Moving from the balance of my life to the balance of the golf swing, I was intrigued to read recently about how many people view this as a key element of a successful golf swing. Now you know that I never comment on the mechanics of the swing as I’m neither a golf professional nor a swing coach. However, I do believe that balance is a key component of golf psychology and that psychological balance contributes significantly to balance in the golf mind and the golf swing. It also works wonders for your putting stroke.

When I was first studying NLP, Paul McKenna got us to do an exercise that he explained was based to some extent on Aikido. He asked for a volunteer and got her to just stand in an upright, relaxed posture and then to focus her mind on the audience. He then gently pushed her sideways with his hand against the outside of her shoulder. We saw how easily Paul caused her to sway off balance with just a light push.

Paul then asked the volunteer to focus all her attention on a point about two inches below her navel. Paul explained that this is known in Aikido as the ‘hara’ – the location of a person’s spirit and their centre of mass. He then repeated the push on her shoulder, but this time he couldn’t budge her, however hard he pushed. I was particularly surprised that the volunteer remained calm and relaxed despite Paul’s inability to shove her off balance. Paul then split the audience into pairs and I was able to confirm the experience for myself by working with someone much smaller than me. Despite his frailty, I couldn’t easily budge him when he focussed on his hara.

So what’s does all this have to do with golf, I hear you say. Well, just try it the next time you are out practicing. I did and I found that focussing on my hara when hitting a shot seemed to smooth out my swing and massively improve my balance. Let me know what it does for you.

Andrew Fogg, the Golf Hypnotist, is an enthusiastic golfer, hypnotherapist and NLP Master Practitioner. He is a practicing golf psychologist and author of a soon to be published book “The Secrets of Hypnotic Golf” and a series of golf hypnosis MP3 programmes.

Visit his website for information on how to get the most success, pleasure and enjoyment from the wonderful game of golf. More specifically, it’s about how to improve your golf by working on the 90 percent of the game that’s played in the 6 inches between your ears.

Sign up for the free Golf Hypnotist ezine at http://www.golf-hypnotist.com/ and get your free 25- minute “Your Own Virtual Caddy” golf hypnosis MP3 that goes with this article.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/balance-your-golf-mind-and-body-for-better-golf-focus-on-your-hara-943970.html

Regular readers of my articles will be familiar with my rants about golfers changing their swings in response to what I see as their golf psychology problems. Sometimes they change their swings in the mistaken belief that they somehow need to play better. This generally seems to have one of two results and neither is better than trusting their unconscious golf mind to remember how to play well.

If they are really talented and especially strong mentally, they struggle their way through the changeover period and emerge a season or two later scoring almost as well as they did before the change. They of course believe that they are now better and more consistent golfers and clearly have a new swing. I’m thinking here of people like Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods. Now don’t get me wrong, they are both fantastic golfers. It’s just that they don’t seem to be any better as golfers than they were before their swing changes.

Nick Faldo was a phenomenal golfer and regular winner long before he had even heard the name David Leadbetter. I’m sure that he thinks he became a better golfer as a result of David’s swing changes and that may have helped him. I’m also sure that with the same self-belief, he could have won just as much with his old golf swing, possibly even more. I also think that he he’d still be competitive today with his old more natural swing. By most normal standards, Arnold Palmer is still playing fantastic golf in his 80th year and looks to be enjoying himself. What’s more, he’s still using the same far from classical swing he started winning with 60 years ago.

While I accept that Tiger’s latest swing change has in part been influenced by his need to protect his damaged knee, it’s not his first swing change. He’s still the world number one and possibly the best golfer ever, but is he as good as he was 10 years ago – most golfers get better as the move into their thirties? He’s almost overtaken Jack Nicklaus’ record number of major wins and he’s only 33, but Jack was still using the same old swing to win 7 more majors between the ages of 33 and 46. I hope I’m wrong, but I can’t see Tiger continuing to play that well for that length of time.

So what’s the second general result of top players making swing changes? Well, these are the people who lose their ability to score well, despite still striking the ball as well as ever. Here I’m thinking of people like Ian Baker-Finch and David Duval.

Now I’m sure you’ve heard the news that Ian Baker-Finch is making a comeback this weekend at the Crowne Plaza Invitational tournament at Colonial, where he won his only US PGA tournament back in 1989. You may even recall how Ian went on to win the (British) Open at Royal Birkdale in 1991 and a further dozen or so tournaments in Europe, Australia and Japan.

Ian’s game went downhill rapidly in the early 90s and he ended up missing the cut in all 18 tournaments he entered in 1995. Although he continued to hit the ball perfectly on the practice ground, to hole putts on the practice green and to play well in friendly matches, Ian decided that the problem was with his swing, so he spent a lot of time tinkering with it. He worked with a great many swing coaches, interestingly including David Leadbetter, before giving up the professional game and becoming a much loved television commentator on the US PGA tour.

So here’s wishing Ian Baker-Finch well with his comeback this weekend at Colonial. Let’s hope that he remembers how good a golfer he really is and let’s his unconscious golf mind get on with the job of hitting the ball as well as it remembers and he knows he can. Trust your swing, Ian! Your old swing, that is!

Andrew Fogg, the Golf Hypnotist, is an enthusiastic golfer, hypnotherapist and NLP Master Practitioner. He is a practicing golf psychologist and author of a soon to be published book “The Secrets of Hypnotic Golf” and a series of golf hypnosis MP3 programmes.

Visit his website for information on how to get the most success, pleasure and enjoyment from the wonderful game of golf. More specifically, it’s about how to improve your golf by working on the 90 percent of the game that’s played in the 6 inches between your ears.

Sign up for the free Golf Hypnotist ezine at www.golf-hypnotist.com and get your free 25- minute “Your Own Virtual Caddy” golf hypnosis MP3 that goes with this article.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/trust-your-unconscious-golf-mind-to-remember-to-play-good-golf-ian-bakerfinch-943976.html

If you are new to the game of golf you should be looking for a driver with the largest clubhead possible because this increases a novice golfer’s chance of hitting the sweet spot immeasurably.

Cobra introduced the LV5 drivers into their range this year and the suitably named King Cobra driver offers a golfer the largest clubhead (460 cc) that is permissible under the golfing rules, laid down by the R&A (Royal and Ancient). This offers the novice golfer a larger target, but, at the same time, is more forgiving of the slightly off-centre shot and makes powerful drives, in the right direction, much more achievable.

How well a driver works for a particular golfer, depends as much on the swing speed as on the size of the clubhead, and with greater flex required for a lower swing speed. Cobra has made it easier for a golfer to match his swing speed to driver flex by telling you, exactly, which driver is most appropriate:

With the L5V:

If a golfers swing speed is   104+ mph, his average drive travels 265 +yards and his ball speed is 150+mph, that golfer should aim for a X speed driver.

If his swing speed is lower, between 87-108 mph, his ball speed is 125-155 mph and his drive distance is, on average, 220-275 yards, then his ideal driver would be the F speed.

However if the swing speed is even lower, 76-97 mph (miles per hour), and the drive travels 210-250 yards and the ball speed averages 110-150 miles per hour, then Cobra recommend that the M speed driver is chosen.

Getting the correct golf clubs for the job at hand, is the first steps that a novice golfer must take in order to master the game and improve and Cobra drivers help golfers match their swing speed to the perfect driver and assist golfers get as much out of the game as possible.

Cobra drivers are available from Golfbuyitonline, where you can find a whole range of drivers with just the right amount of venom to help golfers strike out at their opponents and win.

http://www.golfbuyitonline.co.uk/articles/cobra/article-cobra-golf-drivers.html

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/cobra-golf-drivers-941811.html

Long haul, short haul or weekend away? If a golfer is planning a golfing trip or holiday, then other than the all important golf clubs, what will he take with him? Unless he has plans to visit a naturist golf course on tour, then a golfer would be lost without his golf luggage.

