Golfing is a great sport because it can be played by people of all ages and gets you outdoors for exercise and social interaction with friends and business colleagues. But it can also be a frustrating game because of the difficulty of hitting that little white ball with any degree of consistency.

One of the most frustrating problems most golfers face is the tendency to “slice” the ball. Usually the slice develops after the beginning golfer has started to hit the ball reasonably well and a fairly good distance. That’s when the dreaded slice rears its ugly head.

Slicing happens when a right handed golfer hits the ball so it has a horrible curve to the right, or a left handed golfer hits it so it curves to the left. As any reasonably knowledgeable golfer will tell you, the slice is the result of “coming across” the ball with an “outside in” swing. As the club sweeps across the ball, the club strikes the ball in a slightly “open” position. This action puts sidespin on the ball and as it moves through the air it curves to the right (or left for a lefty).

Exactly the same thing happens in baseball when a right handed batter hits the ball down the right field line or a left handed batter hits it down the left field line. The ball curves away from the field towards the foul line. This slicing action also happens in other sports where a bat or racquet is used to strike a ball – sports such as tennis, ping pong, racquet ball, and cricket. And even in sports where simply throwing the “ball” with clockwise sidespin makes it curve to the right – think of bowling, lawn bowling and curling for example.

In many sports curving the ball like this is an important part of the game. Ping pong and tennis players, for instance, want the ball to curve as it approaches their opponent and then bounce off the paddle or racquet at an odd angle making it more difficult for the opponent to control the return.

But in golf a slice is almost always a negative thing the golfer wants to get rid of. That’s because a slicing shot doesn’t go as far because of the energy lost by the spinning, curving ball. The result is even worse in windy conditions where the increased wind resistance exaggerates the effects of sidespin. A slicing ball hit into a stiff breeze will often “balloon” up into the wind and almost appear to be coming back towards the golfer.

In spite of all the magical cures touted in magazine articles and golf videos, the only way to cure a slice is to learn to hit the ball correctly – with a square club face that is moving on a natural arc from slightly inside the line of flight.

It takes most golfers years and thousands of practice shots to learn how to do this. That’s because there is such a natural tendency to begin the swing by throwing the shoulders out at the ball. That gets the clubhead out there on the wrong side of the target line of flight – on the “outside” – and the only way to actually hit the ball from that position is to bring the clubhead back inside at an angle to the intended line of flight. That’s what is meant by “coming across” the ball.

Most beginning golfers have a difficult time understanding and visualizing this process. They think they are swinging on a perfectly square line straight through the ball and down the intended line of flight. But an experienced golfer who has already learned all about slices from his own struggles with the game can usually tell an inside out swing from 50 or 100 yards away without even watching the clubhead at all. There are certain moves that are so typical of a slice that they can be picked up almost immediately by an experienced observer.

That is why a golf simulator can be such a valuable tool in the struggle to overcome a slice. You may have noticed commercial locations that offer virtual rounds of golf, or facilities in some of the larger golf equipment chains that have an area that allows the buyer to try out golf clubs before making an expensive purchase.

Most golfers go to an indoor driving range or a virtual golf location and just bang away at the simulator as if they were out on the range pounding out drivers. But the fact is, a really good golf simulator can do much more than just tell you how far you have hit the ball. It can be a great tool to show you the exact shape of your swing and tell you exactly why you are slicing or hooking the ball.

Equipped with sensors, cameras, and a big-screen display, the golf simulator translates the details of a golf swing to ball motion on the display. Once the data on your particular swing is collected, you can view the results on a display. You can see an accurate representation of your swing, the actual flight path of your ball, your club face angle at impact, and exactly where and when the ball begins to turn, given all the variables that went into a particular swing. Most of the better units allow you to hit an untethered ball, and virtually play golf courses from all over the world

If you are serious about curing your slice, there is no doubt that taking a analytical, objective look at your actual swing is the place to start. And there is no more effective way to get that kind of swing analysis than with a golf simulator.

