Take a Golf Trip and become a better golfer

Whether it's a once in a lifetime trip, or you go to the same destination annually, sometimes it's those special courses that bring out the best in you.

According to a well-known psychologist named Anders Ericsson, becoming a better golfer requires practicing beyond your comfort zone. That includes changing it up from the same 18 holes week after week. And proper technique goes beyond mindlessly pounding balls in an effort to build muscle memory – because according to Ericsson, muscles do not have the memory, only the brain does.  He further stated that improving your golf game has to be deliberate; it has to be done with purpose and must include a little pain until a golfer finally learns to bend the ball at his will.

For those of you who are seriously aiming to be a better player, here are six drills to help in that process. If you try them at your local golf club before heading off on your trip, or on the trip itself, they will be sure to further your game. They are guaranteed to push you out of your comfort zone and lower your handicap.

Rehearse your full swing.  Take note that mindlessly swinging will hardly make you a better golfer, so make it your goal to do a deliberate practice swing of the particular technique you would like to learn and utilize. For instance, if you are focusing on the backswing, you don't have to jump up to the tee right away.

Take dead aim as a game. Maximize your the of practice tees by using them to your advantage. Kick off by playing an entire nine using a variety of clubs and scoring yourself accordingly. Generally, the first hole calls for driver, then 6-iron, and eventually wedge. Use specific clubs in succession and so that you are able to make use of your equipment in random order.

Improve your chipping distance. Some golfers find chipping a challenge. If this doesn’t happen to be your strength, don’t fret because there are ways to improve on this aspect. Once you're out on the practice green, take five balls and drive chips to your target hole until you eventually knock all five balls to within a club-length of the cup. Repeat this drill until you finally manage to knock them all inside.

Target that straight five-foot putt on the practice green.  When you are on a golf trip, make it your goal to do at least 50 straight five-foot putts. It will be a bit challenging but it will greatly improve your short stroke.

Work on your half wedges. Acknowledge that you can’t always hit wedges at full distances and dedicate some time to improve on this. Do not be discouraged when you hit awkward distances like 35, 50 and 75 yards, instead keep hitting until you land a ball within an acceptable distance.

Blast sand shots! Be extra careful not to mindlessly swing sand shots from the practice bunker. Instead, use this to further improve your skill. Decide on a challenging radius around a hole and practice blasting five balls within your chosen radius. Eventually shrink your radius, send shots from a new distance, and start over again.

2015 Holiday Gift Ideas for Golfers

Tis the time to pick out yet another perfect gift for your loved one who also has a love for golf. If you've run out of books to give or they have a wide array of golf shirts, then this list should do the trick. This week we are featuring the hottest golf gear, essentials and accessories that will surely make your golf-loving friends and family the happiest this season.

Tour X-Jolt Rangefinder

The Bushnell Tour X Jolt Rangefinder is a must-have for all golf enthusiasts that love their technology too. It comes with two separate faceplates, one that tells you elevation change, distances, and land grade. The other rangefinder faceplate can be used in professional tournaments. Its key features include DDT (Dual Display Technology), Jolt Technology, Slope Technology, is rainproof, and much more! Every avid golfer will surely want this!

Price: $500

Cork Putter Grips

An eco-friendly, light, golf essential and pocket-friendly option. Cork putter grips are a big hit among professional players. Your golf fanatic loved one will surely like having this too. Designed to perform in all types of weather conditions, this hypoallergenic gadget is quite easy to maintain as well.

Price: $30+

Arccos

Definitely one of the top performance trackers out there, Arccos comes with 13 Standard Sensors and 1 Putter Sensor to track anyone’s game. It can be easily attached to the tip of the club's grip. This gadget will track every shot made from the first hole to the last. Once the tracking app is downloaded, attach the sensors, and you're good to go.

Price: $300

Izzo Callway Tournament Set 

A handy all-in-one kit for any golfer. It includes a 12 ounce stainless steel water bottle, Pro Line Putt Align Tool with 4 ball-identification stencils, and divot repair tool. Also in the set is a poker chip ball marker, 2 Callaway golf balls and 5 performance tees. All essentials for the leisure golfer and not a hefty burden on the wallet!

Price: $30

Golf Trip

And just in case you forgot... There's no golfer who wouldn’t enjoy a nice, relaxing golf getaway. There are so many hot golf trip deals out there that would fit any budget! Anywhere from Scottsdale, to Orlando, to Myrtle Beach or across some water to Hawaii. Don't forget you can go international to places like the Domincan Republic, Scotland, Ireland... and more! The possibilities with Golf Zoo are endless. Booking a trip is easy, hassle-free and are simple for your lucky gift receiver to book their custom package details. It's the perfect gift to let your loved-one really enjoy their love for golf.

