Monday, November 17, 2008

Correct Your Backswing Golf Shot

Looking for ways to correct your backswing golf shot on the web can be a bit hard. It's not that there is a lack of info on the subject, though. It's actually because there is so much "conflicting" info. Every websites has a different set of tips, techniques and guides and there not way to tell which ones are better. Here's how to bypass that mess, while finding tried and true ways to correct your backswing golf shot.

I have seen it so many time and I was even one of the golfers who go lost in the tons of conflicting information on the web. It doesn't matter what you are looking to improve upon. You could be looking for ways to improve your driver distance, to easier ways to get out of the bunker. No matter what you search for, tons of conflicting pages of info comes up. This is especially true if you happen to be one of the 95% who uses a search engine to find this kind of knowledge. It's just not a good way to find reliable ways to fix your backswing golf shot.

I will even take it a step further. It's actually the #1 reason so many golfers get pounded with conflicting info on the subject. Every website seems to have something different for you. How do you know which ones are tried and true? How do you know which ones are complete garbage and will just be wasting valuable time?

That's the problem most golfers face. What's the way around that mess? The way around most of it is to use the valuable knowledge that golfing forums contain. They are vital tools for finding out the exact things other golfers have used and done to fix any part of their game. If you need to find info on how to correct your backswing golf shot, there will be tons of topics on the subject because you know it's a popular subject.

It's where you can see what other golfers have done and used to not only improve their game, but also what didn't work. It takes so much of the guess work out of it for you. Heck, you can even start your own topics and ask a few of your own questions if you need to.

For every golfer looking to correct their backswing golf shot, there are 1000's of them who have found the ways that work, which his why I like this method so much.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Sound Advice For Golfers

Like most golfers, I enjoy watching golf on television. Its great to be able to learn from the best players in the world. An even better way to learn more from those players is to watch the golf tournaments with the sound on mute!

Without getting academic on you, in the past decade, neuroscience has recently discovered and have been learning more about human structures called 'mirror neurons'. A mirror neuron is a premotor neuron which fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another. Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of another animal, as though the observer were itself acting.

In sports, there has been anecdotal evidence amongst sporting champions that modelling and what we now know to be called mirror neurons have played a significant part in those athletes learning their craft. Below is one example as explained by golfing legend Jack Nicklaus:

"As with Snead, watching Hogan's swing sort of stuck with me, and I played like Hogan, or thought I did, for most of that summer, trying to take my left side and keep it ahead of my right and never let it catch up. To me, Hogan looked like he played that way, and I tried to imitate that, kids do those kinds of things. He was always an inspiration to me every time I watched him hit golf balls. I never got tired of watching Hogan play or even just practice"

It is also well known that the father of Tiger Woods, Earl Woods, began Tiger's tutelage of the golf swing by sitting him in a high chair as a young child, allowing him to observe Earl hitting golf balls. There is further evidence on the professional tour of modelling and the use of mirror neurons from noticeable similarities between the techniques of great players. The synergy of Adam Scott and Tiger Woods' golf swing is one example.

Observe players from the same college or same area as juniors, and you will see similarities in their techniques, suggesting the use of modelling and mirror neurons.

To use this knowledge effectively, complete the following exercise:

Watch a replay or live showing of a major golf tournament, and as I mentioned, place the sound on mute. (This will take away some otherwise distracting commentary and crowd noise). Commentary can be entertaining, but is not useful for the purposes of this exercise.

Take a moment to allow yourself to come up with what it is that you would like to model, or observe from a particular player during the golf showing. For example, it might be the rhythm of their golf swing or their technique when putting. State what it is softly to yourself, and then spend 5 minutes observing that player in the following ways:

Watch them as though you were a spectator on the course, or even their caddy, and pay closer attention to what it is you want to learn from them. Following that pretend as though you were actually stepping inside their shoes and playing golf as they are. Pay particular attention to how their technique feels to them. As mentioned earlier in this article, you are capable of doing this!