There are now even high quality units that you can set up right in your home. Rather than spending hundreds of dollars at an indoor driving range or virtual golf facility for an hour or two of practice every week, you can have your own quality golf simulator right in your rec room, basement or garage.

A good home system will let you work on your game for hours and hours till you groove the correct swing path. It will give you all the analytical tools you need to improve your swing. The better units will tell you your clubhead speed, your clubface angle at impact, your clubhead’s angle of approach to the ball, and how far the ball would have gone out on a real golf course.

Of course the technology cannot simulate the foul weather, wild winds, and rugged terrain that come into play on a real golf course. But perhaps these are factors that you can do without when you simply want to concentrate on grooving a new more effective swing.

The proponents of this exciting new technology claim that for a committed student of the game, such a device can correct errors in swing mechanics better than traditional techniques or even lessons from a professional teacher.

By: Rick Hendershot

About the Author:

One of the mainly sought after golf swing secrets is the Ben Hogan golf swing. Golfers constantly try to imitate what pro golfers are doing to fix up their golf swing. They are constantly on the sentry for clan destines scams and tips from these populace so that they will be capable to pertain this when they get their turn on the course.

Ben Hogan is recognized for his brilliant swing and professionals have been demanding to learn what makes his swing so good. Even though Hogan has responded the question on the top secret to his swing on a lot of diverse junctures, golfers are still is unsuccessful to make out the efficient swing of Ben Hogan.

The cause why Hogan swings with flexibility with only slight movement required is because he was forced to do so. Because of a misfortune, he is not capable to use his body like most golfers to make the essential swing. Thus, he altered his swing to suit his situation and planned a way to make an influential swing in spite of his restraint.

A ben hogan golf swing engages three elements – a compact back swing; loaded top of swing position, and a downswing with a huge amount of lag. Fruitfully performing this swing requires getting the appropriate spot during the downswing.

Do you want to discover the secret to creating more power and consistency in your golf swing… AND eliminating ALL your swing faults?

Download this: http://www.performbettergolf.com/ebook

By: Mike T Pedersen

About the Author:

Golf requires a great deal of skill, mental discipline and patience to be good at it. You need to have good hand-eye coordination, stability, athletic function and be a creative thinker. You can search for all the best golf tips and endure endless numbers of golf lessons but you still can’t seem to create any consistency.

There are a lot of people today who play golf just for recreation and have fun. But more and more serious players are attempting to gain a better swing and improve their game. The issue with golf is that it is a very difficult game to conquer and you most likely do not have much time to play or practice. The pros who play golf for a living and receive the top rated golf instruction still struggle and they work at it every day!

If you are like the majority of average golfers, you want to play better and not hack around. When a round of golf is played poorly, it is not much fun. What does this mean?

Does this describes YOU?

You play golf 3-5 times/month and have never broken 90 or 80

You don’t know how to shape the ball (fade, draw, general trajectory)

You have too many three putts per round

You hardly ever hit greens in regulation

You have trouble getting up and down when you miss a green

A birdie is a rare occurence

You hit and hope the ball will go where you wanted it to

Or maybe, you are a more experienced golfer and usually score in the low or mid 80′s often but that’s it

If you can relate with any of these conditions of a poor golfer, it’s about time you did something about it. Nobody should have to play poor or frustrating golf.

YOU shouldn’t settle for poor golf because:

Habits that cause poor golf only get worse if you don’t do something to change them and good habits will help.

You could be wasting money on rounds of golf because they turn out to be just an expensive practice round!

Golf really doesn’t need to be so confusing and frustrating. If you find an easy way to break 80 you would have fewer gray hairs, stress and frustration.

Golf can be so much more fun if you can shoot in the 70′s than it is in the 80′s, 90′s and 100′s.

It really makes no difference whether you want to shoot par or break 100. The methods, approach and instruction in this learning center will allow you to achieve a lower handicap sooner rather than later. If you can find confidence in your game and swing and achieve consistency, it will be more than just another sport. It will be an achievement of a goal. Information from NGT Research states that, there are over 60,000,000 golfers in the today and more than 50% of them will never break 100 and only 33% will break 90. BUT listen to this- only 5 % will break 80. That’s 3 million golfers out of 60 million.

