Monday, May 26, 2008

Are You Too Old For Golf Fitness Workouts

Many a senior golfer would not resist the temptation to skip golf fitness workouts, using their age as an excuse. And at first glance age would seem to be a genuine excuse to avoid golf fitness workouts.

After all golf fitness workouts, as most people seem to believe, are supposed to be very strenuous programs where even dumb bells are used.

So how do you tell that you are too old for golf fitness workouts?

The answer to that question is really simple. If you are too old to play golf then you are probably too old for golf fitness workouts.

I regularly work with 80 year old golfers who comfortably go through golf fitness workouts, dumb bells and all. It is also probably appropriate to add here at this juncture that I also regularly work with youngsters barely in their teens.

Both groups of persons are able to dramatically improve on their game with the help of golf fitness workouts.

Golf fitness workouts are not any more rigorous and punishing than the game of golf is. Remember that the work outs are golf specific, meaning that they are specifically designed to help strengthen and condition the very muscles used in golf.

It is definitely not a boxing or body building fitness workout. Workouts for those sports reflect the rigorous and physically demanding aspects of those sports. In the very same way that golf fitness workouts reflect the requirements of the game of golf.

The dumbbells are usually used for strength training because this is the most efficient equipment anywhere for building strength quickly hence their inclusion in the best golf fitness workout routines.

The idea is never to lift heavy weights over long periods of time. Rather the objective to condition and strengthen golf muscles using lighter weights lifted over very short periods of time.

If you are not too old or too young for golf, golf fitness workouts are for you.

Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness experts in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. Take a look at his just released golf fitness manual and dvds at http://www.performbettergolf.com

Mike Pedersen - http://www.performbettergolf.com

Monday, May 19, 2008

Are Golf Conditioning Routines Really Necessary

Many golfers around the world still do not understand why experts these days insist on golf conditioning routines when the game has been played for decades without the need for any sort of exercising.

Why now? Why this great emphasis on golf conditioning routines to the extent where virtually all professionals have a serious golf conditioning routine that they stick to religiously?

Strangely enough the same question is not asked about the general exercise craze that has swept society in the recent past. Nobody wants to ask why our grandmothers got by just fine without any aerobics.

The facts are that life has changed a great deal. And these days enough exercise is part and parcel of modern healthy living. Any doctor will tell you that you fail to get enough exercise for your body at great risk to your health and life. It doesn't matter what your grandfather did.

With golf it gets even more important because golfers require stamina to make their way around the golf course and still enjoy the sport. Golf conditioning routines are an important aspect towards achieving that goal.

Then there is the golf swing, which will happen only with muscles conditioned and strengthened to give the golfer the long drives they so desire. Golf conditioning routines go a long way in helping a golfer prepare golf specific muscles in their body for the game.

It helps greatly when your golf conditioning routine is from a golf exercise expert and not just any other person. Actually the wrong exercise routine can sometimes worsen your game rather than improve it.

It is a fact that golfers need to take care of their most important golf playing equipment, which is their bodies. They need to prepare it for the strains and stresses of this beautiful game and a very critical part of that is a good golf conditioning routine.

Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness experts in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. Take a look at his just released golf fitness manual and dvds at http://www.performbettergolf.com

Copyright Mike Pedersen - http://www.performbettergolf.com

A Golf Fitness Tip Must Focus On The Golf Swing

There is no way that you can separate a good golf fitness tip from a good well executed golf swing. The golf swing is the most strenuous aspect of the game and a good golf fitness tip is one that helps you improve on your golf swing.

The basics of a proper golf swing are universal. A proper golf swing actually consists of three separate segments that every golfer should work on in their efforts to develop and improve their golf swing. A good golf fitness tip must be able to help a golfer achieve this objective.

The three segments of a golf swing are the backswing, the downswing and finally the impact and follow-through.

A useful golf fitness tip should be able to help as you carefully work on each of the three segments separately in an effort to get the right positions and movements. This is how golfers work on improving their golf swings.

Every proper golf swing starts at the legs and the hips and not the arms where many golfers place most of their attention and emphasis. This is precisely the reason why proper exercising that is golf-specific usually has such a huge impact on most people in terms of dramatically improving their golf games. A good golf fitness tip can address any of the golf muscles involved in this particular part of the golf swing.

