A golf outsider watches the game. How hard can it be to hit a stationary ball?. After all, major league baseball players hit balls traveling high speeds all the time. With that in mind, the outsider decides to take up the game of golf with the notion that the game is so relaxing because it requires little effort.

Think again.

Most of those people give up on the game before they really understand the dynamics of hitting that little ball. It makes sense that an iron club could pelt a little ball hundreds of yards, yet when the new golfer takes his first swing there is often little movement at all… sometimes no movement (or worse, backward movement).

There is a lot more to hitting that little ball than meets the eye.

Human nature is to use the iron to cup it under the ball to hit the ball up into the air. But look at the club. It is angled back, not at all designed to cup beneath the ball. So, when a golfer tries to scoop up the ball, he or she is really trapping it between the angled face of the club and the ground. That’s why often times, the ball doesn’t move – or worse, moves backwards just a little bit.

Instead of striving to hit up, it’s best to learn to hit downward. By hitting down, the angled club will do the work for you, not the upswing of your club. When you hit down, the angle will bump your golf ball forward. It’s that simple.

But putting power behind that little punt takes some practice. You’ll be tempted to swing big and hard.  It takes as much practice to resist that temptation as it does to learn to hit the ball! Once you have trained yourself against swinging upward, you will see your hitting start to improve.

Now you’ll begin to understand why there are various golf club options and choices you have to make when making a shot. You’ll need to pick your club based on the angle of the club face once you determine how far you want the ball to go and how you need it to perform.

If you’ve been practicing but still don’t feel like you’ve got the hang of it, ask for help. Your golf course should have an attendant on hand who could give you some pointers. Maybe you could take some private lessons.  The course pro shop should have suggestions for area teachers. Or, try the good, old buddy method. Ask another golfer you’ve seen play how he or she does it and if they have any tips for hitting the ball. You may think you sound silly, but when other golfers start to regale you with their tales of learning to hit the ball, almost everyone has had to address that challenge up front.

With those tips in mind and maybe even a few lessons behind you, go back to practicing. Just as it takes a while to train your mind to think about hitting downward instead of upward, it takes a while to train your body to actually do it the way you have in mind. Don’t give up and remember, the game is all about relaxing so don’t stress too much over hitting the ball.  

Jake -

How can it be, golf clubs usually cost quite a chunk of change - especially if you are buying some of the more high-end ones,  so it only figures if you spend a lot of money on a set of golf clubs, you will also want to buy one of the nicest carrying cases that you can to go along with it, right?  It is a great way to protect your investment in the long run as well as experience immediate benefits with your game.

Continue on to find out about the ways that great golf club bags can help any golfer. If you weren’t completely sold on the idea prior to this, you may find that a change of mind is in order. Just don’t rush too fast to the store to buy a golf bag!

Golfers always love to try out different courses, and traveling is the best way to do that. Golf vacations can be had in almost any part of the world, and if you are planning on going one ever then you will probably want to bring your clubs along with you.

When you bring a laptop on a trip, you are always careful to keep it safe from being crushed, sat on, stolen, or any of a number of other unpleasant things. If you buy a sturdy golf case that can hold its own against other luggage, your golf clubs will have a much higher chance of making it to your destination intact.

A proper golf club carrying bag can also improve your game at home by keeping all of your clubs organized. As you trek around the golf course setting your personal records, you will likely need to switch clubs many times throughout the course of the game.

Get all of your golf clubs into one bag that will not only protect them from any hazards that might arise, but will also keep them in a neat and organized fashion. You will quickly get used to the way they are laid out, and be able to switch one club out for another in a matter of seconds. The golf club bag will also protect your clubs in the unlikely event of some sort of crash.

Golf club bags are very helpful if you carry a lot of other gear around with you during your golfing expeditions. Most of them come with other pockets and sections besides the main one where the golf clubs go. You can use these for water bottles, extra golf balls, cues, first aid kits, or any other things that you wish to bring along with you to ensure for a happier and smoother game.

If you have something specific in mind that you would like to bring along, check out the bag beforehand to make sure that the item will fit. Look for golf bags that will fit your items, not items that will fit your golf bag.

As you can see, having a golf bag is much preferable to simply tossing all of your golf clubs somewhere where they could suffer all sorts of horrible fates.

Therefore if you do not already have a golf club bag, you should go out as soon as possible and begin searching for one. They are very cheap compared to the actual golf clubs that they will be housing, so there’s no reason not to get one – and you’ll be a much happier golfer.

Till’ next time,

Jake -

Anyone who has seen the movie “Tin Cup”, starring Kevin Costner, will understand the importance of the seven iron – the perfect golf club.

A golfer can literally shoot par on just about any course using nothing more than a seven iron and a putter. Granted, driving with a seven iron will not get the golfer drives of three hundred yards, but, then again, this club was not designed to hit the ball that far. But, depending on how strong the golfer is, a good shot with a seven iron can be anywhere from one hundred and seventy five yards to two hundred and twenty five yards, and those are not distances to sneeze at.

Following the drive with the seven iron, the golfer would then make his or her approach shot. Depending on the length of the hole, the golfer will either want a full swing, or to cut their swing, thereby adjusting the distance the ball will travel. And, again depending on distance and weather conditions, the golfer may want to put the ball either in the front or back of their stance. This will give the ball more loft or keep it low, depending on which stance is taken.

As the golfer approaches the green, the seven iron can be used as a wedge to chip the ball onto the green. By closing the stance and hitting the ball in back of the stance, the golfer can flip the ball onto the green. Of course, the golfer will want to cut his or her swing or they will fly the green, which will result in a lost stroke, possibly a lost ball, and almost definitely them losing their temper.

Once the ball has been chipped onto the green, the seven iron’s usefulness is pretty much over, unless the golfer has incredible courage and wants to use the seven iron as a putter. This, too, was done in “Tin Cup”, but isn’t advisable for the average golfer.

On short, par 3 holes, the seven iron is again the perfect club to use. Once again, the golfer can tee the ball up and hit out of the back or front of his or her stance. Depending on the length of the hole, the ball could be teed higher for more loft and less distance. Granted, it does feel awkward to have both feet in front of the golf ball, but it also prevents the golfer from getting too much of a swing and flying the green. It will, however, allow the ball to be hit higher and with more control.

And, a well hit seven iron is a thing of beauty to watch. The ball takes off in a majestic arc, following a predetermined flight plan (if properly struck), flies beautifully through the air and lands gently on the turf, bringing the golfer one step closer to his or her goal – the cup.

A seven iron is also handy to have around the house, as it is long enough to allow a person to reach behind a couch, from one end or the other, and drag something out that is in the middle.

Jake -

Constant innovation in the golf industry has made for many interesting inventions and advancements.

Golfers have seen many benefits, including higher quality golf clubs and golf courses among many other things. In the past, golf has been seen as a slow and tiresome sport, requiring lots of work and trekking on the part of the golfer. Well, there have been many different golf accessories released in recent years that will make everything about golfing easier. Some of them have been widely publicized, while some have slipped between the cracks. Either way, read on to find out about accessories that can make your life easier.

How about the many brands of glasses that allow you to better see the golf ball that you have just hit?

They filter out most of the light that is emitted by non-golf ball objects, leaving the golf ball outlined perfectly against the grass. If you lose your ball a lot or have trouble keeping track of balls once you hit them, these glasses can be a great investment for you so that you can continue using the same ball rather than start with a new one. They are available in some golf club stores, but most of all they are available in a number of online stores.

There are many handy devices that are meant to help you practice various parts of your stroke. Perhaps the most popular ones are the ones dealing with the putt, which is one of the toughest and most important parts of the entire golfing process. The many golf accessories related to putting are too numerous to name, but some of the most popular include an indoor putting green that provides you with balls and advice on your putt, a putter that holds numerous golf balls inside of its shaft to dispense when needed, and many other things.

You would think that tees are about as complex as they are every going to get, but this is not the case. New types of material have made it possible for tees to have new upper portions that act as brush-like surfaces.

When the golfer strikes the ball, the club will brush right past the top of the tee without smashing it or ripping it out of the ground. It’s almost like having the ball suspended in midair to hit with the club. If you want these, you will probably have to look online and buy a few dozen of them, since they are not carried at many club stores yet.

Computer scorekeepers will definitely make your life easier by keeping track of everyone’s scores and doing all of the calculations for you. They come in the form of small miniature computers, no bigger than the size of a GameBoy.

The number of supported players varies from device to device, but you shouldn’t have much of a problem finding one that supports the number of people that you need. There are even wristwatches with handicapping programs built into them. How is that for convenient?

Even the recycling of golf balls is more convenient now, with golf ball cleaners that you can purchase.

All you have to do is pick up a bunch of old golf balls throughout the day, then drop them into the microwave sized cleaner. In just a few minutes, the balls will be as good as new. By recycling balls in this way, you can save a huge amount of money. The cleaners are usually also capable of cleaning off the heads of golf clubs, which is a great convenience for those who are tired of cleaning the grass stains off of their clubs.

As you can see, all of these inventions have made golf much easier, and can speed up processes that would have been mundane previously. As technology continues to progress, hopefully we continue to see more golf accessories that are equally groundbreaking.

As Always,

Jake -

Finding discounted golf clubs is not very easy. Golf equipment is always very expensive and can sometimes be absolutely ridiculous. If you know where to look and how to scout out the best deals, however, buying equipment for golfing doesn’t always have to break the bank account. Read on to find out about how the best bargain shopper would go about choosing some new golf clubs for a bargain price.

Every golfer needs his own set of decent golf clubs, which are always readily available at retail and specialty stores. Whether you are looking to shop online or in a brick and mortar store, the same rules apply to finding a good deal. Everyone is advertising their price to be the best, and it can sometimes be difficult to know which one really is the bargain and which advertisement is simply claiming a sale when it is their normal price all along. The best way to learn the answer is to simply shop around and compare the rates of several different stores.

First and foremost, the newspaper is a great resource for finding people who want to unload clubs. They might have specific details, or it may be a vague yard sale ad with the mention of clubs tacked on. You will be able to find many different leads in the paper, and you should follow up on all of them in hopes of finding someone to buy clubs from.

You can also head out yard-saling on days that are popular for that kind of thing. Even if they don’t have any specific advertisements for them, you may find some nice clubs. The same goes for flea markets, where you are just as likely to find some very nice clubs as you are to find junk.

You will also want to look for golf clubs at clearance or closeout sales. This could either be at a local brick and mortar store or golf club store. As the primary golfing season draws near an end, retailers offer amazingly deep discounts on all of the sports equipment. The winter months aren’t really perfect golfing conditions, so plan your bargain shopping accordingly and you will be able to find the best deals. You may not be able to use the clubs until spring, but at least you will have them. As long as you are patient enough in finding a good deal, you can wait until next season to enjoy your cheap clubs.

You may not be able to find any deals in stores, but you should consider a quick visit to your nearest golf course. Enquire as to if they have any secondhand golf equipment for sale. In order to make equipment sales, golf courses have to keep the newest and most sought after clubs available for their customers. Therefore, they often have to unload their clubs with earlier model numbers, and this could mean huge cash savings for you if you ask at the right time (right before a new season of golf is about to start). Now you have bought your new clubs enjoy using them out on the golf course and watch your game improve.

Jake -