October 2005

Here’s another installment from Mike Pedersen, from Perform Better Golf.

Today Mike tells us how to become better golfer’s by doing some work off the course.

Take it away Mike :

To lower your golf score, you’ve got to put some time in. This is the main reason golfers quit the game. Golf is a very challenging game that requires intense concentration, skill, and many physical attributes.

One approach to lowering your golf score is one that is off the course and does not involve swinging a club, taking lessons or buying more gimmicky training aids.

The approach I’m talking about is working on your “machine” to produce a repeatable golf swing for 18 holes. Are you currently capable of maintaining a mechanically sound swing for the entire round? If you are honest in answering that question, I’ll bet your answer is no.

The biggest frustration I hear from golfers all over the world is they hit balls, take lessons and have the latest/greatest equipment and still can’t lower their golf score. In regards to golf improvement, the above scenario has eliminated everything but the MOST important component.

Your BODY!

Golf is an athletic movement that requires strength, flexibility, balance, coordination, stability, timing and many other elements. If your body is physically limited…you’ll have a minimal chance at playing to your potential.

Just think about putting 20 minutes into a golf training routine in your home with minimal equipment. No grunting. No groaning. No pain. Just simple golf exercises that will make a dramatic and almost immediate impact on your golf game and score.

I have seen so many “so-called” fitness books and videos that show golfers using machines in a gym. This is not what I’m talking about. And this is not golf fitness training. Anytime you sit on a machine that isolates one muscle group, you will not improve your game.

What I’m talking about is using hand weights, a stability ball and some exercise tubing with handles. All very inexpensive and perfect for improving your golf game. The only catch is you need the right exercises to go along with this affordable equipment.

I’ve heard horror stories of golfers who have lifted weights and said their game got worse. This is a problem! You’ve got to do exercises that will train your body to make a stable, mechanically sound golf swing for 18 holes.

Once you realize golf is an athletic sport that requires both golf-specific strength and flexibility, you’ll become a believer in training your body off the course to lower your golf score.

Be sure to visit Mike’s website and let him know I sent you.

If you’re gonna play this blasted game, you might as well play as well as you can !

Here’s the third installment of golf shoe tips.

It’s hard to have comfortable shoes without dry feet. And to have dry feet, you’ve got to have good socks.

There’s just no way to wear your everyday socks and get away with it. Get some good golf socks that wick away moisture and are padded to protect your feet.

Feet that are cushioned, comfortable and dry are happy feet.

Use shoe trees to keep your golf shoes in their proper shape despite your throwing them in your trunk and forgetting them for a week.

Cedar shoe trees are the best you can get. I let my golf shoes dry and then put my cedar shoe trees in them. This is one of the reasons I have several pairs of golf shoes. To let one dry completely while I wear a different pair.

Finally, keep your receipt and warranty handy. Golf shoes have been known to fail and if they do, the manufacturers should have to stand behind them.

You can’t play underwater golf and expect the manufacturer to replace the shoes, but under normal conditions, you should get your money’s worth.

If you buy your golf shoes from a local golf shop, talk to the sales rep about the warranty BEFORE you leave the store.

There are more than enough reasons to buy good golf shoes than there are to go cheap. Do your research before you buy, keep your receipt and know your warranty and you’ll be happy that you did.

Here’s another blog I just added to my Blog Roll and I subscribed to their RSS feed.

The Sand Trap.

Looks like it’s going to be a good one to read, as the staff seems to be a good group of golfers.

Go by and read a few posts and subscribe to their feed and then sit back and enjoy !

If the cooler weather has gotten you down and you’re thinking about warm golf courses and golf vacations, we’ve found a deal for you to check out.

Go visit Myrtle Beach’s Ocean Plaza. They have a golf package called ” Sleep In Special ” and with it you’ll get 2 rounds of afternoon golf and you’ll stay there at Ocean plaza.

The courses you get to choose from are :

Aberdeen Country Club, Bay Tree Golf Plantation, Indian Wells Golf Club & Lions Paw Golf Links

To Find out more call 800-322-2166 or visit Ocean Plaza’s website.

BTW - did I mention that you’ll probably pay less than $200 per person ?

Tell ‘em Mike sent you !

Here’s another high desert golf course I played the last time I was in Arizona. Gold Canyon Golf Resort’s Dinosaur Mountain Course.

From their website :

” The #1 rated public golf course in Arizona is ready to offer you a truly unique golfing experience in the high Sonoran desert. Every tee box here presents a panoramic vista and an exhilarating challenge to your game. The course will take you up, over and around Dinosaur Mountain with dramatic tee-to-green elevation changes and long, loping fairways. The views of the nearby Superstition Mountains are spectacular. Signature holes #4 and #5 are among the most memorable in the game! “

If I remember right, this was the first course I ever played in Arizona. It was my first view of the Superstition Mountains and it was an experience I’ll always remember. I can’t wait to take my lovely bride out there for a visit some day.

The Sonoran Desert is a special place and the people at Gold Canyon treated us well. Good food in the snack shop and a fabulous golf course are two important ingredients in the recipe of life.

Their website is well done, too. Plenty of photos, printable scorecard, interactive tour with panoramic views…they’ve got it all.

They also have a page with online only specials and other packages.

Gold Canyon’s Dinosaur Course is a must play if you get anywhere near Phoenix.