Do you want to be part of that 5% or the 33% shooting under 90, if you do then you need some help and this article is here to direct you to a place where you will find the help you need to play better golf.

By: Ricky Gee

About the Author:

Putting new grips on your golf clubs can be a inexpensive and effective solution to quickly give you more consistency in your game.

Most amateur golfers never change the grips on their clubs. They play for years with a set of clubs without ever changing the grips!

Whereas, some professionals have been known to re-grip their clubs at the end of every competitive round. They do this so their clubs feel exactly the same. Chances are that they don’t need them re-gripping that often, but in today’s tour competitions there is so much money at stake that they do not want to leave anything to chance.

How often should you re-grip your clubs?

A good general rule is:

if you play once a week, then you should change the grips on your clubs once a year. Play twice a week, change twice a year etc.

Of course, if you do a lot of practice on the range you should consider changing your grips even more frequently. You could easily hit 30 shots with your driver in a range session. In a round of golf you may not use your driver more than 10 times. So one range session a week hitting 30 drives, would equate to 3 rounds a week, implying re-gripping 3 times a year.

You will also find you have certain clubs that are used far more often than others, especially if you only play your home course the majority of the time. This is because you play the course in a certain way – same clubs for same shots, mostly governed by the length of the course. So after some months the grips on certain clubs become more worn than others.

What happens when a grip is worn?

Grips are fundamentally just pieces of rubber to enable us to hold the golf club securely. The grips have various type of a textured surface to provide more grip security and feel. As a grip is used over and over the surface rubber begins to wear. The natural oils in our hands also start to affect the grips. You will notice this as it will start to look shiny.

If you look at old used set of golf clubs that have never been re-gripped you will see that the grips are often very shiny.

Shiny grips are a problem. You have to grip the club harder when the grip is shiny so that it does not slip and turn in your hands as you take a swing. You may not even be aware you are doing it! The problem with gripping the club too hard is that it adversely affects the way you strike the ball. Your hands are simply not relaxed, and therefore, because the muscles in your hands and forearms are tense, they will slow down. In the golf swing, relaxed hands are fast hands. You need fast hands to get good distance.

It is worth checking your golf clubs at least once a month. Compare grips across the entire set. If any are beginning to wear, consider getting them renewed.

New grips feel good. They can almost feel “sticky” by comparison to the old worn grips. This can give you real sense of confidence.

Confidence builds success.

By: Mark Pearson

About the Author:

If only learning golf could somehow be different than all the other disciplined things in life, a strict adherence to the fundamentals or basics will save you a lifetime of frustration through trial and error. In this article I will give you two golf beginner free tips:

First Golf Beginner Free Tips – Posture

Correct posture is the cornerstone of the swing. Without the right posture, you will find it almost impossible to create any consistency to your set-up. By studying and practicing your set-up, you will find that your body will naturally begin to engage the right set of muscles in the front of the legs and the lower back, and your chest will be tall. This is a very athletic position in which a golfer can move easily.

There are also two kinds of posture, static and dynamic. Static posture is your posture at address, before the swing. Dynamic posture is your posture during the swing. Most amateur golfers start with poor static posture, making it difficult to swing the club properly or to move correctly. If you start with poor posture, you are probably not in balance and are likely to move around a great deal during the swing. Too much head movement is usually the result of poor posture at address. The old comment, You lifted your head, is one we hear all the time. But it is better to think about good posture than simply keeping your head still. Beginning with good static posture gives you a greater chance of having good dynamic posture.

Second Golf Beginner Free Tips – Grip

A correct golf grip is important because it is your only connection to the club. The grip is consistently misunderstood simply because most golfers do not understand the role that the hands should play in the golf swing. The hands should remain quiet throughout the swing and especially through the impact area. In order for the hands to do this, they must be positioned properly on the club, most amateur players feel as though they do not have any control and it is likely why so many of them try to grip it more in their palms or in the middle of their hands.

