy the practice.

Here is a few practice drills for putting:

• Place four golf balls around the hole – approximately 3 feet away. Then, simply approach each ball in turn.
• Place three balls in a line in front of you and putt all three golf balls equally hard to improve your feeling for distance.
• Practice with your eyes closed- do the same drills as the two above but close your eyes just before you hitting the ball.
• Drill for proper alignment- To do this, lay two clubs on the green about five inches apart, make sure that they are parallel to each other. Now putt the ball to see if your stroke is aligned at impact and steady on the back and forward stroke.
• Drill to encourage an accelerating stroke on the putting green- place a range bucket in the way of your backswing to keep it short. This will force you to accelerate into the ball, ensuring you accelerate into impact will help your short game tremendously.

You can go here to learn more about practice drills for putting.
Here is another great article for golf putting drills.

For those of you that are suffering from putting yips, make sure that you realize that yip is a mental issue and not a swing fault.  A great way to overcome those yips is to forget about the hole entirely.
You can learn more about Neurophysiology of the yips when putting.

Tags: Golf Putting Drills, Puttin yips, Putting help// Category Uncategorized // Add Comment »

The stack and tilt golf swing method has been around for the last few years, it was developed by Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer, the stack and tilt was proven to be the best method to hit the ball far and straight by many professional golfers.
Watch this interview of Michael Bennett:

The basics of this golf swing method can be broken down into a few elements

• Weight forward
• Shoulders down
• Hands in
• Straighten leg
• Arms straight
• Tuck hips

To learn more about each one of the basics you can go here .

Some people have trouble seeing the real difference between the Stack and Tilt and the typical modern swing, it seems like there is no difference except taking a shorter back swing. If you are one of those people that cannot see the difference you can take a look at some more stack and tilt analysis in this article.

The first fundamentals of hitting the ball is to control where the ball hits the ground, the simplest way to control this is by keeping your weight on your front foot.

I came across a very good article in GolfDigest.com by Andy and Mike who explain exactly how it works and even more important how it feels, they describe everything from setup to finish and show you why the stack and tilt is right for you.

Tags: basics of this golf swing, hit the ball far and straight, Stack and Tilt and the typical modern swing, Stack and Tilt Golf Swing// Category Uncategorized // Add Comment »

If you are like me, you would like to improve your chipping shots.

There are many problems that I needed to solve in order to improve my chipping and to shave off some strokes per hole.

The main problems I needed to work on in order to improve my chip shots were about choosing the right club and the restriction of the swing.

• Choosing the right club- I decide which club to choose by the position of the ball, if I want to hit with more loft and less distance I use a 9 iron.
• The swing- if you don’t get enough loft into the ball, try to use a less lofted club and shorten your stroke.

The next shot after a bad chip shot is another chip shot that why you have to improve you’re chipping.

Let’s take a look on Tiger Woods Perfect Chip Shot in Slow-Mo:

There are Practice Drills that you can use in order to improve your chipping

• The setup- it is good to measure a foot and a half behind the ball, turn your whole body to the left of the target and place the ball to middle of your stance.
• Preparation- put more weight on your left foot, use your normal grip and lean your upper body forward from your hip
• Chip the ball- keep your arms and wrists relaxed during the swing, look for a V shape between your hands and shoulders, this is your way to check that you are using your body instead of your arms.

If you want to dive deeper into this practice drills you can go here, there is a very good video that will explain how to improve your chipping.

I have learned that if I spend enough time in practice on my chipping around the green, I am more confident in my game.

Tags: chipping shots, Golf Chipping, golf chipping tips, Improve your Golf Chipping// Category Uncategorized // Add Comment »

If you are like me, always want to improve your golf swing and to maximize the driver’s potential, you have to practice on how to hit the ball longer and straighter.
In order to play a great game I put most of my time and effort on the driving range.
Here is a one minute clip about the positioning of the driver with Kensey Snyder, a Professional golfer and golfing instructor.

click here to learn more on how to improve your golf driver swing from Kensey Snyder.

Below are some tips and drills that helped me to take my driver golf swing to the next level:
· Move the ball closer to your front foot- this way you can gain more distance simply because the driver is catching the ball on the way up.

· Go to the driving range, grab yourself a bucket of balls and start swinging with the intention of hitting the 150 yard flag. This tip helped me to improve in a short period of time. Remember, accuracy is more important than the distance when it comes to your golf driver swing.

· To develop hip rotation and to bring more power and weight transfer into your swing, Stand above the ball with your body square and swing your driver but with only one arm.

· Developing balance- place a quarter on your golf shoe and go through your driver swing technique. If you are experiencing to much foot movement, the quarter will fall off your shoe. This tip allows me to be aware of my balance and help me to increase it.

Practice isn’t as fun as playing a round of golf, but it’s the where you need to put your time in, to play a great game and shave strokes off of your handicap.

Tags: Driver Swing, Golf Driver Swing, Golf Swing// Category Uncategorized // 2 Comments »

We all love to get a Backspin on a Golf Shot, Trying to get the golf ball to stop as quickly after the backspin can be hard sometimes, and we all want to know the mechanics involved to get this desired outcome.
Each time I get new advice from the golf channel or something, and it doesn’t work. I really wanted to know all the techniques involved to get this desired outcome.
Because of that I decided to write down the most important golf swing techniques to consider when performing backspin on a golf ball.

• The golf club setup- when setting up, place your club behind the ball and open the clubface slightly, the open clubface allows the club to bounce of the ground and slide under the ball.
• Setup your golf stance- Setup in an open stance, (for right handed) aiming your body to the left of the target and put 60%-70% of your weight on your left foot. The ideal position is in the middle of your stance which along with keeping your weight on your left foot, makes the club swings down at the ball at its steeper angle creating more spin.
• The golf ball – use a soft covered ball (urethane-covered ball), urethane covers soft enough to produce high spin from typical wedge swings.
• Other factors-backspin golf shot is more effective with a headwind or a soft green, or when the green sloping the direction of the spin.
• The swing- the setup makes the swing steep enough, so you need to use only a slight wrist action when rotating your body arms and hands into the backswing,  again, keep club face open for more backspin.

Here is a golf swing technique by Chris Ardolina, which is a class A PGA Professional .

I use backspin when I need to hit a pitch-and-stop shot.
This type of shot is best used when you have an obstacle (bunker, water, rough, rocks) between you and the green.

Tags: Backspin on a Golf Shot, Golf Swing, Golf Swing Technique// Category Uncategorized // Add Comment »