Go by and visit them and tell ‘em Mike sent you.

I noticed more golf sandals this year. For me, it ain’t ever gonna happen.

The golf swing *can be* a violent action. Deep rough, in a divot, big tree in the way, ball buried in the face of a bunker, all types of situations where force might be needed. To me, those little leather straps across your toes don’t look like they provide enough support to hit it like a big dawg. Could be wrong, I guess.

If you have a slow, syrupy swing and never get in the hay, then you might give ‘em a try. I don’t really want to see your feet, so just don’t do it in my foursome. You’ve got to wear socks with them and when you do, you look like Mike Brady playing golf with Ward Cleaver.

They’re just a bad idea, for me, so I’ll let it go there.

When you go to try on a new pair of golf shoes, go late in the day when your feet are at their largest due to swelling. Better, for me, to have them be a tad large, than a tad small.

Someone recently said that they thought the quality of greens had improved due to soft spikes. Not where I play, they haven’t. The quality of the greens has to do with a greenskeeper with a little common sense about water, mowing heights and sand. But that’s for another post on a nother day.

Soft spikes are a little easier on the greens in some cases, but if you get a poorly designed…read into this a knock-off of a quality soft spike…..spike and you get someone who’s 6′2″ and 245 lbs., like me and I could leave imprints worse than any metal spike ever dreamed about.

I’ve recently switched over to Stinger’s, away from Black Widow’s and have been impressed with their grip when I have to power thru a swing. Easy to walk with and seem to leave less of a mark on the greens.

( I’ll try to do a post on them a bit later. )

Also, try to keep a whole set of extra spikes in your bag. Who know’s when you might need them and be in a position of having 30 minutes to wait before you can tee off. Why waste that time putting on a practice green that’s not anything like the greens out on the course. Again, another post for another day.

You might even be able to save a buddy who needs some replacements and doesn’t have access to any.

That’s all for today. I’ll wrap up our tips on golf shoes with one more post and we’ll move on to another area.

Go by and visit the sites of the major manufacturers and get some idea’s about your next shoe lust.

You’ll have to forgive my Dr. Seussian headline today, but it’s the first thing I thought of when I was trying to find a way to let you know that I’ve added another blog to my Blog Roll. In case you’re new to blogs, it’s on the lower left side and it shows you all the blogs I read/subscribe to.

Today’s version of ” What golf blogs does Mike read ? ” brings us to Grouchy Golf. It’s a blog that doesn’t always take this game seriously and we all need a little levity now and then.

I’ve noticed some serious stuff in there every now and then, though. And the grouch isn’t always grouchy, so don’t let the title fool you.

I”m sure that you want to read as many golf blogs as I do, so go by and give the grouch a chance to entertain and inform you and tell ‘em Mike sent you.

My post about my new golf shoe object de lust got me to thinking about a few of the things I’ve learned about golf shoes over the years.

Over the next few days, I’m going to try and let you in on a few of the lessons I’ve learned. Some were easy and some were not so easy.

For today, we’re going to talk about price & quality.

Here’s the key - DO NOT GO CHEAP !

Your feet will never forgive you for buying golf shoes that only last a few months before they are killing them.

They have to fit or they will make your round of golf a pain, instead of a pleasure.

Blister’s have a way of making you remember the pain and not that 33 foot putt for birdie that broke 3 feet from left to right.

Are more expensive golf shoes worth the price ? Yes.

They have been engineered to have the highest quality and have features that the less expensive models don’t have. You get what you pay for.

They should have a high-quality leather in the uppers, the newest moisture control technology and outsoles that flex as you walk and swing.

A comfortable spike system is also an absolute must. Try them on and walk around the store.
If they feel like you’re walking on nails, stilts or stubs, put ‘em back in the box and yell ” Next! “.

Here’s another tip that fits well with today’s tip…..Buy a second pair.

Why ? Because you deserve it and so do your feet.

If you play on consecutive days or play 36 holes one day, switch ‘em out and you’ll thank me for it later. Not only will your feet thank you, your shoes will last longer. they need time to rid themselves of the moisture your feet give off.

Also, some days you just want to look like Mike Tyson with black golf shoes and no socks and some days you want to be a throwback and wear white with little footies.

As we go thru my entire list of tips, go by some of the online retailers and/or your local golf shops. It’s the time of year for a sale and you need a couple of pairs. Don’t you ?

While I was adding another of our blogs to the services at Technorati, I cam across this cool tool that tells you what your blog is worth.

Now, I love this blog, but the first offer CLOSE to this will take this puppy home !

Here’s a shot of what the tool say’s I’m worth.

If you have a blog, go see what you’re worth and if not, tell me what you think of this cool tool and it’s pricing strategy.

I don’t know if you guys ever search for blogs at Technorati or not, but if you do, you have to take their results with a grain of bunker sand.

I just went and looked ( again ) and Travelling Golfer is now #11, but it’s behind a blog with FEWER links, which is their criteria. Might it be bacause I complained a few days ago ( again ) about 4 out of the Top 10 NOT being about golf. Especially uncomforting is that the #1 golf blog is about the Volkswagon car.

C’mon, Tehnorati, you guys are way better than this. get this mess fixed and give me my props !

In the meantime, reast assured that you’re reading one of the Top 10 blogs about golf.