The golf fitness tip can also address golf conditioning. Golf conditioning exercises have the effect of preparing the individual muscles and parts of the body used in a golf swing, so that your movements and follow-through come almost effortlessly and as naturally as possible. Without exercise, the proper golf swing movements only work to strain unprepared, weak and therefore tense muscles.

Although golf has always been viewed as a leisure sport, the truth of the matter is that the modern golf player has to condition his body and muscles in many parts of his body, not just arms.

Golf fitness tips can play a major role in improving the golf swing.

About The Author: Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness experts in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. Take a look at his just released golf fitness manual and dvds at http://www.performbettergolf.com

Copyright Mike Pedersen - http://www.performbettergolf.com

A Golf Fitness Exercise Program Will End Your Frustration On The Course

Even as you read this article, golf fitness exercise programs continue to positively revolutionize the games of many golfers around the country and indeed around the world. A golf fitness exercise program plays a major role in helping many golfers achieve consistent and good results on the course with their swing.

Still many golfers are yet to fully appreciate the potential of a golf fitness exercise program and many are not aware of the fact that they usually have a huge impact on a golfer's game.

A golf fitness exercise program will tend to concentrate on the muscles and parts of the body used when playing golf and especially during the golf swing. A useful golf fitness exercise program will be able to help any golf attain more flexibility as well as strength on the course. It is important to remember that most of the body is used for a golf swing.

Right from the feet to the knees, hamstring and hip, the lower part of the body is critical to the golf swing. Then there are the more obvious participants in the body like the arms and upper body and neck.

A golf fitness exercise program does a significant job of ensuring that most of these muscles are ready for the strain that golf usually exerts on them.

Usually a golf fitness exercise program combines dynamic strength and flexibility exercises, as well as stabilization and core strength. Most of these exercises can be done with simple handweights (dumbbells) and exercise tubing.

No gym required!

Too many golfers go to the gym, plop down on a machine and hope their game will get better. It usually doesn't. You've always got to keep the golf swing mechanics in mind when doing a golf fitness exercise program.

About The Author: Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness experts in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. Take a look at his just released golf fitness manual and dvds at http://www.performbettergolf.com

Copyright Mike Pedersen - http://www.performbettergolf.com

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

What No Golf Bag Should Be Without

Whether you are a golf pro or a rookie trying your best to learn the tricks of the trade, golf can be a very difficult sport to learn. Without the right equipment, becoming an expert golfer may be nearly impossible. So before you hit the fairway, here are a few pieces of equipment you may want to ensure you have in your golf bag:

Drivers- Drivers are wood golf clubs (although they are called wood many now have metal heads) which are used to shoot the ball long distances. This club is usually used for the tee-shot since it is the furthest shot from the hole.

Wedges- Wedges are metal clubs used to lift the ball as opposed to shooting it far distances. These would be used for high shots onto the green, perhaps to get out of a bunker.

Putters- A putter is a golf club which is used for short distances and accuracy. Once you are on the green and fairly close to the hole, the putter is the best club in order to make the shot.

Tees- Every golfer needs tees in their bag. A tee is a small wedge which is inserted into the ground for the ball to sit on. The tee elevates the golf ball and makes it easier to hit. Tees are intended to be used on the first shot of a hole.

Golf Balls- A golf ball is a small, hard ball which is dimpled in order to reduce wind resistance. It is impossible to play a game of golf without a golf ball and to assume you will only need one for a whole game is slightly conceited. Even the best golf player in the world will lose their ball on the course at some point, so its important to make sure you have back-ups. Most golfers like to keep anywhere from 3 to 9 extra balls in their bag, just in case.

Golf Accessories- When it comes to your golf bag, golf accessories can mean anything from grips to sunglasses and water. A game of golf can take a while and on a hot day a bottle of water is essential in order to maintain hydration. Sunglasses are a key component for shots which require looking in the suns direction; without sunglasses these shots would be nearly impossible.

Your golf bag components are key factors which can potentially make or break your game. Without the right equipment, even the best golf player in the world would not be up to par. If you want to be the ultimate golf champion and you feel you have the drive to do it, grab your clubs and tee-off with these pieces of golf equipment which will bring you one step closer to becoming the king (or queen) of the fairway.

James Sampson is an avid golf enthusiast who has been golfing for 10+ years. While his career was in computers, his heart was in golf. Now retired, James spends his time on his favorite golf courses and also works as a contributing editor for http://www.golfballs101.com

Copyright James Sampson - http://www.golfballs101.com

Golf Swing Improvement The Fast Way

Golf swing improvement is a never ending goal for every golfer wanting to play better golf.