Most players would be much better off using a 10-finger or so-called baseball grip. This is simply much easier to learn and to repeat properly. One of the oldest teaching aids instructors have used in order to teach the feeling of a correct golf grip is to have a student grip a yardstick. By gripping a yardstick, students automatically place the club into the fingers properly instead of into the palms.

By: Clive Chung

About the Author:

The Simple Golf Swing is published by golf expert David Nevogt. The guide has been designed to help anyone with an 18 handicap or bigger. It will even improve the scores of more experienced golfers.

This excellent guide will help you learn a revolutionary new grip, setup, and alignment technique in a simple format with clear pictures and illustrations to show you how to do it.

The Simple Golf Swing uses the golfers’ spine as the focal point of the swing. As your shoulders rotate on the backswing, the spine operates as an axis. The back-swing is shorter than most swings taught so it takes a few practice shots to get used to, but following this excellent system will make your drives straighter and longer but with very little lost power. Following the rules in this guide will improve your shot consistency and drop your score.

This system – because it really is more than just a simple book – guarantees to lengthen your range and reduce your strokes by up to 10 in just two weeks. While this may sound incredible, it’s actually easily done when you consider how many penalty strokes are earned in an average round, how many yards are lost in a typical drive and how many times balls end up in the rough! This step-by-step course helps take the guessing out of your swing.

Simply put, this system works. If you’re a beginner or bogey golfer you’ll find this invaluable to help you improve your score now, not in ten or twenty years! More experienced players will also find tips to improve your game. Not sure if it’s right for you? Don’t worry as it’s covered by a no-questions-asked money back guarantee!

Here are some of the things the Simple Golf Swing program contains:

- The secrets to a winning swing plane
- How to gain more confidence on the course
- How to manage your emotions
- Simple tricks to change your hand action and add measurable distance to your shots
- Different grip styles and which work best
- Clubface alignment that will give you confidence on every tee.
- Simple techniques to hit more greens and get closer to the hole

You can have all of the greatest equipment, wear the best clothes and it won’t help you one bit until you can consistently hit the ball long and straight. The Simple Golf Swing will teach these fundamentals in no time.

A golf pro will easily charge $80 per hour. You can pick up this system for a fraction of this price as a one-off expense. Also included is a lifetime of free updates as they become available! You’ll also get 8 great bonuses.

By: Mike A Murray

About the Author:

Before you can play golf you need to condition your body first. A good golf game is the effect of multiple interrelated factors, like strength, stamina, and flexibility, which is why you need a golf exercise routine to keep your body in good shape.

Stretching before a golf game is extremely important. The benefits of gold stretching can never be downplayed, although most golfers think twice before doing a few stretching exercises before getting a game started. After all, golf doesn’t seem to be much of an endurance sport and there’s little cause for injury when you play such a leisurely sport as golf. However, a good stretching routine can enhance a golfer’s swing resulting to longer and fewer shots, fewer injuries and a greater consistency.

The reason why stretching is so important is this: your basic golfing motions are radically different from the everyday motions that your muscles are used to. By making your muscles more limber you reduce the tension on your muscles as you make each swing, reducing the chance that you’ll wake up with a body full of aches and pains after a whole day of hitting the balls. Stretching before a game is also important if you are prone to lower back pain. A few stretching exercises, or even doing mild variations of yoga poses, can effectively reduce lower back pain that will often come after a game.

To easily incorporate a good stretching regimen into your total work-out you can go for golf stretching tips that come in DVDs. Golf stretching DVDs created by golf pros to help you improve your flexibility can be helpful especially if you make a habit of doing them regularly. Golf stretching DVDs are also convenient if you want to keep improving your game but have little time to condition your body in the gym. If you are a busy executive who wants every opportunity to exercise your swing, you can do so in the comfort of your own home or office during your lunch break by watching a golf stretching DVD.

But you can’t just spot any golf stretching DVD and grab it without a second thought. A good exercise program, whether on a golfing DVD or not, should have a proper mix of strength, endurance, and flexibility exercises to develop power, accuracy and overall consistency, since these are all components of a good swing. Stretching exercises can do more good than harm if not properly performed, so you need to make sure that your muscles can withstand the tension that stretching exercises can give.