Price: Varies by destination and time of travel

Viola! That concludes this year’s gift guide for your/our fellow golf enthusiasts!

myRoundPro: A Must-Have App for Golf Trips

Frequent golf vacationers want nothing but a better game each time they visit a golf spot. And to achieve this goal, some vacationers turn to various gadgets marketed to have the potential to improve your golf. To name a few, there’s swing-optimizing smart watches, data collecting e-caddies, and hovercraft golf carts.  Unfortunately, all these golf dedicated devices tend to be practically expensive and can only be used when a golfer hits the link.

Fortunately, Microsoft teamed up with a distinguished company called TaylorMade and came up with golf-related apps that can be used on a daily basis – whether you are at a golf spot or not. The result of such collaboration is an analytics app that works with Microsoft Band fitness tracker.

For the uninitiated, Microsoft Band features a Golf tile that is fitted with algorithms, GPS, and accelerometers. This way, it can automatically calculate golf scores for every round. Microsoft, the high-tech company behind this app, prides that Microsoft Band is smart enough to differentiate a practice swing and an actual shot. It features sensors programmed to detect impact of the ball to the club. In addition, it can also fill in scores once it senses that the player has taken his last shot on a hole. Users of this app need to manually record scores if other players are not using it yet; but it really acts like an invisible scorekeeper.

Scores for each round of game played while on golf trip as well as GPS data are linked to a carefully researched and well-tested analysis tool called myRoundPro – a software based on an internal tool that was developed by TaylorMade to test club performance on actual golf courses. For the record, members of the UCLA golf team have been using this technology to analyze and improve golf performance – but this is the first time it was tied to a consumer product.

So what does myRoundPro do? Essentially, such system provides every golfer a mapped-out view of every round of golf played. It offers a sliced-and-diced data for every shot and swing executed – without any special golf ball or anything attached to the club or whatever gadget other than the fitness band itself. Interestingly, myRoundPro tracks distance covered for each drive, the average score over time, as well as the number of fairways hit. It also maps out each shot on the overlay of the course played.

The best thing about this app is that it is fully automatic, requiring only a few manual steps to set up. Golfers only need to search and select a course from TaylorMade’s 18,000 golf vacation spots in the Microsoft Health mobile app. Players would later have to select the tee box they plan to use for each round. Afterwards, golfers can practice swing to calibrate the system and get it ready for many more rounds.

A Beginner's Guide to Golf

Becoming a pro at golf require huge efforts, unparalleled dedication, and willingness to be trained, and several trips to various golf vacation destinations where you can practice and enhance your craft. Becoming a top caliber athlete in this sport also require the help of an expert in the field who is capable of teaching and sharing the best tips and tricks of the sport. 

Unfortunately, signing up for a professional lesson in golf can be quite expensive. A golf class does not also guarantee mastery of skills in the sport, because in reality, becoming a pro in this field takes some athletic ability. As an alternative, people interested in learning how to golf can choose to learn the skills on their own.

Self-teaching is way cheaper than enlisting on a class with other golf beginners. All that it practically requires is a doze of dedication to learn the basics of golf and a huge sense of resourcefulness. To start with, one can look into the internet and learn what and how to do a golf swing. Tips and techniques on how to strike a golf ball are also aplenty on the World Wide Web. 

Once you have read the concepts in golf, pack your gear and be on your way to a golf course for practice. Get your hands on that golf club, swing your way and hit the ball, not the ground. You might have to make several swings until you learn how to properly rotate your shoulders around your spine, but just be patient. You'll get the hang of it soon.

Read books and watch videos on golf swings. Spend some time on those golf training materials you can find online and in print. In all these, make it a point to put into action whatever you have read because, in reality, precision in golf does not happen overnight and requires repetitive practice.

Golf materials suggest that a powerful and balanced swing happens when players swing around the spine and allow their core to keep their balanced finish. The arms are expected to do the minor lifting, initiation, and dropping of the club but do not really rotate over or waggle in the actual swing. Golf enthusiasts are also expected to learn and manage weight shift – an aspect that affects a player’s ball striking skill.  

Start-ups in the golf can also take advantage of classic golf materials such as Ben Hogan’s “The Average Golfer is Entirely Capable of Building a Repeating Swing and Breaking 80”. This book features detailed analysis and illustrations on proper grip, stance, posture, as well as the two basic components of swing and can be very helpful for the next and succeeding golf trips.

Eating Healthy on your Golf Trip

Just because you’re on vacation, doesn’t mean that your diet should be, too. As what you eat determines your performance, you’ll need to have a solid diet plan when you’re going on a golf trip.

More than just about improving your health in general, proper nutrition can help boost your golf performance. It’s a no-brainer. Eating healthy means your mind stays sharp enough to make tough decisions, and you have sufficient energy to play all 18 holes.