This is hardly surprising because the golf swing is such a critical area of the game and is indeed the core of the golf game. Without making any visible improvements on their golf swing, the chances of any individuals golf game improving are close to nil.

However many golfers have discovered that although learning the necessary technique is important, it often does not yield the desired effect and hardly brings any visible improvement in the golf swing.

Time and again it has been proven that golf exercises and especially golf-specific stretch exercises are really the fastest route to golf swing improvement. Experience has clearly shown that all the best techniques and tips are virtually useless when the body and muscles have not been conditioned to play their important role in the whole thing.

Golf swing improvement exercises usually include various stretch routines designed to impact on the muscles used during a golf swing. The program will also include weight training with the use of dumbbells to build strength in the muscles.

Many golfers fear golf exercises without really understanding what they are. They are in fact fairly easy to do. And what is more, your golf exercise routine can be stretched to include brief sessions in the office and home when you have a moment to spare.

This is no doubt a very attractive preposition to those busy executives who may feel that they will not have enough time to spend hours on end in the gym doing exercises. Actually golf swing improvement exercises do not at all require long hours in the gym.

The building of strength and flexibility through stretches in the body play a major part in golf swing improvement.

Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness experts in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. Take a look at his just released golf fitness dvds at http://www.performbettergolf.com

Copyright Mike Pedersen - http://www.performbettergolf.com

Golf Nutrition Is Not An Oxymoron

Mike Pedersen Golf nutrition is still a relatively new concept. However, everybody knows that leading athletes in the NBA and NFL quite often have special diets and specific nutrition programs to help them perform at their peak.

The reasons who golf nutrition is still in its infancy in the golf game is easy to see. To start with nutrition in sports goes hand in hand with the training and physical exercise program for the particular sport. In golf, exercises are still a very new concept although many professionals have already embraced it as an important part of their golf game.

For years golf has had the image of being a leisure sport to be played by the rich and the sort of people who do not just carelessly break into a sweat. Then came golfers of the likes of the legendary Tiger Woods.

For the first time in the sport, leading golfers were very young and extremely physically fit. Since then, the game has never been the same again and as exercise continues to take center stage golf nutrition has to grow alongside it.

Golf nutrition is usually part and parcel of a golf exercise program and is really designed to enhance energy and strength even as the exercise program works to build up the golfer.

The sort of golf nutrition that will become common will not be very different from what we see in other sports. The idea will be to have a diet of energy foods and foods that will help in building up strength and endurance for a better golf game.

So the typical nutrition recommendations that go with weight training for strength will be found in the special golf nutrition that leading experts are recommending to golfers.

This is the direction that the wonderful game of golf has taken and it seems that there is no turning back for any golfer who wants to improve their game. You just have to consider golf nutrition alongside your current golf exercise program.

Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness experts in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. Take a look at his just released golf fitness dvds at http://www.performbettergolf.com

Copyright Mike Pedersen - http://www.performbettergolf.com

Monday, May 12, 2008

Why Tiger Woods Golf Swing Technique Is So Effective

Golf sensation Tiger Woods golf swing technique has been the subject of many interesting studies.

One thing that has come out very clearly from this leading golfers style and his golf swing technique is his amazing flexibility and high fitness level which have contribute tremendously to his golf career. A career that has seen him crowned in the minds of many as the undisputed greatest golfer in the history of the sport.

The Tiger Woods golf swing technique sees Wood utilizing his flexibility at the back of his swing to comfortably reach far back.

As he begins his swing, his level of fitness and muscle strength enables him to build up club head velocity by turning his torso quickly and pressing his right leg forward. There is minimal waste of energy as he maintains his position above the golf ball.

Driving through, Woods uses his hips, shoulders and wrists to concentrate his force and create a high initial ball speed. Research has shown that within a few feet off the tee, the ball is usually traveling at about 180 miles per hour. The average tour pro usually manages only 160 miles per hour.

If you have carefully watched woods and his golf swing technique, you will note that he usually allows the club heads momentum to extend his follow-through far around his back, thus completing a long and smooth club-head rotation.

Tigers golf swing technique cannot possibly be achieved by somebody who is not physically fit or somebody who does not work out regularly. In fact achieving an effective golf swing technique these days requires conditioned muscles that will enable you to perform consistently and at your best.