So when looking for a good golf stretching DVD, a combination golf DVD, one that incorporates both strength and flexibility exercises, is your best bet. Look for a golf stretching DVD that covers all the basics, from how to do safe stretching exercises to exercises for each muscle group or body part.

And do not forget the strength aspect. Regularly stretching your muscles without a good strength training exercise can lead to muscle strain, so keep your muscles strong and limber by doing a complete mix of strength and flexibility exercises.

By: Mike Pedersen

About the Author:

All golfers want to know how to correct a golf slice.

There’s nothing more frustrating as a golfer than to be playing well, only to see your next shot go further to the right than it goes straight. It makes you want to snap your golf club in two.

Or at least, wrap it around a tree. Even Tiger gets that feeling (although I’m guessing his mis hits aren’t nearly as bad as our slices).

When fixing a golf slice, you have to figure out what the heck you’re doing wrong first.

1) Is your stance out of wack?

Your feet should be about shoulder width apart.

Your right foot should face straight ahead and your left foot should face slightly to the left of straight ahead (if you’re golfing lefty, reverse this).

Your shoulders should be squared.

2) Is your grip too weak?

A weak grip can be a major cause of a nasty gofl slice. When correcting a golf slice, you definitely need to check your grip.

If you have a weak grip, try a more neutral grip. Face your left hand toward the target and your right hand away from it.

3) Is your swing the problem? A big cause of slicing the ball is coming across the ball at contact from outside to inside.

This puts a nasty slicing spin on the ball and will send it way off to the right. A closed club face coming across the ball, outside to inside, is a nasty recipe for a golf slice.

Be sure that your golf swing is inside to outside at contact.

If you can implement these three simple tips on how to correct a slice into your golf game, you will start to see an improvement in your shots.

You’ll have more consistency and see fewer shots veer to the right and on to the adjacent hole instead of the one your playing.

By: Tim Hathaway

About the Author:

One of the hardest things for golf beginners to realize is the amount of finesse that it takes in order to put the ball into the hole, no matter what kind of shot they are attempting to take. But, on the other hand, don’t get blinded by too much science, while you’re still a beginner.

Beginners often find it highly useful to learn the basic golf swing mechanics that are in fact responsible for the success or the failure of both long and short shots. Beginners should learn the basics of grip, stance and posture, then build from a small swing to a full swing in easy stages. But, a beginner needs to realize that even on a good day he/she may spend 15 to 20 strokes chipping up to the green. There are a number of golf tips for beginners, but the best way to learn is simply to get out on the course and play.

Taking The Ambiguity Out Of Golf’s Fundamentals

If you are just starting out in golf yourself, the best advice is to understand that it’s going to take a long time just to get the basics down. You will have your ups and your downs. Learning new techniques while working within your individual style will come in lots of spurts and lots of periods of retreat.

A new technique that you are trying to learn may seem impossible one day, then, through practice and repetition, it will simply come naturally another day in the future.

Stick To The Basics

Stick to the basics is the best approach (a universal strategy that works in every aspect of daily living). As you work your way through golf’s plateaus, peaks, and valleys, the most important thing to remember is to stick to the fundamentals.

Strive to improve each and every time you play the game. Learn that tenacity and continuity are just as important as making contact with the ball. The ultimate reward for your positive attitude and consistency in playing on the course will be a strongly improved game, and co-incidentally, the development of a lifelong golf passion.

Become “Friends” With Your Clubs

When you begin learning the fundamentals of golf, another golden nugget of advice that I learned along the way is to stick with the same golf clubs for at least 1 to 2 years. You will be sorely tempted to make much more frequent updates to your equipment. But, when you are experiencing the early stages of golf, the equipment you use should rarely be changed. In this way, you can experience as much stability as possible.

Trusting the same clubs during your initial year or two of golf will also help minimize variables that can affect your game in a negative way. For example, by sticking with the same driver during this time frame, you will learn to identify what factors are making a positive contribution to your tee shots. Changing clubs too often, especially during this learning period, will add confusion in knowing whether your technique has improved.

