Monday, February 13, 2012

3 Golf Swing Drills to Improve Your Putting

After hitting the ball as close to the hole as possible, it is just a matter of putting so you can move on to the next one. While this may sound easy given the short distance, there are still some who have a hard time. To help you out, here are 4 golf swing drills you can try.

The first is the one handed drill. You do this by practice putting ten balls using only your training hand. This drill lets you focus on the palm of your hand as it moves towards the cup.

Next, practice putting using your target hand. The emphasis here is for you to concentrate on your back hand moving towards the cup.

When you do this drill using either hand, be conscious of the toe of your putter in the follow through. Should this turn away from the cup or point toward it, this means you are turning your hand. So you know you are doing it right, the face of the putter should be square to the cup.

Another drill is to practice putting with one eye. Some golfers do this because it stops them from lifting their head prematurely. If you have played this game often, you can even try putting with your eyes closed.

But won’t closing your eyes make it harder for you to see where the ball is going? Yes but research has shown that when you try to putt with your eyes open, there is interference with the brain/muscle control system. By closing your eyes, you are relying more on your hands to guide the ball into the hole. And how will you know if the ball goes in? By simply using your sense of hearing.

To do this, you have to practice first putting first with your eyes open at a range of 10 to 50 feet from the hole. After putting these balls with your eyes open, do the same thing this time with your eyes closed. If the ball goes in the hole, you know that sink the ball with your eyes closed.

Another eyes closed technique involves dropping some balls to the ground and just putting them. The objective here is simply to let you feel how the stroke flows back and forth. Do the same thing also with your eyes open. Now that you know the difference, try to incorporate that when you are putting the balls into the hole.

The last golf swing drill is called the alignment drill. To do this, you lay two clubs on the green about six inches apart and 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. Do this several times and if you get tired, take a break and rest for a while before resuming the drill.

Practicing some golf swing putting drills like those mentioned will surely help you improve on your game. Who knows? You might even win when you are playing 18 holes with friends. If you can do that at short distances, the only thing to practice on now is your long game because this is just as important as the short game.

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Sunday, February 12, 2012

What is a Golf Swing Launch Monitor

In baseball, a speed gun similar to what police use to check on the speed of motorists is used to check the speed of a pitch. In golf, a device called a golf swing launch monitor is used to study the swing aspect in a game.

The golf swing launch monitor is designed to tell a golfer why the ball is flying in a certain direction after the golfer hits it with the club. With the information gathered, the golfer will know what is wrong so the appropriate changes can be made.

How it works is by compiling the data comprising of more than 100 swings made by the golfer. Professionals are not the only ones who use this data because even amateurs use this as well.

Now that these are produced by various companies, it is easy to find one when you go to a sporting goods store.

But what must the golf swing launch monitor have when you go out looking for one? It must be able to tell you the following information which includes ball speed, club head speed, face impact position, flight time, launch angle and yards off line.

But what does the information tell you exactly? Well, if your ball speed isn’t in proportion with your club head speed, this means that you are not hitting the ball as far as you want it to go. Ideally, there should be a 1:1.5 ratio between these two. In simple terms, a club head speed of 100 mph will let you make the ball travel at 150 mph.

If you think getting this number is easy, think again because most professionals are only able to hit a 1:1.4 ratio. If your numbers are way off, do your best to try and achieve this number.

Another thing to watch out for in the golf swing launch monitor is the launch angle. The lower it is the better because this will make the ball travel farther. Tiger Woods who is one of the best golfers of all time launches at 12 degrees. Should you do the same? Not necessarily but if this works for you, then why not.

There are other indicators that can tell you more about your golf swing but take note that these will cost a bit more. These devices can even tell you the average of your shots in various areas and compare them which will helpful to improve your game.

The golf swing launch monitor comes with its own software. This can be even be hooked up to your computer which is even better.

Of course to achieve the right angle and speed, it has a lot to do with your technique. There are other tools you can get to help you practice your golf swing like hiring a coach, practicing in front of a mirror, recording yourself and putting some of the aids on.

Will this make you play better? In most cases yes so you should consider using them if you are still not able to improve your game like you have hoped.

Years ago, there was no machine that could analyze your golf swings. We should be happy then with tools like the golf swing launch monitor because you are no longer guessing if you are doing well or not when everything can be seen in the numbers.

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