The Golf Slice

The only way to your golfing success is to master the basic golf swing posture theories. The basic techniques related to golf swing, when complemented with loads of practice, will definitely turn the simple theories into a reality for you. Besides practice, the golf theories also require the use of good equipments. This segment is to present a few theories, which are followed by all great golfers all across the globe religiously. If you work on each of these theories, they will assist you to reach your desired level of consistency. Greater consistency in postures means better swings and lower scores. Let us now have a look at the theories.

1. Place your feet in a distance so that they are shoulder length apart from each other. Maintain an equal distribution of your body weight on both feet and from the heel to your toe.

2. Never continue with your poor posture. If you get to know that you have a bad posture, quit it immediately. Otherwise your body will adapt to it. Bad postures come with risk like overuse of shoulders, neck, hip, and back. Perform a simple regime of exercises and improve your posture for a better swinging power.

3. People in the state of developing their golf swing postures should always work on their concentration separately. This will help them in keeping their eye on the golf ball in time of swing.

4. Practice of transferring the force from the lower to the upper part of the body is vital for attaining the best posture. Never compromise with your swing patterns, follow the rules consistently. A perfect golf swing will surely be at your door steps.

It is true that working on the postures, and alignment is not the most glamorous job around. It is also a known fact that burning out your calories for the 270 yd drives takes a lot out of your body. However, the ultimate truth is that the basic theories for improving golf swing postures are the musts for having the best golf swing postures.

Golfers use some special words to indicate their performances. If your score is one stroke less than par, then you “birdied” the hole. Two under par is “eagle” and three under par is “double eagle”. Anything less than that, then you are a godsend to the PGA tour. If, however you take more shots than the number fixed for a hole, then the terms used are different. One shot over par is “bogey” and two over par is “double bogey”.

In Golf, handicaps are often calculated for golfers to estimate how well they are playing. An 18-hole golf course has a par of 72. An average of a golfer’s scores over a time period is used to determine how much above or below par he has been performing. The difference between the fixed par and the player’s scoring pattern is his handicap. The number of games or the time period over which the average is calculated varies from club to club. In tournaments, higher handicap golfers are given some advantages to equalize their opportunity to win the game. Scratch golfers are the best ones and are given no handicap. A 2-handicap golfer should average two shots more per 18-hole round than a scratch opponent golfer.

Typically, the scorecard at every golf course has the following elements:

1. The distance and the design of the hole.
2. The par for every hole.
3. A gender based par for the course.
4. The handicap ranking for each hole.

How do you determine, who wins and who loses? By a very simple method of keeping score. Now that you know the nitty-gritty of golf, its time for competition. Fortunately for you, golf is a very user-friendly sport in that scoring in golf is very simple. The number of strokes it takes to put the ball, starting from the tee, into the hole is your score for the hole. It’s as simple as that.

Usually, there are 18 holes and the player with the lowest number of strokes is the winner. This is called stroke play.

Sometimes matches are played on hole-to-hole basis i.e. strokes for every individual hole determines the winner of that hole and after totaling, the winner is determined. The player winning by 2-holes (if he wins two more holes than the opponent) is said to be two holes up and, the loser, two holes down.

The term par indicates the number of strokes required for the ball to reach the cup/hole. It includes the number of shots required to reach the green from the tee, plus two shots on the green. Depending on the conditions, either one, two or three shots are required to get from tee to cup, and the hole marking is done as follows:

• A hole of 250 yards is a 3-par hole.
• Holes of 251 to 470 yards are 4-par holes.
• A hole exceeding the above two is a 5-par hole.

Most balls available in the marketplace today fall into one of these three categories. Distance Enabling Balls, Control Enabling Balls and Spin Enabling Balls. The differences in their design characteristics may appear subtle, but when used according to your style and strengths, they can considerably enhance your performance. Thus, make sure you buy those balls that complement your game.

Distance Enabling Balls
These balls react quickly off the clubface for maximum speed and deliver greater distance. If you get an extra 15 yards off the tee with these balls, you’ll need a shorter shot with an iron to putt the ball. This will allow you to have greater control on the shot.

Control Enabling
These balls deter excessive spin. These are ideal for beginners especially if you have problems with hooking and slicing.