Conclusion

Golf beginners who are truly committed will eat, drink and sleep golf. Such beginners will have an early on understanding that it will be extremely frustrating in the beginning. That is because the amount that must be learned is truly overwhelm.

By: Verlyn Ross

About the Author:

Like many of golf’s great players, Sam Snead relied on swing keys to help him achieve consistency. As his membership in golf’s hall of fame attests, these swing keys served him well during his career. What’s interesting is that many of them are still used by today’s pros to do the same thing.

Below are several time-tested swing keys that can help you achieve consistency and knock that golf handicap down a few notches.

1. Relax Your Hands

Your hands are one of the keys to your swing. If your hands are tight and tense, your body will be tight and tense, and you won’t be able to swing freely. If your hands are loose, you’ll not only hit the ball farther but you’ll even swing smoother as well.

Snead used to think of gripping the club with the same amount of pressure you’d use to hold a bird just firm enough to let it fly away but not firm enough to hurt it. Others think of holding a tube of toothpaste in their hands, just firm enough to squeeze a little toothpaste out of the tube but not hard enough to push out too much.

2. First Move Down

Different golfers key on different things to begin their swings. Some focus on pulling downward with the left arm (for right-handers). Others concentrate on turning the front hip in slightly. Still others key on lowering the left heel slightly. For Snead, it was all these things. Since you can think of all them at once while you swing, choose whichever move reminds you to make your first move down.

3. Hit The Dimple

A lot of my students ask during golf lessons what to look at when putting the ball. Apparently, a lot of people also asked Sam the same question when he was playing on the tour. He had a simple answer. Pick out a dimple on the ball and try to hit it.

The idea is to make the club strike the farthest back part of the ball every time. Zero in on that particular dimple, then putt away. If you hit that dimple squarely your putter is probably moving and facing in the right direction. You’ll get solid contact unless you’re chopping at the ball or swing up to it. Aiming for the dimple will improve consistency.

4. Cure The Slice

The slice is probably the biggest swing fault among recreational golfers. To cure a slice, check to see that:

The club starts back inside the line

Your left side is completing the turn

The left arm/hand dominate the backswing/downswing

The stance is not the same for the intentional slice, hindering a complete pivot.

For a quick cure, try hitting the ball to the right of the fairway. This approach aids in bringing the club into the ball more from the inside than the outside.

5. Lobbing to the Green

Snead always relished a challenge. And trying to hit a lob shot over a hazard to the green is a challenge. Snead’s advice when pitching over a hazard with little green between him and the hole was simple: You want the shot to fly high and land soft-one that will settle in its tracks. To execute this shot, you first need to address the ball with the clubface laid back more than usual, increasing the loft.

Once you’ve done that, take the club straight back and break your wrists early in the swing. Strike down through the ball with the hands leading through the clubhead, and with the wrists snapping into the ball. This produces a high lob that lands softly. The whole swing should be leisurely and rhythmical.

6. Swing in “Waltz” Time

Everyone has his or her own pace. Some golfers play at a fast pace. Others play at a more leisurely pace. If you had seen Sam play, you would have noticed that he always swung the club slowly and smoothly. He called it swinging in waltz time and that was his swing key for keeping his swing under control.

Sam liked to tell the story of the time he gave a lesson to player who played like he was going to a fire. He couldn’t get at the ball quick enough in an effort to try and hit the ball 400 yards. The divots were flying father than the balls. Afraid the guy might hurt himself, Sam stepped in and told the guy to slow his swing down. Next time Sam saw the man, he was amazed. The man had slowed his swing down to waltz time.

Sam Snead was one of the games best players and teachers. Like many golfers he used specific keys to trigger his golf swing and achieve consistency. The six we explained above were just a sample. By incorporating them into your swing, you’ll be well on your way to reaching that single-digit golf handicap you’ve always wanted.

Copyright (c) 2006 Jack Moorehouse

By: Jack Moorehouse

About the Author: