Learning to play golf is sometimes a rather difficult process.  However if you live somewhere where it gets rather cold you could be looking at some huge problems in terms of practicing golf when the weather turns icy cold.  However, if you work on building a game plan before the weather gets icy cold you could still be able to practice your golf skills no matter what time of year it is. 

This would allow you to continuously work on improving your golf game year around, rather than only when the weather is warm outside.  Your other alternative would be either moving or vacationing in an area each winter that is not only warm, but has several great golf courses as well.

Of course, the idea of playing golf may be quite motivational, yet at times the course can be much too cold to play in the winter.  This combined with the potential for icy dew on the grass, and frozen water hazards can make playing in the winter virtually impossible. 

 If you have a strong desire to continue playing your best option will be looking for an indoor golf course where you can play, or even an indoor driving range so you can continue to practice your swing during the cold months. 

If you do not have the luxury of a driving range if you reserve some space in your home free of any hazards you could continue practicing your swing, even without the ball.

While this may not seem like as much fun, you should still try to practice your swing no matter how cold the weather is.  Otherwise, your first few games when it warms up is likely to be poorly played. 

End pt1

The golf club market is a mysterious phenomenon. Each year, new models of clubs come out that every golfer in the world “must have”. They are still just sticks with chunks of the same material attached to the end, but golfers always feel the need to upgrade and find higher quality sticks. However, if you avoid falling into this mindset you will find that you are much happier (and probably a bit richer).

When you decide that you want your ownset of clubs, it is best to step back and take a look at your situation in a way that will let you determine what you really need to be spending your money on. Consider some of the following things, and decide for yourself whether you want to spend money on the more expensive clubs or if you’d rather just get some older, more reliable, and cheaper clubs.

First, consider how serious you are about golfing. Are you looking to become a professional golfer, or do you just go out on the weekend with your buddies? If you are still a beginner, then there is almost no reason in the world for you to spend money on deluxe golf clubs, even if you someday plan to be a pro.

By buying the high-end golf clubs and skipping beyond your own abilities, you are cheating yourself out of the valuable learning that the other clubs can offer you. So keep within your ability range (if you have lower ability, you will be happy to find that you will have to pay a lower price for your clubs), and if you find that you are still seriously progressing, you may upgrade in the future.

Next you will want to think about how often you golf. If you golf every day, then you will find that it is worth it to pay extra for golf clubs that have a higher durability and lifespan. However, some of the high-end graphite clubs are known for everything but their durability, so you don’t want to mistake costliness for quality.

If you stick with a good old set of steel clubs, you are not likely to have to replace them anytime soon. Steel clubs are also stiffer, so if you have a faster swing then you would probably want to go with them anyways. No matter what you choose, you will want to take it out and take a few swings with it before you commit to buying it.

So if the more expensive golf clubs aren’t all that great, why do people spend such obscene amounts of money on them? The truth is that if you have the skill level required to handle some of the more expensive clubs, it could pay off. They are designed to be very unforgiving and unfriendly to amateurs, instead rewarding the skill and accuracy that comes with years of practice.

So if you are a beginner golfer who is buying an expensive new set of golf clubs, you are most likely shooting yourself in the foot. Stick with cheaper, more forgiving clubs, no matter what the most popular golfing magazines tell you. If you don’t believe that the more expensive clubs will hinder your game, borrow one and try it for a few shots. See how it affects your game.

Rather than taking any advice you read in golf magazines, on the internet, or even here, you would do best to go out and talk to some of your golfing buddies. See what they recommend, and have them study your strokes to see if they have any suggestions based on your unique playing style. Go to the club stores and try out as many clubs as you can before deciding on one.

This will ensure the best results, since you will have personal experience with every golf club that you will be choosing from. This is much better than being completely clueless and choosing simply based on the statistics that you are given.

As you search around for used golf clubs to get started with, you should bring along a friend who knows a little more about golf clubs that you do. By enlisting the help of an expert golfer, you can use their knowledge on top of your own personal preferences. If you are stumped on a certain set of golf clubs and you aren’t sure whether they are worth the money or not, they will be able to help you make up your mind anyways.

 If you don’t know anyone who has such a high level of expertise, you can take your questions elsewhere. Find out the specifications of the golf clubs that you are looking at, and discuss them with the pros at the golf shops, or even with golfing communities on the internet. Make sure you get some sound advice from at least a few people before you make the purchase.

Beginners also frequently make the mistake of buying a full set of golf clubs. A full set consists of 14 clubs, and is usually absolutely, 100% unnecessary for someone who is just getting started. Instead, look for something called a half-set.

There are certain clubs in a full set that are more difficult for a beginner to control. This includes the driver most of all, so this is the first one to go when narrowing down the clubs to a half set. Narrowing down your club set to just the most necessary clubs will give you quite a few benefits. This way you have fewer clubs to choose from and to carry around the golf course as you play. 

Happy New Year……..

Let’s improve upon that handicap, shall we?

Learning how to improve your handicap can go a long way towards improving your overall golf game.  However, one of the first things that you need to remember is your handicap is not actually the score of a single game.  For example, if you play a single game of a 10 over par, then it is virtually impossible to determine your handicap. However, once you have played several games it is possible to start determining your handicap.

Another important note about handicaps is the average score that you have is still generally not your handicap.  For a good example, a player who typically has an average of 10 over par will usually have a handicap of a 7 to 9 range.  The exact score of the handicap will vary based upon the actual courses that are played and the ratings that accompany those courses.

Most professionals consider the absolute best way to lower a handicap to be the method of simply improving your putting as well as wedge skills.  If you are able to drive the ball appropriately but fall dramatically short on the putting then you are going to be looking at a very high handicap for the rest of your life.

Simply taking the time to focus heavily upon a good putting strategy can really help you shave a few points off of your handicap and improve your game.  Between an emphasis on the wedge or putting you should generally focus more on your putting since virtually all holes are going to need to be putted while not all will need a wedge shot.

Most players also typically tend to find that by improving their putting and wedge skills that their long drive skills tend to improve as well.  While this is not always possible, the general idea is that improving your shorter shots will gradually work to improve your long shots as well.  As long as you are using proper form for your short shots, you should start to see a dramatic improvement in your score, which will ultimate help to improve those long shots as well.  This can overall make a huge impact on your handicap since you can see a huge difference in your rating.

Another consideration that you should keep in mind is your confidence.  Have you ever noticed that someone who is not very confident tends to make more mistakes no matter what they are doing?  They may be an expert in their field, but without confidence, they usually make small mistakes just because they are nervous, if you discover that you are nervous on the field and are making these small mistakes you may need to work on boosting your own self-confidence before you can really improve your overall handicap.  Wanna increase your confidence quickly?  Just do like these fine folks below did – if you can overcome the elements and plow ahead  (pun intended) with your game, I’m pretty sure you can overcome any future possible lack of confidence issues……….  FORE !!

You should focus on what you are good at and improve your concentration and you are sure to improve your confidence.  While you know that you are going to make mistakes, you should always strive to accept it is a learning process.  This will allow you to slowly and carefully learn exactly what you can do to improve while still keeping a high confidence level.  This combined with the other tips outlined above – including our snow white example – will work together beautifully to allow you to streamline your golf handicap and improve your whole game.  These strategies can be used no matter how long you have been playing golf, even those players who have played for years can always use a bit of improvement, for sure.

Jake -