Wouldn’t it be ideal to leave for a two week golfing break with nothing but a stand bag full of golf clubs, balls, umbrella (oh, you are golfing in Britain, then), but in reality a two week break or, even a weekend golfing trip requires much more than just the essentials*. You would want to change your golf clothes, at least.

Now golf luggage covers a fairly wide range of items, from a travel cover for a golf stand bag ( to ensure the protection of the all important clubs) to a valuables caddie that will keep your watches, rings and other small valuables safe, to ball bags, duffel bags, right up to wheeled bags that will store enough golf clothes to last a full fortnight and still have room for other items, like socks, pants and, perhaps, swimming shorts ( you may fancy a swim before a round or after).

With major golfing tournaments taking place throughout the world year round, the top brands in golf have come to appreciate a thing or two when it comes to golfers travelling with everything thought of from shoe bags, to a compact version of a tour bag. If you have a meeting, but, would like to stay overnight and getting in a quick round before heading home, then a briefcase that can double as an overnight bag would be a nifty piece of luggage for a golfer to own.

The major brand names in golf manufacture boast a range of golf luggage for seasoned golf travels, which can be found at Golfbuyitonline.

http://www.golfbuyitonline.com/articles/golfbags/article-golf-luggage.html

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/golf-luggage-941833.html

How many hours must a golfer put in on the course before he can become professional? Though there is no right answer there is certainly opposing arguments on the issue. Some golfers are true believers that you must have some sort of “natural talent” to have any chance of becoming an “expert”. If becoming an expert means joining the PGA Tour than it is believed that a very minute percentage of us will actually make it, no matter many hours it is. This side of the issue believes that while most PGA pros have spent the better part of their lives playing golf, they still possess an underlying talent that separates them from the rest of the pack.

For every guy on tour there are probably 50 guys that did the same thing growing up but did not have the talent to take it to the next level. It comes down to the fact that talent by itself can be wasted without practice, work ethic, and desire, but at the same time desire, practice, and work ethic are all pretty useless without some natural talent. While most professional athletes do have a very good work ethic, it’s their natural talent that got them to the point where they are at the top of their game. The variables are obvious and definitely plentiful in this case scenario, but we know that every person is different. Some people take longer to learn whereas others pick up on it right away. So how can we ever truly know what it takes to become a professional golfer?

The opposing views of the “natural talent” argument states; it is just an excuse for those that lack drive, motivation, mental fortitude, dedication and the ability to sacrifice. All of these things can be learned and for many professional athletes are learned at an early age so it appears to be “natural ability.” No one can hit a fast ball out of the womb or drive a ball 300 yards just because they exist. Playing golf your whole life and logging 10k hours practicing, experimenting and learning without distraction are completely different. Especially for those who played their entire life considering it a recreational activity or just doing what they think should be done by never bothering to learn or experiment. If you read any story about a top performer or even a pro that sits on the bench, they have spent the majority of their life honing their skill because it brought them great pleasure to compete or play.

Many have also said it came at the expense of a “normal” childhood. But that is sacrifice for you have to make. The people who call themselves optimist can’t help but boast with the feeling that in sports anyone or almost anyone can become pro, if they have proper training. It is obvious that if you started golfing at 4 years old, and kept on practicing, by the time you’re 15 years old you will have more experience than another 15 year old that just started. So after all is said and done the controversy prevails as it will for a long time to come. The one thing both sides are most consistent in agreement with is that golf is a game that cannot be mastered. Perhaps by agreeing that even Tiger Woods will never master the game, most golfers can continue to love and cherish the many great names that have made the sport what it is today.

Salem Hassan is a business marketing director for BreezeGoSEO.com, an Internet Marketing Agency. Salem writes on a wide spectrum of topics related to family, business, consumer best interests, marketing, and other related topics.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/the-end-of-the-personalized-stationery-industry-941871.html