Spin Enabling
These balls generate as much backspin as possible, enabling higher trajectory in the air and better stopping ability on the ground. Spin Enabling Balls may help stop the ball closer to the hole on the third shot for players who cannot reach a par-4 in two shots. But if you cannot control the slices and hooks then don’t even try these balls.

These are the golf clubs with the shortest stems and an iron head. They are used for playing the shot that putts the ball in the hole. Since a putter is of supreme importance in determining your score, choose it with great care. While a good putter can be a life-long friend, a bulky putter can be the biggest irritant in your golf bag.

Putters made by companies you’ve never heard of, at prices that seem too good to be true, are usually just that. Stick to known brands to really get the joys at the greens.

Next week we’ll wrap this series on golf equipment up with a look at golf balls.

The irons are the clubs with an iron head that is inclined on one face. Their stem length is less than that of the woods. Irons are specifically used as precision equipment that helps the golfer to get the ball as near the target as possible. Unlike the woods, the main purpose of the irons is to provide the player with accuracy in his shot. Hence, woods are strategic and irons, tactical. The nearer you get to the green, the closer you want the ball to the hole. Only irons offer that precision.

With technological advances clubs with large sweet spots have been developed that enable the golfer to get the ball in the air easily. These clubs also focus on providing strength to the shot. 10 years ago the clubs were smaller in size than Game Improvement clubs, that made them more difficult.

While looking for irons, remember the key in an iron set is consistency. A 5-iron should be as easy to hit as a 7-iron, and have similar flight patterns (trajectory and distance, to name two).

Every good golfer worth his salt knows the importance of a good kit. Although good equipment can make the difference between a satisfactory and a disappointing game, you needn’t go on a buying frenzy without a clue as to what you should be investing in. What you need in your golfing bag is a driver, irons, utility woods, putters and golf balls. The kit you buy should complement your skills and morph your weaknesses. All the information you’ll ever need for these is here.

Woods
These are the longest stemmed golf clubs with a wooden head. The aim of the woods is to get the ball over a great distance to a general area. Usually the first and maybe the second shots are the only shots where you shall be using the woods. These shots determine whether the first putt on the green will be for birdie, par, bogey, or worse. The driver is the wood with the longest stem and is crucial in determining the power of your tee shot.

Here are a few tips for buying good woods for beginners:

• Look for a club with a big head
• Ensure that the grip is comfortable.
• Look for high degree of lofts. Those get you high shots.
• Shaft Length: The longer the driver, the more club head speed it will generate. However, there’s a trade- off between length and accuracy. Do not go in for over- size drivers.

Next week we’ll talk about Irons and Putters.

Golf is a very old sport but there is no conclusive evidence about its origins. According to one version it originated between 1424 and 1457AD in Rome as the game Paganica. However, the Chinese claim that golf is a form of Chui Wan or ball-hitting game prevalent in 3rd century BC China. Whatever be the source of golf there’s no denying the fact that it is fast emerging as a very popular sport.

Like most other sports, golf too has undergone many transformations on the journey to acquire its present day form.

Initially played with gutta-percha balls, the game began to be played with feather balls in 1848. In 1899 Col. W.N. Hskell of the USA invented rubber-cored ball which was introduced later in 1902. Even the steel clubs are not too old. They were authorized in the USA in 1925 and in Britain in 1929.

It was in the eighteenth century that organizations centered around the game of golf made their first appearance. The Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers formed in 1744 was the first club of the game. Ten years later the Royal and Ancient Golf Club took shape. But it was not until 1764 that any organization was recognized as a supreme authority in golfing matters. The St. Andrews Royal and Ancient Golf Club has since then been the torchbearer of the golfing fraternity. In less than a century since golf became an organized sport, Indians too were playing it. With the formation of the Royal Calcutta golf club in1829 and then the Royal Bombay Golf Clubs in 1892, the British had left behind a legacy which would yield fruit in the form of world class Indian players, towards the end of the next century.

Since the very beginning, golf has not strictly been a ‘gentleman’s game’. There are instances of remarkable women players Mary, Queen of Scots was known to be a keen player herself. Almost a century after the St. Andrews Royal and Ancient Golf Club became the chief authority on golf clubs; ladies clubs were also springing up. In 1972 the first ladies club was formed in Mussel burgh followed in 1893 by the first Ladies Golf Union (British).