Gone are the days when golf was viewed as a leisure sport where players would move around the course in electric golf cars to avoid breaking into a sweat of any kind.

This is not to say that a good golf swing technique calls for rigorous exercising. Actually, most of the critical golf-specific exercises involve stretches. There is also the lifting of light weights to build specifically on strength rather than muscle.

Clearly golf-specific exercises are the only way to develop a good golf swing technique.

Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness experts in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. Visit his new golf fitness site at http://www.performbettergolf.com

Copyright Mike Pedersen - http://www.performbettergolf.com

Simple Golf Warm Up Exercise

Golf warm up exercise you say? Aren't you supposed to rush to the course, pull out the BIG DOG, take a few hacks at it and start your round? Is that what you do? Come on be honest with yourself. If so, what was the result on the first tee? Ill bet it wasnt even a par! Am I wrong?

I dont mean to add too much sarcasm in there, but I want to get your attention to the importance of doing golf warm up exercise to avoid those big numbers the first few holes.

Are you with me? Good.

Now let me talk to you like youre an athlete for a minute. Time to re-live the glory days one more time.

Now remember back in the day when you had a game, meet or competition. Did you run out on the field or court and start playing your sport?

Ill bet not!

You did a sport-specific warm up didnt you?

Well why wouldnt you do one before golf then? Ahgotcha didnt I!

You would most definitely do a warm up. Not just pounding balls either. Thats the worst thing you could do. You need to do golf warm up exercises to prepare for optimal performance on the course.

Now picture the golf swing and all its moving parts. The shoulders are very active, if not the most active in the golf swing. So better do a couple of exercises for that area.

What about your golf posture? Wellyour bent at the waist with tension on your lower back, hamstrings and glutes. So you better do one or two golf warm up exercises for those areas also.

Have I convinced you yet? If not, then keep your same routine and expect the same results. I hate to sound too negative, but I strongly believe you need to do your golf warm up exercises.

Here's one golf warm up exercise of eight, that I have put together to get you started on the right track.

I call it the squat with an arm raise:

Feet shoulder width apart.
Place club in front of you and hold with both hands for balance.
Lower body by bending at the knees not hips.
At the same time raise the club horizontaly up in front of you.
Raise back up, lower the arms and repeat 15 times.
Keep upper body very erect.

This is a great combination exercise that warms up the legs, lower back and shoulders all at the same time.

So next time you get to the course, at least do the above golf warm up exercise.

Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness experts in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. Visit his new golf fitness site at http://www.performbettergolf.com

Copyright Mike Pedersen - http://www.performbettergolf.com

Learning To Play Golf With Fitness

Learning to play golf has now become the pursuit of both men and women of different ages. Right from the very young golfers to senior citizens as old as 80 years old or even older.

One similarity is now very clearly evident in all those learning to play golf or learning to play better golf, irrespective of their age. And that is the fact that those learning to play golf while staying fit and conditioning muscles with golf specific exercise routines have produced spectacular results.

Junior golfers of the likes of Ty Tryon, Michelle Wie and the Song sisters have clearly shown the world what junior golfers capable of when they take the right approach in learning to play golf.

In fact more and more parents are realizing the importance of their kids taking the right approach to learning to play golf. They have found that their correct golf investment in their children has paid big with more youngsters receiving partial or full scholarships for college these days because of their golf.

It is increasingly becoming clear just how important it is learning to play golf while at the same time paying close attention to physical fitness.

I have worked with hundreds of junior golfers and the results are always the same. Within a very short time of introducing strength training there is always a remarkable improvement in their drives. Typically drives can improve by as much as 50 yards within a very short period of time.

What all this means is that in this day and age, learning to play golf without physical fitness training and conditioning is the wrong approach that even opens the doors to other dangers like injury. Golfers elbow is easier to get when a golfer is not physically fit and does not warm up properly before holding a golf club.

A golfer who approaches the game with physical fitness in mind has a huge advantage over their counterpart who does not. Those who shun exercises will usually be slower in developing the right technique in the golf swing and other crucial aspects of the game.

So the truth is that you cannot divorce physical fitness from learning to play golf.

About The Author: Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness experts in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. Visit his new golf fitness site at http://www.performbettergolf.com

Copyright Mike Pedersen - http://www.performbettergolf.com

Golf Driving Tips To Correct A Common Mistake

One of the most common mental errors golfers make when driving the ball is to try and hit it as hard as possible.