So before you grab that bag of chips for a quick energy boost, read on to know what you should be munching on your golf vacation:

Eat or drink

• Water – Chugging down at least 8 glasses of water daily can help you keep hydrated, especially when you’re teeing off under the heat of the sun. Loss of water can lead to dehydration, which can affect your performance and physiology.

• Small frequent meals – Spreading out your meals throughout the day allows you to replenish your energy levels without bogging you down post meal. Experts recommend 5-6 small meals instead of the usual 3 big meals.

• The power combo – Your meals must consist of the right amount of carbohydrates, proteins and fats in order for you to have enough energy to finish all 18 holes. This trio also ensures that you are getting the right nutrients into your body.

• A healthy snack. Forget chips. Go for snacks that are jam packed with fiber and other nutrients for a healthy digestion and lots of energy to finish the course. Go for fruits or a bag of nuts for a quick mood and energy booster, and you’re all set for a good match.

Avoid

• Alcohol and caffeine. Take it easy on the alcohol and caffeine. Both are diuretics and can cause dehydration. In addition, they can also affect your performance. Caffeine can over stimulate your mind and muscles, thus making your performance less controlled, while alcohol is on the other side of the spectrum. Too much of it, and you’ll suffer loss of coordination.

• Food rich in sugar. Sugar-based food will only give you a quick jolt of energy, but once blood sugar rapidly plummets after a temporary high, you’ll be on an express train to exhaustion.

• Binging 2 hours before tee time. When you have food in your digestive tract, blood gets diverted away from your brain and muscle, which explains why you feel lethargic after a heavy meal. This is another reason why you need to spread out your meals to 5 small ones instead of 3 big ones. But with that said, you must also avoid;

• Skipping meals. Playing on an empty stomach is just as bad as teeing off on a full one. You’ll need a steady release of energy to get you through the long play. Going for small meals fuels you throughout the day without slowing down your metabolism (and yourself) and prevents sugar highs and lows.

It is important to note that your brain consumes 20% of the calories your take in. And if you’re fuelling your brain (and body) with the right type of food, you’ll be able to think on your toes all throughout the 18 holes.

Stay healthy. Have a great golf trip!

Golf Exercises for Improved Flexibility

Golfers, like most athletes, need to work hard not only on the sport but also on their physical fitness. These people need to go through rigorous exercises before heading to golf vacation destinations in order to be able to enjoy the game and to reduce chances of injury. 

A pre-game golf exercise set the player’s mood and is known to dramatically improve a golfer's flexibility - an important factor for a much smoother swing. Of course, it is a known fact that golfers can only perform a great swing from rather unusual body movement where the body can possibly become stiff. For this reason, golfers need to exercise and work on his flexibility. An exercise improves overall coordination of the body and affects a golfer's stance on the course. 

These flexibility-enhancing exercises should not only be focused on the shoulders but should also involve muscles in other parts of the body. Examples of these exercises are as follows:

Lunge with Rotation - Considered a dynamic golf stretching exercise and is known to warm up the hip flexors. To do this, position the golf club on your shoulders. Step your right leg forward for a lunge while making sure the left leg is stretched backwards and your left knee is locked.  Next, gently twist your torso to the left without moving your lower body. Hold this position for a minute or so before you release. Do this exercise at least 5 to 7 times on each side. 

Supported Squats - This simple exercise improves heart rate and increases blood flow throughout the body. To do this, extend your arms straight while holding your club. Bend your right leg and position it on top of your left thigh. Slowly squat on this position until your left thigh is parallel to the surface then go back to the starting position. Repeat at least 10-12 times on each leg. 

Supported Twist and Bend - Speed and power in hitting a golf ball towards a putting green comes from an ability to twist the upper torso. To improve in this golf skill, practice twisting and work on improving flexibility around your waist. Position the club on your shoulders and your hands on either side. Stand with your feet at least a shoulder width apart and gradually twist to the right side and then bend over as if you were trying to reach your head to the right knee. Do this exercise at least 10 to 12 times on each side.

Shoulder Rotation - Work on your shoulder griddle to reduce chances of shoulder pain that's common among golfers. Stand with your feet at least hip width apart, your shoulder blades down and your hands on your thighs. Slowly rotate both shoulders clockwise at least 8 to 10 times, then counter-clockwise 8-10 times. 

Chest Stretch - To improve flexibility of the chest muscles, stand with your feet at least hip width apart then straighten your arms backwards. Intertwine your fingers and hold this stretch position for at least 10 counts before you release. Do this at least 10 times.

Make every golf trip a fun and fulfilling one by engaging in simple pre-game exercises. Then you’ll have more power and energy for more rounds on the resort.