Golf Swing Tips

So, you may ask, what are effective golf swing tips then?

Well my definition is that they are anything in particular that helps you to carry out a consistent swing out on the course.

There are as many golf swing tips as there are golfers but the only one that matters to me is the one that gets me round the course without too many stray drives.

Notice I said one.

I remember listening to one of the coaches some time ago and he was saying that one swing thought is quite enough for one round of golf. Any more and you just fill your head with conflicting ideas, not a good situation to be in on the 1st tee.

I am sure you have been there though. Fresh off the driving range from the day before you have many ideas going round your head, little tricks that you have been practising on the range and which seem to work very well there.

But it is always a different story out on the course isn't it? You can drive as many balls as you like towards the 300 yard marker board (yes I wish!) but the drive on the 1st tee always ends up to the side of the fairway. You know, that area where the longer grass grows.

I think the reasons are that of tension and muddled thoughts. The way round this is to try to take the pressure off yourself.

Relax as much as you can on the tee and try hard to visualize exactly where you want the ball to go. Concentrate on the target.

By the way, it is not compulsory to use the driver on the first tee either. Go easy on yourself.

In the meantime you could do worse than to take a look at a great book by David Nevogt called the Simple Golf Swing, available online David's book is a real eye opener for the best piece of golf swing advice, 'keep it simple'.

I think we all need to remember that.

Did you know that you can improve your golf game 100% if you just take time to carry out some simple daily exercises?

Take a look around at your golfing companions and try to guess if they are already doing this.

There are two main areas that you need to consider working on if you are to improve your performance on the course.

The first area is core strength. This means exercising the deep abdominal muscles that support your spine and help you to rotate it. These are vital muscles for the golfer that he or she needs to look after to avoid injury.

Have a look at the plank a well known exercise that gets right to the core of your abdomen and is actually more responsible for producing the classic 'six pack' than the traditional sit ups.

Secondly, do sit ups as well but use the swiss ball method to gain more from the exercise.

The second area that golfers need to worry about is flexibility. My answer to this is to try out Pilates.

Originally exercises created to strengthen dancers, this program is now becoming very popular in gyms and health clubs for overall body toning.

I find that one of the great variables of the game of golf is the idea of ball position at address.

I am sure like me you have heard the two main schools of thought on this.

1) always place the ball in the center of your stance or

2) Start from the center point and work forwards to the left heel with the longer clubs.

So which is right?

I'm afraid it is another of those matter of opinion ones and I think the answer is go with what you were taught from the beginning of your golfing career.

The reason I say this is that you have probably already adapted to whatever shortcoming your ball position has given you (if any) in other aspects of your swing.

The general advice I hear though is that if you are a newer golfer, then you should stick to keeping the ball in the centre of your stance as this makes it easier to make crisp contact with the ball especially with the irons.

If you have been playing for a while then to alter your ball position now might cause inconsistency for some time unless you seek the advice of a golf pro or consult the excellent book the Simple Golf Swing.

Two things I have learned about the grip that you take on the club:

1) As to what technical grip you prefer comes down to a matter of experimentation.

Do you go for the hugely popular Vardon grip or opt for the version made popular by Tiger Woods, the interlocking grip?

Well, as in a lot of things in golf it eventually comes down to personal choice.

I say try both grips work with each for a while and see which one is more comfortable and more importantly is easier to repeat, time after time after time.

2) The second thing I have learned is to regularly check the physical strength of your grip on the club.

Over time it is easy to hold the club stronger and is not good news for the mechanics of your swing.

The release for one will be harder to get consistent and a strong grip will usually rob you of distance because tightened muscles do not perform as well as relaxed ones.

Continuing with the set up theme I thought I would say a few things about posture in the golf swing setup.

Your posture is very important and affects both how consistent your golf swing is and ultimately of course where the ball ends up.

Posture faults are very common and according to the pros 90% of the time an otherwise good game can be faulty simply due to posture problems at address, not to mention the unnecessary back pain it can cause.

Think about that next time you suddenly start to hit the ball inconsistently during your round.

Several key factors are needed for an effective golf swing posture:

- flexion in the knees that moves your body weight to onto the arches of your feet
- a straight back with your bottom sticking out, that helps to create the correct spine angle
- chin off the chest to enable free movement of the shoulders
- a slight tilt of the left shoulder up and right one down

All very difficult to imagine of course which is why you need to practice taking your stance in a full length mirror.

Keep repeating this exercise every day until you can internally 'feel' that your body is automatically in the right position at address.

Search for more golfing tips at the Squidoo Directory.