This article will deal with golf driving tips to help you correct this problem that is hampering many golfers and greatly hindering them from making any progress.

Our minds already have certain set beliefs. One of them is that the more force we use on an object the further it will travel. What makes this particular even more difficult to get rid of in our golf is that it is also true from a scientific point of view. Only that there are a number of special variables that make it untrue in golf.

The first of this golf driving tips variables is the design of the golf club. Each club is cleverly designed to send the golf ball over a certain distance. A valuable golf driving tip here is to trust the club to do the job it was designed to do.

Secondly and even more important there is the variable of your body. Trying to hit the ball as hard as possible will usually result in a tense and inefficient physical swing. And in most cases the results are the direct opposite of what you desire.

One of the chief reasons for this is that many golfers are not physically prepared and their muscles are flabby, tense and weak. The poor results are therefore inevitable.

A really valuable golf driving tip is to condition your muscles by getting involved in a golf conditioning program.

Fitter and stronger muscles will prepare you better for your golf drive and will enable you to be more relaxed as you hit the ball and you will therefore gain much more distance as a result.

These are the golf driving tips that have proved so effective in correcting this common mistake in golfers and showing remarkable results in improvements.

About The Author: Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness experts in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. Visit his new golf fitness site at http://www.performbettergolf.com

Copyright Mike Pedersen - http://www.performbettergolf.com

Getting Your Pro Golf Swing Right

Achieving a correct pro golf swing will not only help any golfer improve their game, but even more important, will help them enjoy their golf game much more.

As many golfers delve deeper into increasingly desperate efforts to improve their game, it is very easy for any golfer to lose the enjoyment aspect. Some have even given up the game because of this.

Getting your pro golf swing right will involve you focusing on the many different individual parts of the pro golf swing.

The pro golf swing starts with the backswing where equal focus should be placed on both the body rotation and club and arm extension. It should be a fluid and smooth one-piece motion with the front elbow kept as straight as possible.

In the pro golf swing, the downswing, which is the next stage, begins in the legs and hips. You should begin transferring your body weight from back to front by moving forward the knees, and then the thighs and hips.

In the final pro golf swing stage of impact and follow through, the body weight should be on the outside of the forward heel and the inside of the rear foot. The heel of the back foot should be raised slightly with the back knee also slightly bent inwards.

In this final phase of the pro golf swing, the arms are also critical. Hands, wrists and forearms should rotate so that the grip end of the club points toward the target. The wrists should rotate over and the elbows should bend, with the club head bring behind. The whole movement should end with you on your front heel, your back foot on its toes.

Golf work outs, exercises and conditioned golf muscles will make it much easier for you to quickly and consistently achieve the pro golf swing.

About The Author: Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness experts in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. Visit his new golf fitness site at http://www.performbettergolf.com

Copyright Mike Pedersen - http://www.performbettergolf.com

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Finding A Good Golf Product Is A Lot Easier With The Net

The World Wide Web has made life a lot easier for many people. Golfers are no exception and apart from valuable golfing tips being widely available on the net, the other huge advantage is that it has become a lot easier to find good golf products.

To find a good golf product one can subscribe to one of the many regular ezines, or email newsletters available online that deal with golf and golf products.

You can also identify useful web sites that you can be visiting a regular basis to read about the very latest releases in golf products.

Make sure that you also check out a few blogs or web logs on the golf game and golf products. Here the advantage is that you will be able to read comments from numerous other golfers some of whom are bound to be experiencing exactly the same problems that you are facing. This is the true magic of blogs and one of the reasons why they have become so popular online.

However there is a range of golf products that you will need to be very careful about. More so because they are marketed very aggressively online, usually accompanied with a lot of hype. And these are golf products that promise to improve your game.

It is a big mistake to place your focus on what a product will do without first focusing on your weaknesses in the game and getting a clear strategy or direction on how you can improve those areas of your game. It is then very easy to see if the golf improvement product fits into your program or not.

This way you will save yourself a lot of time, cash and trouble tinkering with golf products that will not be able to have any impact on your golf game.

Most of these golf improvement products involve exercises and so if you are able to get some advice from a golf exercise expert, it can also be of great help to you.

Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness experts in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. Visit his new golf fitness site at http://www.performbettergolf.com

Copyright Mike Pedersen - http://www.performbettergolf.com